This study is to analyze the local convective heat transfer for a circular cylinder with annular fins. The relation between wall heat transfer and three-dimensional flow is investigated for different distances of annular fins. Depending on the fin spacing, the flow structure is strongly changed by the variation of horseshoe vortices. As the fin spacing increases, the heat transfer rate is maximized at a certain condition. This is clearly obtained as the Reynolds number increases, and it is closely related to the development of horseshoe vortices.