Været i Cebu City (Cebu) i mai

Regulars call April and May the hottest and driest stretch of the Bohol year and the best time for the beach - calm water, thousands of dolphins offshore - while acknowledging May is the turn into the rains. Our row disagrees hard, as it did in February: 271.6mm across 26.8 precipitation days, ten millimetres on each. Their own description is the only reconciliation on offer and it is worth having: a heavy downpour for an hour is likely, usually late in the afternoon, and in the tropics that is a relief rather than a ruined day. Heat is not in dispute - 30.8C over 25.4C reads as 37C and 31C at 84 percent humidity, with a 29.7C sea. The record: 10.7 hours of sun, a 12.4 kph wind and AQI 31.

Regulars are specific that despite this counting as peak monsoon season, most rain here lasts only two to three hours a day, enough to water the plants rather than wash out a trip, with fine weather typically filling the rest of each day. Our row backs that hot, genuinely wet read, 32.2C reading as a scorching 38C, over 25.3C nights, with a substantial 198mm of rain across over 23 days and humidity at 82 percent. Regulars are consistent conditions vary sharply even within the region, a full week of no rain on Cebu entirely possible while Manila floods at the very same time, and one part of the island can stay sunny while another sees rain. At least one nearby storm passing through during a stay is genuinely typical this month. The sea sits at a bath-warm 29.9C. The record: 9.3 hours of sun, a 13.6 kph wind and AQI 35.

January has a fixed landmark here: Sinulog, held on the third Sunday, the largest festival in the country. It fills the city at once - streets, malls, transport terminals and every tourist site - rain or shine. On the weather regulars are cheerful, calling January pleasant and cool, and our column argues with them: 225.6mm across 24.3 days is a wet month by any reading. Their own next sentence resolves it, that the pattern is rain for a short time each day and fine for the rest. The heat does not relent either - 29.9C reads as 35C at 83.4 percent humidity, with nights at 24.3C and a 28.1C sea. The record: 8.6 hours of sun, a 16.9 kph wind and AQI 34.

Cebu-forum threads asking if June is a good time to visit get genuinely split answers: some posters warn it's the start of typhoon season and steer visitors elsewhere, while others call it lovely and worth the small added risk. Regulars are consistent on one point regardless of which side they land on - Cebu and nearby Bohol run noticeably less rainy than much of the rest of the Philippines even during this wetter stretch of the year, one of the better island picks if a June trip is already locked in. When rain does arrive it typically lands as a short afternoon burst rather than settling in for the whole day, and posters say the humid heat is the more constant discomfort than the rain itself. The wet season here runs roughly June through mid-October, so this month sits right at its start rather than its worst. The record: 32.3C days feeling like a punishing 39C, 25.3C nights, a notably high 271mm across 27.3 days, 83 percent humidity, a 30.2C sea and 9.4 hours of sun.

April is the hottest and driest month of the Cebu year and regulars do not soften it: temperatures well into the mid-30s with high humidity on top, and no escaping the heat in the second half of the month. Our row's 32.1C reads as 38C at 81 percent. Their practical advice is unusually blunt for a beach destination - be indoors in air conditioning from about ten in the morning until five in the afternoon, and carry a neck fan and an insulated bottle. What April buys is reliability: this is the dry end of the year and rain is least likely now, though our row still counts 19.2 precipitation days carrying 117.8mm, which is the tropical short shower rather than a wet month. The record: 25.4C nights, 10.8 hours of sun and a 29.5C sea.