Best Time to Visit the Philippines

The best time to visit the Philippines is the dry season from December to May, and February to April is the driest stretch for Manila, Palawan, Cebu and Bohol. The country does not share one climate, though. The east coast, which takes in Siargao, Bicol and Eastern Visayas, is wettest from December to February. The monsoon rains that soak Manila and northern Palawan from June to September come in Siargao’s driest months. Typhoons peak from July to October.

Pick the window by island, not by country. A trip that is perfect for El Nido in March is a wet one for Siargao, and a surf trip to Cloud 9 in September lands in the middle of the rainy season everywhere else. For which islands to combine, see the Philippines travel guide.

The Short Answer

• Best all round: February to April. Monthly rainfall at the PAGASA stations in Manila, Coron, Puerto Princesa, Cebu City and Tagbilaran stays under 100 mm, and the Christmas and New Year peak is over. March to May is hot: Manila’s average daily high reaches 33.8°C (93°F) in April.
• Coolest dry weather: December to February, which PAGASA calls the cool dry season. It is also the most expensive and crowded part of the year, from Christmas through February.
• Best for Siargao and the east coast: May to September for the weather. Surigao City, the PAGASA station nearest Siargao, has its driest months then, and the Cloud 9 surf season runs August to November.
• Cheapest: September to early November for rooms and tours, February to early May for international flights.
• Hardest for a west-coast beach trip: July to September. Manila gets 396 to 476 mm of rain a month and Coron 470 to 522 mm.
• Typhoon peak: July to October, when nearly 70 percent of the year’s typhoons develop, according to PAGASA.

Dry Season vs Wet Season in the Philippines: Why Sources Disagree

PAGASA, the national weather bureau, divides the year into two seasons: the rainy season from June to November and the dry season from December to May. It splits the dry season in two: the cool dry season from December to February and the hot dry season from March to May. PAGASA declares the start of the rainy season in early June (3 June in 2025) and the start of the hot “summer” once the northeast monsoon ends (22 March in 2024).

Travel sites often write “dry season, November to April” instead, and both are right. That is the dry period PAGASA gives for its Type I and Type III climates, such as Manila (Type I) and Cebu City (Type III). Two monsoons set the pattern:

• Habagat. The southwest monsoon, from June to October, brings the heavy rain to the west side of the country. Boracay’s habagat months are hot, humid and wet, and tropical storms are most likely then.
• Amihan. The northeast monsoon arrives between late October and November and brings the cooler, drier air of the dry season to the west. On the east coast the same wind brings rain: PAGASA’s Type II climate has no dry season and its heaviest rain from November to January.

PAGASA’s Type IV climate has rain spread through the year with no pronounced dry season. Davao City gets between 107 and 195 mm in every month, which is why southern Mindanao has no obvious bad month.

The Philippines Month by Month

Read the year as four blocks. December to February is cool, dry on the west and expensive. March to May is hot, dry and good value outside Holy Week. June to October is the monsoon and typhoon block, cheap and wet on the west. November is the shoulder month between them.

Temperatures move less than rainfall. Manila’s average daily high runs from 29.9°C (86°F) in January to 33.8°C (93°F) in April, and PAGASA puts the national mean annual temperature at 26.6°C (80°F), and humidity ranges from 71 percent in March to 85 percent in September. The exception is altitude: Baguio’s average daily high is 22.3 to 25.5°C (72 to 78°F) all year and its lows fall to 13.0°C (55°F) in January.

