VeabirdBeach

Caribbean beaches with the least seaweed in July

In July, the Corn Islands, Turks & Caicos, San Andrés and Cuba's Cays have the lowest sargassum risk; the Riviera Maya, Holguín and Punta Cana the highest.

21 of the 32 Caribbean destinations Veabird tracks have low or very low risk in a typical July; the Riviera Maya sees notable seaweed near shore in about 82% of July weeks. The warmest water among the low-risk picks is around Cuba's Cays (87°F).

Other months

The destination with the least seaweed each month.

Caribbean destinations by seaweed risk in July

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

#DestinationSeaweed riskSeaRainy daysStorm riskMonth guide
1The Corn IslandsVery low 1%84°F29Very lowJul guide
2Turks & CaicosVery low 1%85°F9LowJul guide
3San AndrésVery low 1%84°F24Very lowJul guide
4Cuba's CaysVery low 2%87°F13LowJul guide
5Aruba, Bonaire & CuraçaoVery low 2%83°F15Very lowJul guide
6Roatán & the Bay IslandsVery low 3%84°F24Very lowJul guide
7The US Virgin IslandsVery low 3%84°F18Very lowJul guide
8The BVIVery low 4%84°F14Very lowJul guide
9Trinidad & TobagoVery low 5%84°F24Very lowJul guide
10The BahamasVery low 5%86°F18LowJul guide
11The Leeward IslandsVery low 5%84°F20Very lowJul guide
12Cayman IslandsVery low 6%86°F18LowJul guide
13BelizeVery low 9%86°F22Very lowJul guide
14Panama's Caribbean coastVery low 9%85°F30Very lowJul guide
15BarbadosLow 10%84°F23Very lowJul guide
16Costa Rica's Caribbean coastLow 11%85°F30Very lowJul guide
17St. Lucia, St. Vincent & GrenadaLow 14%84°F25Very lowJul guide
18Puerto RicoLow 19%84°F22LowJul guide
19Guadeloupe & MartiniqueLow 19%84°F20Very lowJul guide
20Colombia's Caribbean coastLow 20%86°F18Very lowJul guide
21Varadero & HavanaLow 21%86°F18LowJul guide
22Guatemala's Caribbean coastModerate 33%87°F30Very lowJul guide
23JamaicaModerate 44%85°F19LowJul guide
24CozumelHigh 45%86°F18LowJul guide
25CancúnHigh 54%84°F16LowJul guide
26Santo Domingo's coastHigh 54%85°F21Very lowJul guide
27The Dominican North CoastHigh 54%83°F20Very lowJul guide
28Costa MayaHigh 63%86°F21LowJul guide
29HaitiHigh 66%88°F11LowJul guide
30Punta CanaHigh 66%83°F24Very lowJul guide
31HolguínVery high 78%82°F11Very lowJul guide
32The Riviera MayaVery high 82%86°F18LowJul guide

Lowest-risk beaches in each destination

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

The Corn Islands very low

Turks & Caicos very low

San Andrés very low

Cuba's Cays very low

Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao very low

Roatán & the Bay Islands very low

The US Virgin Islands very low

The BVI very low

Trinidad & Tobago very low

The Bahamas very low

The Leeward Islands very low

Cayman Islands very low

Belize very low

Panama's Caribbean coast very low

Barbados low

Costa Rica's Caribbean coast low

St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenada low

Puerto Rico low

Guadeloupe & Martinique low

Colombia's Caribbean coast low

Varadero & Havana low

Guatemala's Caribbean coast moderate

Jamaica moderate

Cozumel high

Cancún high

Santo Domingo's coast high

The Dominican North Coast high

Costa Maya 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.