I bet that any time you decide to travel to Bora Bora is a good time! 🙂 But let’s face it, everyone wants to travel when the weather is ideal! Weather-wise, I feel like it may be hard to officially guarantee anything, so I would think about when can you get the best deals instead and maybe just try to avoid the wettest months. I’ve heard stories of people who traveled during peak dry season for their wedding and it still rained! You’re traveling to a tropical South Pacific island, so it’s not a surprise that weather can be capricious and unpredictable until you get there. But there are a few trends you can consider!

In the midst of wedding planning, my husband created a list of all the potential places we wanted to honeymoon and mapped it out on a calendar when the best times to visit certain places would be and when the best deals were. As we were trying to plan multiple trips, this calendar was important in deciding how to lay out our year of trips. The advantage of not having kids yet was that we could travel when we wanted, providing we got time off at work! (Sorry, don’t mean to rub it in if you have kids. You can do it when I have kids someday :P) For Bora Bora, our research showed us that the “best” times to go with deals was April/May or November. 

Bora Bora Seasons

There are two main seasons in this tropical island–wet (summer) and dry (winter). That’s such a weird concept from me, coming from California, but I’m sure it’s quite normal to some people. Tahitian summers and winters are different than the U.S. and also opposite of ours as they are in the Southern Hemisphere. Temperatures are pretty consistent and similar throughout the year if you look at their averages and it should be warm any time you go. Just remember 80. The average temperature is 80°F (27ºC) with maybe about a 5°F standard deviation in the coolest and hottest times, and the humidity levels also average around 80% year round.

The wet summer season is from December to March and it’s usually a little more hot, wet, and humid. But even rain in Tahiti feels warm and refreshing, though you may not get to see the blues as brilliant in the water as when the sun is shining. Watch out for mosquitos during this time too! There’s always mosquitos, but as my parents who also grew up on a tropical Asian country tell me, mosquitos like to hover around damp, wet places. And if you’re any kind of unfortunate mosquito magnet like me, you’ll want to stay away especially when there’s more of them. Some of these bites are vicious! =( I kid you not, I still have bites that are taking forever to heal and I came back 2 weeks ago!

The dry winter months are June through August and temperatures are slightly cooler with less humidity. Consider also that there tend to be more people that go during peak season, but honestly, I don’t think it can really be as crowded as other tourist places. I’ve read that there can be trade winds during this time so you might actually need a light jacket, but it would be ideal for kite surfing or parasailing when you need wind. And if you go during July, you also may encounter Heiva, the Tahitian celebration of life or preparation for war. You’ll see more of the traditional Tahitian costumes, sports, music, drums, dancing, and even Mr. and Miss Tahiti competitions! 

Peak season runs from June to October for resorts, probably due to wedding/honeymoon season too. Prices will be a little higher during this time–I guess you pay for the good weather!

April and May are considered “shoulder season.” They border the end of the wet season and beginning of dry season and also tend to have better resort rates probably due to less travelers and lower demand. We went the first week of April, and it rained the first day when we arrived in Moorea, then only one more shower in Moorea and no rain at all in Bora Bora besides a light 2 minute sprinkle when we were snorkeling in the outer ocean. It was actually surprising that right as it turned April when we went, the rain started to fade off! How did you know, Bora Bora?! November is also considered shoulder season as it is right before the rains start to pick up for winter. During the drier season is also the best time for scuba divers, so if that tickles your fancy, the best time to go is April through October!

We loved when we went in April, and I’d imagine May would be gorgeous too, although I’m sure rates start creeping up near the end of May. The rains were tapering off in April and even some cloudy afternoons were still nice because it helped keep unbearable heat down! I also appreciated whenever there was a little sea breeze because the humidity is so high and the sun near the equator is hotter than you think. READ: you will burn easily. We definitely learned the hard way 😛 Whenever you decide to go, I’m sure it will still be magical! 

TRAVEL PEARL: When checking your iPhone or weather.com weather reports for your vacation, it may not always be accurate. Leading up to our trip, the weather report said thunderstorms EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Well, it didn’t rain a single day in Bora Bora while we were there, even when we got a weather advisory from the resort! So take your weather reports with a grain of salt. If chances of rain are 80% or more, perhaps you can look out for it, but sometimes even if phone predicted 70% chances of rain, I was left wondering when the rain was coming.