VeabirdBeach

Caribbean beaches with the least seaweed in December

In December, Cuba's Cays, Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao, the Corn Islands and Belize have the lowest sargassum risk; the Riviera Maya, Holguín and Punta Cana the highest.

20 of the 32 Caribbean destinations Veabird tracks have low or very low risk in a typical December; the Riviera Maya sees notable seaweed near shore in about 77% of December weeks. The warmest water among the low-risk picks is around Colombia's Caribbean coast (85°F).

Other months

The destination with the least seaweed each month.

Caribbean destinations by seaweed risk in December

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

#DestinationSeaweed riskSeaRainy daysStorm riskMonth guide
1Cuba's CaysVery low 1%78°F10Very lowDec guide
2Aruba, Bonaire & CuraçaoVery low 1%83°F19Very lowDec guide
3The Corn IslandsVery low 2%83°F27Very lowDec guide
4BelizeVery low 3%82°F23Very lowDec guide
5Turks & CaicosVery low 4%81°F10Very lowDec guide
6San AndrésVery low 4%84°F21Very lowDec guide
7Cayman IslandsVery low 4%83°F13Very lowDec guide
8Roatán & the Bay IslandsVery low 4%82°F25Very lowDec guide
9Puerto RicoVery low 6%83°F17Very lowDec guide
10Trinidad & TobagoVery low 7%83°F19Very lowDec guide
11The BahamasVery low 7%78°F10Very lowDec guide
12The Leeward IslandsVery low 8%82°F13Very lowDec guide
13BarbadosVery low 9%83°F16Very lowDec guide
14Varadero & HavanaLow 11%81°F11Very lowDec guide
15The BVILow 13%82°F12Very lowDec guide
16The US Virgin IslandsLow 13%82°F14Very lowDec guide
17St. Lucia, St. Vincent & GrenadaLow 13%83°F17Very lowDec guide
18Panama's Caribbean coastLow 16%84°F28Very lowDec guide
19Colombia's Caribbean coastLow 17%85°F10Very lowDec guide
20Costa Rica's Caribbean coastLow 21%83°F28Very lowDec guide
21CancúnModerate 26%81°F15Very lowDec guide
22Guadeloupe & MartiniqueModerate 29%83°F16Very lowDec guide
23JamaicaModerate 34%84°F13Very lowDec guide
24CozumelModerate 40%82°F14Very lowDec guide
25Guatemala's Caribbean coastModerate 42%81°F24Very lowDec guide
26The Dominican North CoastHigh 52%82°F19Very lowDec guide
27Costa MayaHigh 56%83°F19Very lowDec guide
28Santo Domingo's coastHigh 60%83°F11Very lowDec guide
29HaitiHigh 65%85°F6Very lowDec guide
30Punta CanaHigh 67%82°F19Very lowDec guide
31HolguínVery high 74%81°F14Very lowDec guide
32The Riviera MayaVery high 77%82°F15Very lowDec guide

Lowest-risk beaches in each destination

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

Cuba's Cays very low

Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao very low

The Corn Islands very low

Belize very low

Turks & Caicos very low

San Andrés very low

Cayman Islands very low

Roatán & the Bay Islands very low

Puerto Rico very low

Trinidad & Tobago very low

The Bahamas very low

The Leeward Islands very low

Barbados very low

Varadero & Havana low

The BVI low

The US Virgin Islands low

St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenada low

Panama's Caribbean coast low

Colombia's Caribbean coast low

Costa Rica's Caribbean coast low

Cancún moderate

Guadeloupe & Martinique moderate

Jamaica moderate

Cozumel moderate

Guatemala's Caribbean coast moderate

The Dominican North Coast high

Costa Maya high

Santo Domingo's coast high

Haiti high

Punta Cana high

Holguín 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.