Tanzania · 6.16°S 39.19°E · monthly climate normals, judged against the Tropical preset (mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, anything but the monsoon)
The best time to visit Zanzibar is June to March, when mean temperatures run from 25 °C77 °F to 28 °C82 °F and rainfall runs 40–160 mm1.6–6.3 in a month.
The rainy season runs March to May and November to December, and April to May is a true monsoon — 272–368 mm11–14 in a month, peaking in April at 368 mm14 in. The mean temperature barely moves through the year, 25–28 °C77–82 °F, warmest in February.
Figures are 30-year monthly averages (WorldClim 2.1 monthly normals 1970–2000) for the 0.25° grid cell at -6.16, 39.19 — a climate guide, not a forecast.
Pick the weather you like and every month is judged against it — temperature above the month names, rain below.
Good time to go for a Tropical holiday: June to March.
Open Zanzibar on the interactive map ↗ the same verdict for every place on Earth, any month
Reading the chart. Gold is good: the month fits what you picked. Any other colour names the reason it doesn't — the temperature bar can be too cold or too hot, the rain bar too dry, too rainy or monsoon. A faded gold bar is a half that fits while the other half fails; a gold month name means both fit.
What the verdicts mean. Temperature is the monthly mean, judged against the preset's band (mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F for Tropical). Rain is judged by each month's class within Zanzibar's own year rather than raw millimetres: dry under 60 mm2.4 in, showers 60–100 mm2.4–3.9 in, rainy from 100 mm3.9 in and 35 % of the wettest month. Too rainy is a rainy-season month the preset doesn't allow. Monsoon is the heaviest kind of rainy season — 180 mm7.1 in or more (120 mm4.7 in near the yearly peak) in a climate whose wettest month is at least three times its driest — so every monsoon month is rainy season too; the label says which kind. Full rules on the method page.
| Month | Rain | Mean | Season | Tropical verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 883.5 | 2882 | showers | good |
| February | 642.5 | 2882 | showers | good |
| March | 1526.0 | 2882 | rainy | good |
| April | 36814 | 2781 | monsoon | monsoon |
| May | 27211 | 2780 | monsoon | monsoon |
| June | 642.5 | 2678 | showers | good |
| July | 481.9 | 2576 | dry | good |
| August | 401.6 | 2576 | dry | good |
| September | 401.6 | 2577 | dry | good |
| October | 722.8 | 2678 | showers | good |
| November | 1445.7 | 2780 | rainy | good |
| December | 1606.3 | 2882 | rainy | good |
| Looking for | Rule | Months that fit |
|---|---|---|
| Warm | mean 14–24 °C57–75 °F, dry or showers | |
| Tropical | mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, anything but the monsoon | June to March |
| Beach | mean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, dry or showers | June to October and January to February |
| Cool | mean 0–14 °C32–57 °F, anything but the monsoon | |
| Snow | mean below 0 °C32 °F, any rain |
Yes. The rainy season runs March to May and November to December, and April to May is a true monsoon — 272–368 mm11–14 in a month, peaking in April at 368 mm14 in. Outside it, July to September is dry.
The mean temperature barely moves through the year, 25–28 °C77–82 °F, warmest in February. Annual rainfall totals about 1,512 mm60 in.
The nearest destinations that do fit the Tropical preset in the months Zanzibar doesn't:
The interactive map colours the whole world by how it fits your picks in any month, and shows this chart for any place you tap.