Weather in Zanzibar in February

A good month. February is a solid month to be in Zanzibar. Highs average 29.8 °C, lows 27.2 °C, and rain falls on 10 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

February ranks 5 of 12 in Zanzibar: past the worst of the year but short of July, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 10 days, 1 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 29.8 °C days and 27.2 °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: 12 days top 30 °C — hot spells arrive, but they break; the day barely swings — 2.7 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest February day reached 32.3 °C and the coldest night fell to 25.2 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 33 mm — roughly 65% of the month's rain in one day.

February is moderately variable: 13 mm in the driest year against 185 mm in the wettest, around an average of 51 mm. Roughly two Februarys in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind sits around 16.1 km/h — a steady breeze rather than a nuisance, and welcome on the warmer days, and humidity runs at 76%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How February sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 29.5 °C in January, 29.8 here, 29.9 in March. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much. Rain is the thing that moves: March brings 11 days more of it, so the earlier half of a flexible trip is the safer half.

Daylight in February

Zanzibar sits close enough to the equator that daylight barely moves all year — 12.3 hours in February, against a range of just 0.7 hours across the whole calendar. Sunrise and sunset land at roughly the same time whenever you come.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 28.9 °C in February — warm enough that the water offers no relief from the heat. This is the warmest the water gets all year.

How busy it gets

Quiet. Few other visitors, cheaper rooms, and a real chance some seasonal operators are shut.

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

February in Zanzibar versus nearby

If Zanzibar is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Dar es Salaam is the weaker option in February — within a degree on temperature, 3 days more rain. Mombasa is the weaker option in February — 6.8 °C warmer, 7 days less rain.

So: February is a compromise. July is 24 points better and is what Zanzibar 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 Zanzibar

See all twelve months in Zanzibar, or where else to go in February.