December brings around 250 mm of rain over roughly eighteen days, six hours of sun and a sea rough enough that crossings to the Nusa islands are cancelled regularly. It is properly the wet season.
The thing that matters more than any of that: December contains two completely different trips. Up to about the twentieth it is quiet and inexpensive. After it, prices go vertical and the island fills, with the same weather. That is the one window on the calendar this guide argues against.
On this page
December 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 | 30 °C | 86 °F, and heavy with it |
|---|---|---|
| Night | 24 °C | 75 °F, humid after dark |
| Sea | 29 °C | 84 °F, warm and turbid |
| Rain | About 250 mm | roughly eighteen days with rain on them |
| Sun | 6 h | average per day, the year's low |
| Humidity | About 85 % | the heaviest of the year |
Is December a good time to visit Bali
Before the twentieth, yes
The first three weeks of December are underrated. Wet season weather, wet season prices, and an island that is close to empty. The waterfalls are running hard, the landscape is green, and the mornings are often bright before the afternoon storm.
The Christmas and New Year fortnight is the only period on the calendar this guide tells people to avoid outright. Peak prices, peak crowds and wet season weather all at once, which is the downside of both seasons in a single booking.
Is December right for your trip
Read every verdict below as applying to the first three weeks. Over the holidays, every one of them drops by two, because the price roughly doubles and the crowd arrives without the weather improving.
Diving in December: Poor, and often cancelled
Poor month for this. Runoff has clouded the water and the channel is rough. Visibility drops to ten or twelve metres and the boat may not go at all. The mantas are resident year round, so nothing is absent except the ability to reach them and to see them.
Surfing in December: East coast, and empty
Fine month for this. The Bukit is blown out most days and the east coast is working with almost nobody on it. Sanur, Nusa Dua and Keramas take the wet season swell with offshore mornings. Over the holidays the water fills with holidaymakers rather than surfers, which is a different problem.
Families in December: The most expensive hard work
Poor month for this. School holidays put most families here in exactly the fortnight that combines the worst of everything. Peak rates, full beaches, mosquitoes and an afternoon downpour most days. If the dates are fixed, base somewhere with indoor space and book the accommodation six months out.
Couples in December: Good, until the twentieth
Poor month for this. Early December is quiet, green and cheap, and the rain in the valley at Ubud is its own kind of pleasure. From the twentieth that disappears completely: restaurant tables need booking, the quiet places are not quiet, and the rates are the steepest of the year.
Budget in December: Cheap, then the year's worst
Poor month for this. The gap inside this single month is the largest on the calendar. Rooms in mid December can cost a third of what the same room costs on 28 December. Nothing about the weather changes across that line. If your dates are movable at all, move them to the front of the month.
Waterfalls in December: Running hard again
The best month for this. Two months of rain have the catchments full and every fall on the island is back to real volume. Tegenungan is spectacular. The water is brown and swimming is off the table, and the descents are slick clay, so bring shoes with grip and go for the sight.
The waterfall guide, month by month
First time in December: The month to avoid
Poor month for this. A first trip over the holidays gets the worst introduction Bali offers: the highest prices, the fullest sites and the least reliable weather, all together. Early December is fine. The last ten days are the one window on this whole guide that we would tell someone to move.
December is not one month
No other month splits this hard. The same room, the same weather, and roughly triple the price across a line that falls around the twentieth.
1 to 20 December: Quiet, green and cheap
Wet season weather at wet season prices, with the island close to empty. Mornings are frequently bright and the rain lands in the afternoon. A genuinely reasonable time to come, and almost nobody thinks of December this way.
21 December to 5 January: The worst fortnight of the year
Peak prices, peak crowds and wet season weather at once. It is the only combination on the calendar that gives you the downside of both seasons. Rooms need booking six months ahead, restaurants need booking at all, and the traffic in the south is at its annual worst.
What December does badly
The holiday fortnight, and it does it badly on every axis at once. Prices are the steepest of the year, the crowds match August, and the weather is the wet season at close to full strength. Not one of those three compensates for the others.
The second thing is the sea, all month. Crossings to the Nusa islands are cancelled regularly, sometimes on the morning itself, and underwater visibility is at its worst. An island day booked in December is an intention rather than a plan.
Third, localised flooding on the south coast is a genuine December feature, and it is what turns an hour of traffic into three. Galungan and Kuningan can also fall in this period. They follow a 210 day cycle and move every year, so check rather than assume.
Booking around December
Two different jobs this month. Before the twentieth, book for free cancellation because the sky decides. After it, book because everything is gone.
The month the sky and the calendar both decide
Free cancellationBali day tours, with cancellation that holds
- ✓Free cancellation on most listings, right up to the day before
- ✓Operators who cancel a crossing on sea state rather than let you find out at the pier
- ✓Waterfalls back at full volume, and worth a half day between showers
- ✓Over the holidays, the popular tours sell out weeks ahead
Affiliate link. Booking through GetYourGuide costs you nothing extra and supports the guide. Prices are indicative and vary by option and season.
Bali in December: common questions
Temperature, rain, the sea, crowds and what to wear.
