Het weer in Moorea (Mo'orea) in augustus

August is winter in Moorea and that is a recommendation rather than a warning: less humidity, less rain, sunny warm days, and dark by about half past six. The wind is the thing to allow for - it gets up in the afternoon, it is noticeable around the overwater bungalows, and a light windbreaker or sweater earns its place in the evening. Our row has it at 29.5 kph. The whales arrive this month too: humpbacks are around from August into early November, with late August to mid-October the peak, so August is the opening of the season rather than the best of it. The record: 26.1C days that feel like 28C, 21.7C nights, 9.9 precipitation days carrying 69.5mm and a 26.8C sea.

Moorea-forum threads asking if February is still worth a visit land on yes, though posters are candid it's historically the rainiest, most humid stretch of the year. A typical two-week stay tends to break down as one or two genuinely rainy days, one or two mostly cloudy, and the rest split between partly and mostly sunny, so a full washout trip is called rare even in the wettest month. Outcomes do swing wildly year to year - some visitors get two straight weeks of sun, others catch a passing cyclone, and posters are honest nobody can predict which in advance. The island's hills create real microclimates, rain falling on the higher ground while the beach stays clear the same afternoon. Showers themselves are brief, isolated tropical bursts that move through and clear rather than settling in. The record: 28.4C days feeling like a punishing 32C, 23.8C nights, a notably high 273mm across 19 days, 82 percent humidity, a 28.7C sea and wind averaging nearly 27 km/h.

Moorea-forum threads on November weather agree it marks the start of the rainy season, but posters are consistent that the label overstates the actual experience: when rain does show up it rarely lasts, and the heat that follows clears it up fast, leaving plenty of hot, sunny stretches with puffy clouds and the occasional rainbow. One account logged rain every single day of a five-night stay, yet never called it a washout - the pattern was a reliable thirty-to-forty-five-minute afternoon shower rather than a lost day. Conditions can also split by coast, one side staying clear while the other gets a passing shower, worth simply moving to whichever side has better weather that afternoon. Visitors who've gone around Thanksgiving week specifically call the weather great rather than a compromise. The record: 27.4C days feeling like 30C, 23.1C nights, 207mm across 18.5 days, 82 percent humidity, a 27.5C sea and wind averaging nearly 27 km/h.

Moorea-forum threads on January rainfall agree it sits at the heart of the South Pacific wet season, but regulars are consistent that the rain itself doesn't ruin days: showers arrive in short, quick-moving bursts, mostly in the afternoon or evening, similar to the pattern Hawaii visitors will recognize, leaving mornings clear and sunny more often than not. One long-running thread notes weather moves in three-to-four day cycles, so a week-plus stay should see a real mix rather than one washed-out trip. When the sun is fully out, posters warn it runs genuinely intense, humidity described as wilting by midday. The trade-off for the wetter season is thinner crowds and softer prices than the July-through-September peak. The record: 28.3C days feeling like a sticky 32C, 23.5C nights, a notably high 302mm across 22.4 days, 82 percent humidity, a 28.5C sea and 9.6 hours of sun - the wettest entry on Moorea's whole calendar, matching the wet-season framing closely.

Society Islands-forum threads on May weather (the numbers track Moorea directly) call it one of the best times of year to go - still low season, so lighter crowds, but with genuinely wonderful weather since the rainy season proper runs late November through March and May sits comfortably outside it, at the start of the dry season that carries through October. When showers do pass through, mostly in the afternoon, posters say they clear quickly rather than settling in. One specific trip report spanning late April into mid-May found it very nice and not too humid, with lots of sun and only two showery days near the very end of the stay. The record: 28C days feeling like 30C, 23.3C nights, 94mm across 14.6 days, a 28.6C sea, 80 percent humidity and 9.8 hours of sun.