Where to Go in September for Sun: 15 Destinations Ranked from Driest to Wettest

The short answer

Where to go in September for sun? Head for the southern and eastern Mediterranean, or the Canary Islands. Larnaca, Rhodes, Santorini, Las Palmas and Agadir all average under 10 mm (0.4 in) of rain for the month, with highs of 26 to 31°C (79 to 88°F). The sea is warmer than it was in June: 27°C (81°F) off Cyprus and Rhodes, against 24°C (75°F) three months earlier. Crete, Bodrum, Antalya, Djerba, the Algarve and Málaga stay at 25 mm (1 in) or less.

The northern half of the basin has already turned. Nice goes from 17 mm in August to 81 mm (3.2 in) in September, Corfu from 22 to 88 mm (3.5 in), Split from 32 to 82 mm, Mallorca from 22 to 61 mm. It is still 25 to 28°C (77 to 82°F) there and the sea is fine for swimming, but rain can take a bite out of a week. The Red Sea, meanwhile, is bone dry and still very hot: 35°C (95°F) in Hurghada.

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Late summer’s edge: the sea has held on to the heat

Water warms up and cools down more slowly than air. In June the sea has barely left spring behind; by September it has a whole summer in it. At the nine stations below, September water is 1 to 5 degrees Celsius warmer than June’s, while daytime highs have dropped 1 to 3 degrees since August.

Two things stand out. The gap with June is widest in Djerba, where the water gains five degrees. And in the Canaries, September is no consolation prize: it is the month the ocean peaks for the year, at 24°C (75°F) off Las Palmas.

Under 10 mm of rain: the Red Sea, the southern Aegean, Cyprus and the Canaries

Seven places where September is still a summer month, listed from driest to least dry. What sets them apart is the heat: 26°C (79°F) in Agadir, 37°C (99°F) in Aqaba.

18 to 33 mm: Crete, the Turkish coast, Djerba, the Algarve and Andalusia

Here the first rain of autumn can fall in September, but it is still the exception. Every one of these stations got 5 mm or less in August.

58 to 89 mm: from Corsica to Naples, the rain is back

Across the northern Mediterranean, September is when the rain returns. The warmth is still there, 25 to 29°C (77 to 84°F) by day, and the sea ranges from 22 to 26°C (72 to 79°F). But at most of these stations, average rainfall more than doubles from August.

• Ajaccio, Corsica: 58 mm (16 mm in August), 26°C (79°F), sea at 23°C (73°F).
• Mallorca: 61 mm in Palma (22 mm in August), 27°C (81°F), sea at 25°C (77°F).
• Malta: 61 mm at Luqa (17 mm in August), 29°C (84°F), sea at 26°C (79°F) off Valletta.
• Ibiza: 63 mm (18 mm in August), 28°C (82°F), sea at 25°C (77°F).
• Palermo, Sicily: 65 mm (32 mm in August), 28°C (82°F), sea at 25°C (77°F).
• Nice, France: 81 mm (17 mm in August), 25°C (77°F), sea at 22°C (72°F).
• Split: 82 mm (32 mm in August), 25°C (77°F), sea at 24°C (75°F).
• Barcelona: 86 mm (51 mm in August), 26°C (79°F), sea at 23°C (73°F).
• Dubrovnik: 86 mm (73 mm in August), 25°C (77°F), sea at 24°C (75°F).
• Corfu: 88 mm (22 mm in August), 28°C (82°F), sea at 25°C (77°F).
• Naples: 89 mm (36 mm in August), 27°C (81°F), sea at 25°C (77°F).

Greece sums up the gap on its own: 88 mm (3.5 in) in Corfu, 8 mm (0.3 in) in Rhodes. In Croatia and Italy, none of the stations we looked at comes in under 39 mm, the figure for Cagliari.

These totals do not mean it rains every day. In Nice, the 81 mm falls over 5 days on average; in Palma, the 61 mm also falls over 5. So expect a few very wet days in among fine ones, and nobody can tell you in advance which ones. If you have your heart set on these places, plan a trip that does not depend on the beach alone.

The full ranking: 33 stations, from 0 to 89 mm

September averages for each station, sorted by rainfall, lowest first. The August column shows where the season has already turned.

See recent prices and guest reviews for five destinations near the top of the table:

Cyprus Canary Islands Egypt Morocco Tunisia

Going long-haul: south of the equator, the dry season is winding down

In the southern hemisphere, September is still among the least rainy months of the year. In Bali, Zanzibar, Tahiti and Cairns, rainfall starts climbing again in October.

Réunion, Tahiti, Cairns, Koh Samui, Seychelles: what the numbers say

• Réunion (Saint-Denis): 26°C (79°F), 49 mm of rain, sea at 24°C (75°F). As in Mauritius, the water is at its coolest of the year.
• French Polynesia (Papeete): 30°C (86°F), 64 mm, sea at 26°C (79°F) and 242 hours of sunshine, about 8 a day. In Tahiti, rain nearly doubles in October (121 mm).
• Tropical Australia (Cairns): 29°C (84°F), 28 mm, sea at 25°C (77°F) and 270 hours of sunshine, about 9 a day.
• Koh Samui: 32°C (90°F), 118 mm (4.6 in), sea at 29°C (84°F). That is a third of Phuket’s rainfall, which makes it the exception in Thailand in September. Sunshine is scarcer, at 144 hours for the month, and the heavy rain follows: 295 mm in October, 445 mm in November.
• Seychelles (Mahé): 29°C (84°F) and a 28°C (82°F) sea, but 184 mm (7.2 in) of rain, against 115 mm in August and 80 mm in July. The least rainy stretch is over. If you go anyway, here are places to stay in the Seychelles.

