Monthly Climate
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Best time to visit Cape Town

April is the best time to visit Cape Town for general sightseeing, with average highs of 22 °C and about 5 wet days. The comfortable season runs roughly October to May.

It depends what you are going for

One month rarely wins on everything. These are the best months on each measure taken on its own.

If you want Best month On that measure
Sightseeing and walking April comfort 93/100
A beach holiday February sea 18 °C
The least cloud January 23 % average cloud cover
The least rain February 11 mm
Warmth February 26 °C
Cooler weather July 16 °C

Ranked by comfort

# Month Comfort / 100 Avg high Wet days Beach
1 April 93 22 °C 5 54
2 November 92 22 °C 4 57
3 October 90 20 °C 5 47
4 December 90 24 °C 3 70
5 March 90 24 °C 3 71
6 January 87 25 °C 2 76
7 May 86 19 °C 7 39
8 February 86 26 °C 2 77
9 September 80 18 °C 7 32
10 July 73 16 °C 9 24
11 June 72 17 °C 10 24
12 August 72 16 °C 9 22

For a beach holiday

February scores highest, with a sea temperature of 18 °C and air temperatures around 26 °C. The sea never reaches 20 °C here.

Month Sea Air Sunshine Beach score
January 18 °C 25 °C 23 % 76
February 18 °C 26 °C 23 % 77
March 17 °C 24 °C 30 % 71
April 16 °C 22 °C 41 % 54
May 15 °C 19 °C 52 % 39
June 15 °C 17 °C 50 % 24
July 15 °C 16 °C 45 % 24
August 15 °C 16 °C 46 % 22
September 15 °C 18 °C 49 % 32
October 15 °C 20 °C 42 % 47
November 16 °C 22 °C 38 % 57
December 17 °C 24 °C 30 % 70

When to think twice

August scores lowest with about 9 wet days and highs near 16 °C. That does not make it a bad month — it depends entirely on what you are travelling for. The numbers are all here; the judgement is yours.

The full year

Month Avg high Rainfall Cloud
January 25.4 °C 12 mm 23 %
February 25.8 °C 11 mm 23 %
March 24.5 °C 12 mm 30 %
April 21.9 °C 36 mm 41 %
May 19.2 °C 57 mm 52 %
June 16.8 °C 92 mm 50 %
July 16.4 °C 84 mm 45 %
August 16.4 °C 74 mm 46 %
September 17.8 °C 44 mm 49 %
October 20.2 °C 32 mm 42 %
November 21.9 °C 25 mm 38 %
December 24.1 °C 15 mm 30 %

Data sources and method

Normal period
1991–2020
Dataset version
era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: comfort score, beach score, season boundaries. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.