When to Go to Mexico

The short answer

Mexico has two seasons that matter: a dry season from about November to May and a rainy season from about June to October. The dry season is high season almost everywhere, with sunny days, cool highland nights and the busiest beaches. The rainy season brings afternoon storms, greener landscapes, hurricane risk on both coasts, sargassum seaweed on the Caribbean side, and lower prices.

Within that pattern, altitude changes everything. At sea level it is hot all year; in Mexico City, Oaxaca and San Miguel de Allende the climate is spring-like, and winter nights can drop near freezing. So the right month depends on where you are going:

• Cancún, Riviera Maya, Tulum: December to April for the best weather and clearest beaches.
• Puerto Vallarta and the Pacific resorts: November to May, with whales from December to March.
• Los Cabos and Baja Sur: October to June; winter is dry and mild, summer is very hot.
• Mexico City and the colonial highlands: October to May, with March and April warmest and late October to early November the most festive.
• Copper Canyon: October–November and March–April.

The best compromise for many people is November or early December before the holidays, or late April and May after Easter: dry, uncrowded and cheaper. Most of the bargains come between late August and early November, when you accept some rain and storm risk in exchange.

Seasons by region

Caribbean coast: Cancún, Riviera Maya, Tulum, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres

Warm all year, with average highs around 83°F (28°C) in January and 92°F (33°C) in August, and sea temperatures from about 79°F (26°C) in winter to 84°F (29°C) or more in late summer. December to April is dry and breezy, with the clearest water. From December to February, cold fronts called nortes occasionally bring a few days of wind, choppy seas and cooler evenings around 65°F (18°C), so pack a light layer. May and June get hot and humid. The rainy season runs roughly June to October, with September and October wettest, and this is also when hurricanes and sargassum are most likely. Mérida and the inland Yucatán are hotter, often reaching 96°F (36°C) in April and May; winter is the time for ruins. See Cancún, Riviera Maya and Yucatán.

Pacific coast: Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit, Mazatlán, Ixtapa, the Oaxaca coast

November to May is close to ideal: sunny, dry, highs in the low to mid 80s°F (28–30°C), cool enough at night for a light sweater in January. From June to October the coast turns tropical: hot, humid, with heavy evening storms. Puerto Vallarta can get a foot (30 cm) or more of rain in a summer month, and the jungle turns green. Sea temperatures run from about 77°F (25°C) in late winter to 86°F (30°C) in late summer. The Oaxaca coast (Puerto Escondido, Huatulco, Mazunte) follows the same pattern, slightly hotter, with big surf from about May to October. See Puerto Vallarta, Pacific coast and Oaxaca coast.

Baja California Sur: Los Cabos, La Paz, Todos Santos, Loreto

A desert climate with little rain at all except from late summer storms. Winter is dry and mild, with highs near 78°F (26°C) and nights in the 50s°F (13–15°C); the Pacific water is cool at about 72°F (22°C). From July to September highs reach the 90s°F (33–35°C) with humidity, and the water warms to the mid 80s°F (29°C). August to October is the main hurricane window. Winter also brings the whales. See Los Cabos.

Baja California (north): Tijuana, Ensenada, Valle de Guadalupe

A Mediterranean climate like San Diego's: mild, mostly dry, with a little rain from December to March and morning marine fog in late spring (locals use the same "June gloom" term). Winter highs are in the mid 60s°F (18–19°C), summer highs in the high 70s°F (25–26°C) on the coast and much hotter inland in the wine valley. The Pacific stays cold, around 59–70°F (15–21°C). The wine harvest and its festivals (vendimia) come in August. San Felipe, on the Gulf of California, is desert-hot in summer. See Baja Norte.

Central highlands: Oaxaca, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Guadalajara, Puebla, Chiapas

Between about 5,000 and 7,500 ft (1,500–2,300 m), days are warm and nights cool for most of the year. October to May is dry, with blue skies; December and January nights can drop to the low 40s°F (5–6°C), and San Cristóbal de las Casas can touch freezing. April and May are the hottest months, with highs near 86–91°F (30–33°C) in Oaxaca and Guadalajara. The rainy season from June to September usually means a sunny morning and a heavy storm in the late afternoon or evening; it is a fine time to visit if you plan outdoor things early. See Oaxaca, San Miguel, Guadalajara and Chiapas.

Mexico City

At 7,350 ft (2,240 m), the capital is never very hot. Highs run from about 70°F (21°C) in December and January to 80°F (27°C) in April and May; winter nights fall to the low 40s°F (6°C), and many buildings have no heating, so bring a warm layer. The dry season (October to May) is sunny, though March to May can bring smoggy days. From June to September, expect afternoon downpours that flood streets for an hour and then clear. Late February to April is jacaranda season, when the city turns purple. See Mexico City.

