The Philippines month by month, and which islands work when

The archipelago runs roughly 1,150 miles (1,850 km) north to south, which is far enough to have more than one climate. The useful distinction is not summer and winter. It is which wind is blowing, and which coast it is hitting.

The two winds

The amihan, the northeast monsoon, blows from about November to February. It brings the cooler, drier air that makes January and February the most pleasant months of the year, and it makes east-facing coasts choppy. This is why Siargao’s surf season and Palawan’s calmest season are not the same months.

The habagat, the southwest monsoon, arrives around June and runs to about October. Rain is usually heavy and short rather than all-day grey, and it hits west-facing coasts hardest.

Typhoons sit on top of both. Roughly twenty tropical cyclones enter Philippine waters each year and around eight or nine make landfall, concentrated between July and October and peaking in September. They are not spread evenly, and the geography of that is the single most useful thing on this page.

Typhoon exposure by region

That table is why a September trip to Palawan is defensible and a September trip to Bicol is not. If your dates are fixed to August, September or October we will build you a trip, weighted west and south, carrying more slack, with our Manila office watching the forecast track from several days out.

The months, one at a time

January. Excellent, and our quietest recommendation. Cool by Philippine standards, dry, calm seas on the west, and the domestic New Year peak has cleared by the second week. Rates fall back from the turn-of-year spike. The amihan keeps east-facing coasts lively.

February. The best single month in the country. Dry, warm without being oppressive, calm water, everything sailing. It is also the start of the international high season, which means the twelve to thirty room resorts need booking six to nine months ahead.

March. As good as February and hotter. Coastal afternoons start running 90 to 95°F (32 to 35°C). Superb on a boat, unpleasant walking round Manila or Vigan at two in the afternoon, which is why our itineraries put city walking early and late. Watch for Holy Week, which moves each year and is the busiest domestic travel week by a wide margin, with much of the country sold out months ahead.

April. Hot, dry and reliable. The last of the settled window. Tubbataha’s liveaboard season is running, and the Cordillera rice terraces are being planted, which is when the terraces are at their most photogenic with water in them.

May. Hot, and the transition begins. The first habagat rain usually arrives late in the month. Still a good month, especially in the first half, and Batanes in the far north has its short season here. Rates begin to soften.

June. The wet season starts properly and this is our favourite value month. Rain in Palawan is typically a heavy hour rather than a lost day, the boats are empty, the water is still warm and clear, and rates are well below February. Typhoon risk is present but low. We build a lot of June trips.

July. Wetter, and the typhoon count starts climbing. Still workable in Palawan and the central Visayas with slack in the schedule. Surf season begins in Siargao. The first month where we would not send you to the eastern seaboard.

August. Peak habagat. Manila floods in a bad week and the western coasts take the weather. Typhoon risk is real. We will still build it, weighted west and south, and we will say plainly that a boat day can be lost.

September. The single peak month for typhoons. This is the month we most often suggest moving. If the dates are fixed, Palawan and southern routes with a great deal of slack, and a buffer night before your international departure that we will not negotiate away.

October. Still in the typhoon window but improving through the month. Late October is often better than early October by a noticeable margin.

November. The turn. The amihan begins, the northeast starts to dry out, and by the second half of the month Palawan is usually settling. Rates are still low. A good gamble.

December. Dry and pleasant, and then the domestic peak arrives. From about the twentieth of December to the first week of January, El Nido, Boracay and Coron run at two to three times shoulder rates and the good rooms are gone months earlier.

Diving, month by month

The dive calendar does not match the general calendar, and if diving is the point of your trip it should decide your dates rather than the other way round.

Diving the Philippines, 14 days sequences these around the seasons rather than around a map.

The other calendars that matter

Surf, Siargao. August to November is the swell season, which sits inside the typhoon window. Cloud 9 is a serious reef break and not a learners’ wave; the beginner spots are elsewhere on the island and they work best in the same months.

Whale sharks, Donsol. Roughly December to May. We do not book the Oslob operation in southern Cebu, where wild sharks are fed daily to hold them in the bay.

The rice terraces, the Cordilleras. Planting from around February to April, when the terraces hold water and reflect. Harvest around June to July, when they are gold. Both are worth seeing and they look completely different.

Holy Week and the turn of the year. The two domestic peaks. Book far ahead or avoid them.

What we do with fixed dates

Most people asking this question have fixed dates and no flexibility. So here is the short version.

• December to May: anywhere. Build the route you want.
• June and July: Palawan and the central Visayas, with slack. Good value and often very good weather.
• August to October: west and south, more slack, fewer moves, a buffer night before flying home, and our Manila office watching the forecast. We will tell you honestly that a boat day may go.
• September specifically: if you can move, move. If you cannot, Palawan.

For how this compares with the rest of the region, see monsoon in Asia: which countries it actually ruins. The Philippines is a reroute rather than a cancellation in most months, which is not the case everywhere.

Plan this trip

Tell us your dates before you settle on islands. Half of what we do on a Philippines file is match the route to the month. Free first proposal, no obligation.

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Keep reading

• The Philippines: the complete guide to planning your trip
• The internal flight problem nobody warns you about
• Palawan, Siargao or Bohol: which island suits which traveller
• Monsoon in Asia: which countries it actually ruins
• Diving the Philippines, 14 days
• All our Philippines trips

Frequently asked questions