South Tarawa month by month, at a glance
Hover each month for the summary. Click to pin it.
There are destinations where the month you choose changes the whole trip. South Tarawa is not one of them, at least not by temperature: the atoll sits one degree of latitude from the equator, and the sea around it keeps the air practically pinned all twelve months.
01 A thermometer that does not move
The Tarawa airport normals, for the 1961-1990 period, give average highs between 30.6 degrees in February and 31.3 in November. Seven tenths of range across the whole year.
The lows behave the same way: from 25.1 degrees in July to 25.5 in May. Four tenths. It is one of the narrowest annual temperature ranges recorded anywhere inhabited on the planet.
In practice, that means you do not need to check the temperature before booking. It will be between 25 and 31 degrees with high humidity whether you go in January or in August, and the packing list is identical.
Key moments at a glance
110 mm, half the year's monthly average.
120 mm and the trade wind blowing steadily.
271 mm, two and a half times October's minimum.
An average high of 31.3 degrees, and only 115 mm.
02 Rain, the only useful indicator
If the thermometer is no use, the rain gauge is left. The annual average is 2,052 millimetres, with a maximum of 271 in January and a minimum of 110 in October. The wet block runs December to April and the dry one August to November.
The difference between those two blocks is real but moderate: even in the driest month 110 millimetres fall, so there is no rainless period. What changes is the frequency and length of the showers, not their presence.
For a short trip, August, September, October and November are the best bet. They are the four months with the least water, with the trade wind blowing steadily, which is what makes the humidity bearable.
03 The year matters more than the month
Here is the peculiarity that separates Tarawa from almost any other tropical destination. Variation between years is far greater than seasonal variation: years of around 150 millimetres in total have been measured, and years of more than 4,000.
The reason is El Niño. When the cold equatorial Pacific current weakens, the water warms and rainfall rises sharply; when it strengthens, in the La Niña phase, rainfall collapses and drought sets in.
These droughts last not weeks but months: the one associated with the 2007-08 La Niña ran for fifteen or sixteen months. It is worth checking the state of the phenomenon before fixing dates, more than the month on the calendar.
04 What drought means for the visitor
On an atoll, fresh water comes from neither rivers nor reservoirs: it gathers in an underground lens fed by rain and is topped up by roof catchment tanks. When it does not rain for months, both sources fall at once.
For a visitor, that translates into something very concrete: in a dry spell there may be water restrictions in accommodation, and bottled water becomes the norm. It is not a minor inconvenience, and it is worth asking about when booking.
The landscape shows it too. In dry years the coconut palms scorch, the grass disappears and the bare ground shows through: the atoll's overall look changes far more with drought than with the month you arrive.
05 What to pack, and in short
Light, quick-drying clothes, a hat, strong sun protection and footwear that copes with sand and coral. A thin rain shell works all year, and you need nothing warm whatsoever: the average low never drops below 25 degrees.
In short: go between August and November, the stretch with least rain; avoid December to April if you can; and above all check which phase El Niño is in, because that shapes the trip far more than the box on the calendar.
