Where to Go in March: Best Watersports Bases
by Yannick SchrothAug 5, 20267 min read
Photo: Emma Li via Pexels (free license).
Each guide linked below carries the verified figures and where they came from.
What March gives you on the water
March sits between two seasons, which makes it the month with the widest spread between a great trip and a wasted one. March is the shoulder month that suits flexible people. Winter systems are fading and summer patterns have not arrived, which means fewer crowds and slightly less reliable conditions almost everywhere. Every base here is included because its own guide names March as part of its working window, not because the weather is generally nice, and where a place is marginal we say so rather than padding the list to a round number.
Tofo
Mantas are seen year-round with March to May widely rated the peak, and March often called the best all-round month.
Manta peakRead the guide → 4°29′N 118°37′E · DivingSemporna (Sipadan)
The drier stretch runs April to December, with March to June often the calmest seas and clearest water.
Calmest seasRead the guide → 9°57′N 123°23′E · DivingMoalboal
The drier, calmer months run roughly March to June, the best stretch for visibility.
Best visibilityRead the guide → 12°00′N 120°12′E · Wreck divingCoron, Palawan
Wreck visibility is best from about March to May, commonly reaching 20 to 30 metres.
Best wreck visibilityRead the guide → 16°36′N 22°56′W · KitesurfingSal, Cape Verde
Still in the February to March sweet spot of the November to June trade-wind season.
Strong tradesRead the guide → 28°38′S 153°37′E · SurfByron Bay
Autumn (March to May) is the best all-round window: clean swells, water still warm, thinner crowds.
Autumn sweet spotRead the guide → 37°48′S 174°52′E · SurfRaglan
Autumn (March to May) is the most consistent stretch on the point breaks.
Consistent autumnRead the guide → 5°54′N 102°43′E · DivingPerhentian Islands
The islands reopen for the March to October window after the northeast monsoon shutdown.
Season reopensRead the guide →Also good in March
- Malapascua, still inside its January to April peak.
- Pichilemu, where the big-wave window runs March to October.
- Maui, as the March to October trade-wind season starts.
March is the driest air and the flattest light of the year
March is the month the Philippine dry season changes character. PAGASA splits the dry half of the year in two, and March is where the cool dry season ends and the hot dry season begins, running to May. It is also the driest air the archipelago gets: the country's average monthly relative humidity “varies between 71 percent in March and 85 percent in September”. Fourteen points of humidity is the difference between gear that dries overnight and gear that does not, which is a small thing until you are living out of one bag.
The other March fact is astronomical rather than meteorological, and it is the one that makes this month unusually easy to plan. At the equinox everywhere on earth gets close to twelve hours of daylight. For Moalboal the Naval Observatory has 11 h 56 min on 1 March and 12 h 11 min by the 28th. From here to the solstice the tropical day gains only a few more minutes, so the dive schedule you plan in March is the dive schedule you get.
FAQ: Watersports Destinations in March
Where can I dive with mantas in March?
Tofo in Mozambique is the standout: mantas are resident year-round, and March to May is widely rated the peak, with March often called the best all-round month. Raja Ampat's manta odds also stay strong through April.
Is March a good month to start a longer stay?
It works well in the southern hemisphere, where autumn (March to May) is the best all-round window in Byron Bay and Raglan, and in Borneo and the central Philippines, where March to June brings the calmest seas of the year.
Sources
- Where March sits in the Philippine year. PAGASA, Climate of the Philippines: the dry season subdivides into “the cool dry season, from December to February” and “the hot dry season, from March to May”; “The average monthly relative humidty varies between 71 percent in March and 85 percent in September” (spelling as published). pagasa.dost.gov.ph. Read 12 September 2026.
- Twelve hours, give or take. US Naval Observatory, Astronomical Applications Department, table of sunrise and sunset for an entire year. Moalboal, 1 March 2027: rise 06:01, set 17:57; 28 March: rise 05:46, set 17:57. aa.usno.navy.mil. Table for Moalboal (N09 57, E123 23), 2027, zone UTC+8. Read 12 September 2026.
- Each entry links to our full guide for that place, and those guides carry the external sources and read dates behind the claims summarised here. They are where the readings are recorded, not the evidence for them: Tofo, Semporna (Sipadan), Moalboal, Coron, Palawan, Sal, Cape Verde, Byron Bay, Raglan, Perhentian Islands.