VeabirdBeach

Caribbean beaches with the least seaweed in March

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

21 of the 32 Caribbean destinations Veabird tracks have low or very low risk in a typical March; the Riviera Maya sees notable seaweed near shore in about 76% of March weeks. The warmest water among the low-risk picks is around Panama's Caribbean coast (84°F).

Other months

The destination with the least seaweed each month.

Caribbean destinations by seaweed risk in March

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

#DestinationSeaweed riskSeaRainy daysStorm riskMonth guide
1Cuba's CaysVery low 1%79°F8Very lowMar guide
2Aruba, Bonaire & CuraçaoVery low 1%80°F14Very lowMar guide
3Turks & CaicosVery low 1%80°F7Very lowMar guide
4Varadero & HavanaVery low 1%79°F11Very lowMar guide
5Colombia's Caribbean coastVery low 2%83°F7Very lowMar guide
6Cayman IslandsVery low 3%82°F14Very lowMar guide
7The Corn IslandsVery low 4%83°F12Very lowMar guide
8San AndrésVery low 4%82°F8Very lowMar guide
9The Leeward IslandsVery low 4%81°F16Very lowMar guide
10BarbadosVery low 4%81°F14Very lowMar guide
11Roatán & the Bay IslandsVery low 5%82°F13Very lowMar guide
12The BahamasVery low 6%77°F8Very lowMar guide
13The BVIVery low 6%80°F10Very lowMar guide
14BelizeVery low 6%82°F10Very lowMar guide
15Trinidad & TobagoVery low 7%82°F16Very lowMar guide
16The US Virgin IslandsVery low 9%81°F13Very lowMar guide
17Puerto RicoLow 10%81°F19Very lowMar guide
18St. Lucia, St. Vincent & GrenadaLow 11%81°F16Very lowMar guide
19Panama's Caribbean coastLow 15%84°F25Very lowMar guide
20Costa Rica's Caribbean coastLow 20%84°F22Very lowMar guide
21HaitiLow 21%83°F11Very lowMar guide
22JamaicaModerate 27%82°F18Very lowMar guide
23Santo Domingo's coastModerate 33%81°F12Very lowMar guide
24Guadeloupe & MartiniqueModerate 34%81°F14Very lowMar guide
25CozumelModerate 38%81°F12Very lowMar guide
26CancúnModerate 39%80°F11Very lowMar guide
27Costa MayaModerate 43%82°F11Very lowMar guide
28Punta CanaHigh 59%80°F19Very lowMar guide
29The Dominican North CoastHigh 61%80°F16Very lowMar guide
30Guatemala's Caribbean coastHigh 66%84°F19Very lowMar guide
31HolguínVery high 75%79°F11Very lowMar guide
32The Riviera MayaVery high 76%81°F12Very lowMar guide

Lowest-risk beaches in each destination

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

Cuba's Cays very low

Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao very low

Turks & Caicos very low

Varadero & Havana very low

Colombia's Caribbean coast very low

Cayman Islands very low

The Corn Islands very low

San Andrés very low

The Leeward Islands very low

Barbados very low

Roatán & the Bay Islands very low

The Bahamas very low

The BVI very low

Belize very low

Trinidad & Tobago very low

The US Virgin Islands very low

Puerto Rico low

St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenada low

Panama's Caribbean coast low

Costa Rica's Caribbean coast low

Haiti low

Jamaica moderate

Santo Domingo's coast moderate

Guadeloupe & Martinique moderate

Cozumel moderate

Cancún moderate

Costa Maya moderate

Punta Cana high

The Dominican North Coast high

Guatemala's Caribbean coast 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.

More

Coordinates approximate; forecasts are estimates, not safety guidance.