Bali Weather in March: The Rain Eases, Nyepi Lands

March is the last month of the Bali wet season and the first one that gives ground. Rainfall drops to around 220 mm over roughly fifteen days, sunshine climbs back to seven hours, and the sea starts settling through the second half.

Two things make March its own month rather than a milder January. Clear windows of two or three consecutive days start appearing, which changes what you can plan. And Nyepi falls in March, the Balinese day of silence, when the airport closes and nobody leaves their accommodation.

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March 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	31 °C	88 °F, the year's joint warmest
Night	24 °C	75 °F, still humid after dark
Sea	29 °C	84 °F, clearing through the month
Rain	About 220 mm	roughly fifteen days with rain on them
Sun	7 h	average per day, up from six
Humidity	About 83 %	easing, but still heavy

Is March a good time to visit Bali

Yes, and it is underrated

March is the best of the three wet season months by some margin. You get most of February's emptiness and most of its prices, with meaningfully better odds on any given day and a landscape at its absolute greenest.

The one thing to sort before you book is Nyepi. Check the date, because it moves every year, and a closed airport is not something you work around on arrival. Travellers who know it is coming often call it the best day of the trip.

Is March right for your trip

March is the changeover month, so the answers shift across it. Early March behaves like February and late March starts behaving like April, which is the best month of the year.

Diving in March: Improving, still not good

Poor month for this. Runoff is easing and the crossings start to settle in the second half, but visibility is still well short of what the dry season gives. Expect twelve to eighteen metres where September delivers thirty. The manta sites are resident and reachable more days than in February. Wait for April if the diving is the trip.

Surfing in March: The changeover, both coasts

Fine month for this. March sits on the hinge. The east coast is still working and the Bukit starts getting its offshore mornings back late in the month. The reward is that nobody is out yet on either side. Conditions are less reliable than in July and the line ups are a fraction of the size.

Families in March: Workable, outside Nyepi

Fine month for this. Better odds than January or February and the sites are still quiet, which matters more with children than the weather does. Nyepi with young children is a hard twenty four hours, confined to the accommodation with the lights low, so either plan around it or pick a hotel with space to move.

Couples in March: Green, quiet and cheap

Strong month for this. The best of the wet season for two people: rates still low, sites still empty, and enough clear days to get out properly. The ogoh ogoh parades the night before Nyepi are one of the genuinely memorable things you can see on Bali, and they happen in every village rather than at a ticketed venue.

Ubud, and where the valley is worth the money

Budget in March: Wet season rates, better weather

The best month for this. March is still priced as the wet season while delivering noticeably more usable days than January or February. That gap is the best price to conditions ratio of the first half of the year. Rates start moving in the last week of the month as Easter approaches, so the earlier weeks are the buy.

Waterfalls in March: Full volume, last chance

The best month for this. Still running hard after five months of rain, and this is the last month they do. Tibumana and Tegenungan carry three times their September flow. Water is still too loaded to swim in, and the paths down are wet stone. April is the month that gets both volume and clarity.

The waterfall guide, month by month

First time in March: Fine, if you check one date

Fine month for this. March is a reasonable first trip: quiet sites, low prices, and enough clear days to see what you came for. The entire risk is booking flights across Nyepi without knowing it. Check the date first and March becomes a straightforwardly good month.

March is not one month

March has one hard division and it is not a weather one. Nyepi shuts the whole island for twenty four hours, airport included, and the date moves every year because it follows a lunar calendar.

Before Nyepi: Wet season rates, improving skies

Prices are still at February levels while the weather is measurably better. Sites are quiet. This is the value window of the month, and it runs right up to the ogoh ogoh parades on the eve of Nyepi, which are worth timing a trip around rather than avoiding.

Nyepi, 24 hours: The island stops

The airport closes, nothing opens, nobody goes outside and lights stay off after dark. It is enforced, and it applies to visitors as much as to residents. You stay inside your accommodation. Hotels serve food. The streets are empty apart from the pecalang keeping them that way.

After Nyepi: The shoulder starts early

The morning after Nyepi the island is quieter than you will ever see it, and the last week of March starts behaving like April. Rates begin climbing if Easter falls close, which it sometimes does, so check that against your dates too.

What March does badly

A closed split gate at Ulun Danu Beratan with a no entry sign in front of the inner enclosure — For twenty four hours nothing on the island opens and nobody goes out. Knowing it is coming is the difference between the best day of a trip and a wasted one.

Nyepi is the only date on the Balinese calendar that can cost you a flight. Ngurah Rai airport closes for a full twenty four hours, no flights land or leave, and the day before and after are congested as a result. It follows a lunar calendar, so it moves every year. Check it before you book, not after.

The second weakness is ordinary wet season business. Crossings to the Nusa islands are still cancelled, particularly in the first fortnight, and underwater visibility has not recovered. If the islands matter to you, put them late in the month and late in the trip.

Third, and smallest: the humidity is still around 83 percent, so a long walk in the middle of the day is heavier work than the temperature suggests.

Booking around March

March is the month to book things you can move. The weather is improving but not settled, and Nyepi takes a day out of the middle of it. Free cancellation covers both.

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

From≈ $28/ pers.

The month the season turns

Free cancellation

Bali day tours and island boat trips

Duration: 3 to 12 hFrom ≈ $28 / pers.

✓Free cancellation on most listings, which covers a change of plan around Nyepi
✓Waterfalls at full volume, and the last month they run this hard
✓Operators who cancel a crossing on sea state rather than let you find out at the pier
✓Small group tours run with space on them in the quiet season

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 March: common questions

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

Is March a good time to visit Bali?

Yes, and it is the best of the three wet season months. Rainfall drops to around 220 mm, clear runs of two or three days start appearing, and the island is at its greenest while still being priced and crowded like the low season. The one thing to settle before booking is Nyepi, the day of silence, which falls in March and closes the airport for twenty four hours.

What is Nyepi and how does it affect a trip?

Nyepi is the Balinese day of silence, and for twenty four hours the entire island stops. The airport closes, nothing is open, nobody goes outside and lights stay off after dark. It is enforced and it applies to visitors as much as residents, so you stay inside your accommodation. The night before brings the ogoh ogoh parades, giant demon effigies carried through every village and burned. The date moves every year because it follows a lunar calendar.

How much does it rain in Bali in March?

Around 220 mm across the month, over roughly fifteen days, which is noticeably down from January's 345 mm. The shape of the rain matters more than the total: it usually falls as a heavy burst in the afternoon or overnight rather than as a wet day. March is the first month of the year where you can reasonably expect a run of two or three clear days.

What should I wear in Bali in March?

Light breathable clothes, because humidity is still around 83 percent and that is what makes a day tiring rather than the 31 °C. Shoes with grip for temple steps and waterfall paths, which are wet stone all month. A cheap poncho rather than a rain jacket. Covered shoulders and knees for temples, or a sarong hired at the gate. And one warm layer if you are going up to Kintamani or Munduk.

Is the sea rough in Bali in March?

It improves through the month. The first fortnight still sees crossings to Nusa Penida cancelled on short notice, and the second half settles noticeably. Underwater visibility recovers more slowly than the surface does, because runoff keeps sediment over the reefs into April. If an island day matters, put it late in the month and early in your trip so there is room to move it.

Is March cheaper than April in Bali?

Yes, usually by a clear margin, because March is still priced as wet season and April is priced as shoulder. April gives better and more reliable weather, so the choice is a straight trade. If Easter falls in late March, that week prices like April anyway, which is worth checking against your dates.

Bali weather in March