Best time to visit Bali: dry and rainy season

Bali is warm all year, so the question of when to go is mostly a question of rain. In the south of the island the wettest month gets six times as much rain as the driest: 56 mm in August, 336 mm in February. Temperature, by contrast, varies by only a little over two degrees across the year. We analysed the weather of 2015 to 2024 for the south around Denpasar and for Ubud in the island's interior.

The short answer

• Best time: May to September. This is the dry season, with 56 to 107 mm of rain a month in the south, lots of sun and slightly lower humidity. Ideal for beaches, temples, rice terraces and volcano hikes.
• Good shoulder months: April and October. Rain is tailing off or slowly returning, and it is usually less busy than in midsummer.
• Rainy season: November to March, with 207 to 336 mm a month. Showers are often heavy but rarely last all day. Travel is perfectly possible, but hikes and boat trips are cancelled more often.

July and August are the most popular months because of the European and North American summer holidays, so flights^* and rooms book up early. If you are flexible, go in May, June or September: similarly dry, fewer crowds.

Bali's climate: all 12 months

Temperature and rain: average of 2015–2024 from the ERA5 reanalysis (via Open-Meteo), rounded; temperatures for Denpasar. A grid cell is about 25 km wide, so the difference between coast and hills is blurred. In Ubud nights are on average about 1.5 degrees cooler than on the coast, and the highlands around Bedugul and Mount Batur are noticeably cooler still.

Two things stand out. First, nights are almost as warm as days, with a gap of only four to five degrees. Second, the interior gets more rain than the coast even in the dry season: Ubud sees 118 to 134 mm in July and August, the south only 56 to 82 mm. If you want to see rice terraces and waterfalls, pack an umbrella for Ubud, even in summer.

Bali month by month

January and February

The wettest months: the south gets 311 and 336 mm of rain, often as heavy afternoon or night-time showers and thunderstorms. In between, the sun does come out. It is humid, streets can flood briefly, and some beaches collect a lot of washed-up debris. In return the island is lush, and away from the New Year holidays prices are lower.

March

Still rainy season at 238 mm, but noticeably drier than February. Nyepi, the Balinese New Year, usually falls in March: a day of silence when nobody goes out on the streets anywhere on the island, the airport closes and tourists also stay inside their hotels. The date follows the Balinese calendar and changes every year – check it before you book.

April

The transition to the dry season: 181 mm of rain and 29 °C by day. The landscape is still deep green and high season has not started yet. A good month if you want greenery and quiet and can live with a few showers.

May and June

For many the best months of all: 95 to 107 mm of rain in the south, 28 to 29 °C by day and no school holidays in Europe yet. Beaches, temples and hikes all work well.

July and August

The driest and slightly coolest months: 27 °C by day, around 23 °C at night, and only 56 mm of rain in the south in August. This is high season. Kuta, Seminyak, Canggu and Ubud are busy, so reach popular sights^* early in the morning. It is the best time for sunrise on Mount Batur, as views are usually clear.

September and October

Still dry – 74 mm in September, 104 mm in October – and calmer once the summer holidays are over. In October it gets a little warmer and more humid again. For divers and snorkellers these months are often especially pleasant.

November and December

The rainy season begins: 207 mm in November, 295 mm in December. Over Christmas and New Year Bali is still heavily booked, especially by travellers from Australia and Asia. Expect heavy showers and keep day trips flexible.

What works best when

Where to go in Bali

Base map: Natural Earth

The south, with Kuta, Seminyak and Canggu, is close to the airport^* and is the island's beach area. On the Bukit peninsula the temple of Pura Luhur Uluwatu sits on a cliff above the sea – it is at its best at sunset, and in the dry season the evening sky is almost always clear.

Ubud in the interior is the cultural centre, with its palace, markets and dance performances. North of it lie the Tegallalang rice terraces. Higher up, the temple of Ulun Danu Bratan stands on Lake Bratan; it is noticeably cooler here, and clouds often roll in by mid-morning.

For sunrise on Mount Batur you start in the middle of the night. It is cold at the top, so bring a warm jacket even if it is 27 °C down on the beach.

How YesTrip helps with this trip

In YesTrip you enter Bali and your dates and get a day-by-day plan with a map that keeps distances short – which matters on an island where traffic between the south and Ubud eats up time. The forecast for your travel days shows which day suits Mount Batur or the rice terraces best. The packing list suggests a rain jacket, light clothes, temple clothing and the right plug adapter. If you travel as a group, you share the trip and log shared expenses; the map also works offline.

Before you go

• Entry: Indonesia requires a visa, available on arrival or online in advance, and it costs a fee. Bali also charges its own levy on foreign visitors. Your passport should be valid for at least six months. Check the current rules on gov.uk.
• Flight: There are no direct flights from the UK. With one change, for example in the Gulf or South-East Asia, the journey usually takes 17 to 20 hours.
• Power: 230 volts, sockets type C and F (two round pins). From the UK you need an adapter.
• Temples: Cover shoulders and knees; many temples ask you to wear a sarong, often lent at the entrance.
• Mobile data: Roaming in Indonesia is expensive. A travel eSIM is usually much cheaper.

To use the dry season for more than the beach, see our 2-week Bali itinerary through Ubud, the east and the north.

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