Lauralis

Every time I look at a "USA Today" weather map for Puerto Rico and the Caribbean the weather symbol is an "r" for rain. I have never, in one year, seen a single sunny day in these areas? What's the deal? I've heard that the ABC islands are drier, however I was wondering how anyone ever gets the bright blue sky and ocean that you see in all the Caribbean ads? And the prices for the luxury hotels are otta sight. If I spent $7000 to sit in the rain under grey sky I would kill myself! (I have been to Belize and this seems to be out of the "rain belt" of PR and the islands) Can someone enlighten me on this? Many thanks.

VI_Bridget

It really is not that bad! Living in the Virgin Islands, I can tell you that most day's weather predictions will include a 30% chance of rain. If you go to weather.com and do a 10 day forecast, not being a meteorologist or psychic, I can tell you that it will say that the high will be approx. 85F, low 70F with a 30% chance of rain! That's the prediction at least 360 days out of the year! Most days if we do see rain, it will occur in the early morning hours or after sunset, and usually that is only a 5-10 minute shower! The blue skies, sun filled days, and emerald seas are legit!

xkenx

Ignore those forecasts. They simply reflect the fact, that, in the Caribbean, there can be brief showers on any day. The reality is that the rainier season is July-Nov. During that time, most rain falls in brief tropical showers, but you could get a full day of rain if there is a tropical storm or hurricane nearby. Between Decamber and June, you would be RARELY driven off the beach by rain. We have probably spent 80 days in the Caribbean over the years and recall one fairly rainy day in Martinique, and 20 minutes off the beach in Barbados. It just isn't an issue. Most of the time it's sunny with puffy white clouds like you see in the ads.

jaguide

Perhaps you should go to Jamaica as we have had two rains on the South coast since November. Everyday is sunny and I guess this is a drought.You are probably safe coming for the next month as rains rarely begin until end of March. Look at Bluefieldsvillas on the south coast..think website of the same name.
Good Luck

Statia

I live on St. Eustatius (near St. Maaten) and we do not get as much rain as we typically need. It is usually sunny with little rain so we are very glad for every bit we get, even in the rare saturated times.

I can also attest that when I visit the nearby islands of Saba, St. Maarten/St. Martin, St. Barth's, or St. Kitts, I have never encountered constant rain either.

I agree that all of the islands need the rain not only for the survival of their ecology, but also for household water for residents in some areas. I think the ideal situation is when each island gets a little rain every day, but unfortunately this isn't always the case.

So, c'mon down and don't fret about being stuck indoors due to rain all day long. It does happen on occassion but a full day of nothing but rain is quite rare.

Knowing

I learned a long time ago to minimize the weather forecasts. They never came true. The only place we ever got rain was St. Lucia. And it did rain for about an hour one day in the USVI. Don't stress about it. Just go, relax and have a good time.

redmaria

We went to St. Martin 2 years ago in May and it rained every morning we were there --- early in the morning. Then at around 7am it would get cloudy. Then at around 8am, the sun would come out and it will be a picture perfect day for the rest of the day...until early in the morning the next day, where it would shower again for about 15 minutes. Every area of the Carib is different and I'm sure at one point or another, it does rain occassionally in the Caribbean. I believe ABC islands do not get a lot of rain, but never made it there yet.

katethetraveler

We went to Aruba for 12 days at the end of April a couple years ago, and it did not rain once the entire time that we were there. If you want hot and sunny, Aruba at that time of year is your ticket.

Carola22

You need to look at the forecasts for the Caribbean in a different way. For instance, I live in Holland. When the forecast here says 'rain' it rains all day long; when it says 'showers' it also rains all day, but with a few mninutes of dry weather in between. The Caribbean is just the reverse: when the forecast says 'cloudy' you may see an occasional cloud, when it says 'rain' it may rain for a few minutes, up to 10 or 15 minutes.
There is a joke here about some boys from the Caribbean who came to Holland to study. They were 2 hours late for their first lecture; this was because when it started to rain they went inside and waited for the rain to stop, just as they always did at home. Only, it never did..!