Weather in Apia in March

Shoulder season. March is shoulder season in Apia — cheaper, quieter, and a genuine gamble. You should expect rain on 24 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

Apia barely has seasons. March scores 56 out of 100 against a best of 72 in August — a gap small enough that the month you choose matters far less here than the week you choose.

Rain on 24 of the month's 31 days, 5 of them heavy. At that frequency a wet-weather backup is not a contingency, it is the itinerary — book the indoor things first and treat the clear days as the bonus. Pack for 28.8 °C days and 27.6 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: the day barely swings — 1.2 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest March day reached 31.1 °C and the coldest night fell to 25.5 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 37 mm — roughly 22% of the month's rain in one day.

March is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest March on record still delivered 350 mm against 51 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 165 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 12.6 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 81%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How March sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 28.8 °C in February, 28.8 here, 28.8 in April. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in March

Apia sits close enough to the equator that daylight barely moves all year — 12.2 hours in March, against a range of just 1.6 hours across the whole calendar. Sunrise and sunset land at roughly the same time whenever you come.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 29.5 °C in March — warm enough that the water offers no relief from the heat. This is the warmest the water gets all year.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

March in Apia versus nearby

If Apia is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Nuku‘alofa is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 3 days less rain. Avarua is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 2 days less rain.

So: March works, with August the better month by 16 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Apia

See all twelve months in Apia, or where else to go in March.