Senegal
Senegal in May
☀️ Dry seasonPleasant, a little humid and mostly dry.
🎒 Pack: sunglasses & hat
Why May scores 8.8What goes into the score
How it works- Weather comfort9.1
- ✓Comfortable temperatures (26°C highs / 21°C lows)
- !Humid (dew point 20.2°C)
- ✓Mostly dry (~3 mm rain)
- Air quality7.2
- ✓Moderate (PM2.5 ~24 µg/m³)
- Seasonal hazards10.0
- ·No notable seasonal hazards
- Safety baseline8.0
- ·Normal precautions
| May | Mar | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 8.8 Excellent | 9.2 Excellent |
| Season | ☀️ Dry season | ☀️ Dry season |
| High / low | 26° / 21° | 25° / 19° |
| Rain | 3 mm | 3 mm |
| Humidity | dew pt 20° | dew pt 17° |
| PM2.5 | 24 µg/m³ | 17 µg/m³ |
Typical-month data: NASA POWER (MERRA-2 reanalysis) 2015–2024 (modelled, not a forecast). Temperatures: Dakar weather-station normals.
Holidays & crowdsMay 2027
Long weekendThere's at least one long weekend. Domestic travel picks up and popular spots get busier over those days.
- Eid al-Adha 15–17 May · 3 days off in a row
Other public holidays: Labor Day (1 May) · Ascension Day (6 May)
National holidays only; regional holidays and school breaks aren't included. Source: holidays (open-source public-holiday calendar).
Explore SenegalEvents, sights, food & souvenirs
Check event dates locallyWest African country on the Atlantic, visited for Dakar's music and food, Gorée Island, the Saloum Delta and the colonial town of Saint-Louis.
Tabaski (Eid al-Adha)Date variesIslamic calendar — date moves about 11 days earlier each year; mid-2020s falls in May or June
The biggest holiday, with families sacrificing sheep.
Why go: Transport is crowded as people travel home.
Where: Nationwide
Coming up later
Grand Magal of ToubaDate variesIslamic calendar (18 Safar) — date moves about 11 days earlier each year; mid-2020s falls in July or August
A huge pilgrimage of the Mouride brotherhood.
Why go: Roads are very busy.
Where: Touba
Independence DayEvery year4 April every year
Parades celebrate independence in 1960.
Why go: Public holiday.
Where: Dakar
Gorée Island
A UNESCO-listed island off Dakar, linked to the Atlantic slave trade, with the House of Slaves.
💡 Reached by ferry from Dakar.
African Renaissance Monument
A huge bronze statue on a hill in Dakar.
Lac Rose (Lake Retba)great in May
A lake with salt harvesters; the water can look pink.
💡 The colour is usually strongest in the dry season.
Saint-Louis
A UNESCO-listed former colonial capital on an island in the Senegal River.
Sine-Saloum Delta
Mangroves, lagoons and islands with birdlife.
Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary
A wetland with large numbers of migratory birds.
Thiéboudienne
Rice and fish cooked with vegetables, the national dish.
💡 Local restaurants at lunch
Yassa
Chicken or fish in a lemon and onion sauce.
💡 Local restaurants
Mafé
Meat in a peanut sauce.
💡 Local restaurants
Bissap
A hibiscus drink.
💡 Street vendors
Café Touba
Coffee flavoured with spice.
💡 Street vendors
Wax print fabrics
Bright printed cloth.
💡 Marché HLM in Dakar
Sand paintings
Pictures made with coloured sand.
💡 Craft villages
Djembe
Hand drum.
💡 Craft markets