São Tomé weather by month
The best time to visit São Tomé is June to August — 92/100 in July, 26°C and 1 rainy day. The best season is the dry season, June to September (91/100 on average).
The worst month is November at 68/100 — hot, soaked, clean air. See November →
Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis
Best season: June to September (91/100 on average) · worst November (68/100)
- Days
- 26°C
- Nights
- 25°C
- Wet days
- 1
- Sun
- 10.3 h
- Humidity
- 81%
- Daylight
- 12 h

São Tomé, month by month
Comfort score out of 100 for the kind of trip São Tomé 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 São Tomé 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 São Tomé 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.
BusyIndependence Day, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it(estimated)
Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet
Traveller notes on São Tomé
What people who have been say about the place — the year-round notes first, then month by month.
Forum posters describing December-into-January visits report notably dry, sunny stretches: one visitor saw only about a day's worth of rain across their whole trip, and another spanning two weeks of January reported no rain at all except one roughly hour-long shower early on. Posters consistently cite daytime temperatures around 30C as typical for this window. It is worth noting that the full 12-month climate record shows January is actually one of São Tomé and Príncipe's wetter months overall (around 24 rainy days), with the islands' genuine short dry season (locally the "gravana") falling June through September instead - these travelers' good fortune with dry conditions may reflect normal day-to-day variability within a wetter month rather than the seasonal norm. Posters generally rate January as warm and humid for São Tomé, with a real chance of a lucky dry stretch but no guarantee of one given the time of year.
Forum posters name July, alongside August and January, as part of the islands' dry season, though posters are direct that conditions vary meaningfully by location even within Sao Tome itself - dry in the north, rain most of the day in the center, and a genuine 50/50 mix in the south. Posters describe the overall climate as equatorial and consistently warm and humid regardless of season, with even 'dry season' rain typically limited to an hour or so rather than an all-day event when it does happen. Posters describe skies as often cloudy generally, but flag Ilheu das Rolas specifically as a reliable spot for sunnier days. Posters generally rate July as a reasonable time to visit, provided visitors understand 'dry season' here is relative and location-dependent rather than a guarantee of sunshine everywhere on the islands.
Add your own note from São Tomé's card on the map.