Bali in March: Weather, Nyepi and Whether to Go (2027)

Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) closes for 24 hours on Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence, which usually falls in March. Outside that one day, March is a good month to go from Amsterdam: the wet season is winding down, days sit around 30°C, the rice terraces are at their greenest and the July and August crowds are months away.

The catch is timing. Nyepi, Easter and the end of Ramadan can all land in March 2027, and each one changes how your trip plays out. Get those three dates into your calendar first and the rest is easy.

The March traps

The biggest March mistake is booking flights without checking the Nyepi date. Nyepi is the Balinese Hindu New Year in the Saka calendar, observed as a full day of silence from 6:00 to 6:00 the next morning, and the whole island stops: no flights, no traffic, no open shops, no beach.

Nyepi moves every year because it follows the lunar Saka calendar. The confirmed 2027 date appears in the Indonesian government's joint ministerial decree on national holidays (the SKB 3 Menteri), which is published well ahead; your hotel will also know. Don't guess from last year's date, because it can shift by several weeks.

If you're on the island for Nyepi, you stay inside your hotel grounds. Pecalang, the traditional village guards, patrol the streets to make sure nobody is out. Lights stay low after dark, and in recent years mobile data has been switched off across Bali for the day. Hotel Wi-Fi has often stayed on, but don't count on it.

The second trap is assuming March is dry. It isn't, quite. March is the last month of Bali's wet season, which runs roughly from November, so expect heavy afternoon or evening showers on many days, with mornings that are often clear.

Third: the beaches between Kuta, Legian and Seminyak collect washed-up plastic in the wet season, when currents carry it in from the Java Sea and the rivers. It tapers off by the end of March, but early in the month you may find a beach that looks nothing like the photos.

Fourth, Easter. Easter Sunday falls on 28 March 2027, so Good Friday (26 March) and Easter Monday (29 March) make a long weekend in the Netherlands, and late-March departures from Schiphol get busier. Good Friday is also a public holiday in Indonesia.

Fifth, Eid al-Fitr, known in Indonesia as Idul Fitri or Lebaran, is expected around 9 or 10 March 2027, depending on the moon sighting. Bali is mostly Hindu, so daily life barely changes, but domestic travel across Indonesia spikes around Lebaran and some Javanese visitors head for Bali. Check the government holiday decree for the official date.

The March numbers

Bali's south coast typically sees daytime highs of 30 to 32°C and nights of 23 to 25°C in March, according to long-term climate averages. Ubud, inland at roughly 200 to 300 metres, runs a couple of degrees cooler and tends to catch more rain.

The sea around Bali is around 28 to 29°C in March, warm enough to stay in for hours. Daylight is close to 12 hours, as you'd expect near the equator, with sunset around 18:25 local time.

Bali runs on WITA (Central Indonesia Time, UTC+8). Bali is 7 hours ahead of Amsterdam until the Netherlands switches to summer time on 28 March 2027, after which the gap is 6 hours. Handy for calls home: your evening drinks line up with lunchtime in Amsterdam.

Now the money. Dutch passport holders can enter on a Visa on Arrival, a 30-day tourist visa you can buy at the airport or online as an e-VOA, for IDR 500,000, according to the Directorate General of Immigration of Indonesia, 2024. It can be extended once for another 30 days.

On top of that, every foreign visitor pays the Bali tourist levy of IDR 150,000, according to the Bali Provincial Government, 2024. The levy has applied since February 2024 and is paid online through the province's Love Bali system or on arrival.

Flights: fares for March on the Amsterdam to Bali route aren't tracked by baliamsterdam.com yet, so we won't put a number on them. When data for the route is in, it will appear in the fare calendar with the cheapest month and day to fly. Until then, March generally sits outside the Dutch peak periods (summer and Christmas), so you're competing mostly with the Easter crowd at the end of the month.

Hotels: March is low to shoulder season in Bali, so rates are usually softer than in July, August or over Christmas. The exceptions are the Nyepi window and Easter week, when some resorts fill up with "Nyepi packages" for guests who'll be stuck on site anyway. Our hotel prices for a first stay are a good starting point for budgeting.

If you're putting trip money aside now, it can earn a little until March. bunq's Savings Account pays 1.51% a year and Rabobank's Rabo SpaarRekening pays 1.50% a year on the first EUR 10,000, according to the baliamsterdam.com savings rate tracker, October 2026. ING's Oranje Spaarrekening and ABN AMRO's Direct Sparen both pay 1.25% in the same tracker; rates change often, so confirm with the bank. The full list sits with our savings rates at Dutch banks.

