The weather in Bali is different all over the Island! Ignore the i-phone app!
Many first-timers to Bali have a panic attack when they check their smartphones and an app keeps telling them its been raining in Bali for 2 weeks and will be raining on their whole 2 week holiday.
Those that live here know that we can have rain in one village and dry in the next village, in fact, you can drive through torrential rain for 200 metres and come out the other side where the road is dry.
The temperature differs in Bali as well. It can be extremely hot and muggy down in Kuta but up in Kintamani, it's quite cold, especially in the mornings, and no humidity.
The average morning temp in Kintamani is about 15 degrees and rises to 28 degrees during the day, then drops back down again.
A few tourists get caught out visiting the Kintamani area straight from Kuta, or trekking Mt Batur (it's even colder up there, in the prime climbing season of June/July it's usually 5-10 degrees up there).
The Bukit (Jimbaran, Ungasan, Pecatu) is one of the driest parts of the Island, Bukit means Hill and it's commonly referred to as the big dry rock, due to all the sandstone so the vegetation is extremely different to the rest of Bali.
Ubud has high rainfall, is cooler than Kuta, and has very pleasant cooler nights, with all that rain it makes everything extremely green and mother nature has taken back many buildings.
The Balinese farmers have been very clever in using not only the elevations from the ancient volcanoes for water supply to their crops but also the climate found at different elevations.
In the Kintamani area, for example, a volcano that erupted nearly 30,000 years ago left a large caldera where Lake Batur and Mt Batur sit, it has its' own weather inside the caldera, due to thermals.
As you leave the Rice growing area of Ubud and its surrounds and head up the rim to the lookout to view Mt Batur volcano (a baby in the scheme of things) you will see all the coffee plantations, then at a higher elevation you will start to see oranges growing, then inside the caldera, you will see vegetables.
The Balinese know that the rice needs hot and humid, the coffee needs lots of water and not quite as hot, the citrus needs a little cooler climate but still warm, and the vegetables need to rest at night and cannot sweat.
In the Bedugul ranges (also dormant volcanoes), they have extremely high rainfall, cooler than Kuta and they grow delicious strawberries, the temperature is perfect for the buds and blossoms.
Enough talk about farming, how does this all help a tourist on holiday in Bali in the rainy season?
Well, ignore that i-phone app for one thing!
When you get to Bali if you are planning activities it is best to contact the place you are going and ask is it raining.
For example, you are in Kuta and it is dry, Yay, let's go to a beach bar on the coast on the Bukit! Ring first! It's a long way in traffic to find the black skies and the rough seas.
It's raining in Kuta all day, well, phone that beach bar on the Bukit now, as it's usually the opposite weather to Kuta.
Want to do a day trip to Ubud? In the rainy season, do take an umbrella, you will have some dry patches but for shopping maybe stay in a hotel in Ubud for a night or 2 as you don't want to have a lot of shopping while raining.
Want to go to Sanur for the day, ring ahead, just ring a restaurant you wanted to go to or ask on Fb groups, who's in Sanur.
Bedugul ranges in the rainy season, it's a long way, ring first as it can just be clouds all day and you cannot see a thing.
Raining in Kuta when we pick you up for a tour? 95% of the time, it's not raining at the Lake, it always comes in at 3 pm every day though.
Do not let that Weather App dampen your holiday in Bali!