Where late December and early January are warm, dry and bright enough to lie out. 94 seaside holiday towns and cities in South America were scored at Christmas, and 36 rate Good or better. The eleven below lead, spread across the region.
The shortlist
- 180 · GoodAracajuBrazil
Rated 80 (Good) for sunbathing at Christmas: midday feels like 31°C, with partly cloudy skies. This is not a short window: it rates Good or better all year. See late December on the map.
- 274 · GoodRecifeBrazil
Midday at Christmas feels like 32°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 74, Good, for sunbathing. The good spell lasts about nine and a half months, from May to mid February. Open it on the map at late December.
- 373 · GoodSalinasEcuador
Midday at Christmas feels like 29°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 73, Good, for sunbathing. Good weather here runs from December to June, so there is room either side. See late December on the map.
- 473 · GoodPôrto SeguroBrazil
A typical midday at Christmas feels like 31°C, and the Sunbathing rating averages 73 over the stretch. It rates Good or better all year, not just now. Open it on the map at late December.
- 571 · GoodMáncoraPeru
A typical midday at Christmas feels like 28°C, and the Sunbathing rating averages 71 over the stretch. Good weather here runs from late November to May, so there is room either side. See late December on the map.
- 669 · GoodTibau do SulBrazil
Rated 69 (Good) for sunbathing at Christmas: midday feels like 31°C, with often cloudy skies. It rates Good or better all year, not just now. Open it on the map at late December.
- 767 · GoodPuerto Baquerizo MorenoEcuador
Rated 67 (Good) for sunbathing at Christmas: midday feels like 28°C, with often cloudy skies. Good weather here runs from mid December to mid February, so there is room either side. See late December on the map.
- 865 · GoodBalneário de CamboriúBrazil
Midday at Christmas feels like 29°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 65, Good, for sunbathing. The good spell lasts about four and a half months, from December to mid April. Rain is rare at this time of year. Open it on the map at late December.
- 963 · GoodCaraguatatubaBrazil
Midday at Christmas feels like 29°C under often cloudy skies, which rates 63, Good, for sunbathing. Good weather here runs from late November to early April, so there is room either side. See late December on the map.
- 1059 · GoodTôrresBrazil
A typical midday at Christmas feels like 28°C, and the Sunbathing rating averages 59 over the stretch. The good spell lasts about three and a half months, from late December to March. Open it on the map at late December.
- 1158 · GoodBuenos AiresArgentina
A typical midday at Christmas feels like 27°C, and the Sunbathing rating averages 58 over the stretch. Open it on the map at late December.
How this list is worked out
The data
Every figure comes from a decade of weather-station observations, blended into one typical year and read at midday, local solar time. Scores here are averaged from late December to early January; a city missing a reading for any part of that stretch is left out rather than scored on part of it.
The rating
Sunbathing: Warm feels-like gates the score — best 26–32 °C. Dry air, light wind and clear skies each lift it; none alone rules it out. A place is also left out when its typical readings contradict its own rating, for example a high score alongside frequent rain.
The spread
To keep one warm corner from filling the list, entries are at least 150 km apart, no more than three sit within 1,000 km of each other, and no more than three come from one country unless the list would otherwise run short.
Only seaside places
Towns and cities within 12 km of the coast, with beaches and plenty of hotels, resorts and holiday lets within 10 km for their size. That keeps out hot inland towns and busy ports that nobody visits for the beach. Places to stay are counted from Overture Maps Places, an open dataset, so a resort missing there is missing here.
The dotted links open the map at that place and time of year, on the same layer. The map remembers the time of day you last chose there; set it to midday to see these exact numbers.