Intro to global wave generators and seasons

Here we go with the dirty job of bringing you some global surf destinations. In these articles you’re going to find quite a fair bit of rambling about the weather. Why? Because the weather makes the waves my bru. It’s that simple.
 
Each month of the year has a "perfect surf destination". That special month when spot X gets hit by heaps of consistent swell and the wind is just right. So we here at Zigzag Travel are going to take this coming year month by month, and to showcase the best possible surf destinations on the globe for each month of the year. But before we do that, lets take a step back and do quick analyses of global weather over a twelve-month period.

The 4 main ways in which real swell is generated, are:
1. Southern Hemisphere cold fronts
2. Northern Hemisphere cold fronts
3. Cyclones/Hurricanes/Typhoons (all 3 are the same thing)
4. Long distance wind swell.

Let’s do a quick review of these swell generators, focusing on when and where.
 
1. Southern Hemi Cold Fronts.

This is the one that most South African surfers understand very well. It is our bread and butter swell generator. These cold fronts generate swell mostly from May until September. But this is not only in South Africa. Around the globe, any west, or south or even south-east facing coast will be exposed to these fronts and will therefore get the majority of their waves during this time as well. South America, African West Coast, Indo, Maldives, Australia, Most of the South Pacific (Fiji, Tahiti), Central America and so on.
 
2. Northern Hemi Cold fronts.

 From October until March. The most obvious spot is Hawaii. But also Northern Europe, Ireland, Morocco, parts of the Caribbean, Parts of Brazil, Huge parts of the Pacific (like northern Tahiti, Tuamotus), parts of north facing South America, Central America and North America. We are leaving a lot of stuff out, but you get the drift.
 
3. Cyclones.

Cyclone season differs the world over. Cyclones are mostly found on the western side of the world's oceans and as a result they affect mostly east facing coasts. Caribbean cyclone season (north Atlantic) is from 1 June until 30 November, with a statistical peak at 10 September. Some strange places inside the Caribbean start to cook when a cyclone moves through, as well as some obscure Atlantic Islands and even parts of the East African coast.

The North East Pacific Ocean has cyclones during a similar period and effects are felt in Mexico, Tahiti, Hawaii and strange parts of South America. The North West Pacific sees tropical cyclones year-round, with a minimum during Feb and a peak late August, September and early October. This is when you should be in Japan, Philipines or Micronesia. The South Pacific cyclone season is from November until March with a peak during December and January. This is when North East Coast Oz goes mental. Snapper, Kirra and so forth. In the North Indian basin, storms are most common from April to December, with peaks in May and November. You will get barrelled in Durban for sure. Also plenty other Indian Ocean Islands like Madagascar, Reunion, and parts of Mozambique are just golden when and Indian Ocean cyclone spins through.
 
4. Long distance wind swell.

We sometimes get strange easterly swells along the SA coast, which have nothing to do with any cyclones. SE trade wind squash zones far offshore generate these swells. There are also some very well kept secrets on Panama and Costa Rica's Caribbean side. Bocas del Toro gets pumping short period wind swell when the SE trades are at their peak during December and January.

So, amongst these 4 abovementioned "swell generators" we should be able to find a cooking wave for each month of the year.