Makassar (Sulawesi) weather by month
The best time to visit Makassar (Sulawesi) is July to September — 74/100 in August, 33°C and 11 rainy days. The best season is the dry season, May to October (64/100 on average).
The worst month is December at 44/100 — sweltering, soaked, muggy air. See December →
Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis
Planning the wider trip? Best time to visit Indonesia →
Best season: May to October (64/100 on average) · worst December (44/100)
- Days
- 33°C
- Nights
- 22°C
- Wet days
- 11
- Sun
- 10.8 h
- Humidity
- 78%
- Daylight
- 12 h

Makassar, month by month
Comfort score out of 100 for the kind of trip Makassar 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.
What's on in Makassar through the year
Festivals, natural spectacles, holidays and the seasons to watch out for — curated and sourced. The month pages carry the detail.
Crowds in Makassar in August
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.
BusyIndependence Day, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it(estimated)
Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet
Good to know before you go to Makassar
Real experiences from travellers' own write-ups, quoted with a link to the original.
Getting around
A guide to getting around Makassar recommends the local pete-pete minibuses as a cheap, genuinely practical way to travel: flag one down on the street and call out your destination, and the driver will let you know if they're headed that way. Their seasonal tip: the dry season, May through September, brings lower humidity and minimal rainfall, making it the more comfortable window for exploring the Fort Rotterdam colonial quarter and the Losari Beach waterfront on foot.
Traveller notes on Makassar
What people who have been say about the place — the year-round notes first, then month by month.
Forum posters discussing Indonesia's wider wet season note February typically runs a bit drier than January, though rain remains a real presence and some posters describe daily rain potentially continuing well into May depending on the year. It's worth noting Makassar's own 12-month climate record backs the drier-than-January comparison (about 26 rainy days in February versus January's 30) but doesn't support treating February as close to the season's end - the city's genuinely drier stretch doesn't arrive until around July-September. Posters describing Makassar itself note it runs hot in a similar way to Brisbane in December, with southern Sulawesi generally considered a reasonable place to be this time of year despite the rain. Posters generally rate February as still solidly wet season for Makassar, marginally better than January but far from the year's driest stretch.
Forum posters describe August as sitting in the region's drier season, with generally good conditions for travel compared to the wetter months, even though some rain remains part of the picture rather than a fully dry stretch. Temperatures are described by one poster as 'a bit hot, just like Brisbane in December' - warm and humid but not extreme. Posters recommend Makassar as a worthwhile stop for diving, fishing and jetboat activities on the water, generally framing it as an underrated base compared to more heavily-touristed parts of Indonesia, with August's drier conditions supporting a full slate of outdoor activities.
Add your own note from Makassar's card on the map.