Honest advice
Zeehan weather, and when to visit
The honest answer about West Coast weather is that it does what it likes, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
This coast catches weather that has come across the Southern Ocean without hitting anything. It rains often, it rains at any time of year, and a clear morning is not a promise about the afternoon.
Summer, roughly November to April, is when most visitors come and when the days are long enough to do a Gordon River cruise and still have an evening. It is also when Strahan fills up and prices there climb.
Two dates worth knowing if you are choosing when to come. The gem and mineral fair is on 7 and 8 November 2026, and it is the biggest weekend of the year here, so the town fills up in a way it does not for the rest of the year. Book earlier than you otherwise would.
Winter is quiet, cold and genuinely beautiful, and the waterfalls are at their best because of the rain everyone complains about. If you do not mind weather, it is the better time to see the place.
Whenever you come, pack a proper rain jacket and boots you do not mind ruining. The rest you can buy here.
Stay the night at the Heemskirk
Whatever the sky is doing, the bistro is open and the rooms are warm.