Climate
Very tropical and you need to wear casual, light clothes: t-shirts, shorts, sandals or shoes. Temperatures vary little through the year, with daytime highs around 32-34 degrees Celsius, falling at night to 22-26 degrees. During the rainy season November-April be prepared for occasional flash floods and traffic jams, although it's not as bad as Jakarta.
Understand
The story goes that Surabaya's name derives from the Javanese words Suro, meaning shark, and Boyo, meaning crocodile. With over 3 million people, unpretentious Surabaya is the be the second-largest city in Indonesia, but it's a little lacking in sights. However, many people come here on business, and Surabaya is also a gateway city for Mount Bromo and Bali. The city's tree-lined streets and renovated pavements will impress those newly arrived from other cities in the archipelago, though in general the city's attractions tend to be more apparent to those who make it their home rather than to short-term visitors.