Things to Do in Tarawa in August
August weather, activities, events & insider tips
August Weather in Tarawa
Temperature, rainfall and humidity at a glance
Is August Right for You?
Weigh the advantages and considerations before booking
- + August lands in the dry slot between July's heavier fronts and September's equinox swells. Expect 10 rainy days, not June's 17. Lagoon water turns glassy. You can count parrotfish 10 m (33 ft) down from the causeway. Worth it.
- + Airfares from Nadi and Brisbane drop 25-30% once mid-July school holidays end and stay low through August. You'll share the atoll with maybe two dozen visitors, not the cruise-ship crowds that arrive in October.
- + Late August brings the Te Baurua canoe races. Outrigger teams from Butaritari and Abaiang paddle 42 km (26 mi) round-trip from Bikenibeu to Betio. They finish at sunset. Drumming hits your ribcage.
- + Noddy terns and white-tailed tropicbirds nest on the motu inside the lagoon. Local kids pole you across on breadfruit logs. Closest wildlife encounter you'll get without a permit.
- − Trade winds swing east-southeast and can pin the Betio tuna cannery smell across South Tarawa for days. If you stay in Bairiki or Bikenibeu, mornings taste of brine and diesel.
- − We call the exposed coral heads at low tide the 'August itch'. Midday lows leave reef passages knee-deep. Lagoon tours cancel half the time unless the skipper knows every dog-leg channel.
- − Sunburn accelerates. UV index 8 feels like 11 when it ricochets off white sand and pastel lagoon. You'll fry in 12 minutes shirtless, twice as fast as you expect.
Best Activities in August
Top things to do during your visit
August's 10-knot easterlies riffle the lagoon surface but never chop it. Good for glass-bottom skiffs that drift you 500 m (1,640 ft) across coral heads alive with blue-spine unicorn fish. Low-sun angles after 3 PM light the water like stadium floodlights. Dolphins often surf the bow wake on the return to Betio pier.
Cooler mornings (25°C / 77°F) make 7-9 AM the sane window for cycling the coast road from Ambo to the Japanese gun bunkers at Betio's Red Beach. August dust is milder than earlier months. School kids on rusty one-speeds will race you.
Northernmost atoll, 3-hour ferry north, sees only 5% of Tarawa's visitors. August nights drop to a breezy 24°C (75°F) inside thatched maneaba. You'll eat breadfruit roasted in coals while elders beat rhythms on empty biscuit tins.
August's waning trade winds flatten the oceanic side just enough for 18-ft aluminium pangas to anchor on the drop-off. Bonefish patrol the flats at first light. You'll cast into water so shallow their tails wave like black flags.
August Events & Festivals
What's happening during your visit
Late August. Teams race traditional outriggers from Bikenibeu to Betio, finishing under floodlights with drumming and karaoke that rattles windows across the causeway. Grab camp chairs on the Betio seawall by 5 PM. Free. No tickets.
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