When to go

May.

The calendar flips. Bali, the Peruvian Amazon, Borneo and the Daintree come into season as Central America turns green and quiet, with lower prices to match.

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0

Home/When to go/May

Prime season

Go now.

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0

Southeast Asia

Bali

Nowhere else builds like this — five-story bamboo houses over river gorges, for the price of a city hotel room.

Best months: April – October (dry season) 6 stays in Bali

Photo: AlaskaDave, CC BY-SA 3.0

Pacific

Hawai‘i

Fern forests growing on fresh lava — the youngest jungle on the planet, and it feels like it.

Best months: Year-round; April – October slightly drier 6 stays in Hawai‘i

Photo: Ivan Mlinaric, CC BY 2.0

South America

Peru

Lowland Amazon, river dolphins and Andean cloud forest, mostly reached by motorized canoe and sold as multi-day packages.

Best months: Dry season May–Oct best for wildlife and trails; wet Nov–Apr cheaper, and Iquitos high water Dec–May improves boat access to flooded forest 6 stays in Peru

Photo: Laslovarga, CC BY-SA 3.0

Central America

Belize

More than half the country is forest, the ruins still wear their canopy, and the treehouses sit on real rivers.

Best months: Late November – May (dry); June – November is green, wet and cheaper 7 stays in Belize

Photo: shankar s. from Dubai, united arab emirates, CC BY 2.0

Southeast Asia

Borneo

Wild orangutans, pygmy elephants and eight kinds of hornbill, in some of the oldest rainforest on Earth.

Best months: March – October (drier); November – February is the wet monsoon 6 stays in Borneo

Photo: Iraphne R. Childs, CC BY 4.0

Oceania

Australia

The oldest rainforest on the planet runs straight down to the reef, and the cassowaries know it.

Best months: May – October (dry, stinger-free seas); December – April is the wet 6 stays in Australia

Shoulder season

Also works, and quieter.

01 Costa Rica December – April (dry), May – August (green, quieter) 6 stays 02 Brazil Coast: year-round · Amazon: June – November 6 stays 03 Tulum & the Maya Jungle November – April 6 stays 04 Puerto Rico December – April (driest), but green year-round 6 stays 05 Florida November – April 6 stays 06 Colombia Caribbean side (Minca, Tayrona) driest Dec–Mar and Jul–Aug; Chocó wet year-round but humpback whales Jul–Oct; Leticia no true dry season, easier trails Jun–Nov 6 stays 07 Sri Lanka Southwest rainforest and hill country (Sinharaja, Ella) best Dec–Apr; dry-zone south and east (Yala, Sigiriya) best May–Sep, the opposite calendar 6 stays 08 Panama December – April (dry); Bocas often clears in September and October 6 stays 09 Ecuador June – September for Mindo; the Amazon works year round, with high water March – July 6 stays 10 Guatemala December – April (dry); wettest from September to November 6 stays

Wet or storm season

Save these for another month.

01Thailand Islands: January – April · North: November – February

Photo: Bex Walton from London, England, CC BY 2.0

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