Where You Go Changes the Season

PAGASA’s rainfall normals for 1991 to 2020 (Tagbilaran 1981 to 2010) show how far apart the islands are:

• Manila and western Luzon. Dry from November or December to April, with under 25 mm a month from January to April. The monsoon months of July to September bring 396 to 476 mm a month.
• Northern Palawan (El Nido and Coron). Dry from November to April, with every month from January to April under 40 mm at Coron. June to October is the wet block, and Coron records over 300 mm a month from June to September. Northern Palawan is no rainy-season refuge: it gets as much rain as Manila in the monsoon, and more in July. The El Nido guide covers the tour cancellations that go with it.
• Puerto Princesa. The central Palawan station is drier than the north in the monsoon (157 to 173 mm a month from June to September) and wettest in October and November, so the Underground River side of the island has a different rhythm from El Nido.
• Cebu and Bohol. Driest in March and April. Rain is spread through the year, and neither island passes 215 mm in any month. From June to September Cebu City gets 158 to 211 mm and Tagbilaran 116 to 128 mm, well below Manila or northern Palawan.
• Boracay. The amihan season, from October to March, is the busy one: White Beach on the west side is sheltered and the water is often glassy, and the wind funnels onto Bulabog Beach on the east side, which is the kiteboarding and windsurfing beach. Tourism peaks from Christmas through February. Habagat months are hot, humid and wet.
• Siargao and the east. The reverse of the west. Surigao City gets 597 to 662 mm in December and January and under 185 mm a month from May to September. The Cloud 9 surf season fits that pattern, running August to November on the offshore habagat wind.
• Bicol and Eastern Visayas. Legazpi and Tacloban are wettest from November to January and driest in April. Both are far wetter than Manila from November to April, so pack for rain even in the west’s dry season.
• Davao and Mindanao. Even rainfall, 107 to 195 mm a month at Davao City. PAGASA says typhoons, which move northwest from the Pacific, spare Mindanao most direct hits.
• Baguio and the Cordillera. Cool all year and very wet from July to September (773 and 963 mm in July and August). The dry, clear window is December to March, when Baguio gets under 51 mm a month.

Typhoon Season in the Philippines

An average of 20 tropical cyclones enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility each year, and 8 or 9 of them cross the country, according to PAGASA. The peak is July to October, when nearly 70 percent develop. They form over the Pacific near the Mariana and Caroline Islands and move northwest, which PAGASA says spares Mindanao most direct hits. No region is exempt: Super Typhoon Rai struck Siargao on 16 December 2021, outside the peak months.

PAGASA warns of damaging winds with a five-level Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal, in use since 23 March 2022. Each level is issued with a lead time, and each carries a stated level of disruption to public transportation:

A signal can jump levels, and PAGASA notes that winds over open water and on high ground can be stronger than the signal level. The practical rules follow from that. Put the weather-critical legs of a June to November trip first: the open-water fastcraft, the island-hopping days and the flight to the island where a lost day hurts most. Keep a spare day before any international flight home. Book rooms and tours on rates you can change. The first-timer itinerary builds that slack into a route.

The Best Month for Your Trip

• Beaches and island-hopping in Palawan. November to April, the months Coron records under 110 mm. Lonely Planet runs the beach window November to May.
• Tubbataha Reefs diving. Mid-March to mid-June, the season when trips to the park run.
• Whale sharks at Donsol. November to June, with the best odds from February to May.
• Surfing at Siargao. August to November at Cloud 9, on the offshore habagat wind. Lonely Planet gives July to November and Wikipedia August to December.
• Kiteboarding at Boracay. November to March at Bulabog, in the amihan season.
• Highland hikes and Baguio. December to February, the cool dry season, when Baguio is driest and its average highs are 22.6 to 23.7°C (73 to 75°F).
• Festivals. January and February for the Sinulog, Ati-Atihan, Dinagyang and Panagbenga weeks, covered below.
• A tight budget. September to early November for rooms and tours; the Philippines travel budget shows how far rates drop.

The things-to-do guide has the full activity-by-activity list for each island.

Crowds and Prices: The Philippine Calendar

Philippine demand follows local holidays and family travel more than weather. These are the dates to plan around:

• Christmas and New Year. The “ber months” start on 1 September, and the Christmas season runs into January. Mid-December to early January is the most expensive stretch of the year, and Lonely Planet suggests early November or mid-January to February to avoid the year-end crowds. Millions of overseas Filipino workers fly home in December, which is why the flights guide tells you to book six months or more ahead for those weeks.
• Holy Week. The biggest domestic travel period, covered in its own section below.
• Undas, 1 November. All Saints’ Day is a special non-working day when many Filipinos travel to their home provinces to visit family graves.
• Festival Sundays in January. Cebu, Kalibo and Iloilo fill up for the Sinulog, Ati-Atihan and Dinagyang. Kalibo is the gateway to Boracay, so flights and vans tighten there too.
• Local summer breaks and long weekends. Lonely Planet notes higher prices and heavy beach crowds around these.

