Best Time to Visit Bali for UK Travellers

May, June and September suit most UK trips to Bali

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Key Takeaways

• May, June and September are dry, with 6 to 8 rain days a month on average, and quieter than July and August.
• Peak season is July and August: 4 rain days a month, and the most visitors.
• November to March is the wet season, with rain on 16 to 27 days a month.
• Average highs in Denpasar run from 29.6°C in August to 34.4°C in April.
• Galungan, a significant Hindu holiday, moves every year, so check its date before you plan around it.
• Nyepi, the Balinese day of silence, closes Ngurah Rai airport for a whole day. In 2027 it falls on Monday 8 March.

For UK families tied to school summer holidays, July and August line up with Bali's fewest rain days. They were also the busiest months for British visitors in 2025, with 33,538 arrivals in July and 34,218 in August. Check what your UK network charges before you fly. As of October 2026, Three lists Indonesia as a Go Roam Around the World destination, where roaming is built into some plans and others need a Go Roam pass or a daily charge. A travel eSIM for budget trips gives you data on local networks for one price, paid before you go.

Bali's dry and wet seasons, month by month

Bali has two seasons. On the long-term averages for Denpasar that Indonesia's weather agency, BMKG, supplies to the World Meteorological Organization, every month from April to October brings 93 mm of rain or less, and every month from November to March brings 179 mm or more. The weather figures below are averages for 1961 to 1990, and the last column counts foreign tourist arrivals in 2025, as published by the Bali Government Tourism Office.

Humidity barely changes through the year. BMKG's 1991 to 2020 averages for Ngurah Rai Airport put relative humidity between 78.2% in August and 81.5% in April.

Rain changes far more than heat. January averages 345 mm of rain, almost 14 times August's 25 mm, while the average high moves by less than 5°C across the year.

Dry season (April to October): rain on 4 to 12 days a month

July and August bring the fewest rain days, 4 a month on average, and August is the driest month, with 25 mm. BMKG explains that around the peak of the dry season in July and August, winds from the east and southeast carry dry, cool air from Australia, so Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara feel cooler. Average lows in Denpasar drop to 23.0°C in July and 22.5°C in August.

Wet season (November to March): rain on most days

January is the wettest month, with 345 mm of rain over 27 rain days on average. If dry days matter most, avoid it. From November to March, rain falls on 16 to 27 days a month, so plan for some rain on most days of your trip.

The wet season trades dry days for a quieter island

Bali is still worth a wet-season trip if fewer visitors matter more to you than dry days. February, March and November had Bali's fewest foreign tourist arrivals in 2025, between 450,697 and 483,364 a month, against 697,107 in July.

Galungan has no fixed month. The Bali Provincial Government's Love Bali site says it is celebrated every six months on the Balinese calendar, so its date moves on the calendar UK travellers use: in 2024 it fell on 28 February and 25 September. Villages line the streets with penjor, tall bamboo poles decorated with offerings. If you want to see the festival, confirm the dates for your travel year before you book.

In 2027, Nyepi, the Balinese New Year and day of silence, falls on Monday 8 March, according to the Indonesian government's list of 2027 public holidays. The FCDO's safety advice for Indonesia, read on 25 October 2026, says local custom requires everyone in Bali to stay indoors, turn off lights and make no noise that day. It adds that Ngurah Rai International Airport is closed for the entire day, so plan your flights around it.

October closes the dry season, with 12 rain days and 63 mm of rain on average. Bali had 594,853 foreign tourist arrivals in October 2025, fewer than in any month from May to September.

Choosing when to visit Bali: a guide by travel priority

The right month for a Bali trip depends on what the trip is for. Families tied to school holidays, travellers with flexible dates and anyone watching costs each get a different answer. The table sets them side by side.

The early May bank holiday is worth a look. It falls on Monday 3 May in 2027 in every UK nation, and the spring bank holiday follows on Monday 31 May, so a week built around either one reaches Bali after the dry season has started and before the July peak.

Couples and solo travellers free of school dates have the widest choice: May, June and September all fall outside both the wet season and the July and August peak.

