Dar es Salaam weather by month

The best time to visit Dar es Salaam is July to September — 82/100 in July, 30°C and 7 rainy days. The best season is the dry season, June to October (78/100 on average).

The worst month is April at 47/100 — sweltering, soaked, clean air. See April →

Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis

Planning the wider trip? Best time to visit Tanzania →

Dar es Salaam🇹🇿 Tanzania · Swahili Coast · City82
  1. 65Jan
  2. 67Feb
  3. 57Mar
  4. 47Apr
  5. 63May
  6. 77Jun
  7. 82Jul
  8. 80Aug
  9. 78Sep
  10. 72Oct
  11. 66Nov
  12. 61Dec

Best season: June to October (78/100 on average) · worst April (47/100)

Days
30°C
Nights
20°C
Wet days
7
Sun
10.8 h
Humidity
77%
Daylight
12 h
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Photo: Alex Levis · Pexels

Dar es Salaam, month by month

Comfort score out of 100 for the kind of trip Dar es Salaam is best for, the average high, rainy days and hours of sun a day from the climate normals, and how busy it tends to be.

MonthScoreTierHighRainSunCrowdsOn
Jan65C32°C11 d11 hBusy—
Feb67C33°C11 d11 hBusy1
Mar57D33°C19 d10 hPeak1
Apr47F31°C27 d8 hPeak1
May63C31°C18 d10 hShoulder—
Jun77B30°C10 d11 hPeak2
Jul82A30°C7 d11 hPeak2
Aug80A30°C9 d11 hBusy2
Sep78B31°C8 d11 hBusy1
Oct72B31°C12 d11 hShoulder—
Nov66C32°C19 d11 hShoulder1
Dec61C32°C20 d11 hBusy1

What's on in Dar es Salaam through the year

Festivals, natural spectacles, holidays and the seasons to watch out for — curated and sourced. The month pages carry the detail.

February
  • Ramadan and Eid el-Fitr5 Feb – 22 Mar (usually)Holiday
April
  • Union Day26 AprHoliday
June
  • Sabasaba trade fair28 Jun – 13 Jul (usually)Festival
  • Kusi, the south-east monsoon1 Jun – 20 Sep (usually)Season
August
  • Nane Nane farmers' day8 AugHoliday
November
  • Vuli, the short rains1 Nov – 20 Dec (usually)Season

Everything on in Dar es Salaam through the year →

Crowds in Dar es Salaam in July

How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.

Peak crowdsSabasaba trade fair, Mid-year break in Tanzania, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it(estimated)

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet

Good to know before you go to Dar es Salaam

Real experiences from travellers' own write-ups, quoted with a link to the original.

Getting around

A traveler's guide to the Dar es Salaam-Zanzibar ferry warns that the terminal itself is the trickiest part: it's genuinely chaotic, with taxi touts and porters offering to help with luggage for a tip, so she recommends arriving at least half an hour before departure and bringing a pen, since you'll need to fill out a boarding card by hand. Her other tip: book through a known operator like Azam Marine directly or online rather than from a street vendor near the port, and don't expect to buy alcohol on board since it isn't sold or allowed.
Helen in Wonderlust · Read the original ↗

Traveller notes on Dar es Salaam

What people who have been say about the place — the year-round notes first, then month by month.

Forum posters describe January in Tanzania as hot and humid, sitting in the middle of the region's summer, with typical daytime highs in the 80sF and lows ranging from the upper 50s to low 70sF depending on location. Posters describe January as marking the end of the shorter 'vuli' rains and the start of a short, drier season that lasts a few months before heavier rains return in earnest around March, though posters note some lingering rain is still typical in January and February. Posters describe northern Tanzania specifically as often the hottest and most humid part of the country this time of year. Posters generally recommend short sleeves and light clothing for a January visit to Dar es Salaam, packing for heat and humidity as the dominant conditions.
Tripadvisor community · January · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
July is winter on the Tanzanian coast, which sounds worse than it is: days near 27°C, nights around 23, and a sea still at 26°C. It sits inside the dry season, roughly June to October, and the forum describes it as sometimes cloudy but rarely raining — the best stretch of the year for beach days, snorkelling and diving, and noticeably more comfortable than the hot, humid months. Two practical notes regulars add: the coast stays warm and humid day and night whatever the "winter" label suggests, and evenings mean long sleeves — for mosquitoes rather than for warmth. The coast fills up as July goes on.
Tripadvisor community · July · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗

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