Bali Weather in August: The Clearest Water of the Year

August is the driest month on Bali, around 30 mm over two or three days, with nine hours of sun and the lightest humidity of the year. The sea is calm, the sky is reliable and the volcanoes are visible.

Its real distinction is underneath. Five months without river runoff give August the clearest water of the year, commonly thirty metres around the Nusa islands. On land it is the busiest and most expensive month, tied with July, and the two facts belong in the same sentence.

On this page

August in figures

Orders of magnitude measured on the south coast, which is where every published average for Bali comes from. Ubud runs wetter and cooler at night, and above a thousand metres none of it applies.

Day	29 to 30 °C	84 to 86 °F, mild and dry
Night	23 °C	73 °F, the coolest of the year
Sea	27 °C	81 °F, cool around the Nusa islands
Rain	About 30 mm	two or three days with rain on them
Sun	9 h	average per day, the year's high
Humidity	About 75 %	the lightest air of the year

Is August a good time to visit Bali

The best month underwater

If the trip is about the sea, August is the answer. Visibility at Manta Point and Crystal Bay is at its yearly best, the mola mola season is running, and no crossing gets cancelled. Nothing else on the calendar competes.

If the trip is about the island, August is the hardest month to enjoy. Peak prices, rooms gone months ahead, and every famous site full from mid morning. If August is fixed for you, weight the days towards the water and towards the first two hours after opening.

Is August right for your trip

August is the most lopsided month on the calendar. Five out of five under the water, one out of five on the budget, and everything else falls between.

Diving in August: The clearest water of the year

The best month for this. Commonly thirty metres at Crystal Bay, against ten or twelve in February, and the mola mola season is at its most reliable. The manta stations are excellent. Two things to plan for: the boat traffic at every mooring from mid morning, and water that runs cold enough to want a full wetsuit.

Manta Point and what you actually see there

Surfing in August: Peak season, peak crowd

The best month for this. The trade winds hold, the swell is consistent and the Bukit reefs work every morning. August line ups are the most crowded of the year and the swell is still large enough to rule out beginners at the famous reefs. Dawn is not early enough at Uluwatu in August.

Families in August: Reliable, if booked early

Fine month for this. Perfect weather for children and the toughest logistics of the year. Family rooms go four to six months ahead and the queues land exactly where you were taking them. A snorkel trip is the best value day of an August week, because the thing August is best at happens to be the thing children like most.

What a Nusa Penida day trip really involves

Couples in August: Expensive and shared

Poor month for this. Cool nights and dry evenings are genuinely lovely, and everything else works against a trip for two. Quiet is the one thing August cannot sell you at any price. The east and north of the island stay calmer than the south, and Tirta Gangga before nine is still a private place.

Budget in August: The year's worst value

Avoid month for this. Peak on every line at once, and rooms are hard to find late at any price. The same place that costs a certain amount in February costs more than double now. September delivers most of August's conditions for a fraction less from the second week, which is the single most useful thing this page can tell a budget traveller.

Waterfalls in August: Low, and queued

Poor month for this. Five months into the dry season the smaller falls are thin, and the ones worth photographing have a line for the rock. Tegenungan is a fraction of its February self. The pools are clear and swimmable, which the wet season never allows, and the north coast falls still carry proper volume.

The waterfall guide, month by month

First time in August: Safe, and you will queue

Fine month for this. Nothing about the weather will catch you out, which matters on a first trip. What will catch you out is that the postcard version of every site exists only before nine in the morning in August. Build the itinerary around opening times rather than around distances.

August is not one month

August is peak throughout, so no window is cheap. What breaks the month up is a fixed date: 17 August, Indonesian Independence Day, which changes the character of a few days around it.

1 to 16 August: Northern summer at full volume

European and North American holidays are at their peak and the island is as full as it gets. Nothing is available at short notice, from good rooms to the first boat of the day. Weather is flawless and completely beside the point.