Copper Canyon and the north

The rim around Creel sits near 7,700 ft (2,350 m): winter nights go below freezing and snow is possible from December to February, while the canyon bottoms stay warm. October–November and March–April are best. July to September is rainy but green, with waterfalls at their fullest. Northern deserts such as Sonora reach 105°F (40°C) or more in summer. See Copper Canyon.

Average highs by month

Average daily highs, rounded; nights are 10 to 30°F (6 to 17°C) cooler depending on the place. These are long-term averages, and heat waves and cold snaps happen.

Hurricane season: the real risk by coast and month

Mexico has two hurricane seasons, one on each ocean. According to the US National Hurricane Center, the Atlantic season (Caribbean coast and Gulf of Mexico) runs June 1 to November 30, with most activity from mid-August to mid-October and a peak around September 10. The eastern Pacific season runs May 15 to November 30; activity peaks in late August but is spread from late June to early October, and some of the worst Mexican landfalls have come in October.

The odds that a hurricane hits your exact beach during a one-week trip are low, even in September. The more common nuisances are a tropical storm that brings two days of rain and closed ports, a canceled snorkel trip, or swells that close beaches far from the storm itself.

Seasons vary a lot from year to year. 2026 is an El Niño year, which tends to suppress Atlantic storms and boost Pacific ones, and that is how it played out: the Atlantic did not produce its first hurricane until October 8, tying a 1905 record for the latest first hurricane, while the eastern Pacific had 17 named storms, six hurricanes and four major hurricanes by late October. Tropical Storm Boris came ashore in southwestern Oaxaca in June, and swells from Hurricane Marie closed the San José del Cabo marina to small boats in September.

Traveling in hurricane season

• Buy travel insurance when you book, before any storm has a name. Policies do not cover a storm that was already forecast when you bought them.
• Book flexible. Airlines issue waivers when a hurricane threatens, and hotels in Cancún and Los Cabos have well-practiced storm plans, including shelters inside resorts.
• Watch the forecasts from the National Hurricane Center and Mexico's Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN) a week out. Storms are visible days in advance.
• Enroll in STEP for US Embassy alerts. See Safety for what to do if a storm hits.

Sargassum seaweed on the Caribbean coast

Sargassum is a brown, floating seaweed that drifts from a huge belt across the tropical Atlantic and washes onto Caribbean beaches. Since about 2014, Mexico's Caribbean coast has had heavy arrivals most years. Swimming near it is harmless. Thick mats do turn the water brown, pile up on the sand and, as they rot, release hydrogen sulfide gas with a rotten-egg smell. Resorts rake it every morning, and Mexico's Navy and local governments deploy barriers and collection boats, but on bad days some beaches are unswimmable.

When it comes

The usual pattern is light or no seaweed from about November to February, rising arrivals from March or April, a peak from roughly May to August, and tapering in September and October. 2025 was the heaviest year on record for the Atlantic seaweed belt, and strandings on the Mexican Caribbean were severe. Amounts swing widely from year to year and even week to week, depending on winds and currents, so no forecast months ahead is reliable.

Where it hits, and where it usually does not

• Most affected: east-facing beaches open to the sea, including Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Akumal, the Costa Maya (Mahahual, Xcalak) and the eastern side of Cozumel.
• Often variable: Cancún's long hotel-zone beaches facing the open Caribbean.
• Usually spared: Isla Mujeres' Playa Norte, Cancún's sheltered bay beaches on the north side of the hotel zone, Cozumel's west coast, Bacalar's lagoon, the Gulf coast of Yucatán, and all of the Pacific coast.

How to check before and during your trip

1. Look at the NOAA/USF Sargassum Inundation Risk maps, updated daily. Blue means low risk, yellow a warning, orange medium and red high, shown along each stretch of coast.
2. Read the monthly outlook from the University of South Florida's Sargassum Watch System, which tracks how much seaweed is floating in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
3. Check Quintana Roo's daily color-coded semáforo de sargazo and the citizen reports of the Red de Monitoreo del Sargazo de Quintana Roo, both shared on social media, and the crowd-sourced maps at sargassummonitoring.com.
4. Look at live beach webcams for your hotel or town the week before you go.
5. If seaweed is heavy when you arrive, take the ferry to Isla Mujeres or Cozumel's west side, or swap beach time for cenotes and Bacalar.

