Weather Watch: Planning Caribbean Travel

The fastest way to ruin a beautiful paradise vacation is to find out that the weather forecast is calling for rain in the Caribbean during your entire stay. There’s not much you can do to change the weather, but there are a few things you can take into consideration when planning a Caribbean vacation. Hopefully these tips will help you enjoy beautiful sunny weather during most of your stay.

Obviously, the Caribbean is often hit hard by hurricanes. Therefore, your first and foremost plan is to not book a Caribbean vacation during hurricane season. Hurricanes and tropical storms can occur during various times in the year, but most fall during the official hurricane season, which runs from June to November. Most of the storms happen specifically between August and October, with September being an especially volatile time. Try heading to the Caribbean during a different time of the year.

However, if you must plan your trip during hurricane season, try visiting islands that usually do not get hit. Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao, which are sometimes known as the Netherlands Antilles islands or the ABC islands are rarely in the path of the storm, and you can avoid a direct hit by traveling to Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and Barbados. If you want to learn about a specific island’s weather report, contact a travel agency dealing with travel to this location or a tourist center on the island itself.

In fact, before you plan your island vacation, learning about the weather on specific islands is crucial. For example, if you plan to visit Dominica, you should be prepared for some rain. The wildlife there is beautiful, but they get over 300 inches a year, more than anywhere else in the world. Another example would be Bermuda. It’s actually a northern Caribbean island and has a climate close to that of North Carolina, so if you visit in the winter, you won’t want to lie on the beach or swim in the ocean. You’ll have to head south for warmer weather there.

About a week or two before you leave, track the storms and weather happening on your island. Remember that every storm hits not every island. If you work through a travel agency or buy a packaged deal, sometimes you can get your money back if a hurricane hits your island and you can’t fly in for your vacation; otherwise, make sure that you know some of the indoor activities to do as well, like spending time at the resort or touring local museums. These will help battle your rainy day blues.

A Good Time for the Caribbean

Right now is a good time to go to the Caribbean. Yes, I realize it's hurricane season. The odds of getting hit by one still show that it's not likely you would be in harm's way. Besides that you would have enough of an advanced warning to get out in time. What a vacation tale that would make!

It's off season in the Caribbean and you can find good deals on airfare and hotels. We went to Aruba this this time a few years ago and had a blast. The temperatures are nearly the same year-round for all the Caribbean islands. Although it's nice to get away to a Caribbean island when the temperatures are freezing or below for the winter Northern climates, with all the activities, shopping and gorgeous scenery, consider the Caribbean right now.

The Greek Popular Market

Join us on this video while we take you around the Greek popular market.

Vergina-Home of the Royal Tombs

Here's a video I stumbled upon. It gives a close up look at the newest National Treasure in Greece. We had the opportunity to visit the Royal Tombs at Vergina last year. No photography of the interior was allowed, so I was delighted to find this video. There is a political statement being made, so please over look that and enjoy the pictures of this archaeological treasure-the resting place of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great.

Greece: Mountains and Sea

Here's a brief video of a few of the sights where we stay on the beach.

New Video

This is the first in a series of videos that we took when we went on our annual trip to Greece to see family. We'll be posting more as we get them edited and uploaded. Enjoy!

Staycation

Staycation is the buzzword this season. Since transportation costs are getting so ridiculous taking a mini vacation within 100 miles of home has become a "staycation." We used to call it a Sunday drive.

So where do you find places to go? Here are places to look for ideas: your local library, the internet, your local book seller, the chamber of commerce, the local and/or state historic society, the newspaper, the convention and visitor's bureau, the state park system, the national park system, recommendations from friends and co-workers and the local parks and recreation department.

So where are you taking your staycation this summer?