The Best Time to Visit Mexico for Good Weather and Affordable Prices

Mexico has earned its status as one of the most-visited destinations in the world. Nailing down the best time to visit completely depends on where you want to go and what you want to do. This is a giant country with microclimates and a staggeringly diverse topography: There are golden beaches and rugged canyons, sultry cities and high-altitude colonial towns. You may bask on a jungle-backed beach by day and cozy up to a fireplace in the mountains by night. With all these options to consider, it can be helpful to know your way around Mexico's tourist calendar:

• High Season: December to April
• Shoulder Season: July and August
• Low Seasons: May and June, plus September to November

Whether you're seeking balmy beaches, affordable flights and hotels, stunning wildlife, or colorful fiestas, these are the best times to visit Mexico for every type of getaway.

Best Times to Visit Mexico for Smaller Crowds

If you want to avoid crowds in Mexico, you should almost always skip the popular winter and early spring months. May and June, after the spring breakers have cleared out but before summer travelers have filtered in, can be pleasantly uncrowded, as can the fall.

These less-crowded months do correspond with the rainy season (which runs from June to October), but that might not be as bad as you think. The rain usually comes in the form of short afternoon storms, bookended by stretches of sun. These brief showers can be a welcome relief from the heat and humidity — and they offer a nice time for a siesta.

Best Times to Visit Mexico for Good Weather

The dry-season months of November to March promise the nicest, balmiest weather in most parts of Mexico — though those dreamy conditions do bring with them higher prices and larger crowds. On a regional level, though, you can find pleasant climes at many different times of year. Mexico's coastal hot spots, like Cancun and Los Cabos, offer warmth and sun almost year-round, while high-elevation Mexico City boasts consistently mild temperatures and plenty of indoor activities to enjoy when the rainy season hits.

Dry, warm November may be the ideal month to visit Mexico overall, offering a sweet spot between the heavy fall rains and the beginning of the busy season. (Other November pros: depending on your timing and whereabouts, you might catch Día de los Muertos festivities or the magnificent monarch butterfly migration.)

Best Times to Visit Mexico for Lower Prices

Airfare and accommodation prices tend to mirror the high and low seasons. Flights, hotels, and other travel expenses can surge starting in mid-December, when visitors from the U.S. escape the frigid winter weather and take advantage of the holiday break. Conversely, you can typically save on travel costs by booking during the off-season when demand is lower.

August, September, and October are the wettest months in Mexico. If you're willing to risk these less-than-ideal conditions — particularly in September, which is the peak of the Mexican hurricane season — your airfare and hotel costs should be correspondingly low.

Finally, even though it falls in the high season, January is a great option for lower-cost travel. There are often good deals to be found after the New Year holiday and before the winter and spring break frenzy, which begins in February.

Best Times to Visit Mexico for Whale Watching

At various points in the year, migrating whales spend time in the warm waters off both Mexican shorelines. From December to March, travelers to Baja or elsewhere on the Pacific coast might spot humpback, gray, and even enigmatic blue whales on their epic ocean journeys. Humpbacks love sheltered Bahía de Banderas off Puerto Vallarta; the best times to see them are January and February. In general, lovers of marine life will be in luck for most of the west coast's peak season. Between November and April, you can snorkel with whale sharks off Espíritu Santo Island or dive the protected waters of Cabo Pulmo (one of just three coral reefs on the west coast).

On the opposite coast, whale sharks are the species you're likeliest to spot. Their season lasts from mid-May to mid-September on Mexico's eastern shores, with a peak in June and July. From Cancun, travelers can take a boat tour to Isla Holbox or Isla Contoy to swim with whale sharks and other sea creatures such as manta rays, turtles, and dolphins.

Best Times to Visit Mexico for Surfing

The Pacific Ocean drums up fantastic swells along Mexico's west coast all year long. More experienced surfers will find the biggest, most consistent waves from May to October (peak surf season, coinciding with hurricane season), especially in July and August.

Some of Mexico's best waves pound the breezy Baja Peninsula, but waters are quite nippy here in the winter months. Further south, Nayarit, Barra de Nexpa, Troncones, and Puerto Escondido (home to the world-famous Mexican Pipeline) benefit from the Pacific's powerful barreling surf, but their waters remain warm all year.

