Best time to visit Kuching

Malaysia · Southeast Asia

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Kuching

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Sweet spot
Good
OK
Avoid
Busy

Go in Jul — 31C max, 12 rainy days.

No dry season: more than 6 rainy days in every month.

Plan this trip

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Flights

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Where to stay

Things to do

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Things to do in Kuching

Fort Margherita Completed in 1879, Fort Margherita resides at a breathtaking and strategic position at the riverside of Sarawak.
Sarawak Museum The Sarawak State Museum is the oldest museum in Borneo.
The Cat Museum This is a large collection of cat memorabilia, since "Kuching" means "Cat" in Malay.
Tua Pek Kong Temple This temple is the oldest Chinese temple in Kuching and at the heart of the city.
Sarawak Textile Museum Yet another historical building on its own right

Tours and tickets in Kuching

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Kuching), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

Month	Max °C	Rain days	Humidity	Sun h/day	Verdict	Why
Jan	29°	24d	91%	7.2h	avoid	monsoon: 24 rainy days, 503mm
Feb	29°	19d	90%	7.9h	avoid	monsoon: 19 rainy days, 387mm
Mar	29°	19d	90%	8.2h	avoid	monsoon: 19 rainy days, 402mm
Apr	30°	20d	90%	9.0h	avoid	monsoon: 20 rainy days, 336mm
May	31°	22d	91%	8.8h	avoid	monsoon: 22 rainy days, 360mm
Jun	30°	16d	90%	8.8h	avoid	monsoon: 16 rainy days, 290mm
Jul	31°	12d	87%	9.4h	sweet spot	31C max, 12 rainy days
Aug	31°	15d*	88%	8.3h	avoid	monsoon: 15 rainy days, 287mm
Sep	30°	16d	89%	7.6h	avoid	monsoon: 16 rainy days, 328mm
Oct	30°	21d	91%	7.7h	avoid	monsoon: 21 rainy days, 407mm
Nov	30°	23d	91%	8.0h	avoid	monsoon: 23 rainy days, 398mm
Dec	29°	25d	92%	7.7h	avoid	monsoon: 25 rainy days, 432mm

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at the waterfront, the centre, 8 km from the airport (KCH): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.* Rainy days in August are as the weather station at Kuching (9 km away) counts them, where it and the model disagree on a wet month (WMO 96413, 2017–2026).

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest in August and December.

Then and now

Kuching's December days now average 29.2°C, 0.7°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 2 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1981–90	28.2°	29.0°	29.5°	30.1°	30.2°	30.6°	30.2°	30.8°	30.1°	29.8°	29.2°	28.5°
2017–26	28.6°	28.8°	29.4°	30.4°	30.7°	30.3°	30.9°	30.7°	30.4°	30.0°	29.8°	29.2°
Change	+0.4°	-0.2°	-0.1°	+0.3°	+0.5°	-0.2°	+0.7°	-0.0°	+0.3°	+0.2°	+0.6°	+0.7°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

How far Kuching is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Type G plugs at 240 V. Drives on the left. The currency is the Malaysian ringgit. UK Foreign Office: avoid all but essential travel to parts. Everything for Malaysia: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.

Being there

On arrival

Paying — Cards work in most shops, restaurants and hotels, but DuitNow QR codes are even more common; visitors from 21 countries, India, China, Japan and Australia among them, can pay them with the Touch 'n Go eWallet, signing up with their own phone number and a card from home. Take cash to rural areas.
UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
Tipping — Not customary; many air-conditioned restaurants add a 10% service charge, shown as ++ on prices.

Getting around Kuching

Apps — Rides: Bolt, Grab. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: WhatsApp.

Local bus fares are RM1 under RM1 Flat Rate Bus Fare Programme. Meanwhile, Sarawak Metro and Kuching Metro are free of charge. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Kuching, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Help

Emergency — police and ambulance 999 · fire 994. From a mobile, 112 also reaches an ambulance.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 3 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (19)

Kuching in pictures

Kuching Sarawak Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak 01 — i

CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sarawak River — i

CoolCityCat, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Kuching City Centre from Simpang Tiga — i

Kuchingites, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Kuching Skyscrapper dari Kuching Utara — i

Medelam, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Kuching is like

Kuching is the capital of the state of Sarawak and the largest city in East Malaysia. Kuching is small enough to walk around but interesting enough to keep you there for several days, and a good base for exploring Sarawak. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing: In Kuching, you can enjoy various sightseeing activities. What is unique of Kuching city in sightseers' eyes is how the skycrapers were built in the vicinity of lush green jungles. More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing: Kuching is a great home-base for jungle trekking and exploring Borneo. Bidayuh Longhouse Adventure (at Annah Rais village near Borneo Highland Resort). More on Wikivoyage
Getting in: As Kuching is in Sarawak, which retains control of its own immigration procedures, some additional complications apply and an ordinary Malaysian visa may not suffice. More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe: The most common crime in Kuching are bag snatches by motorbike riders. When walking nearby the road or in open parking lots, keep handbags and non-strapped items far from the side of the road, holding them firmly. More on Wikivoyage
Staying healthy: Kuching has often been declared as one of the cleanest cities in Malaysia. The air pollution is low, while the Sarawak River is constantly being cleaned of rubbish. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Kuching, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Kuching

Also in Malaysia

Nearby

Kind of place

Kuching is in Malaysia, Southeast Asia. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

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