The coastal Andhra climate is hot and humid for most of the year. The best window for visiting Prakasham is November to February, when daytime temperatures sit in the high twenties Celsius and the nights are pleasant.
March through June is brutally hot, with temperatures regularly above 40°C and stiff sea breezes only taking the edge off. The south-west monsoon brings rain from June to September, and the north-east monsoon — which is more important here than on most of India's west coast — adds further showers in October and November. Cyclones occasionally make landfall along this stretch of coast in the late monsoon; check the forecast if travelling between September and December.
Temple festivals — particularly at the Sai Baba temple in Ongole and at the local Venkateswara shrines — can transform sleepy sites into crowded pilgrimage centres for a few days at a time.