Table of Contents

How Seasonal Changes Affect Bali Beach Club Experiences

One of the must-do things in Bali is to spend a day at one of the island’s incredible beach clubs. The joy of being pampered as the Indian Ocean laps the shores is incomparable to other places in the world. 

However, you may be wondering how the seasons will impact on your day out at a beach club and whether you should be planning your holiday for a specific time of year?

Our guide will explain how seasonal changes affect Bali Beach Club experiences and what you can expect at any time of the year. 

Bali Only Has Two Seasons

Firstly, it’s important to note that there are really only two seasons in Bali. The dry season (sometimes referred to as the “cool season”) and the wet season (or rainy season).

This is because Bali is in the tropical zone (between the Tropic of Cancer and the equator, in fact) and the sun remains overhead for most of the day all year round.

That means that the weather in Bali is usually warm, sunny and pleasant and this is true all year round no matter which season you come in.

The wet season runs from November to March every year, and the dry season from April to October. 

The Wet Season: It’s Not A Monsoon

However, during the wet season, as the name suggests, it does rain more often than in the dry season. 

It’s important to note that the wet season is not a monsoon season. It doesn’t rain for days on end in Bali like it does in places like Nigeria or India. 

In this part of Indonesia, the wet season will not see rain every single day (on average, it only rains every third day in the wet season) and when it does rain the rain doesn’t usually last all day – it lasts for a couple of hours and then it’s over.

On average, during the rainy season, Bali sees 8 hours of sunshine each day! That’s not always a good thing as the sun and rain combined see a significant increase in the humidity in the air which can make it feel hotter than it actually is.

This season is often called the “off-peak season” though it’s worth noting that the busiest time of year in Bali is the Xmas to New Year period and this is firmly inside the wet season. 

This can be good news if you travel in the rainy season as flights can be cheaper, hotels might be cheaper and tourist sites may be less crowded. 

Dry Season: It’s Cooler But Not Cold

The dry season has even less rain, but it will still rain at times in this season, it doesn’t bring drought conditions. 

The big difference between the dry season and rainy season is that there’s a pleasant onshore breeze during the dry season which when combined with the lower levels of humidity, ensures that the weather always feels warm and pleasant.

This season is also the “high season” in Bali and that means it’s busier and many things are more expensive to reflect the increased demand.

What About The Shoulder Season?

“Shoulder Season” is a relatively new term used to describe the period at the end of one season and the beginning of the next where the weather might have the characteristics of either season.

It’s a travel marketer’s way of trying to boost sales in a period that might otherwise be known as the “off season”. 

How Do These Seasons Affect The Beach Club Experience?

There’s no doubt that Bali’s seasons have an impact on the beach club experience, so let’s take a look at that. 

Wet Season At Beach Clubs

There’s no doubt that the wet season does see fewer visitors to Bali and that means that many beach clubs see a big fall off in their visitor numbers.

While places like FINNS and Potatohead remain consistently busy all year round, others like Atlas see a significant drop at this time of year.

This means it’s important to try and focus your efforts on the more popular beach clubs rather than visiting places that are empty. 

Google has a tool that tells you if a business is busier or quieter than usual, but this doesn’t tell you much of value – a beach club that typically fills only 3-4 day beds in this season, will be marked as busy if it fills 7-8 day beds, but it will still be empty.

The way to check is to look at the bookings on a beach club’s website, if there are large numbers of seats already booked – there’s a good chance that a club will be busy rather than empty.

Great Deals On Minimum Spend

Wet season can be a buyer’s market in Bali’s beach clubs and you will find that even the busiest clubs are prepared to offer discounts on minimum spend commitments in quieter parts of the year (and particularly on weekdays). 

If you hunt around online, you may find that you can get a 50% discount on minimum spend or another incentive (such as free welcome drinks, etc.) to encourage you to visit.

Be careful, though, if a deal sounds too good to be true, it’s probably because that beach club is empty all the time. If, for example, a beach club waives its entrance fee, minimum spend and offers free stuff as well, it’s probably because people don’t feel it’s offering a good time in the rainy season.

When It Actually Rains

There’s no doubt that it’s not that much fun sitting on a day bed by the pool when the sky opens up and the waters descend. 

Even though it’s not cold, it’s not great to be rained on. At the bigger beach clubs, however, this isn’t much of an issue – you can simply head into the bar and restaurant areas and carry on the party until the sun comes out again.

At smaller beach clubs, there may not be enough room under shelter for everyone inside the club and it can mean a rapid close to your day out. 

We think that it’s important to remember that the rain won’t last forever, so if you can hang around, you should. 

Dry Season At Beach Clubs

This season is, of course, more likely to yield the perfect weather for a day at your favourite beach club – though it’s worth remembering that it may still rain. 

However, it becomes much more important to make reservations if you want to enjoy a cushy spot with a day bed by the infinity pool.

In fact, we’d recommend booking, at least, a week in advance at the most popular beach clubs if you want to be certain of the perfect seat. 

You may also find that advanced bookings still attract more favourable discounts when compared to walk-in bookings. However, you won’t get the big discounts on minimum spend that you see in the rainy season, either.

Some of the beach clubs here in Bali have very specific reservation times for day beds and you don’t get a whole day of usage in exchange for your minimum spend – these clubs are likely to be much stricter about enforcing these rules in the high season than in the low season.

This is because they have new customers arriving that want to fill your space on their daybeds, and who are willing to agree to another minimum spend. 

FAQs

Is Bali’s High Season A Good Time To Visit A Beach Club?

Yes! In fact, many would say that it’s the best time of year to visit a beach club. While it can be more expensive at this time of year, many of the beach clubs will be packed with people in search of a good time. 

Is Bali’s Low Season A Good Time To Visit A Beach Club?

Yes! We’d strongly recommend choosing your beach club with care at this time of year, you want to pick somewhere that is still busy and then you get the same experience as you would in the high season and you will often pay a bit less for it too!

Final Thoughts On Seasonal Changes And Bali’s Beach Clubs

Because Bali is in the tropics, it’s warm, sunny and pleasant pretty much all year round and the “off season” gets busier and busier each year as more people discover this simple fact.

 

That means you can have an amazing time at Bali’s beach clubs all year round and while there are some variations between the rainy season and dry season, you shouldn’t let them put you off having an amazing beach club experience, either.

Share:

Related blogs

Contact Us

If you’d like to share your news, views, etc. with us please fill in the form below and we’ll endeavour to get back to you as soon as we can.

The team only works Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bali Time (that’s GMT +8) and we do take vacations. So, please be patient when awaiting a response.

Jl. Raya Canggu, Tibubeneng, Kec. Kuta Utara,
Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361