Best Times to See Mexico's Butterfly Migration

Every fall, millions of monarch butterflies migrate to central Mexico, where they winter in pine and fir trees in the state of Michoacán. The sight of these brilliant golden-orange butterflies covering the mountain forest and fluttering against the bright blue winter sky is truly magical, and worth planning a trip around.

To witness the yearly phenomenon, visit one of many sanctuaries within the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve between November (ideally mid-November, once more butterflies have settled in) and March. At nearly all of the sanctuaries, you can hike, horseback ride, or bike to see the butterflies in their wooded habitat. At some, you can even zip-line back down the mountain. The afternoon, when the air is warmer and the butterflies dance among the trees, is the perfect time of day to visit the sanctuaries.

Best Times to Visit Mexico for Festivals

Mexico offers countless celebrations and events to plan a trip around. Here are just a few:

• Come Feb. 2, Candelaria (Candlemas) is a big deal in San Juan de los Lagos and Tlacotalpan, a colonial town on the Gulf.
• Carnaval is the major February (or early March) event in Mexico, with the biggest parties in Mazatlán on the Pacific coast and Veracruz, Mérida, Cozumel, and Campeche on the Caribbean and Gulf coasts.
• Mexico's most important holiday, Semana Santa (Holy Week), occurs in March or April; expect crowded hotels and transit and processions threading through the streets.
• Foodies will love Puebla's Festival del Mole Poblano in June.
• A colorful celebration of indigenous dance and music, the Guelaguetza festival occurs in Oaxaca City and neighboring villages in late July.
• Mexico's Independence Day in September is toasted with dancing, parades, and fireworks.
• October sees several big annual events: the Cervantino arts bash in vibrant Guanajuato, the Morelia International Film Festival in Michoacán's UNESCO-listed capital, and the all-month extravaganza of Fiestas de Octubre in Guadalajara.
• For many travelers, Day of the Dead (Nov. 1–2) is the crown jewel of the Mexican calendar. Festivities across the central and southern regions (and especially in Pátzcuaro) honor the departed with picnics, graveyard vigils, papier-mâché skeletons, and intricate dress and makeup.

Best Times to Visit Mexico's Canyon Country

The wild, rocky landscape of northwest Mexico's Copper Canyon — one of the deepest canyons in the world, and bigger than the Grand Canyon — is among the country's most spectacular sights, but the elements can be unforgiving. Spring (particularly March) and fall (particularly November, after the wet season) are the best bets to time a trip, with flowing rivers and waterfalls and mild temperatures throughout the canyons. A scenic train line called the Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico (or Chepe) cuts through the canyon, but if you want to ride, it's best to book your seat in advance.

Best Times to Go to Mexico City

To experience Mexico City's weather at its best, time your trip in March, April, or May, before the rainy summer but after the winter months, when overnight temperatures can drop into the 30s. Spring temperatures linger in the 70s on average, with cooler evenings bottoming out in the mid-50s. The city will be busy with fellow travelers this time of year, but affordable hotel rates can still be found.

Best Times to Go to Oaxaca

Spring and fall are the best times to head to the enchanting southern city of Oaxaca. April to May and September to October are blessed with idyllic weather (average temperatures in the low 70s and high 60s) and lighter crowds than at other times of year. June through August and the Christmas/New Year holiday season are the busiest periods for tourists. In late July, the Guelaguetza festival celebrates folk music and dance. If you're there around Christmastime, you'll coincide with Oaxaca City's yearly radish-carving competition, Noche de los Rábanos (Night of the Radishes).

Worst Times to Visit Mexico

The worst time to visit Mexico depends on one key question: Is your goal to have great weather or fewer crowds? Though best and worst times will vary by region, that general metric can be your guide. Crowd-averse travelers should avoid the popular spring season, and sun-seekers should skip summer and fall, which come with near-daily rain.

Vacationers seeking a peaceful coastal getaway will want to steer clear of March and April, when a huge influx of American college students and Mexican families arrive in resort areas like Cancun during spring break and the Semana Santa holidays. Beachgoers shouldn't fail, though, to consider the weather. Hurricane season — which stretches from June to November, with a peak in September and October — is a risky time to visit the Gulf and Caribbean coasts, and warming ocean waters each spring and summer bring seaweed masses that can put a damper on swimming and sunbathing.

For the best mix of pleasant weather and bearable crowds, try visiting in the off-peak, dry months of November and January.