Mumbai in July

My wife and I will be traveling through India in July. I have spent a week in Mumbai before and really love the city. My wife has not been, and I was hoping to take her and give her a glimpse.

I am worried about monsoon season and was hoping you guys with first hand knowledge could help me out. How bad does it get? Do roads flood and close? Is the city shut down?

My plan was to do some of the normal tourist things such as eat at Leopolds, try the many great resturants, and drive by the sites in a car. I thought Crawford market would be open because its covered. I thought we could still hit the indoor shops and maybe go to the malls.

I really have no understanding of a monsoon and was hoping for some guidance.

Should we spend a few days in Mumbai or just avoid it?

Will the rains mess up our outbound international flights?

Thanks in advance,

Michael

Mumbai in July

The rain is unpredictable in July. There are days of no rain at all, and then there are days when it pours. Some days there%26#39;s a weak drizzle. Some days it is just a short downpour at 4:00 p.m.

I wish I could give you a better answer than that, but it IS unpredictable.

What I would do is fly international in and out of Delhi, and come to Mumbai on a domestic flight trip. That way even if you do miss a flight you can always get another one the next day, there is literally a flight every 30 mintues to Delhi.

- Deepa

Mumbai in July

The monsoon season lasts 3 months. Within these three months we usually have 2-3 days of really heavy rain where traffic is disrupted.

Michael,

It depends really on your tolerance for disruption and delays and ability to take a chance.

We had international visitors last two monsoons and they loved it. Luckily for them, the rain never got so bad that their flights were disrupted. However, if a depression develops and you have extremely high rainfall combined with high tide, there could be some flooding, yes. I missed the flooding that was there July 26,2005. There was severe disruption. Perhaps if you google July flooding Mumbai

See this :

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Maharashtra_floods

South Mumbai (where the places you mention are), except for some places like Nana Chowk is usually less affected than the suburbs and Central Mumbai. The route to the airport from South Mumbai is usually motorable even during the monsoons. However, the area around the airport itself has had some flooding in the past during heavy rains. You must also allow for a lot more travel time to the airport.

You can do a lot of shopping if you do not mind getting a bit wet in the dash from car to shop. The covered part of Crawford Market is do-able. However, do be aware that there will be slush around the market and your footwear is likely to get mucky. I do not recommend going into the narrow lanes around Crawford Market where various other shops are.

You could still try restaurants. The locals avoid eating fish during monsoons. Have not understood all the reasons for that. It is also good to be especially careful about avoiding salads, chutneys, etc.

Do be extra careful about keeping as dry as possible, washing your feet and hands well once you get indoors and not being outdoors too long with wet and dirty feet.

Please do not venture into dirty water if there is a cut or wound on your feet.