Sargassum Report
Week of October 26, 2026 · See this week's report
Leeward Islands hold very low seaweed with steady clear beaches
Head to Leeward Islands, Barbados and The Bahamas for the clearest water this week. Avoid Santo Domingo & South Coast, Punta Cana & East Coast and Riviera Maya where very high seaweed covers most beaches.
The clearest water this week is in Leeward Islands and Barbados, both with low medians, 0% heavy and steady over the next 7 days. The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos also hold at very low seaweed with 0% heavy and steady conditions near typical for October.
Avoid Santo Domingo & South Coast and Punta Cana & East Coast, both at very high seaweed with 100% heavy and above typical for October. Riviera Maya is also at very high seaweed with 96% heavy and rising over the next 7 days. Holguin Coast holds at very high seaweed with 100% heavy and steady conditions.
Jamaica moved from moderate to high since Oct 19 and is now high with 81% heavy and steady over the next 7 days. The typical season keeps the heaviest seaweed in Santo Domingo & South Coast in November and December, then in Barbados in January. Travelers heading to the Caribbean in those months can plan around that typical pattern and check current levels before booking.
Tables from Veabird's forecast data. Text written by AI (Muse Spark) from those numbers and checked against them before publishing.
Seaweed by destination
Median sargassum level across each destination's beaches today, the share with heavy seaweed, where it is heading over the next 7 days, and how today compares with a typical year for this month.
| Destination | Today | Heavy beaches | Next 7 days | vs typical October | vs last week | Weekly trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santo Domingo & South Coast | Very high | 100% | Easing | Above typical | Heavier | |
| Holguín Coast | Very high | 100% | Steady | – | Same | |
| Punta Cana & East Coast | Very high | 100% | Steady | Above typical | Same | |
| Riviera Maya | Very high | 96% | Rising | Above typical | Lighter | |
| Guatemala Caribbean | High | 100% | Rising | – | Lighter | |
| Costa Maya & Bacalar | High | 67% | Steady | Above typical | Heavier | |
| Jamaica | High | 81% | Steady | Above typical | Heavier | |
| Dominican North Coast & Samaná | High | 71% | Steady | Above typical | Lighter | |
| Cancún & Isla Mujeres | Moderate | 50% | Steady | Above typical | Lighter | |
| Belize | Low | 24% | Steady | Above typical | Lighter | |
| Cuba: Varadero & Havana | Low | 5% | Steady | Above typical | Same | |
| Florida Panhandle | Low | 0% | Steady | Above typical | Same | |
| Alabama & Mississippi Coast | Low | 0% | Steady | Above typical | Heavier | |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | Low | 0% | Steady | Above typical | Same | |
| Upper Texas Coast | Low | 0% | Steady | Above typical | Same | |
| Leeward Islands | Low | 0% | Steady | Near typical | Same | |
| Barbados | Low | 0% | Steady | Near typical | Same | |
| Puerto Rico | Low | 17% | Steady | Above typical | Lighter | |
| Coastal Bend & South Texas | Low | 0% | Steady | Above typical | Same | |
| Honduras & Bay Islands | Low | 13% | Steady | Above typical | Same | |
| Louisiana Coast | Very low | 0% | Steady | Near typical | Same | |
| Florida Keys | Very low | 0% | Steady | Near typical | Same | |
| Cuba's Cays | Very low | 0% | Steady | Near typical | Same | |
| The Bahamas | Very low | 0% | Steady | Near typical | Same | |
| Turks & Caicos | Very low | 0% | Steady | Near typical | Same |
Clearest beaches this week
The lowest seaweed over the next 7 days among beaches where sargassum is a real question in a typical year (at most two per destination).
