Meteo Dar es Salaam in aprile

Zanzibar's forum is direct that April is the wettest month of the year, deep in the long rains that run mid-March through May, with many beach hotels closing entirely for the stretch. Regulars are split on how bad it actually is in practice — some report rain that comes and goes rather than lasting all day, others warn of genuinely torrential, relentless downpours — but the consensus is to shift a trip toward mid-May if the dates are flexible.

The long rains. I went once — cheap, empty, and it rained in hard bursts rather than all day, so it wasn't a write-off. But several hotels close outright in April, so check before you commit to the score.

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.

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.