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Climate · Arenal

Arenal in December

Warm and wet, as the days hold steady.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

December in Arenal is warm: highs near 81°F, lows near 68°F. Rain falls on about five days a week, and daylight holds at about 11 hours 31 minutes.December in Arenal is warm: highs near 27°C, lows near 20°C. Rain falls on about five days a week, and daylight holds at about 11 hours 31 minutes.

High
81°F27°Caverage
Low
68°F20°Caverage
Wet days
5a week · 77% of days
Daylight
11h 31mon average

Is December a good time to visit Arenal?

A good month, just outside Arenal's best months, which run from January to March.

How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 70°F to 80°F, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 21°C to 27°C, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.

How December sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 81°F in December, against 81°F to 87°F through the year.Highs near 27°C in December, against 27°C to 31°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

77% of days in December, against 28% to 99% through the year.

Cloud cover

56% cover in December, against 51% to 83% through the year.

Daylight

11h 31m in December, against 11h 31m to 12h 44m through the year.

Week by week, lightly smoothed, with December shaded. The olive line marks the best months. Hover or tap a week for its figures.

Either side

  1. November81°27°low 69°low 21°6 wet days a weekRain on about six days a week.
  2. December81°27°low 68°low 20°5 wet days a weekRain on about five days a week.
  3. January81°27°low 67°low 19°4 wet days a weekRain on about four days a week.

Where Arenal sits, in December

America/Costa Rica
this place
typical high in December 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-December
5:48 AMsets 5:19 PM
Above the sea
410 mlow-lying
Latitude
10.5°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Bijagua51 km north-west

The land around Arenal, shaded by its typical high in December, the planning map's own layer. Hover the map for the figure at that spot; tap it on a phone. Clock times are local, for the 15th.

Elsewhere in Costa Rica in December

high · low · wet days
See December on the planning mapThe whole year in Arenal

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Arenal. Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 3.1°F cold in the source data and are raised to match, and both highs and lows are adjusted for the town's height (410 m) against the climate model's (533 m).Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 1.7°C cold in the source data and are raised to match, and both highs and lows are adjusted for the town's height (410 m) against the climate model's (533 m). Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not. Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.

Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not.

Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.