Best Time to Visit Bali, Month by Month

Bali has two seasons, and the useful advice is not "come in the dry season". It is that the shoulder months at either end of it give you almost identical weather to peak season with noticeably fewer people and lower prices.

There is also one date each year when the entire island shuts down, airport included. Here is the year in order.

The two seasons

Dry season: April to October. Lower humidity, reliable sun, offshore winds on the west coast. Peak within it is July and August, plus the Christmas and New Year period.

Wet season: November to March. Hot, humid, with heavy afternoon downpours rather than all-day rain. Greener, cheaper, and far from a write-off.

A point most guides miss: the wet season does not usually mean losing days. It means losing afternoons. Mornings are often clear, so an early start still works.

Month by month

The best months, and why

May, June and September are the answer for most people. You get dry-season weather without July and August prices or crowds. September in particular is underrated — the sea is calm, visibility for diving is good, and the peak-season surcharges have gone.

April and October are the next tier: mostly dry with occasional showers, and the best value of the year.

The one week to plan around

Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence, falls in March on a date set by the Saka lunar calendar, so it moves each year and is announced well in advance. Check it before you book.

For 24 hours the entire island stops. Ngurah Rai airport closes completely — no flights in or out. Nobody goes outside, including tourists, who stay within their hotel grounds. Shops and restaurants close.

It is not a reason to avoid Bali. Experienced from a hotel it is genuinely extraordinary, and the Ogoh-ogoh parades the night before are one of the island's great spectacles. But it is an absolute reason not to schedule a flight that day. Full detail in our Nyepi guide.

Season by activity

Surfing the west coast — Uluwatu, Canggu, Bingin and Padang Padang — is best in the dry season, when the south-east trade winds blow offshore.

Surfing the east coast — Sanur, Nusa Dua, Keramas — is better in the wet season, when those same winds turn offshore on that side. This is the single most useful seasonal fact for surfers and the one most often left out: there is good surf in Bali every month, just not in the same place.

Diving and snorkelling peak from April to October, with the best visibility around Tulamben, Amed and Nusa Penida. Mola mola season off Penida runs roughly July to October.

Waterfalls — Sekumpul, Munduk — are at full volume in and just after the wet season, though the paths are slippery and river crossings stronger.

Rice terraces at Tegallalang and Jatiluwih are greenest from about January to April, since planting cycles follow the rain.

Mount Batur sunrise is clearest in the dry season. In the wet season cloud frequently covers the summit and there is no view at all.

Combining with Lombok

The seasons align, so a two-island trip works the same way — with one hard constraint. Mount Rinjani closes completely from 1 January to 31 March. If Lombok's volcano is part of the plan, that rules out the first quarter regardless of how good Bali looks. See our Lombok vs Bali comparison.