VeabirdBeach

Caribbean beaches with the least seaweed in August

In August, Cuba's Cays, San Andrés, Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao and the Corn Islands have the lowest sargassum risk; the Riviera Maya, Haiti and Holguín the highest.

18 of the 32 Caribbean destinations Veabird tracks have low or very low risk in a typical August; the Riviera Maya sees notable seaweed near shore in about 83% of August weeks. The warmest water among the low-risk picks is around Cuba's Cays (87°F). August is in hurricane season: storm risk is moderate or higher in 24 of them.

Other months

The destination with the least seaweed each month.

Caribbean destinations by seaweed risk in August

Lowest risk first. Seaweed: share of August weeks with notable sargassum near shore, 2016–2024. Sea and rainy days: typical August. Click a column to sort.

#DestinationSeaweed riskSeaRainy daysStorm riskMonth guide
1Cuba's CaysVery low 1%87°F15ModerateAug guide
2San AndrésVery low 1%84°F22LowAug guide
3Aruba, Bonaire & CuraçaoVery low 2%84°F12LowAug guide
4The Corn IslandsVery low 3%84°F27LowAug guide
5Turks & CaicosVery low 3%85°F11ModerateAug guide
6The BahamasVery low 4%87°F18ModerateAug guide
7Cayman IslandsVery low 6%87°F17ModerateAug guide
8The US Virgin IslandsVery low 6%85°F17ModerateAug guide
9The BVIVery low 7%85°F14ModerateAug guide
10Trinidad & TobagoVery low 8%85°F25LowAug guide
11Roatán & the Bay IslandsVery low 8%86°F24ModerateAug guide
12BelizeVery low 9%86°F23ModerateAug guide
13The Leeward IslandsLow 13%85°F19ModerateAug guide
14Puerto RicoLow 18%85°F23ModerateAug guide
15Varadero & HavanaLow 19%87°F20ModerateAug guide
16BarbadosLow 20%85°F24LowAug guide
17Colombia's Caribbean coastLow 20%86°F21LowAug guide
18Panama's Caribbean coastLow 21%85°F29LowAug guide
19Costa Rica's Caribbean coastModerate 25%85°F29LowAug guide
20St. Lucia, St. Vincent & GrenadaModerate 28%85°F23ModerateAug guide
21Guadeloupe & MartiniqueModerate 31%85°F22ModerateAug guide
22JamaicaModerate 44%86°F20ModerateAug guide
23CozumelHigh 46%86°F21ModerateAug guide
24CancúnHigh 53%85°F17ModerateAug guide
25Santo Domingo's coastHigh 59%85°F22ModerateAug guide
26The Dominican North CoastHigh 60%85°F21ModerateAug guide
27Guatemala's Caribbean coastHigh 60%88°F29ModerateAug guide
28Costa MayaHigh 65%86°F20ModerateAug guide
29Punta CanaHigh 66%84°F24ModerateAug guide
30HolguínVery high 76%84°F12ModerateAug guide
31HaitiVery high 78%88°F14ModerateAug guide
32The Riviera MayaVery high 83%87°F21ModerateAug guide

Lowest-risk beaches in each destination

The three beaches with the least August seaweed in each destination, in the order above, with this week's beach grades.

Cuba's Cays very low

San Andrés very low

Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao very low

The Corn Islands very low

Turks & Caicos very low

The Bahamas very low

Cayman Islands very low

The US Virgin Islands very low

The BVI very low

Trinidad & Tobago very low

Roatán & the Bay Islands very low

Belize very low

The Leeward Islands low

Puerto Rico low

Varadero & Havana low

Barbados low

Colombia's Caribbean coast low

Panama's Caribbean coast low

Costa Rica's Caribbean coast moderate

St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenada moderate

Guadeloupe & Martinique moderate

Jamaica moderate

Cozumel high

Cancún high

Santo Domingo's coast high

The Dominican North Coast high

Guatemala's Caribbean coast high

Costa Maya high

Punta Cana high

Holguín very high

Haiti very high

The Riviera Maya very high

Grades for the next few days from Veabird's beach forecast, updated Oct 4, 18:00 UTC. Higher is better: A+ to F.

How this is ranked

Seaweed risk is the share of weeks in that month, 2016–2024, when NOAA AOML's satellite sargassum signal (the Alternative Floating Algae Index, developed at the University of South Florida) within about 20 km of a beach's stretch of coast was in the top fifth of the whole record, smoothed over neighboring weeks and adjusted for how exposed each beach is. A destination's figure is its median beach. It is the same history Veabird's sargassum model learns from; download it as an open dataset (CSV and JSON, CC BY 4.0). Sea temperature and rainy days (at least 1 mm) are 6-year ERA5 averages (Open-Meteo) for the destination's resorts; storm risk is Veabird's year-ahead outlook from historical storm tracks.

Limits: this is history, not a forecast. Blooms vary a lot from year to year, clouds hide the sea in some weeks, the satellite sees seaweed offshore rather than on the sand, and murky coastal water can read as seaweed near river mouths and shallow banks. Cleanup crews and barriers change what you see on a given beach. ERA5 counts light showers, so rainy days can run high on dry islands. Check the live forecast before you go.

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Coordinates approximate; forecasts are estimates, not safety guidance.