Cozumel

Best Surf Season (November - March)

Cozumel is a spot with a serious identity crisis: the island is blessed with an open SE-facing coastline and a steady supply of E/ESE/SE swell, yet the same tropical trade-wind machine that sends those waves in also blows straight onshore for most of the year. The best window is November through March, when the first winter cold fronts ('Nortes') occasionally push all the way south into the Yucatan Channel. Behind the front, winds clock into the W/NW/NNW quadrant and you finally get a few hours of clean, groomed surf on the SE side. Average heights sit around 2.3-2.6ft (0.7-0.8m) with average periods in the 6-second range - enough for shortboard groveling on a good day, but nothing to call home about. If you chase this island, this is the season when the rare offshore wind lines up with rideable swell.