No News is Good News!

Hurricane Ike continues to spin towards the Texas coast, but if you look at a satellite map of the Caribbean and the Atlantic right now there's a welcome sight: no tropical storms, no hurricanes -- not even a tropical wave with even minimal capacity to develop into a major storm. Clear skies are welcome news to islanders cleaning up after the parade of storms the last few weeks but also to travelers heading down to the Caribbean. So if you have Caribbean travel plans already, travel worry-free, and if you're thinking about a last-minute trip this is the time to go!

There's a reason, by the way, that the same islands seemed to be affected by the Gustav, Hanna and Ike: the islands in the northern Caribbean are in the traditional hurricane zone, while those in the southern Caribbean rarely get hit by hurricanes. That shouldn't discourage you from visiting places like the Bahamas or Turks and Caicos, but if you want better odds of being hurricane-free during the height of the storm season (Aug.-Oct.) then head south to Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, St. Lucia, Grenada, the Grenadines, and the Dutch ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.

How To Get the Best Weather on Your Caribbean Trip