potential scary weather advice
 

ok. We are planning a weekend island/beach trip for the end of July, but I am afraid we will hit some kind of hurricane season or some other type of general seasonal bad weather. Any advice on what areas are notorious for "bad" weather this time of year? THANKS!!!!

The high point of the hurricane season in the Caribbean historically (for about the last 50 years) is around Labor Day.
(We've been caught several times then and don't go during that time any more.)
While there are no guarantees, the closer you are on either side of the first week in September, the likelier the chance you'll have "issues."
Some islands are more prone than others to be in the path of problems.
As the season progesses, the southern Caribbean islands are less likely to be in the path of a hurricane.

Be on the safe side and head to one of the ABC islands. I love Aruba!

So what do you think about Nevis in the middle of August?

The first time we went to Nevis was in 1997 in late August early Sept., and 3 days of our vacation were ruined by a hurricane passing closely by.
We also could not dive for the remainder of our trip and had to take a teeny plane (windy, scary flight) over to St. Kitts because the Four Seasons boat was not running due to the rough water. (Four Seasons paid for it.)
I would not go there at that time again.

Diana,
We booked the Ritz in St thomas for Labor Day.... Should we be worried about hurricanes? We checked tons on weather sites and they seem to get the most rain in Oct and Nov? Now I am nervous after reading your post. Any Advice???

There are no guarentees when it comes to weather. I have found the the closer you get to August and during the months of August, September and October, even if you don't have a hurricane, you have more "tropical disturbances" - big rain systems. Then again, you may get lucky. The odds are not in your favor, however.

Hi Coffey,
While the rainy season is indeed in Oct. and Nov., hurricane season is at its peak that week in September.
But, don't worry too much.
Chances are still very good that you will have no hurricane issues at all.
Part of the reason for the huge discounts that time of year is the possibility for bad weather and all of the hurricanes that came through during that week in the Caribbean in the 1990's. September bookings went into the basement.
We got almost hit three times. (I mean CLOSE and days out of our vacation lost.) One time, we were on St. Lucia and had THREE hurricanes come within miles of us while we were there - Karen, Luis and Marilyn. During dinner, we literally had to lift our feet off the floor every few minutes as the tide came over the sandbags the hotel had put down.
If you can change your dates to later, you might do so, if not, don't worry excessively about it. If nothing else, get travel insurance that has storm coverage.
We went to the Caribbean for 10 years over Labor Day and had problems 3 years.