Best Time to Visit in Bali
Part of the Bali travel guide — see every topic in All Bali Guides.
Bali sits eight degrees south of the equator, so the temperature barely moves all year: highs of 30–32°C and lows of 23–25°C, every month. What changes is rain and crowds. The dry season runs roughly April to October with south-east trade winds, low humidity by tropical standards and reliable sunsets. The wet season runs November to March with afternoon downpours, higher humidity and cheaper everything. Overlaid on that is a crowd curve that spikes hard in July, August and the two weeks around New Year.
The dry season, April to October
This is the reliable half of the year. Rain is occasional rather than daily, the sea is calm and clear on the west coast, the surf is offshore at Uluwatu and Canggu, and the sunsets happen. Humidity in July and August drops noticeably and the evenings can even feel cool inland. The cost is crowds and prices: July and August see European and Australian school holidays collide, villa rates rise fifty to a hundred per cent, and the road to Uluwatu becomes a car park. May, June and September are the sweet spot — dry-season weather without peak-season pricing.
The wet season, November to March
The wet season is much better than its reputation. Rain typically arrives as a heavy afternoon or overnight downpour lasting one to three hours rather than a day of drizzle, and mornings are often clear. The landscape is dramatically greener, the waterfalls are at full volume, and the east coast surf turns on. Accommodation is thirty to fifty per cent cheaper and the popular sites are quiet. The genuine downsides: January and February can produce multi-day rain, sea visibility drops, river runoff dirties the west-coast beaches, and some boat crossings get cancelled.
The crowd calendar
Peak is 1 July to 31 August plus roughly 20 December to 5 January, when everything is full and expensive and needs booking months ahead. Chinese New Year in January and February and Australian school holidays in April and late September produce smaller spikes. The quietest weeks are late January to early March and the second half of November. Note also Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence, in March: for twenty-four hours the entire island stops — no flights in or out, no vehicles, no lights, hotel guests confined to the property. It is remarkable, but do not schedule a departure on it.
Picking by activity
Surfing the west coast: April to October. Surfing the east coast: November to March. Diving Nusa Penida for mantas: year-round; for sunfish, July to October. Menjangan visibility: April to November. Hiking Batur or Agung: May to September for clear sunrises. Waterfalls at full flow: December to April. Rice terraces at their greenest: the second half of the wet season and just after, so roughly February to May. If you want one answer for a general first trip, go in the second half of May or in September.
Best Time to Visit at a glance
| Temperature | 30–32°C day, 23–25°C night, all year |
|---|---|
| Dry season | April–October |
| Wet season | November–March; afternoon downpours, mornings often clear |
| Peak crowds | July–August, and 20 Dec–5 Jan |
| Best value | May, June, September; late Jan–early Mar |
| Nyepi | March — the whole island stops, airport closed 24 h |