The rainy season, realistically

"Rainy season" sounds worse than it usually is. In most of Mexico it does not rain all day. In the highlands and Mexico City, mornings are often sunny, clouds build after lunch, and a heavy storm with thunder arrives in the late afternoon or evening, then clears. On the Pacific coast the pattern is similar but hotter and more humid, with storms often at night. The Caribbean side gets showers that come and go.

The trade-offs: humidity, more mosquitoes (dengue rises with the rains; see Health), muddy trails, some flooded streets, and swell that can make Pacific beaches rough. The rewards: green hills, full waterfalls and cenotes, fewer crowds, and lower prices. Plan sightseeing for the morning, carry a light rain jacket and an umbrella, and keep afternoon plans flexible. In Mexico City, avoid ride-hail rides during the late-afternoon downpour, when traffic stops and prices surge.

Whale, whale shark and other wildlife seasons

Whale-watching in Mexico is regulated: licensed boats, distance rules and limited permits in the lagoons. Book with permitted operators. Note that Michoacán is Level 4 in the State Department advisory and parts of its monarch reserve are off-limits to US government employees, while the State of Mexico sanctuaries are Level 2; see Safety and Outdoors.

Prices and crowds

Two calendars drive demand: American holidays, which fill the international resorts, and Mexican holidays, which fill everything, especially beaches within driving distance of big cities, buses and domestic flights.

The busiest periods

• Christmas to New Year's (roughly December 20 to January 3): the highest prices of the year at beach resorts and in San Miguel and Oaxaca. Book months ahead.
• US long weekends: Thanksgiving (November 26, 2026), Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 18, 2027) and Presidents' Day (February 15, 2027) bring spikes in Cancún, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta.
• Spring break: most US colleges and many school districts break in March. Cancún's hotel zone is the epicenter for college crowds, with Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta busy too.
• Semana Santa and Pascua: Holy Week and the week after Easter are Mexico's biggest beach vacation. In 2027 that is March 21 to April 4, overlapping US spring break and Easter. Buses and domestic flights sell out, and beaches near Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey are packed.
• Mexican summer vacation: schools break from about mid-July to late August. Expect domestic crowds in Cancún, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, Acapulco and Oaxaca (also the Guelaguetza in July).
• Día de Muertos (October 31 to November 2): Oaxaca, Pátzcuaro, Mexico City and San Miguel book up months ahead.
• Long weekends (puentes): three of Mexico's official holidays fall on Mondays, creating three-day weekends when city residents head to the coast and to towns such as Tepoztlán and Valle de Bravo.

The quietest and cheapest

• The weeks after Easter through June: dry in the highlands, hot on the coasts, very good value. Sargassum is a factor on the Caribbean side.
• Late August to mid-November, except Día de Muertos and Thanksgiving: the lowest hotel rates at most beach resorts, with rain and storm risk as the trade.
• The first half of December and mid-January: high-season weather without holiday prices.

Month by month

Temperatures are average highs and lows. The dates of festivals that move each year are given for the coming season, November 2026 through October 2027; see Festivals for details.

January

Peak dry season. Cancún 83/70°F (28/21°C); Mexico City 71/43°F (22/6°C), with cold mornings; Los Cabos 79/56°F (26/13°C). Prices fall after the first week. Día de Reyes on January 6 brings the rosca de reyes pastry everywhere. Chiapa de Corzo, near Tuxtla Gutiérrez, holds its Fiesta Grande with the masked Parachico dancers in mid-January. Gray whales arrive in the Baja lagoons and humpbacks are in Banderas Bay and off Cabo. Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend (January 18, 2027) is busy at the resorts.

February

Arguably the best month overall: dry, sunny and warm on every coast, pleasant in the highlands, and peak whale season in Baja. Constitution Day (February 1, 2027) makes a long weekend. Carnaval runs February 4 to 9, 2027, with the biggest parties in Mazatlán, Veracruz, Cozumel, Campeche and Mérida. Monarch butterflies are at their peak. Presidents' Day (February 15, 2027) brings US crowds. Jacarandas start to bloom in Mexico City late in the month.

March

Warm and dry. Cancún 86/72°F (30/22°C); Mexico City 78/48°F (26/9°C); Oaxaca 86°F (30°C). Benito Juárez's birthday (March 15, 2027) is a holiday Monday. The spring equinox around March 20 draws big crowds to Chichén Itzá and Dzibilchaltún to watch light effects on the temples. US spring break fills Cancún and the resorts all month, and Semana Santa begins on Palm Sunday, March 21, 2027. Easter is March 28, 2027. Book early, or avoid the beaches in the second half of the month.

