Best Time to Visit Douala

Dry season: December to February

Douala is at its best from December to February. January is the driest month, with rain on only six days. December is close behind, with seven. Both get about five hours of sun a day, which is as good as it gets here. It's still hot and sticky, but you can plan a day outdoors without watching the sky.

This is the time for walking around Akwa, the central district, and browsing the Marché des Fleurs and nearby craft stalls. It also suits a day trip to Limbe or Kribi for black-sand and palm-fringed beaches. February starts to turn: more rain, more cloud. Still, it's workable.

The long wet stretch: March to November

Don't expect a short, tidy rainy season. Rain falls on most days from March through November, and the sky stays grey. From June to October it gets heavy. August and September are the wettest, at around 380 mm each, with September just edging ahead. August is also the dimmest month, with less than an hour of sun a day.

Roads flood, traffic crawls and the air feels like a warm towel. Beach days are a washout. On the plus side, it's cooler than the dry months, and you'll have quiet streets and few other visitors. If you're here for business or to see family, pack patience and take taxis rather than walking. March to May and November are a little drier, but they still rate Poor.

Crowds, events and which month to pick

Douala is a port and business city, not a beach resort, so there's no big tourist high season. Hotels fill more with work travel than with holidaymakers. The busiest leisure stretch is December and early January, when many people return home for Christmas and New Year. Beach towns like Kribi get crowded then, so travelling at the weekend there is tougher.

The Ngondo festival of the Sawa people, held around the Wouri River in early December, is the big cultural event. It brings ceremonies, canoe races and a lot of crowds. Dry weather helps. If you want to see it, aim for the first week of December.

Want the easiest trip? Pick January. Hoping to catch Ngondo? Go in December. If you can only travel in the wet months, try November, when rain is lighter and the dry season is just around the corner.