VeabirdBeach

Caribbean beaches with the least seaweed in February

In February, Cuba's Cays, Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao, the Corn Islands and Turks & Caicos have the lowest sargassum risk; Holguín, the Riviera Maya and Guatemala's Caribbean coast the highest.

21 of the 32 Caribbean destinations Veabird tracks have low or very low risk in a typical February; Holguín sees notable seaweed near shore in about 75% of February weeks. The warmest water among the low-risk picks is around Colombia's Caribbean coast (83°F).

Other months

The destination with the least seaweed each month.

Caribbean destinations by seaweed risk in February

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

#DestinationSeaweed riskSeaRainy daysStorm riskMonth guide
1Cuba's CaysVery low 1%76°F6Very lowFeb guide
2Aruba, Bonaire & CuraçaoVery low 1%81°F14Very lowFeb guide
3The Corn IslandsVery low 2%82°F16Very lowFeb guide
4Turks & CaicosVery low 3%79°F6Very lowFeb guide
5Cayman IslandsVery low 3%81°F11Very lowFeb guide
6The BVIVery low 3%80°F12Very lowFeb guide
7Varadero & HavanaVery low 3%78°F6Very lowFeb guide
8Puerto RicoVery low 3%81°F16Very lowFeb guide
9Colombia's Caribbean coastVery low 3%83°F4Very lowFeb guide
10San AndrésVery low 5%82°F13Very lowFeb guide
11BarbadosVery low 5%81°F14Very lowFeb guide
12BelizeVery low 6%80°F12Very lowFeb guide
13Trinidad & TobagoVery low 7%81°F15Very lowFeb guide
14Roatán & the Bay IslandsVery low 7%81°F14Very lowFeb guide
15The BahamasVery low 8%76°F6Very lowFeb guide
16The Leeward IslandsLow 10%80°F13Very lowFeb guide
17St. Lucia, St. Vincent & GrenadaLow 13%81°F15Very lowFeb guide
18The US Virgin IslandsLow 16%81°F13Very lowFeb guide
19Costa Rica's Caribbean coastLow 16%82°F23Very lowFeb guide
20Panama's Caribbean coastLow 17%83°F23Very lowFeb guide
21Guadeloupe & MartiniqueLow 24%81°F13Very lowFeb guide
22JamaicaModerate 26%82°F13Very lowFeb guide
23Santo Domingo's coastModerate 33%81°F9Very lowFeb guide
24CozumelModerate 34%80°F10Very lowFeb guide
25CancúnModerate 36%79°F11Very lowFeb guide
26HaitiModerate 43%82°F8Very lowFeb guide
27Costa MayaHigh 47%80°F12Very lowFeb guide
28The Dominican North CoastHigh 54%80°F17Very lowFeb guide
29Punta CanaHigh 55%80°F18Very lowFeb guide
30Guatemala's Caribbean coastHigh 61%81°F17Very lowFeb guide
31The Riviera MayaVery high 71%80°F11Very lowFeb guide
32HolguínVery high 75%79°F10Very lowFeb guide

Lowest-risk beaches in each destination

The three beaches with the least February 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

Turks & Caicos very low

Cayman Islands very low

The BVI very low

Varadero & Havana very low

Puerto Rico very low

Colombia's Caribbean coast very low

San Andrés very low

Barbados very low

Belize very low

Trinidad & Tobago very low

Roatán & the Bay Islands very low

The Bahamas very low

The Leeward Islands low

St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenada low

The US Virgin Islands low

Costa Rica's Caribbean coast low

Panama's Caribbean coast low

Guadeloupe & Martinique low

Jamaica moderate

Santo Domingo's coast moderate

Cozumel moderate

Cancún moderate

Haiti moderate

Costa Maya high

The Dominican North Coast high

Punta Cana high

Guatemala's Caribbean coast high

The Riviera Maya very high

Holguín 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.