One Hurricane After Another

I thought I would put together some facts about the realities of hurricane season, where to go, what to avoid, how to still travel, etc…

Official Hurricane Season:

June 1 - November 30 is the official hurricane season for the Atlantic region. This would affect the entire east coast of the United States, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Eastern Mexico and all states bordering the Gulf of Mexico. As we know, hurricanes can turn into major flooding, tornadoes, etc…once it begins to travel on land.

The Northeast Pacific basin has a broader peak with activity beginning in late May or early June and going until late October or early November with a peak in storminess in late August/early September. Translating into travel, this means the Pacific Coast from Canada down to the West Coast of Mexico.

Typically, the worst of the storms for the Atlantic are between mid August thru the end of October. Guess when some of the best travel deals to the Caribbean and Mexico are? You got it, hurricane season. Hurricane season is a gamble, there are years these islands and areas are not hit, but there is no guarantee.  If the price is right and the timing is right for you, book the trip, get trip insurance or check on the airlines/hotel/tour operator policies on hurricanes. 

Cruising: if you love to cruise just to cruise and want a steal of a deal, book it during this season.  The ship will reroute out of harms way. The only time the cruises are cancelled is when the hurricane is so severe; the ship can not leave port. However, if you are booking a cruise because you want to visit very specific islands, September/October may not be the best time to do this.

My favorite time of the year to travel to the tropics tends for great weather and low pricing is either May or mid November to mid December (taking out Thanks giving week).  You still get those amazing "off-peak" hurricane prices, but your chances for hurricanes are low and the weather is usually terrific.

Booking Caribbean destinations in the fall:

An interesting phenomenon on travel bookings is when people book. All of the talk of hurricanes tends to turn people off from going to the Caribbean. However, some of these amazing prices are being advertised in the fall, but are not for Fall travel. Look carefully, many of these great deals are for winter travel - completely out of hurricane season.  It seems when people are bombarded with news of hurricanes, they are not apt to book a trip to the places that are anywhere in range of the storms- even if the trip is 6 months away. The closer we get to "high season" which is Christmas to Easter, the more expensive that same trip will be. However, the savvy traveler will grab these deals now and still stay dry!

Here are my picks of travel deals that are being promoted now, but for travel at the tail end of the hurricane season or winter:

Cruising:
Here are a few specials that are running in the fall but are for Winter departures:

7 Night Caribbean Cruises starting at $699 (this is an amazing "peak Season" price, if you check back in December - the price will be much higher!

3-7 night cruises fall and winter sailings from $199.

Tropical & Caribbean Vacations:

$545pp for air &  3nts All inclusive  in the Riviera Maya (quiet area near Cancun) including airfare for November travel, this is an incredible deal - still hurricane time - but much less of a gamble

Luxury in the Dominican Republic where some of the coolest all inclusive resorets are located, if you view this page, you will clearly see the low prices for air and 3-7 night all inclusives for each time of the year. Even early December, which is a great time to go is very decently priced - for example, a four star all inclusive resort with airfare for four nights starts at $639 in December!