17 August: Independence Day

A national public holiday with parades, flag ceremonies and village competitions across the island. Government offices and some businesses close, domestic travel spikes and traffic is worse than usual. It is genuinely worth seeing, and it is a bad day to have a long drive scheduled.

18 to 31 August: The peak holds

European holidays run to the end of the month, so nothing eases until September. The last few days are the first point in months where a good room becomes findable at short notice, as the turn towards September begins.

What August does badly

Tegenungan waterfall from above with dozens of visitors on the gravel bank and in the pool below — The photograph that sold you the place was taken at seven in the morning. This is the same spot at eleven in August, and it is what most visitors actually see.

Everything that is not the sea. August has flawless weather and the worst version of every famous site on the island. Queues, full car parks, and a photograph that requires either an alarm at five or a compromise. The weather page you are reading cannot fix that, and it is the thing people remember.

The second is availability rather than price. Good rooms disappear four to six months out and the first departures on popular tours go with them. August punishes late planning harder than any other month, and the penalty is not money, it is being stuck with the eleven o'clock boat to Nusa Penida.

Third, the wind. August has the strongest trade winds of the year, which is what gives you the visibility and also gives the east coast a persistent afternoon chop.

Booking around August

August is the month where booking early is the whole strategy. The first departures sell out first, and in August the first departure is the difference between the site you came for and a car park.

A small tour boat running along the limestone cliffs of Nusa Penida on a calm sea

From≈ $28/ pers.

The clearest water of the year

Free cancellation

Bali day tours and island boat trips

Duration: 3 to 12 hFrom ≈ $28 / pers.

✓The best underwater visibility of the year, commonly thirty metres at Crystal Bay
✓Mola mola season is at its most reliable around the Nusa islands
✓Pre dawn departures, the only version of an August trip that beats the crowd
✓Free cancellation on most listings, worth having when you book six months out

See Bali tours and activities

Affiliate link. Booking through GetYourGuide costs you nothing extra and supports the guide. Prices are indicative and vary by option and season.

Bali in August: common questions

Temperature, rain, the sea, crowds and what to wear.

Is August a good time to go to Bali?

For anything involving the water, it is the best month of the year. August is the driest month, around 30 mm over two or three days, with the clearest underwater visibility of the year and a completely reliable sea. On land it is the busiest and most expensive month, tied with July, with famous sites full from mid morning and good rooms gone months ahead. Whether August suits you depends almost entirely on whether the trip is about the sea or about the island.

Is August the driest month in Bali?

Yes, at around 30 mm across the month over two or three days, against 345 mm in January. It shares the year's highest sunshine figure with July and September at about nine hours a day. Rain is genuinely not a planning factor in August, which frees you to plan around opening times and traffic instead.

How hot is Bali in August?

Around 29 to 30 °C by day, 84 to 86 °F, and 23 °C at night, 73 °F. Those are among the mildest figures of the year, and with humidity near 75 percent August is one of the most comfortable months for walking. The Batur rim before dawn is closer to 15 °C, which surprises people who packed only for the beach.

When is the sea clearest in Bali for snorkelling?

August, usually. Visibility around the Nusa islands commonly reaches thirty metres, against ten or twelve in February, because five months without river runoff have left no sediment over the reefs. The same upwelling that delivers the clarity makes the water cold, around 24 to 26 °C at Crystal Bay with sharper thermoclines below, so bring more wetsuit than a page about Bali suggests.

How far in advance should I book Bali for August?

Four to six months for accommodation, and several weeks for popular day tours, particularly the first departures. August is the month where late planning costs you availability rather than money. The practical consequence of booking late is being on the eleven o'clock boat instead of the seven o'clock one, which changes what Nusa Penida is like far more than the weather does.

What happens in Bali on 17 August?

Indonesian Independence Day, a national public holiday marked with flag ceremonies, parades and village competitions across the island. Government offices and some businesses close, domestic travel spikes and the roads are busier than usual. It is worth seeing if you are there, and it is a poor day to have a long drive between the south and the east scheduled.

Bali weather in August