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Climate · Arenal

Arenal in May

Hot and wet, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in Arenal is hot: highs near 86°F, lows near 71°F. Rain falls on about six days a week, more often as the month goes on, and the days lengthen by 11 minutes from the first week to the last.May in Arenal is hot: highs near 30°C, lows near 22°C. Rain falls on about six days a week, more often as the month goes on, and the days lengthen by 11 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
86°F30°Caverage
Low
71°F22°Caverage
Wet days
6a week · 79% of days
Daylight
12h 36mon average

Is May a good time to visit Arenal?

May sits outside Arenal's best months, which run from January to March. Expect hot days and rain on about six days a week.

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 May sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 86°F in May, against 81°F to 87°F through the year.Highs near 30°C in May, against 27°C to 31°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

79% of days in May, against 28% to 99% through the year.

Cloud cover

82% cover in May, against 51% to 83% through the year.

Daylight

12h 36m in May, against 11h 31m to 12h 44m through the year.

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

Either side

  1. April87°31°low 69°low 21°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.
  2. May86°30°low 71°low 22°6 wet days a weekRain on about six days a week.
  3. June84°29°low 71°low 22°7 wet days a weekRain on almost every day.

Where Arenal sits, in May

America/Costa Rica
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
5:17 AMsets 5:53 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 May, 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 May

high · low · wet days
See May 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.