Escape from Winter — January’s Best Travel Bets (Baja, Caribbean, Micronesia) Still Looking Good

Surfline’s Forecasters teamed up to point you in the right direction to kick off the new year with a surf trip in January’s Best Travel Bets. It’s hard to look away from the North Pacific during the Northern Hemisphere winter — and it’s sometimes hard to hide from all the swell the North Pac produces, like it has been at times this month.

Too much of a good thing at times for some spots in the North Pacific. Not the case for Todos. JoJo Roper, photo Billy Watts

Read: Baja’s Expert Forecast Analysis

Our selections of Baja and Micronesia definitely produced as the North Pacific showed multiple fits of fury over the first half of the month. All those large to extra large days on the North Shore translated into solid surf for many of the thousands of islands in Micronesia. And many of those same storms delivered to Baja and other points along the West Coast of the Americas. Additional storms fired up east of the dateline too and Baja reaped the rewards.

LOLA wave heights forecast for the middle of January unsurprisingly shows the North Pacific still purple and pumping — where in the world do you want to go?

The other selection, on the other half of the Northern Hemi, was a Caribbean-combo, designed to maximize the anticipated weather patterns in the Atlantic. The Central American side of the Caribbean absolutely pumped through the start of the year, easing to more manageable levels for the second week of the month. Surf stayed steady through the middle of the month, and you would have been more than happy if you stayed put and stayed barreled. But we suggested shifting your focus to the more north-exposed islands of the Caribbean. Fun northerly swells offered chest to head+ surf around the middle of the month and an Atlantic pattern change brings potential for a round of solid swell later this month.

Check: Puerto Rico Forecast and Seasonal Outlook

Now that we’re past the halfway point, our expert forecasters fill you in on the outlook for the back half of the month. Rain, snow, and weather are moving into California, and the coldest temps of winter are headed to the East Coast, so make your choice and book your ticket: