Weather in Bundaberg in December

Shoulder season. December is shoulder season in Bundaberg — cheaper, quieter, and a genuine gamble. Highs average 28.9 °C, lows 22.7 °C, and rain falls on 14 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

December ranks 11 of 12 — near the bottom of Bundaberg's year. August is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 30 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain on 14 days, 4 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 28.9 °C days and 22.7 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 7 days top 30 °C — hot spells arrive, but they break. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 36 °C and the coldest night fell to 17.4 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 96 mm — roughly 72% of the month's rain in one day.

This is the volatile part. December rainfall has ranged from 31 mm to 590 mm across the twenty years measured — a 559 mm spread around an average of 133 mm. The average is real but almost no individual December looks like it, so treat the figure as the middle of a wide range rather than a forecast.

Wind is light at 13.1 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 72%.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 27.8 °C in November, 28.9 here, 29.5 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in December

December is at or near the longest days of Bundaberg's year: 13.7 hours of daylight, holding steady all month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 26.5 °C in December — warm enough to stay in as long as you like. The sea peaks at 27.7 °C in February and bottoms out at 22.6 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Quiet. Few other visitors, cheaper rooms, and a real chance some seasonal operators are shut.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

December in Bundaberg versus nearby

If Bundaberg is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Hervey Bay is the weaker option in December — 2.6 °C warmer, the same number of rain days. Rockhampton is the weaker option in December — 4 °C warmer, 3 days less rain.

So: December is a compromise. August is 28 points better and is what Bundaberg is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Bundaberg

See all twelve months in Bundaberg, or where else to go in December.