Indonesia & Singapore: Weather in January?

[Queenvee]

There are so many well-travelled folks on this forum that I'm hoping you can provide some insights! I'm considering the 1/13/13 Journey voyage R/T Singapore which visits many Indonesian ports; I know it's the wet season there and have checked multiple weather sites for temperature, rain, etc. data. I'm not overly concerned about clouds/heat/rain during sightseeing, as long as it's not torrential for entire days. What's got me more worried is that I was looking forward to spending the six sea days on deck, enjoying the sun and reading. So, what's your gut feeling about the likelihood of that?

 

The other alternative I've been thinking about is the 4/17/13 Singapore to Mumbai, but my research indicates that this is also the wet season, so I have the same concern about lack of sun on sea days...anyone been there in the same time frame?

 

THanks very much for any help you can provide.

[JetAway]

Actually, it's always the "wet season" in Singapore but January is probably the best time to visit. The rain comes and goes, with plenty of sunshine between thunderstorms (which are mainly in the early evening). The average temps are much cooler, making it all somewhat bearable. April, in my experience, is one of the hottest months and I can't imagine sitting around on deck for more than a few minutes as it would be very uncomfortable.

[nanwel]

Took that cruise last year - it was rainy in Singapore, but warm, I wore shorts or skirts everyday, and a light sweater at night.

Indonisia, we did not have rain except at sea one day - during lunch - we all went in for a bit, and when we came out the sky was blue again!!

Days were very warm, but not hot - great to travel!! There had been some flooded areas in some of the cities, leftover sand bags and garbage on streets, but the bus tours went around them. They are used to it, and go with the flow.

I suggest you take one of those disposable raincoats & a travel umbrella. The crusie line loan you an umbrella if you need one, but they are the big style, and I found them too awkward, and I wished I had one because I stayed 4 nights in a hotel. Next trip, I will take a cheap umbrella, and donate it to someone that looks like they could use it before I come home. (they use them a lot for sun there) You could purchase one for around $10 in most areas.

[Queenvee]

Thank you both - it sounds like the January voyage may work out for me after all!

[MightyQuinn]

Hi Queenvee, you've obviously done your homework and know that January is peak rainy season in Indonesia. From what I've read, the rains will be intense and conditions will be hot and muggy. January also has the least amount of sunshine but it does appear! As for Singapore, we spent 10 days there in April after our Quest voyage was unfortunately cancelled. Most days we had glorious sunshine but it was hot and humid. We got caught in rain only once during the day but there were thunderstorms with dramatic lightening on several evenings. Since we're from the Pacific Northwest, it took a bit of adjustment for us to get used to the heat and humidity, but we acclimated well after the first few days.

[jork71]

We were also meant to be on the cancelled Quest cruise and ended up spending 7 days in Singapore and then 2 weeks in India. Singapore weather was as suggested in the previous post - hot, humid days but plenty of sunshine. We did get a little rain, mainly some afternoon storms, but they only lasted 30min - 1hr or so and certainly not every day. India was also very hot, humid and sunny, daytimes generally mid to high 30's (celsius - I think about 95ish farenheit if my conversion is correct) so it did get quite oppressive some days when we were out sightseeing. Nights were much more comfortable and we had very little rain - from memory only a light shower late one afternoon/evening in the 2 weeks we were there. We are used to hot weather in summer so we coped with the heat quite ok but it depends what you are used to. I imagine that time of year could be very unpleasant for some.

[DaytonGirl]

I did the S.E. Asia cruise this past winter slightly later (February). Singapore was hot but not unbearable. It did rain like crazy every day around 3:00 for about half an hour. It was dry the rest of the time.