Indonesia forum

I can tell you today in Bali it is freakin hot -- F R E A K I N HOT!

Mid December is about the worst time you could possibly chose to start "exploring the sea" in Indonesia. The problem isn't so much getting wet (because it's not cold rain) but the waves.

There will be storms and rough seas. Indonesian boats are badly maintained and usually very overloaded so they frequently sink. You'd be better off exploring the sea in October and November, when the seas are usually calm. Depends whereabouts you are planning to go though. West Papua might be OK in December.

I just left a friend behind in Bali a week ago. While I was on the west and north coast, I had virtually no rain. Same in Kuta/Legian area. On the drive through the central highland, we got dumped on for an hour or two with some seriously heavy rain.

My friend has just spent the last week in Ubud and has had massive thunder storms every day. I think they have been hitting midday for an hour or so, and again in the evening. He has been able to get out and about in the mornings without problem and is just keeping an eye on things in the afternoon as he moves about.

I was in Bali, Lombok and Flores 2 years ago from Sept - Nov and again, had very little rain except near the end when in Lombok in early November. In that case, we got a dump of raim for an hour or so on a couple of day.

In these cases, the rain never stops us. You just work around it.

Thank you. I will take those tips into account. I have had some experiences with heavy rain in Hue, Vietnam, and it seemed it was never going to stop. So, if that happens in Indonesia, well, I think it might cause some problems.