VeabirdBeach

Caribbean beaches with the least seaweed in October

In October, Cuba's Cays, San Andrés, Trinidad & Tobago and Roatán & the Bay Islands have the lowest sargassum risk; Holguín, Haiti and the Riviera Maya the highest.

19 of the 32 Caribbean destinations Veabird tracks have low or very low risk in a typical October; Holguín sees notable seaweed near shore in about 86% of October weeks. The warmest water among the low-risk picks is around San Andrés (87°F). October is in hurricane season: storm risk is moderate or higher in 2 of them.

Other months

The destination with the least seaweed each month.

Caribbean destinations by seaweed risk in October

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

#DestinationSeaweed riskSeaRainy daysStorm riskMonth guide
1Cuba's CaysVery low 1%86°F21LowOct guide
2San AndrésVery low 1%87°F26LowOct guide
3Trinidad & TobagoVery low 1%86°F22Very lowOct guide
4Roatán & the Bay IslandsVery low 2%86°F26LowOct guide
5Aruba, Bonaire & CuraçaoVery low 3%86°F15Very lowOct guide
6The Corn IslandsVery low 3%86°F29LowOct guide
7Cayman IslandsVery low 3%87°F22LowOct guide
8Turks & CaicosVery low 4%86°F17LowOct guide
9The BahamasVery low 5%84°F18LowOct guide
10The US Virgin IslandsVery low 6%86°F19LowOct guide
11The BVIVery low 8%86°F17LowOct guide
12Puerto RicoVery low 9%87°F23LowOct guide
13The Leeward IslandsLow 12%86°F20LowOct guide
14BelizeLow 12%86°F24LowOct guide
15Colombia's Caribbean coastLow 12%86°F26Very lowOct guide
16St. Lucia, St. Vincent & GrenadaLow 12%86°F21LowOct guide
17BarbadosLow 13%86°F21LowOct guide
18Varadero & HavanaLow 16%85°F20LowOct guide
19Panama's Caribbean coastLow 21%86°F28Very lowOct guide
20Guadeloupe & MartiniqueModerate 31%86°F21LowOct guide
21CancúnModerate 35%85°F20LowOct guide
22CozumelModerate 37%86°F22ModerateOct guide
23JamaicaModerate 39%87°F24LowOct guide
24Costa MayaModerate 43%86°F21ModerateOct guide
25Costa Rica's Caribbean coastModerate 44%86°F28Very lowOct guide
26The Dominican North CoastHigh 51%86°F22LowOct guide
27Guatemala's Caribbean coastHigh 58%87°F26LowOct guide
28Punta CanaHigh 64%86°F21LowOct guide
29Santo Domingo's coastHigh 67%87°F21LowOct guide
30The Riviera MayaVery high 70%86°F22LowOct guide
31HaitiVery high 73%88°F17LowOct guide
32HolguínVery high 86%86°F22LowOct guide

Lowest-risk beaches in each destination

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

Cuba's Cays very low

San Andrés very low

Trinidad & Tobago very low

Roatán & the Bay Islands very low

Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao very low

The Corn Islands very low

Cayman Islands very low

Turks & Caicos very low

The Bahamas very low

The US Virgin Islands very low

The BVI very low

Puerto Rico very low

The Leeward Islands low

Belize low

Colombia's Caribbean coast low

St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenada low

Barbados low

Varadero & Havana low

Panama's Caribbean coast low

Guadeloupe & Martinique moderate

Cancún moderate

Cozumel moderate

Jamaica moderate

Costa Maya moderate

Costa Rica's Caribbean coast moderate

The Dominican North Coast high

Guatemala's Caribbean coast high

Punta Cana high

Santo Domingo's coast high

The Riviera Maya very high

Haiti 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.

More

Coordinates approximate; forecasts are estimates, not safety guidance.