Seychelles · Seychelles
May
Second sweet-spot shoulder — the southeast trades begin to establish but conditions remain excellent.
Best match
#4 of 12 months
There are better months for Seychelles — see the full ranking below.
See when to go instead →Climate
High
28°C
Low
24°C
Rain
95mm
Sun
7.5hrs/day
30-year climate normals · Open Meteo ERA5
How May scores in Seychelles
Weather
Excellent
Value
Good
Crowds
Good
Events
Above average
Atmosphere
Excellent
What you gain in May
- ↑May shares April's transitional quality before the southeast trades fully establish: 7.5 sunshine hours, 95mm of rain, and temperatures dropping slightly to a more comfortable 28°C make May the most pleasant for outdoor activity and hiking — the Morne Seychellois National Park trails on Mahé are at their coolest and most accessible
- ↑Vallée de Mai (Praslin) is at its most photogenic in May: the UNESCO-listed primeval palm forest where the coco de mer produces the world's largest seed (25kg) is perfectly lit by the May sunshine filtering through the canopy; morning guided visits before the tour boats from the cruise ships arrive are the finest way to experience the forest
- ↑May presents the best value of any quality beach month: prices are below April's spring-break-influenced rates, the beaches remain excellent, and the crowds of the January–March peak season have fully dissipated; boutique guesthouses on La Digue and Praslin are bookable at rates that the Christmas season visitor would not recognise
What you sacrifice
- ↓The southeast trades begin to arrive in late May on the eastern coasts — Anse Intendance on Mahé and Grand Anse on Praslin become progressively rougher as the month progresses; the west-facing beaches remain calm but the full inter-island symmetry of April begins to narrow
- ↓95mm of rain is still moderate — May showers are typically brief and afternoon-concentrated, but the month is not reliably dry; visitors who need guaranteed sunshine every day will find May less certain than June–August on the now-sheltered east coasts
- ↓Inter-island ferry schedules can be affected by the building southeast swells in late May — the Cat Cocos ferry between Mahé and Praslin/La Digue can experience 30-minute delays or cancellations in heavy swell conditions; allow buffer time on ferry days
How May compares to April (best month)
| Factor | May | April ★ |
|---|---|---|
| Weather | 8 | 9 |
| Value | 6 | 6 |
| Crowds | 6 | 6 |
May in other destinations
Lisbon (20.7°C)Barcelona (20.8°C)Tokyo (23.8°C)Bali (31.2°C)Santorini (19.8°C)Paris (18.1°C)New York (20.4°C)Marrakech (26.4°C)Amsterdam (16.4°C)Maldives (31.5°C)Rome (21.7°C)Bangkok (32.6°C)Istanbul (20.7°C)Vienna (19.7°C)Seoul (21.4°C)Dubrovnik (20.9°C)Rio de Janeiro (26.2°C)Kyoto (25.2°C)Phuket (32.6°C)Cape Town (18.9°C)Prague (21°C)Amalfi Coast (23°C)Mexico City (27°C)Medellín (27°C)Fiji (28°C)London (18°C)Sydney (19°C)Iceland (10°C)Tulum (32°C)Dubai (38°C)Singapore (33°C)Hoi An (33°C)Chiang Mai (33°C)Miami (30.6°C)Florence (23.1°C)Queenstown (11°C)Madrid (21.7°C)Porto (21°C)Edinburgh (15°C)Copenhagen (16°C)Budapest (22°C)Kraków (20°C)Tbilisi (23°C)Palawan (32°C)Hanoi (31°C)Osaka (25°C)Goa (33°C)Cusco (20°C)Buenos Aires (19°C)Mykonos (23°C)Zanzibar (28°C)Sri Lanka (31°C)Costa Rica (27°C)Cancun (32°C)Krabi (33°C)Athens (25°C)Seville (27°C)Cartagena (31°C)Siem Reap (34°C)Havana (30°C)Split (22°C)Taipei (30°C)Kuala Lumpur (33°C)Valletta (24°C)Ho Chi Minh City (34°C)Hawaii (29°C)Cappadocia (22°C)Dominican Republic (31°C)Jamaica (31°C)Tanzania (23°C)Nepal (28°C)Jordan (28°C)Azores (21°C)Bora Bora (28°C)Los Angeles (22.8°C)Cairo (34.8°C)Kenya (26.1°C)Jaipur (40.2°C)Las Vegas (33.8°C)San Francisco (17.5°C)Madeira (23°C)Vancouver (17.8°C)Muscat (40.1°C)Lima (20.5°C)Cinque Terre (21°C)Kotor (22°C)Tel Aviv (27°C)Santiago (17°C)Bogotá (18°C)Bruges (17.8°C)Penang (33.2°C)Lombok (31.5°C)Cape Verde (27.8°C)Fez (27.8°C)Kerala (33°C)Kigali (26°C)Hong Kong (28°C)Oslo (17°C)Auckland (17°C)
Climate data: 30-year normals (1991–2020) from Open Meteo ERA5 reanalysis. Scores compare months within Seychelles, not across destinations. Methodology →