VeabirdBeach

Caribbean beaches with the least seaweed in January

In January, Cuba's Cays, Turks & Caicos, Cayman Islands and the Corn Islands have the lowest sargassum risk; Holguín, the Dominican North Coast and the Riviera Maya the highest.

20 of the 32 Caribbean destinations Veabird tracks have low or very low risk in a typical January; Holguín sees notable seaweed near shore in about 68% of January weeks. The warmest water among the low-risk picks is around Colombia's Caribbean coast (84°F).

Other months

The destination with the least seaweed each month.

Caribbean destinations by seaweed risk in January

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

#DestinationSeaweed riskSeaRainy daysStorm riskMonth guide
1Cuba's CaysVery low 1%77°F7Very lowJan guide
2Turks & CaicosVery low 1%80°F7Very lowJan guide
3Cayman IslandsVery low 1%82°F11Very lowJan guide
4The Corn IslandsVery low 2%83°F23Very lowJan guide
5Puerto RicoVery low 2%82°F14Very lowJan guide
6Aruba, Bonaire & CuraçaoVery low 4%82°F16Very lowJan guide
7San AndrésVery low 6%83°F18Very lowJan guide
8Colombia's Caribbean coastVery low 6%84°F4Very lowJan guide
9Roatán & the Bay IslandsVery low 7%81°F19Very lowJan guide
10BelizeVery low 7%81°F18Very lowJan guide
11Varadero & HavanaVery low 7%79°F9Very lowJan guide
12Trinidad & TobagoVery low 8%83°F16Very lowJan guide
13The BahamasVery low 8%76°F9Very lowJan guide
14The BVIVery low 9%81°F11Very lowJan guide
15The Leeward IslandsLow 10%81°F12Very lowJan guide
16The US Virgin IslandsLow 12%81°F12Very lowJan guide
17Panama's Caribbean coastLow 14%83°F25Very lowJan guide
18BarbadosLow 15%82°F17Very lowJan guide
19Costa Rica's Caribbean coastLow 15%83°F26Very lowJan guide
20St. Lucia, St. Vincent & GrenadaLow 16%82°F18Very lowJan guide
21Guadeloupe & MartiniqueModerate 25%82°F14Very lowJan guide
22CozumelModerate 25%81°F14Very lowJan guide
23JamaicaModerate 33%82°F11Very lowJan guide
24CancúnModerate 34%80°F14Very lowJan guide
25Guatemala's Caribbean coastModerate 40%81°F22Very lowJan guide
26HaitiHigh 46%83°F6Very lowJan guide
27Santo Domingo's coastHigh 53%82°F9Very lowJan guide
28Punta CanaHigh 56%81°F17Very lowJan guide
29Costa MayaHigh 57%81°F16Very lowJan guide
30The Riviera MayaHigh 57%81°F14Very lowJan guide
31The Dominican North CoastHigh 63%81°F17Very lowJan guide
32HolguínHigh 68%80°F11Very lowJan guide

Lowest-risk beaches in each destination

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

Cuba's Cays very low

Turks & Caicos very low

Cayman Islands very low

The Corn Islands very low

Puerto Rico very low

Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao very low

San Andrés very low

Colombia's Caribbean coast very low

Roatán & the Bay Islands very low

Belize very low

Varadero & Havana very low

Trinidad & Tobago very low

The Bahamas very low

The BVI very low

The Leeward Islands low

The US Virgin Islands low

Panama's Caribbean coast low

Barbados low

Costa Rica's Caribbean coast low

St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenada low

Guadeloupe & Martinique moderate

Cozumel moderate

Jamaica moderate

Cancún moderate

Guatemala's Caribbean coast moderate

Haiti high

Santo Domingo's coast high

Punta Cana high

Costa Maya high

The Riviera Maya high

The Dominican North Coast high

Holguín 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.