The best time to visit Bali, and what each season is really like

Bali has two seasons and about four different experiences inside them. There is no single best month; there is a best month for what you want.

Dry season: April to October

Less rain, lower humidity, more reliable sun. This is when the walks, the volcano sunrises and the beach days are most likely to go to plan.

July and August are the peak inside the peak. Everything is busier, the roads around Ubud are slower, the popular spots have queues, and accommodation is at its most expensive and books out earliest. If you are coming then, decide your dates and your driver days well ahead.

Wet season: November to March

It rains, but usually not all day - the pattern is a heavy downpour in the afternoon and a clear morning either side of it. Everything is greener, the rice terraces look their best, and there are far fewer people.

The trade-offs are real. Waterfalls run high and can close. Some roads flood briefly. Humidity is heavy, and a scooter in a downpour is genuinely unpleasant. January and February are the wettest.

The shoulder months

May, June and September are what most repeat visitors quietly recommend: mostly dry, noticeably fewer people than the July and August crush, and prices below the peak. If your dates are flexible, start here.

Dates worth checking before you book

Nyepi, the Balinese day of silence, usually falls in March. For one full day the whole island stops - no flights, no traffic, no going outside, lights kept low after dark. Staying in a villa with a pool and a kitchen is about the most comfortable way to spend it, but you have to know it is coming.

Galungan and Kuningan move around the Balinese calendar and are worth seeing if your trip overlaps: decorated penjor poles along every road, and families in temple dress. Some businesses close.

Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year each bring a short, sharp spike in both price and crowds, wet season or not.

Short version

Want the most reliable weather: June or September. Want it quiet and cheap and do not mind afternoon rain: November or February. Want July or August: that is fine, just book early and plan around traffic.