Best Time To Travel To: Philippines
The Philippines is a fairly scattered island nation made up of over 7,000 islands. The island extends between 4 ° and 21 ° north. The most famous of the islands are Luzon, Samar, Leyte, Panay, Palawan and Mindanao. Most of the residents live here.
The large islands are relatively mountainous and the coastlines appear relatively rugged.
The islands in the south have a relatively typical equatorial climate e.g. the climate of Zamboanga in Mindanao.
The islands in the north and in the center, however, have a more tropical climate, which is very much determined by monsoons. The rainy season is usually between July and October. The climate tables for Manila (Luzon) and Iloilo (Panay) would be typical.
The hurricanes and precipitation usually have the greatest impact between August and October. This is where the notorious typhoons work. In the Philippines you have to reckon with considerable storms practically every year, which - based on the devastating catastrophes of recent times - seem to be getting stronger and stronger.
The annual rain is distributed fairly evenly on almost every island, you have to reckon with an average of 1,000 mm per year. But: where it is warm, extremely moist clouds can move over the mountains on the coasts and the rainfall there can be up to 5,000mm per year.
The northeast coasts get a lot of rain, especially between November and March. The climate table of Surigao (East Mindanao) would be typical.
The temperatures remain consistently high all year round almost everywhere in the Philippines, only of course it gets cooler at higher altitudes. Although the extreme heat is seldom to be feared, the climate can be very difficult because the humidity is high all year round.
In the dry season, however, it is sunnier and the humidity seems more bearable, at least on the coast, especially since pleasant sea breezes usually bring some refreshment here.
When is the best time for the Philippines
The best time for the Philippines is in any case in the dry season from mid-January to May. Things have changed so far because in the past the phase from mid-November to May was called here. But the Philippines have been very rainy in recent years in November, especially December and the beginning of January. The period from November to March is unstable and not quite as hot anyway. From March to May it gets hot with temperatures that can peak around 35 ° C. In any case, you should avoid the rainy season, especially from June to October you have to reliably reckon with storms. The aforementioned period from November to March also has to be questioned again and again, as I said. Most recently, the south and east of the country were hit by severe storms at the beginning of January 2011, and February is not entirely safe either.