| Beach | Destination | Seaweed, 7-day average | Today | Beach grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four Seasons Resort Nevis | Leeward Islands | Very low | Very low | A- |
| Paradise Beach Nevis | Leeward Islands | Very low | Very low | A- |
| Bolli Heights Villa | Barbados | Low | Low | B |
| Port St. Charles Marina | Barbados | Low | Low | B |
| Wild Island Resorts | The Bahamas | Low | Low | B |
| Hideways Resort | The Bahamas | Low | Low | B |
| Punta Rucia Lodge | Dominican North Coast & Samaná | Low | Low | B- |
| Hotel Sand Bay Oceanfront | Dominican North Coast & Samaná | Low | Low | B- |
| Sotavento Yacht Club | Cancún & Isla Mujeres | Low | Low | B+ |
| W Retreat & Spa Vieques | Puerto Rico | Low | Low | B+ |
| Planet Hollywood Cancun | Cancún & Isla Mujeres | Moderate | Moderate | B+ |
| Hotel Santa Isabel | Cuba: Varadero & Havana | Moderate | Moderate | B- |
Heaviest seaweed today
Beaches with the most sargassum in the forecast today (at most two per destination). Many resorts rake at dawn; their page shows the beach after the usual cleanup.
| Beach | Destination | Today | Next 7 days | Beach grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bahia Principe Grand Samaná | Dominican North Coast & Samaná | Very high | Steady | D |
| Luxury Bahia Principe Samana | Dominican North Coast & Samaná | Very high | Steady | D+ |
| Hotel Villa Colonial | Santo Domingo & South Coast | Very high | Easing | D |
| Barceló Bávaro Palace | Punta Cana & East Coast | Very high | Steady | D |
| Secrets Royal Beach Punta Cana | Punta Cana & East Coast | Very high | Steady | D |
| Hotel Llave Del Mar | Santo Domingo & South Coast | Very high | Easing | D |
| Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Hotel | Holguín Coast | Very high | Steady | C- |
| Hotel Paradisus Rio de Oro | Holguín Coast | Very high | Steady | C- |
| Paradisus Playa del Carmen | Riviera Maya | Very high | Steady | C |
| Grand Port Royal Hotel Marina & Spa | Jamaica | Very high | Steady | C- |
The season ahead
Typical seaweed for the next three months at each destination, from the seasonal pattern of the Atlantic sargassum belt and each beach's exposure. Any given year can differ a lot.
| Destination | November | December | January |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama & Mississippi Coast | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Barbados | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Belize | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Cancún & Isla Mujeres | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Coastal Bend & South Texas | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Costa Maya & Bacalar | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Cuba: Varadero & Havana | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Cuba's Cays | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Dominican North Coast & Samaná | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Florida Keys | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Florida Panhandle | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Guatemala Caribbean | |||
| Holguín Coast | |||
| Honduras & Bay Islands | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Jamaica | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Leeward Islands | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Louisiana Coast | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Puerto Rico | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Punta Cana & East Coast | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Riviera Maya | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Santo Domingo & South Coast | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| The Bahamas | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Turks & Caicos | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | Very low | Very low | Very low |
| Upper Texas Coast | Very low | Very low | Very low |
How good is the model?
Veabird's sargassum model is trained on satellite detections (USF Optical Oceanography Lab via NOAA AOML,2016–2024), winds and currents, and tested on later years it never saw (2025, 2026).
| Measure | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Discrimination (AUC) | 0.79 | How often a stretch of coast where satellites then saw notable seaweed offshore was ranked above one where they didn't (0.5 = coin flip, 1 = perfect). Scored against satellite detections, not beach reports. |
| Skill vs climatology | 10% | Improvement in probability accuracy over just using the typical season. |
| Test examples | 16,660 | Beach-weeks in the held-out test years. |
| Last trained | Oct 26 | The model retrains as new satellite data arrives. |
About this report
This week's sargassum (seaweed) forecast beach by beach: where it is heavy, where it is clear, the trend and the season ahead, from Veabird's satellite-trained model. It comes out every Monday and covers the Mexican Caribbean, the Caribbean islands, Central America's Caribbean coast, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. Grades run from A+ (best) to F; they weigh the things that make or break a trip, not just the weather.
Sources: Satellite sargassum data: USF Optical Oceanography Lab (Sargassum Watch System) via NOAA AOML; Veabird sargassum model (winds, currents, satellite history); Open-Meteo winds. Forecasts are estimates, not safety guidance.
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