Oaxaca in August: Weather, Rain Days, Ruins Hours and Admission

MEXICO · OAXACA · AUGUST

August in Oaxaca is a rainy-season month at valley altitude. Afternoons reach 86.0°F, nights drop to 60.6°F, and measurable rain falls on 20.5 days. Monte Alban, Mitla and Yagul keep their doors open daily from 8 a.m., and the Museo de las Culturas takes visitors from Tuesday to Sunday.

For a date decision, rain is the number that moves. Afternoons barely change between July (86.2°F), August (86.0°F) and September (84.4°F). Our where-to-go-by-month guides cover the same question for other destinations.

On this page

• Oaxaca weather in August86.0°F highs, 60.6°F lows, 20.5 rain days
• How warm is Oaxaca in August?Day-to-night swing and what to pack
• Crowds and prices in Oaxaca in AugustBooking, lodging tax and what we could not verify
• Things to do in Oaxaca in AugustMonte Alban, Mitla, Yagul and the Santo Domingo museum
• Oaxaca itinerary for AugustTwo days with opening hours and a rain swap
• Oaxaca in August vs July and SeptemberTemperature and rain for three months
• Is August a good time to visit Oaxaca?Who should go, and who should shift to July

Before the weather, one entry requirement of sorts: the U.S. State Department’s Mexico travel advisory, issued May 29, 2026, rates the state of Oaxaca at Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution, the same baseline as most of the country. Check it again close to departure, along with the rest of our trip-planning basics.

Oaxaca weather in August: average highs, lows and rain days

These normals come from a thermometer, not a grid-cell model. Mexico’s national weather service (SMN, CONAGUA) runs station 20079 in Oaxaca de Juárez at 1,594 m, and its 1991-2020 normals give August an average high of 86.0°F, an average low of 60.6°F and 5.19 inches of precipitation. Every figure here describes the valley city. Sierra villages sit higher and run cooler.

The SMN counts 20.5 days with measurable rain in an average August, roughly two days out of three. Its sheet does not publish the threshold for a rain day, so the count cannot be lined up against a U.S. tally. Spread across that many days, 5.19 inches points to showers more than washouts, but the sheet does not say at what hour they fall. A compact umbrella or a light shell belongs in the day bag.

The low of 60.6°F is what you meet at breakfast and after dinner, and the afternoon is a full step warmer. Pack a light sweater or jacket for the evenings, short sleeves for the walk to the Zocalo, and shoes that cope with wet pavement.

On August 15 the day runs about 12 hours 44 minutes. Sunrise is at 12:09 UTC, which is 6:09 a.m. in Oaxaca, and sunset at 00:53 UTC, which is 6:53 p.m. The ruins close at 5 p.m., so daylight remains after the gates shut.

How warm is Oaxaca in August?

Afternoons average 86.0°F and nights 60.6°F at the SMN station, a spread of 25.4°F. At 1,594 m, the valley gives warm afternoons rather than tropical ones. The Pacific coast is a separate trip, and we hold no August sea reading for it. Sea-temperature tables usually average the daily maxima, which runs a little warmer than a 24-hour mean.

Mornings start near that 60.6°F low, so a light layer comes off by mid-morning. At 86.0°F in the afternoon, a hat, sunscreen and a water bottle earn their place at the open-air ruins.

We did not find a count of frost nights for the station, so we give none. An August average low of 60.6°F sits far above freezing in the valley. Cold-night gear only matters for the higher Sierra villages, which run cooler than the station.

How busy is Oaxaca in August? Crowds and prices

We found no occupancy series and no monthly hotel-rate series for Oaxaca, so we crown no month expensive or cheap. What the sources do fix is the weather calendar. August sits in the rains, with 20.5 rain days and 5.19 inches. How local hotels price that, we could not verify.

We hold no lead-time data for rooms, so we give no number of weeks. The INAH listings for Monte Alban, Mitla and Yagul show daily hours and admission but no reservation requirement that we saw. The Museo de las Culturas lists Tuesday to Sunday hours. Confirm any room directly before you commit.

We could not verify the lodging-tax rate, so we give no percentage. Ask any hotel for the total with taxes before you pay a deposit.

Admissions are set by INAH and do not vary with the month, and the figures are in the next section. The spending that changes the day is transport at the start of it. Reaching a site for the 8 a.m. opening gets the open-air stop done before the afternoon high. We have no rate for a driver or taxi, so we quote none.

Things to do in Oaxaca in August

August suits stops that come in short visits. Tlacolula’s Sunday market, in the valley near Mitla and Yagul, runs weekly for local food and crafts. The small mezcal palenques around the valley open their stills to visitors, distilling from roasted agave in the traditional way. Teotitlan del Valle, on the road to Mitla, is known for wool rugs woven and dyed by hand. Each can be entered and left when a shower arrives.