September’s false good ideas, with the numbers

Several beach destinations that are in high demand in winter are going through one of their worst months in September. Others are dry but still scorching.

Caribbean, Punta Cana, Miami, Cancún: September 10 is the peak of hurricane season

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. The US National Hurricane Center puts its peak at September 10, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October. That does not mean a hurricane will hit your island, but it is the time of year when the risk is highest. For US readers, Labor Day weekend falls just four days before that peak.

Rainfall averages point the same way: 206 mm (8.1 in) in Pointe-à-Pitre, 214 mm (8.4 in) in Fort-de-France, 260 mm (10.2 in) in Miami and 182 mm (7.2 in) in Cancún, Mexico. In the Dominican Republic, September is Punta Cana’s wettest month of the year. If you go regardless, book flights and rooms you can change, and check what your insurance does in the event of a hurricane.

Thailand, Vietnam, the Maldives, Kerala: 214 to 490 mm in the month

September is the wettest month of the year in Bangkok (336 mm, or 13.2 in), Phuket (350 mm, or 13.8 in) and Ho Chi Minh City (490 mm, or 19.3 in). On the central coast of Vietnam, Da Nang gets 351 mm, ahead of 628 mm in October. Malé (214 mm) and Kochi (359 mm) are in the same boat. The sea is warm everywhere, 29°C (84°F) off Phuket and Malé alike, but this is not a beach month.

Dubai, Luxor, Sal: dry, with caveats

In Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, it does not rain, but the average high is still 39°C (102°F), nights stay at 28°C (82°F) and the sea is 33°C (91°F). Luxor is at 39°C as well. On Sal, in Cape Verde, September is the wettest month of the year, yet that means only 35 mm (1.4 in), with 30°C (86°F) and a 26°C (79°F) sea: the chance of rain remains low, just higher than at any other time of year.

September 2027: the dates that frame the month

• UK summer bank holiday: Monday, August 30, 2027.
• Labor Day in the United States: Monday, September 6, 2027.
• Peak of the Atlantic hurricane season: September 10, according to the National Hurricane Center.
• Columbus Day in the United States: Monday, October 11, 2027.

Once the late-August bank holiday and the Labor Day weekend are over, September belongs to anyone who is not tied to a school calendar. Waiting until October has a cost, though: by then the sea has lost two to three degrees, at 25°C (77°F) off Larnaca and 24°C (75°F) off Rhodes.

If your dates are open, bear in mind that average rainfall keeps rising from September to October at most of the Mediterranean stations in the ranking. Going early in the month fits the numbers, with no guarantee.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Climate tables on Wikipedia (for example Rhodes, Heraklion, Antalya, Corfu and Sharm El Sheikh), which reproduce weather service normals: NOAA for Larnaca, Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh, Luxor, Agadir, Marrakech, Bodrum, Cagliari, Miami, Punta Cana, Dubai, Bangkok and Sal (1991-2020), Jordan Meteorological Department for Aqaba and Amman (1989-2018), Hellenic National Meteorological Service for Heraklion (1991-2020) and Corfu (1955-2010), National Observatory of Athens for Athens (downtown, 1991-2020), AEMET for Las Palmas, Palma, Málaga, Seville and Barcelona (1991-2020, provisional for Las Palmas and Palma) and for Ibiza (1991-2010), Turkish State Meteorological Service for Antalya (1991-2020), Tunisia’s Institut National de la Météorologie for Djerba (1981-2010) and Tunis (1991-2020), IPMA for Faro and Lisbon (1991-2020), Meteo Climat for Funchal and Malta (1991-2020), Météo-France for Nice, Ajaccio, Saint-Denis and Fort-de-France (1991-2020) and for Pointe-à-Pitre (1981-2010), ISPRA for Naples (1991-2020), Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service for Split (1991-2020) and Dubrovnik (1971-2000), World Meteorological Organization for Port Louis, Mahé, Malé, Phuket and Koh Samui, Bureau of Meteorology for Cairns (1991-2020), Meteociel for Papeete (1981-2010), NOAA and Tokyo Climate Center for Zanzibar (1991-2020), Denpasar airport (1991-2020), SMN for Cancún (1951-2010), India Meteorological Department for Kochi (1991-2020), Vietnam Institute for Building Science and Technology for Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.
• Limits worth knowing: Santorini is a short record, 2013 to 2025, not a climate normal; Rhodes is a 1995 to 2025 average (2009 to 2025 for sunshine hours); Palermo is the Boccadifalco station (117 m above sea level, 1971-2000 normals); sunshine hours cover 1971-1995 for Faro and 1961-1990 for Papeete. The threshold used to count a rainy day differs from one station to the next, so destinations are not ranked on that measure.
• World Sea Temperatures: average sea temperatures in June, August, September and October. The Djerba figure comes from the Wikipedia climate table.
• NOAA, National Hurricane Center: dates and peak of the Atlantic hurricane season.
• Mauritius Meteorological Services, Climate of Mauritius: seasons in Mauritius.

Written by the Advised Traveler team. Last updated: October 2026. Climate averages do not predict the weather during your stay: check the forecast before you leave.