Monthly Climate
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Best time to visit Cotonou

January is the best time to visit Cotonou for general sightseeing, with average highs of 29 °C and about 8 wet days. The comfortable season runs roughly December to February.

It depends what you are going for

One month rarely wins on everything. These are the best months on each measure taken on its own.

If you want Best month On that measure
Sightseeing and walking January comfort 64/100
A beach holiday January sea 28 °C
The least cloud December 39 % average cloud cover
The least rain January 30 mm
Warmth March 30 °C
Cooler weather August 26 °C

Ranked by comfort

# Month Comfort / 100 Avg high Wet days Beach
1 January 64 29 °C 8 86
2 August 63 26 °C 15 74
3 December 62 29 °C 9 82
4 February 57 30 °C 10 80
5 July 55 26 °C 20 74
6 September 55 27 °C 22 75
7 June 53 27 °C 26 73
8 October 52 28 °C 24 73
9 November 51 29 °C 18 70
10 March 47 30 °C 16 67
11 May 47 29 °C 24 69
12 April 46 30 °C 18 68

For a beach holiday

January scores highest, with a sea temperature of 28 °C and air temperatures around 29 °C. The sea never reaches 20 °C here.

Month Sea Air Sunshine Beach score
January 28 °C 29 °C 48 % 86
February 28 °C 30 °C 56 % 80
March 29 °C 30 °C 68 % 67
April 29 °C 30 °C 74 % 68
May 29 °C 29 °C 80 % 69
June 28 °C 27 °C 81 % 73
July 26 °C 26 °C 81 % 74
August 25 °C 26 °C 79 % 74
September 26 °C 27 °C 80 % 75
October 27 °C 28 °C 72 % 73
November 29 °C 29 °C 52 % 70
December 28 °C 29 °C 39 % 82

When to think twice

April scores lowest with about 18 wet days and highs near 30 °C. That does not make it a bad month — it depends entirely on what you are travelling for. The numbers are all here; the judgement is yours.

The full year

Month Avg high Rainfall Cloud
January 29.5 °C 30 mm 48 %
February 29.9 °C 40 mm 56 %
March 30.1 °C 71 mm 68 %
April 29.8 °C 97 mm 74 %
May 29.0 °C 172 mm 80 %
June 27.5 °C 228 mm 81 %
July 26.4 °C 136 mm 81 %
August 26.1 °C 92 mm 79 %
September 26.8 °C 138 mm 80 %
October 27.8 °C 150 mm 72 %
November 28.8 °C 74 mm 52 %
December 29.3 °C 35 mm 39 %

Data sources and method

Normal period
1991–2020
Dataset version
era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: comfort score, beach score, season boundaries. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.