Best Time to Visit Accra

Lying just five degrees north of the Equator on the Gulf of Guinea, Accra stays warm all year round (daytime highs remain between 28°C and 33°C in every month), but sits in an unusually dry coastal anomaly called the Accra-Dahomey Gap, which means it receives far less rainfall than the tropical rainforests further west in Ghana.

The Main Dry Season (November to March) brings the sunniest skies, lowest rainfall and highest cultural energy. From late December through February, dry north-easterly Harmattan winds blow south from the Sahara, lowering coastal humidity and wrapping the city in a warm, slightly hazy golden light. Late December ("Detty December") has become one of the biggest diaspora cultural seasons in the world, when festivals such as AfroFuture, open-air concerts, gallery openings in Osu and Labone and beach parties at Labadi fill the city to capacity. If visiting between mid-December and New Year, book flights and hotels several months ahead.

The Cooler Dry Break & Homowo Festival (July and August) is a fantastic, underrated window to visit Accra. Upwelling of cold ocean water in the Gulf of Guinea drops daytime temperatures to their freshest point of the year (around 27°C to 28°C with overcast morning breezes), rains pause between the two wet peaks, and in August the indigenous Ga people celebrate the Homowo Festival ("hooting at hunger"), filling the streets of Jamestown and Osu with red attire, royal processions, drumming and the sprinkling of traditional kpokpoi steamed cornmeal and palm nut soup.

The Two Rainy Seasons (April to June, and September to October) bring short, intense tropical downpours followed quickly by bright sunshine, lush green hills up on the Akuapem Ridge around Aburi and quiet museum halls across the capital. Morning walking tours remain easy throughout these months as heavy showers often fall in the afternoon or overnight. Use our packing advice to dress for the coastal heat and humidity.