Bali Weather in July: Perfect Weather, Peak Crowds

July is the driest, sunniest and busiest month of the Bali year. Around 50 mm of rain over three days, nine hours of sun, comfortable 75 percent humidity and a sea calm enough that nothing gets cancelled.

Which is exactly why every other page will tell you July is the best time to come. The part they leave out: famous sites are full from mid morning, and that changes a day far more than sunshine improves it. July rewards planning by the hour rather than by the week.

On this page

July 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, the year's mildest
Night	23 °C	73 °F, cool enough to sleep
Sea	27 °C	81 °F, cool around the Nusa islands
Rain	About 50 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 July a good time to visit Bali

Perfect weather, expensive day

Nothing will go wrong with the sky. July is the safest month on the calendar for anything that depends on the weather: the crossings run, the surf works, the volcanoes are visible, and rain is a rumour.

The costs are real though. You pay peak rates across the board and share every famous place with everyone else who read the same advice. If your dates are fixed by school holidays, July is fine and the answer is to start every day at opening time. If they are not fixed, May and September give you nearly the same weather for materially less.

Is July right for your trip

July splits harder than any other month. It is the best month of the year for surfing and diving, and the worst on the calendar for value and for solitude.

Diving in July: Excellent, and busy

The best month for this. Visibility is at its dry season best and the mola mola season is running at Crystal Bay, roughly July to October. The manta stations deliver. The trade off is boat traffic: the same mooring that holds two boats in May holds a dozen by mid morning in July. Take the first departure.

Manta Point and what you actually see there

Surfing in July: The biggest, and the fullest

The best month for this. Peak of the season. Consistent south west swell, offshore trade winds every morning, and the Bukit reefs firing. The swell is also at its biggest, which suits experienced surfers and rules out beginners at Uluwatu and Padang Padang. The line ups are the most crowded of the year by a distance.

Families in July: Reliable, and hard work

Fine month for this. The weather could not be better for children and everything else could be worse. Peak rates, rooms gone months ahead, and queues at exactly the places you brought them to see. It works with an early start every day and a base away from Seminyak and Kuta. It does not work improvised.

What a Nusa Penida day trip really involves

Couples in July: The worst month for it

Poor month for this. Everything that makes a trip for two feel like one is at its scarcest in July. The quiet temple courtyard, the empty ridge, the table with a view all cost more and come with company. Tirta Gangga at eight in the morning still works. At eleven it does not.

Budget in July: Avoid, if you can

Avoid month for this. Peak pricing on every line of the trip at once: flights, rooms, drivers, tours. The same room can cost more than twice its February rate and more than a third above May. There is no version of July that is good value. If price is the deciding variable, this is the month to move away from.

Waterfalls in July: Thin, and crowded

Poor month for this. Four months into the dry season the smaller falls are running low, and the ones that are still worth seeing have a queue for the photograph. The north coast falls hold up. The pools are clear and swimmable, which the wet season never gives you, and Tukad Cepung works well in dry air.

The waterfall guide, month by month

First time in July: Fine, with an alarm clock

Fine month for this. July will not surprise you with the weather, which counts for a lot on a first trip. It will surprise you with the traffic and the queues. Two hours after opening is worth more than any other planning decision you make, and it is the difference between the Gates of Heaven being a photograph and being a three hour wait.

July is not one month

July is peak from the first day to the last, so there is no cheap window in it. What varies is which school holidays are overlapping, and therefore which part of the island is worst affected.

1 to 15 July: Two calendars at once

The Australian Term 2 break overlaps with the start of the northern summer holidays, which is the heaviest concentration of the year. The south coast takes the worst of it: Seminyak, Kuta, Legian and Nusa Dua. Book everything, including restaurants.

16 to 31 July: European summer, sustained

The Australian break ends and the northern summer keeps going, so the numbers stay high but shift inland. Ubud and the east feel busier in the second half than in the first, while the beach clubs ease slightly. Rates do not move either way.

What July does badly

Visitors in brightly coloured rented sarongs waiting in front of the split gate at Lempuyang — The wait for one photograph at Lempuyang can run past three hours in July. Nothing on a weather page prepares people for that, and it is what they remember.

Crowds, and the price of them. July has the best weather statistics on the calendar and the worst experience at the places those statistics bring people to. The wait at Lempuyang can run past three hours. The viewpoint at Kelingking is a scrum by ten in the morning.

The second cost is the road. Traffic between the south and Ubud roughly doubles in July, and a drive that takes an hour in February takes two. It is the single biggest reason July itineraries fall apart, and no weather forecast mentions it.

Third, the swell is at its biggest, which is a plus for experienced surfers and a genuine problem for beginners and for swimming on exposed west coast beaches.

Booking around July

In July availability is the constraint, not the weather. Popular tours sell out weeks ahead and the first departures, which are the only ones worth taking this month, go first.

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

From≈ $28/ pers.

The month to book early and leave early

Free cancellation

Bali day tours and island boat trips

Duration: 3 to 12 hFrom ≈ $28 / pers.

✓Pre dawn departures, which are the only version of a July trip that beats the crowd
✓Crossings run every day, and the mola mola season is open at Crystal Bay
✓Free cancellation on most listings, worth having when you book months out
✓One driver for the day beats fighting the south to Ubud traffic twice

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 July: common questions

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

Is July a good time to visit Bali?

On weather, it is the best month of the year: around 50 mm of rain over three days, nine hours of sun, the lightest humidity of the year and a sea calm enough that nothing gets cancelled. On everything else it is the hardest. July is peak season across flights, rooms and tours, and famous sites are crowded from mid morning. If your dates are fixed by school holidays, July works with early starts. If they are not, May and September give you nearly the same weather for much less.

Does it rain a lot in Bali in July?

No. July is the second driest month of the year after August, with around 50 mm across the month over two or three days. When rain does fall it is brief. Anyone planning a July trip can treat rain as a non factor and spend the planning effort on traffic and opening times instead, which is where July trips actually go wrong.

What is the temperature in Bali in July?

Around 29 to 30 °C by day, 84 to 86 °F, and 23 °C at night, 73 °F. July is one of the mildest months of the year on the thermometer, and with humidity near 75 percent it is the most comfortable month for walking any distance. The highlands are genuinely cold at dawn, closer to 15 °C on the Batur rim.

How crowded is Bali in July?

It is the busiest month, tied with August. The Australian Term 2 break overlaps with the start of the northern summer holidays in the first half, and European travel sustains the numbers through the second. In practice this means famous sites full from mid morning, a wait of up to three hours at Lempuyang, and traffic between the south and Ubud that roughly doubles the drive time.

Is the sea rough in Bali in July?

The crossings are calm and reliable, so boats to Nusa Penida run every day. The surf is a different question: July has the biggest south west swell of the year, which is excellent on the Bukit reefs for experienced surfers and genuinely dangerous for beginners and swimmers on exposed west coast beaches. Stick to sheltered water at Sanur and Nusa Dua if you are swimming with children.

Is July or August better in Bali?

August is marginally drier and has the best underwater visibility of the year, which makes it the better month for diving and snorkelling. July has a slightly bigger swell for surfing. Crowds and prices are effectively identical. For most trips the two are interchangeable, and the more useful question is whether either of them beats September, which is cheaper and quieter for very similar conditions.

Bali weather in July