April

The first week (Pascua) is still a Mexican vacation week in 2027; after that, the country goes quiet. Heat builds: Mérida averages 96°F (36°C), Oaxaca 88°F (31°C), Mexico City 80°F (27°C), its warmest month along with May. Blue whales are in Loreto and the last gray whales leave the lagoons. Sargassum may start arriving on the Caribbean coast. The Feria Nacional de San Marcos in Aguascalientes, one of Mexico's biggest fairs, runs from mid-April into May.

May

The hottest month in much of the interior, and one of the cheapest for beach hotels. Mérida 97/72°F (36/22°C); Guadalajara about 91°F (33°C); the coasts around 88–90°F (31–32°C). May 1 is Labor Day. Cinco de Mayo is a big deal mainly in Puebla, home of the 1862 battle, with a parade; elsewhere in Mexico it is an ordinary day, unlike in the US. Mother's Day (May 10) packs restaurants. The Pacific hurricane season opens May 15, and the first rains may arrive at the end of the month in the south.

June

The rainy season starts across central and southern Mexico, and the Atlantic hurricane season opens June 1. Mexico City cools to about 76/55°F (24/13°C) with afternoon storms. Whale-shark season usually opens off Isla Mujeres and Holbox. Prices are low before the summer rush. On Sunday, June 6, 2027, Mexico holds federal midterm elections; election day is a legal day of rest, and some states restrict alcohol sales that weekend.

July

Green, wet and warm. Puerto Vallarta 92/76°F (33/24°C) with heavy evening storms; Cancún 92/79°F (33/26°C). Mexican schools break in mid-July, so domestic beach towns fill up. Oaxaca's Guelaguetza dance festival is held on the two Mondays after July 16, expected to be July 19 and 26 in 2027 (confirm official dates in the spring). Whale sharks are at their most reliable. Turtle nesting is underway on both coasts.

August

Hot and humid at sea level, rainy in the highlands, with hurricane risk climbing on both coasts. Los Cabos is at its hottest, about 94/76°F (34/24°C), and the water is warm. Valle de Guadalupe celebrates the grape harvest with its vendimia events. Mexican summer vacation continues until late August, then prices drop sharply.

September

The peak of the Atlantic hurricane season and often the wettest month; also the cheapest month at many resorts. Independence celebrations fill plazas on the night of September 15 (the Grito, best seen in Mexico City's Zócalo, Dolores Hidalgo or any town square) and September 16 is a national holiday. On September 19, the anniversary of the 1985 and 2017 earthquakes, the country usually holds a national earthquake drill with real sirens. Whale-shark season ends in mid-September.

October

The rains end in the highlands by mid-month, and the coasts dry out toward the end. Late-season Pacific hurricanes remain possible; several of the worst (Patricia, Otis) came in late October. Guanajuato's Festival Internacional Cervantino brings theater and music to the city for much of the month, Guadalajara holds its Fiestas de Octubre, and Morelia hosts its film festival. Día de Muertos preparations start: markets fill with marigolds and sugar skulls, and parades begin in the last week.

November

One of the best months to go. Día de Muertos (October 31 to November 2) is unforgettable in Oaxaca, Mexico City, Pátzcuaro and San Miguel. The dry season settles in: Cancún 86/74°F (30/23°C), Mexico City 71/46°F (22/8°C). Revolution Day (November 16, 2026; November 15, 2027) makes a long weekend. Monarchs return to their sanctuaries mid-month. Prices stay moderate until Thanksgiving week (November 26, 2026), when US crowds arrive.

December

Dry, sunny and festive. The first two weeks are excellent value. On December 12, millions of pilgrims converge on the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, and towns everywhere hold processions. Posadas, Christmas processions and parties, run from December 16 to 24. Oaxaca's Noche de Rábanos (radish-carving night) is on December 23. From about December 20, prices peak and resorts fill through New Year's. Humpback whales arrive, and occasional nortes cool the Caribbean coast.

Public holidays 2026–2027

Mexico's Federal Labor Law sets seven fixed days of rest each year, three of them moved to Mondays, plus election days. Banks, government offices and many businesses close. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, November 2 and December 12 are not on that list. Banks close on them anyway, and many offices and businesses do too.

Other dates that affect travel

• Semana Santa and Pascua school break: around the two weeks surrounding Easter; in 2027, roughly March 22 to April 2. Check the SEP school calendar for exact dates.
• Mexican school summer vacation: about mid-July to late August.
• Winter school break: about the third week of December to the first week of January.
• US holidays: Thanksgiving November 26, 2026; MLK Day January 18, 2027; Presidents' Day February 15, 2027; Easter March 28, 2027; Memorial Day May 31, 2027; Labor Day September 6, 2027; Thanksgiving November 25, 2027.