Acapulco • Statistics for May

May: Southern Hemisphere Juice Meets Summer Breezes

May is the tail end of spring size and the beginning of the tropical transition. The average swell height climbs to 4-5ft (1.3m) and the period peaks at 14.2s, the highest average of the year. SSW dominates with a near-record 91.8% of the total swell energy, while S-swell accounts for 4.3%. The height distribution is impressive: 63.1% of waves sit in the 1-1.5m (3-5ft) range, 19.9% of the SSW waves alone reach 1.5-2m (5-6ft), and 1.6% push into 2-2.5m (6-8ft) territory. This is the most raw wave energy Acapulco sees on average.

But May's ideal wind percentage drops to 35%, the second lowest of the year. Westerly flow still dominates the wind rose, but easterly and E/ESE winds become more common as the ITCZ starts to creep north, and the afternoon SW sea breeze is increasingly onshore. Rain also begins to appear, averaging 1.4mm/day. Air temperatures sit at 27.1°C and the water has warmed to 29.2°C. The early-morning clean windows are still worth chasing, but the quality window is noticeably narrower than in March or April.