trebex

To go or not to go? My goal would be to see the rice terraces, do some hiking and spend a couple of days on a nice beach.

What are the chances of getting some good beach weather?

I have visited Central America in rainy season and still had plenty of sunshine. I also visited Taiwan in the rainy season and had maybe two hours of sunshine in 7 days which really took a lot away from the experience.

marmot

It's chancy.

October and March are transitional. You'll get some rain but not too much.
November and December are just the beginning. 50/50 rain sun.
January and February can mean heavy rains that hang around for 3-4 days. If good beach weather is important to you, avoid these months.

Easy going hiking -- like village and rice paddy walks -- can be wonderful during the rainy season. Everything is so green! But for serious trekking and mountain experiences, rain can be hazardous.

Having said that, this year Bali is experiencing drought conditions with a lot more rain than sun.

kja

(again), for good climate data, see wunderground.com

marmot

Just realized I wrote the opposite of what I meant: This "rainy season" we're getting a lot more sun than rain.

redsoleslady

@trebex Just go, don't hesitate. Heaviest 'rain' season in Bali is usually nearing end of Dec to early Feb, but there's so many things to do here so I bet you'll still hv a great time here.

jelsbells

What about Bali in October?

Kathie

As marmot said (response #1), October is a transitional month. Personally, I've been to Bali during the height of rainy season a number of times and the rain didn't impair my enjoyment of this wonderful place. But if your goal is to lay on the beach and roast - you re going at the wrong time of he year.

jelsbells, you need to start doing your research. Crellston and I gave you good websites for looking at weather on your thread. Time to click on links and see what you find.

LancasterLad

We were in Bali [3 weeks] and Java [1 week] from late September to the back end of October 2014.

Here's the thread I posted, bits might be of interest...

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...tober-2014.cfm

It only rained once on us in those 4 weeks, torrential for about an hour while we were in Ubud.

xplorick

The rain might make it hard for you to travel around. You should know traveling in Bali with a car is not really ideal because of the traffic, if you can drive a scooter then you could reach more places, just be ready with rain coats and dry bags so you can travel without any problems.

Hiking might be tricky. Some of the mountains around Indonesia are closed during rainy season, depends on which month you go. Should do more research about this.

I live in Gili Air, an tiny island 2 hours from Bali. I gotta say, the best sunset that I've experienced happens mostly on rainy season..

Kathie

xploric, I disagree with you on encouraging people to rent a scooter. Motorbike accidents are the leading cause of death among both visitors and locals in much of SE Asia. And for a visitor, these is little directional signage on Bali. Hire a car and driver!