alhood

Hi, Im hoping to go to the Caribbean on honeymoon in July (thinking maybe Bahamas and/or St.Lucia). However a few people have tried to talk us out of it as its hurricane season. Should we look elsewhere or is this just being oversensitive? cheers

almesq

Well, that certainly is right in hurricane season. The season generally peaks in August/September, but there certainly is a good possibility of a storm in July as well. There's simply no way to predict when/where a storm will hit. The chance that a storm will hit the particular island the particular week you are there may be small, but it does exist. Only you can say how much of a risk you are willing to take. If you would like to go to Caribbean will much less chance of hurricane, you can try Aruba, Bonaire or Curacao. Since they are so far south, the risk of hurricane is much lower, as they are out of the path of most storms. The risk is still not zero, but it is much lower there.

sleeepy

I would not necessarily avoid planning a trip to either location based on the fact that it's hurricane season, but you have to consider that it's "rainy season" and you will have a higher probability of pop up rain storms in general (but you COULD have perfect weather the entire time too!). As almesq said, how much risk are you willing to take? Agree - Aruba is generally out of the hurricane belt. What ELSE do you want to do on your honeymoon -- snorkel, beach, all sunny stuff? Or site see around the island (where, if it rains, it won't be a big disappointment) and being rained out of beach/snorkel/sunny stuff will not ruin your honeymoon. Check out travel insurance policies and see what your hotel policy is regarding cancellation -- our resort offered full refund if Category 1 hurricane hit. Doesn't help with the rain, but . . . we only had 1.5 days of rain in 7 (beginning of November - nearing the end of hurricane season).

ScottB

St Lucia is pretty far south in the chain of caribbean islands, and although not 100% safe from getting hit, I'm guessing it's a lot safer than the Bahamas at that time of year.

Buy trip insurance and go enjoy.

kanj

We've been to both the Bahamas and St. Lucia during that time of year and each time have had hurricane issues, in St. Lucia, we got 4 back to back in 5 days, what fun that was!
If you're thinking honeymoon, why not check out Turks & Caicos. It's incredibly romantic, the beaches are beautiful, the water as clear as I've ever seen and in July the weather is perfect. It stays pretty clear of hurricanes so you don't have to worry but I'd buy the insurance anyway as anywhere that time of year is open to surprises. If you do TCI, check out Reef Peepers for a sunset cruise. Let them know you're on your honeymoon and you can go out on a wine and cheese cruise. Talk about romantic!!!!

wantsomesun

THe hurricane season is predicted to be very bad again this year so whereever you go, BUY INSURANCE, so just in case you won't get stuck.

You might think about a Sandals or a similar property so if there is a storm, you have some options of going to another location.

I would also suggest talking to a local travel agent, again so that if there is a problem you have someone working with you to find other options.

Also check www.where2stay.com for lots of ideas on islands and hotels.

One of my favorites islands is in the Bahamas and there are several nice places to stay at several of the "Family Islands in the Bahamas, so you might check www.bahamas.com.

Also:

www.coconuttelegraph.com (The Abacos)
www.eleu.net (Eleuthera)
www.myharbourisland.com
www.romorabay.com (nice honeymoon packages offered by this resort)

www.cocodimama.com (small resort on Eleuthera)

www.runawayhill.com
www.rockhousebahamas.com

Hope this helps, and have a great time.

StanKase

While years ago we visited the Bahamas and Caribbean in July and Aug. and were lucky in all 6-7 trips the weather patterns have changed the past 5-6 years. From what I read the Eastern Caribbean gets more hurricanes in the late June to late Aug. period while the Western Caribbean gets more hurricane issues from mid-Aug until the end of Oct.
All that said St. Lucia in July is probabably wiser if recent history repeats itself in 2006.

xkenx

StanKase, you have that reversed. The hurricane season in the western Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico/Florida is earlier and longer beacuse of climatology and water temps than the eastern Caribbean. Eastern Caribbean is impacted nearly always by tropical storms originating in the Atlantic, which is never before July, and even seldom in July. I looked up records for someone posting about Anguilla/St.Barts for June and found that there NONE affecting those islands in June (or earlier) since they started keeping records in the 1800s. A great website for history, storm tracks, etc. is www.stormcarib.com