Best for weather: July and August

July and August have the fewest rain days of the year: 4 a month on average in Denpasar. They are also the coolest months, with average highs of 30.4°C and 29.6°C. If beach weather matters most, these are the months to pick.

Demand peaks too, so book flights and rooms early for these months.

Dry with fewer visitors: May and September

May and September sit either side of Bali's peak. Both are dry, with 8 rain days on average, and both had fewer foreign tourist arrivals than July and August in 2025: 602,213 in May and 635,149 in September.

Flights from the UK to Bali need one change

There is no nonstop flight from Heathrow to Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS). On 25 October 2026, every Heathrow to Bali itinerary in FlightAware's route finder had one change of plane. The same search from Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh also showed only one-change itineraries.

The most common hubs in that search were Singapore (Singapore Airlines), Doha (Qatar Airways), Dubai (Emirates) and Abu Dhabi (Etihad Airways). Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Hong Kong were among the others.

The FCDO's Indonesia travel advice, read on 25 October 2026, says escalation in the Middle East has caused airspace closures and delayed and cancelled flights, and that your plans may be affected even if your destination is not in the Middle East. It asks you to check the FCDO advice for every country you transit through, so read the pages for Indonesia and for your stopover country before you book, and again before you fly.

The FCDO's health advice for Indonesia asks you to check the latest vaccine recommendations at least 8 weeks before your trip. It names dengue and malaria among the health risks in Indonesia.

When you land and switch your phone on, your UK SIM can connect to an Indonesian network, and your UK plan's roaming terms apply to anything it uses.

Staying connected in Bali: eSIM or local SIM card

Telkomsel says its 5G network covers Denpasar and Badung in South Bali, including busy routes such as Kuta to Canggu, Nusa Dua and Renon to Sanur (Telkomsel, 24 August 2024). HelloRoam's Indonesia plans can connect to Telkomsel, XL and Indosat.

Your UK plan may cover Indonesia, but it pays to know how data roaming charges work before you go. EE's roaming page asks customers to text RO and the country name to 150 to see whether roaming there is included in their plan. A travel eSIM (a digital SIM you install from a QR code, with no card to swap) uses its own prepaid data, so data you use on it does not come out of your UK allowance.

The practical sequence before you fly

1. Check your phone. Apple lists the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later as eSIM models. Your phone must also be unlocked. For Android, check that your phone supports eSIM before you buy.
2. Install it at home, over Wi-Fi. Follow the eSIM install guide for your phone. Your plan starts when your phone first connects to a local network at your destination, not when you install it.
3. Switch it on when you land. In Settings, choose the HelloRoam line for mobile data and turn on its data roaming. It then connects to a local network.

Hotspot sharing works on HelloRoam's Indonesia plans at no extra charge, so a laptop or tablet can use your phone's data. To pick a data size, estimate the data your trip needs. If you stop over in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, a regional plan for Asia covers Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia on one eSIM.

Local SIM cards are the other option. Telkomsel's 5G announcement also points foreign visitors in Bali to its Tourist Prepaid Card.

Bali on a budget: aim for the quietest months

Hotel demand is a useful guide when cost matters. In 2025, Bali's star-rated hotels were least full in March (46.61%) and February (51.62%), and fullest in August (69.54%), according to the Bali Government Tourism Office.

February and March: the quietest hotels

Both months fall in the wet season, with 22 and 20 rain days on average. If you can live with rain on most days, you share the island with fewer visitors.

May and September: the considered recommendation

May had lower hotel occupancy than any month from June to October in 2025 (58.10%, against 68.17% in September), so it is the easier of the two for choice of rooms.

On a tight budget, leave August to travellers whose dates are fixed by school or work.

Data is one cost worth fixing before you fly. If your UK plan includes roaming, check its limit: Three's Go Roam covers up to 12GB of your UK data. A prepaid eSIM plan is a set amount, paid before you leave.

For most UK travellers weighing when to book, May and September are the straightforward starting point: dry, and quieter than the summer peak.