VeabirdBeach

Caribbean beaches with the least seaweed in September

In September, Cuba's Cays, Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao, San Andrés and Turks & Caicos have the lowest sargassum risk; Holguín, the Riviera Maya and Haiti the highest.

17 of the 32 Caribbean destinations Veabird tracks have low or very low risk in a typical September; Holguín sees notable seaweed near shore in about 89% of September weeks. The warmest water among the low-risk picks is around Cuba's Cays (88°F). September is in hurricane season: storm risk is moderate or higher in 27 of them.

Other months

The destination with the least seaweed each month.

Caribbean destinations by seaweed risk in September

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

#DestinationSeaweed riskSeaRainy daysStorm riskMonth guide
1Cuba's CaysVery low 1%88°F19HighSep guide
2Aruba, Bonaire & CuraçaoVery low 1%85°F7LowSep guide
3San AndrésVery low 1%85°F22ModerateSep guide
4Turks & CaicosVery low 2%86°F15HighSep guide
5The Corn IslandsVery low 3%85°F28ModerateSep guide
6Trinidad & TobagoVery low 4%86°F20LowSep guide
7The BahamasVery low 4%87°F20HighSep guide
8Cayman IslandsVery low 5%88°F18HighSep guide
9Roatán & the Bay IslandsVery low 9%87°F23ModerateSep guide
10The US Virgin IslandsVery low 9%86°F18HighSep guide
11The BVILow 12%86°F15HighSep guide
12The Leeward IslandsLow 13%86°F21HighSep guide
13BarbadosLow 14%86°F22ModerateSep guide
14Puerto RicoLow 14%86°F24HighSep guide
15BelizeLow 16%87°F23ModerateSep guide
16Varadero & HavanaLow 20%87°F23HighSep guide
17Colombia's Caribbean coastLow 22%87°F23LowSep guide
18Panama's Caribbean coastModerate 25%86°F27LowSep guide
19St. Lucia, St. Vincent & GrenadaModerate 28%86°F17ModerateSep guide
20Guadeloupe & MartiniqueModerate 33%86°F21ModerateSep guide
21Costa Rica's Caribbean coastHigh 45%86°F26LowSep guide
22CozumelHigh 45%87°F23HighSep guide
23JamaicaHigh 46%87°F21HighSep guide
24CancúnHigh 50%85°F20HighSep guide
25Costa MayaHigh 51%87°F22HighSep guide
26The Dominican North CoastHigh 59%86°F21HighSep guide
27Santo Domingo's coastHigh 67%86°F21HighSep guide
28Punta CanaHigh 69%85°F21HighSep guide
29Guatemala's Caribbean coastVery high 78%88°F28ModerateSep guide
30HaitiVery high 82%89°F18HighSep guide
31The Riviera MayaVery high 82%87°F23HighSep guide
32HolguínVery high 89%86°F15HighSep guide

Lowest-risk beaches in each destination

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

Cuba's Cays very low

Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao very low

San Andrés very low

Turks & Caicos very low

The Corn Islands very low

Trinidad & Tobago very low

The Bahamas very low

Cayman Islands very low

Roatán & the Bay Islands very low

The US Virgin Islands very low

The BVI low

The Leeward Islands low

Barbados low

Puerto Rico low

Belize low

Varadero & Havana low

Colombia's Caribbean coast low

Panama's Caribbean coast moderate

St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenada moderate

Guadeloupe & Martinique moderate

Costa Rica's Caribbean coast high

Cozumel high

Jamaica high

Cancún high

Costa Maya high

The Dominican North Coast high

Santo Domingo's coast high

Punta Cana high

Guatemala's Caribbean coast very high

Haiti very high

The Riviera Maya 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.

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Coordinates approximate; forecasts are estimates, not safety guidance.