The booking order

Planning Bali in March works best in a fixed order, because the holidays decide everything else.

1. Lock the dates. Look up the 2027 Nyepi date in the government holiday decree, then mark Easter (26 to 29 March) and Lebaran (around 9 or 10 March). Decide whether you want to experience Nyepi or avoid it.
2. Book the flights. There's no direct flight from Schiphol to Denpasar, so you're connecting once, usually via Singapore, Doha, Dubai or Istanbul. Plan on a long travel day. You can compare one-stop fares from Amsterdam to Bali and pick a schedule that lands you at least a day before Nyepi, never on it.
3. Choose a base, or two. The Bukit Peninsula around Uluwatu tends to be drier and sunnier than the rest of the island in the wet season. Ubud is wetter but this is when its terraces look best. Sanur is calm, flat and easy for a first night.
4. Sort entry. Your passport needs at least six months' validity on arrival. Buy the e-VOA online, pay the tourist levy, and complete Indonesia's digital arrival declaration (All Indonesia) before you fly.
5. Book the dawn activities. Sunrise treks and boat trips are the March sweet spot, because the weather is most reliable early.
6. Pack for heat and rain. Details below.

For the drier end of the island, look at hotels around Uluwatu, and if you're staying through Nyepi, pick a place with a proper pool and a restaurant you actually like: you'll be eating every meal there for a day.

On arrival, data matters more than usual, because you'll want maps and ride-hailing apps from the moment you clear immigration. Installing a travel eSIM for Indonesia before you leave Schiphol saves you the airport SIM queue.

What to pack

Bring quick-dry clothes, a packable rain jacket or poncho, sandals that don't mind puddles and a dry bag for your phone on boats and waterfall walks. Add mosquito repellent, since mosquitoes thrive in the wet season, and reef-safe sunscreen. Pack one warm layer for the Mount Batur summit at dawn, which is chilly even in March. A sarong for temple visits is useful, though most temples lend or rent them.

The winter coat you wear to Schiphol is dead weight for two weeks. Leave it in the car or wear thin layers instead.

The March shortlist

These are the things March genuinely does best, plus one to skip.

The ogoh-ogoh parades. On the eve of Nyepi (Pengerupukan), villages parade giant papier-mâché demon effigies through the streets with drums and torches, then burn them. Denpasar, Ubud and Kuta put on the biggest shows. If your dates allow one Bali festival, make it this one.

Rice terraces at their greenest. Jatiluwih (a UNESCO-listed subak landscape) and Tegallalang near Ubud look lush and full after months of rain. Go early, before the clouds build.

Mount Batur at sunrise. The pre-dawn hike up the active volcano is a classic, and March mornings are often clear. You can book a Batur sunrise trek with hotel pickup around 2:00 to 3:00.

Waterfalls in full flow. Sekumpul in the north and Tukad Cepung in Bangli are at their most dramatic now. Check conditions after a night of heavy rain, because paths get slippery and some falls close.

The north is a long day out from the south, so for a waterfall loop it makes sense to hire a car for the day, provided you're comfortable with Balinese traffic. You'll need an international driving permit, which ANWB issues in the Netherlands, alongside your Dutch licence.

Skip: swimming at Kuta and Legian. Between the late wet-season rubbish and the strong currents on that stretch, spend your beach time on the Bukit (Padang Padang, Bingin, Melasti) or in Sanur instead.

Bali and Amsterdam in March, side by side

The gap between the two cities in March is about 20°C, which is the whole point of going.

Figures are long-term climate averages, so any given week can run hotter, cooler or wetter.

The verdict

Go. March gives you warm sea, green landscapes and lower hotel rates than the summer peak, and the rain mostly arrives in the afternoon when you're ready for a nap anyway. Base yourself on the Bukit if you want sun, add a few nights in Ubud for the terraces, and decide up front whether Nyepi is something you want to experience (it's genuinely memorable, and the ogoh-ogoh eve is spectacular) or a day you'd rather fly around. If you're paying for the trip yourself, avoid departing over the Easter weekend at the end of the month. For quick answers on visas and travel between the two cities, see our corridor FAQ.

Last updated: October 2026