Monte Alban crowns the Cerro del Jaguar above the valley. It was the Zapotec capital for some 1,500 years and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. Admission is 210 pesos, or 105 pesos for Mexican nationals and foreign residents. It opens daily 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., last entry 4 p.m. Mitla and Yagul charge the same and open the same hours. Last entry is 4:30 p.m. at Mitla and 4 p.m. at Yagul, which sits just past Tlacolula on the Panamerican Highway.

The Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca, in the former Santo Domingo convent, is the roofed option: 210 pesos, or 105 for residents, Tuesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The ruins are open air. The stone itself is the same in any month, but the air changes, and in August it means 86.0°F afternoons and 20.5 rain days. East of the city near San Lorenzo Albarradas, the petrified waterfalls and mineral pools of Hierve el Agua are managed by the local community, which collects its own entrance fee on site. We could not verify that amount.

The Zocalo, shaded by laurel trees and framed by the cathedral and the state government palace, is the one stop here where we found no admission listed. It is an easy place for the hour after a shower passes.

Oaxaca itinerary for August

Day one. Sunrise is at 6:09 a.m. Have breakfast in town, then be at Monte Alban for the 8 a.m. opening, with last entry at 4 p.m. Our sources do not say at what hour the rain falls, so no dry morning is promised. The early start still gets the open-air stop done before the afternoon high of 86.0°F. Come back for a long lunch around the Zocalo, then spend the afternoon at the Museo de las Culturas, open until 5 p.m. (not on Mondays).

Day two. Follow the Mitla road: Teotitlan del Valle for the rugs, Tlacolula for the market if the day is a Sunday, Yagul just past the town, and Mitla with its 4:30 p.m. last entry. Sunset is at 6:53 p.m., so there is light after the ruins close. If showers set in, swap a ruin for a mezcal palenque or, from Tuesday to Sunday, for the museum.

Oaxaca in August vs July and September

All three columns come from SMN station 20079 and the same 1991-2020 period. Afternoons run 86.2°F in July, 86.0°F in August and 84.4°F in September. Lows hold at 60.6°F in July and August, then edge to 61.0°F. Rain climbs each month: 4.67 inches on 20.4 days in July, 5.19 inches on 20.5 days in August, and 6.44 inches on 21.4 days in September.

Moving four weeks later to September cools the afternoons by 1.6°F and adds 1.25 inches of rain. Moving four weeks earlier to July keeps almost the same heat with less rain. We hold no sea reading for either month, and we found no price series, so cost does not enter this comparison.

Is August a good time to visit Oaxaca?

Yes for travelers who take showers in stride and want 86.0°F afternoons with cool 60.6°F nights and open ruins from 8 a.m. No for anyone who needs dry days: rain is measurable on roughly two days out of three, and the sheet gives no hour for it.

If the answer is no, July is the closer neighbor at 4.67 inches and 20.4 rain days, with afternoons at 86.2°F. September adds rain instead. For a drier trip than either, browse the month-by-month guides.

What August itself brings is the standard valley circuit at the standard price: the same 210 pesos at Monte Alban, Mitla and Yagul, 12 hours 44 minutes of daylight on the 15th, and the Sunday market at Tlacolula.

The last word

Heat is not the problem in August, since 86.0°F is easy. The 20.5 rain days are the number to plan around. Book the Museo de las Culturas for a day other than Monday, keep the ruins for the 8 a.m. opening, and put a shell in the bag before you look at the rest of the destinations for your next trip.

Sources & data for this guide

• Temperature, rain, rain days for July, August and September · Servicio Meteorologico Nacional (CONAGUA), normales climatologicas 1991-2020, station 20079 (Oaxaca de Juárez, 1,594 m) · checked Sep 29, 2026. The SMN sheet does not publish its rain-day threshold.
• Daylight, sunrise and sunset on August 15 · sunrise-sunset.org, converted from UTC to Mexico City time · checked Sep 29, 2026
• Monte Alban admission, hours and heritage status · INAH, Zona Arqueologica de Monte Alban · checked Sep 29, 2026
• Mitla admission and hours · INAH, Zona Arqueologica de Mitla · checked Sep 29, 2026
• Yagul admission and hours · INAH, Zona Arqueologica de Yagul · checked Sep 29, 2026
• Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca admission and hours · INAH · checked Sep 29, 2026
• Travel advisory · U.S. Department of State, Mexico Travel Advisory of May 29, 2026 · checked Sep 29, 2026
• Hierve el Agua, Tlacolula market, mezcal palenques, Teotitlan rugs and the Zocalo are general-knowledge descriptions, not sourced figures. We could not verify occupancy, hotel rates, the lodging-tax rate or the Hierve el Agua fee, and hours change · confirm with operators when you book.