Weather in Labuan Bajo in October

A hard month. October asks something of you. Go in knowing what. You should expect rain on 15 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

October ranks 11 of 12 — near the bottom of Labuan Bajo's year. July is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 35 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain on 15 days, 5 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 32.6 °C days and 25.6 °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: 30 days top 30 °C, making the heat continuous rather than occasional. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest October day reached 35.5 °C and the coldest night fell to 23.3 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 43 mm — roughly 36% of the month's rain in one day.

October is moderately variable: 6 mm in the driest year against 281 mm in the wettest, around an average of 120 mm. Roughly two Octobers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 3.9 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 71%.

How October sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 31.9 °C in September, 32.6 here, 31.8 in November. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much. Rain is the thing that moves: November brings 9 days more of it, so the earlier half of a flexible trip is the safer half.

Daylight in October

Labuan Bajo sits close enough to the equator that daylight barely moves all year — 12.3 hours in October, against a range of just 1 hour across the whole calendar. Sunrise and sunset land at roughly the same time whenever you come.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 28.7 °C in October — warm enough that the water offers no relief from the heat. The sea peaks at 29.8 °C in April and bottoms out at 27.5 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

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.

October in Labuan Bajo versus nearby

If Labuan Bajo is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Makassar is a better bet in October — within a degree on temperature, 5 days less rain. Denpasar is a better bet in October — within a degree on temperature, 6 days less rain.

So: October is a compromise. July is 34 points better and is what Labuan Bajo is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Labuan Bajo

See all twelve months in Labuan Bajo, or where else to go in October.