VeabirdBeach

Caribbean beaches with the least seaweed in May

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

20 of the 32 Caribbean destinations Veabird tracks have low or very low risk in a typical May; the Riviera Maya sees notable seaweed near shore in about 85% of May weeks. The warmest water among the low-risk picks is around Colombia's Caribbean coast (86°F).

Other months

The destination with the least seaweed each month.

Caribbean destinations by seaweed risk in May

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

#DestinationSeaweed riskSeaRainy daysStorm riskMonth guide
1Cuba's CaysVery low 1%84°F14Very lowMay guide
2Aruba, Bonaire & CuraçaoVery low 1%82°F9Very lowMay guide
3The Corn IslandsVery low 1%85°F19Very lowMay guide
4Turks & CaicosVery low 1%82°F13Very lowMay guide
5Cayman IslandsVery low 1%84°F16Very lowMay guide
6San AndrésVery low 2%84°F16Very lowMay guide
7BarbadosVery low 2%83°F14Very lowMay guide
8Trinidad & TobagoVery low 3%83°F17Very lowMay guide
9The BahamasVery low 3%82°F12Very lowMay guide
10Varadero & HavanaVery low 4%83°F17Very lowMay guide
11The BVIVery low 5%82°F11Very lowMay guide
12The US Virgin IslandsVery low 5%83°F19Very lowMay guide
13The Leeward IslandsVery low 7%83°F19Very lowMay guide
14Roatán & the Bay IslandsVery low 9%84°F7Very lowMay guide
15Puerto RicoLow 11%84°F23Very lowMay guide
16Colombia's Caribbean coastLow 11%86°F20Very lowMay guide
17St. Lucia, St. Vincent & GrenadaLow 11%83°F17Very lowMay guide
18BelizeLow 12%85°F8Very lowMay guide
19Panama's Caribbean coastLow 17%86°F26Very lowMay guide
20Guadeloupe & MartiniqueLow 23%83°F16Very lowMay guide
21Costa MayaModerate 42%84°F11Very lowMay guide
22JamaicaModerate 44%84°F20Very lowMay guide
23CancúnHigh 45%82°F12Very lowMay guide
24Costa Rica's Caribbean coastHigh 47%86°F25Very lowMay guide
25CozumelHigh 48%84°F14Very lowMay guide
26Santo Domingo's coastHigh 57%84°F18Very lowMay guide
27HaitiHigh 58%85°F16Very lowMay guide
28The Dominican North CoastHigh 62%82°F20Very lowMay guide
29Guatemala's Caribbean coastHigh 68%88°F19Very lowMay guide
30HolguínVery high 71%81°F16Very lowMay guide
31Punta CanaVery high 73%82°F20Very lowMay guide
32The Riviera MayaVery high 85%84°F14Very lowMay guide

Lowest-risk beaches in each destination

The three beaches with the least May 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

San Andrés very low

Barbados very low

Trinidad & Tobago very low

The Bahamas very low

Varadero & Havana very low

The BVI very low

The US Virgin Islands very low

The Leeward Islands very low

Roatán & the Bay Islands very low

Puerto Rico low

Colombia's Caribbean coast low

St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenada low

Belize low

Panama's Caribbean coast low

Guadeloupe & Martinique low

Costa Maya moderate

Jamaica moderate

Cancún high

Costa Rica's Caribbean coast high

Cozumel high

Santo Domingo's coast high

Haiti high

The Dominican North Coast high

Guatemala's Caribbean coast high

Holguín very high

Punta Cana 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.