Season guide · Cebu · Philippines
Cebu in the festival season
January: weather, crowds, prices and the best things to do this time of year.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: CharMel Creations, CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answer
Warm with passing showers, dominated by the Sinulog Festival in Cebu City; book well ahead. Expect highs up to 30°C (86°F) and lows around 24°C (75°F), with about 12 rainy days across January.
Key facts
- Months
- January
- Temperatures
- 24°C (75°F) to 30°C (86°F)
- Rainy days in the season
- About 12
- Sea
- 27°C (81°F) to 27°C (81°F)
- Crowds
- Very busy
- Hotel prices
- Highest
Weather in the festival season
| Month | High | Low | Rainy days | Daylight | Crowds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30°C (86°F) | 24°C (75°F) | 12 | 11.6 h | 5/5 |
Compared with the rest of the year: average highs of 30°C (86°F) against a yearly 31°C (88°F), and 12 of the year's roughly 153 rainy days fall in these 1 months. Crowds rate 5/5 and hotel prices 5/5 on average.
What's on in the festival season
Recurring events; dates move from year to year, so confirm with the organiser.
- January: Sinulog Festival — street dancing and processions honouring the Santo Niño (third Sunday of January)
Good choices for the festival season
Museum · Downtown Cebu City
Casa Gorordo Museum
Visit with the nearby Yap-San Diego house and Heritage of Cebu Monument for a short Parian walk.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Architecture
- Rainy day
Historic site · Downtown Cebu City
Yap-San Diego Ancestral House
Built in the late 17th century by a Chinese merchant, this is one of the oldest houses in the Philippines, with coral-stone walls, a clay-tile roof and rooms crowded with antiques, religious images and old furniture, set around a small garden.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Architecture
- Off the beaten path
- Rainy day
Museum · Downtown Cebu City
Museo Sugbo
A good indoor stop during a rain shower or the midday heat downtown.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Rainy day
- Off the beaten path
Day trips in the festival season
- Sumilon Island (About 3–3.5 hours by road plus a short boat ride) — A small island off Cebu's southern tip with one of the country's earliest marine sanctuaries, clear water for snorkelling and a shifting white sandbar.
- Bohol (About 2 hours by fast ferry, then 1 hour by road) — Bohol's countryside tour covers the Chocolate Hills, more than a thousand grassy domes that turn brown in the dry season, the tiny tarsiers at the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary in Corella and a lunch cruise on the Loboc River.
What to pack
- Light, breathable clothes, a sun hat and high-factor sunscreen
- A compact umbrella and waterproof shoes — rain is frequent
- Comfortable walking shoes
Other times of year
Questions travellers ask
+Is the festival season a good time to visit Cebu?
It is a trade-off: Warm with passing showers, dominated by the Sinulog Festival in Cebu City; book well ahead. The best months overall are February–May.
+What is the weather like in Cebu in the festival season?
Highs of up to 30°C (86°F) and lows around 24°C (75°F), with about 12 rainy days over the season.