Holy Week in the Philippines: Dates and What Changes

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are national holidays, and Holy Week is one of the busiest travel periods of the year. In 2026 Maundy Thursday is 2 April, Good Friday 3 April and Black Saturday 4 April, with Easter Sunday on 5 April. In 2027 Holy Week runs from 21 to 27 March: Maundy Thursday is 25 March, Good Friday 26 March, and Easter Sunday is 28 March.

Non-Catholics and non-practicing Catholics often use the holiday to travel, which makes it a peak season at most tourist destinations. Government offices suspend work from noon on Holy Wednesday so people can reach their home provinces. Book flights, ferries and rooms well ahead for the week, or plan to be in one place from Wednesday to Sunday. Holy Week is also the best time to see the Moriones Festival in Marinduque, where masked and costumed penitents march through Boac, Gasan, Santa Cruz, Buenavista and Mogpog from Holy Monday to Easter Sunday (22 to 28 March in 2027).

Festivals Worth Timing Around

• Sinulog, Cebu City. The third Sunday of January (17 January 2027).
• Ati-Atihan, Kalibo. The biggest celebration falls on the third Sunday of January (17 January 2027).
• Dinagyang, Iloilo City. The fourth Sunday of January (24 January 2027).
• Panagbenga, Baguio. A month-long flower festival that opens on 1 February, puts floats and street dancing on the last week of February and ends with fireworks on the first weekend of March.
• Moriones, Marinduque. Holy Week.
• Pahiyas, Lucban. 15 May, when houses are hung with colorful rice wafers.
• MassKara, Bacolod. October, with masked street dancing in the middle of the wet season.

Shoulder Months: The Value Windows

Two windows give you good weather for less. The first is February to early May: the cool-season crowds are gone, the west is still dry, and international flights are at their cheapest. Avoid the Holy Week days inside it. The second is early November, when the dry season has started on the west coast, the year-end rush has not begun, and rooms are still priced for the shoulder. Book popular islands (El Nido, Siargao, Boracay) two to three months ahead for the dry-season peak, and as early as you can for December and Holy Week.

Travelling in the Rainy Season: Where to Base

June to October is cheaper, greener and quieter, and the island you choose matters more than the month. The monsoon rain falls on the west, so the usual dry-season favorites (Manila, northern Palawan, Boracay) are among the wettest places to be in July and August. The islands that have their lower-rainfall months then are Bohol (Tagbilaran 116 to 128 mm a month from June to September), Cebu and Siargao (Surigao City 143 to 181 mm).

Base in one of those, keep a flexible plan with an indoor option for each day, and treat the typhoon peak from July to October as a scheduling risk rather than a reason to stay home. A rainy-season trip with a spare day built in works well. The same logic runs the other way in December and January: Siargao, Bicol and Eastern Visayas are at their wettest, and the west coast is at its best.

Best Time to Visit the Philippines for US Travelers

US school and work calendars land on the awkward end of the Philippine year. A March spring break is in the hot dry season and can overlap Holy Week, so check the Easter date before booking. A June to August summer trip falls in the rainy season and the start of the typhoon peak, which makes Cebu, Bohol or Siargao a better base than Palawan or Boracay. The cool dry months of December to February suit a US winter escape, at peak prices. The Philippines is 12 to 16 hours ahead of the continental US depending on the zone; the time difference and jet lag plan has the exact gap for your city.

Checking the Forecast

PAGASA publishes tropical cyclone bulletins, wind signals and regional forecasts on the PAGASA website. Use the regional forecast for the island you are on rather than a national one, because Manila and Siargao can sit in opposite weather. In the week before you fly, check the cyclone bulletin for any storm inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility.