Caribbean Hurricane Season

Budgieboy

Budgieboy

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Hi All

Heading across the Atlantic late this year and just looking for opinions on where to sit out the hurricane season , choices look like being , Grenada , Curaçao or Trinidad or anywhere else if you have a favourite ....I have been to Grenada and liked the place , but not Curaçao or Trinidad , will also be hanging around where we lay the boat up as the house is let in the UK :) .... Would appreciate opinions pros and cons etc ....
 
Budgieboy said:
Hi All

Heading across the Atlantic late this year and just looking for opinions on where to sit out the hurricane season , choices look like being , Grenada , Curaçao or Trinidad or anywhere else if you have a favourite ....I have been to Grenada and liked the place , but not Curaçao or Trinidad , will also be hanging around where we lay the boat up as the house is let in the UK :) ...a. Would appreciate opinions pros and cons etc ....
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Grenada is not out of the hurricane belt so you need to check with your insurance company as to what they say. Many stay afloat in Grenada for the summer and take the risk of a hurricane. Grenada is probably the nicest place to be for the summer.
Trini like Curacao is not as nice but they are out of the hurricane belt. If you need to haul out both these places are similar prices. Curacao is considerably drier than Trini but also hotter at night. Lots of boats stay in Spanish Water afloat in Curacao. You can stay on a mooring in Bonaire for the summer for about $10 a day. Bonaire is great. Fantastic diving, good restaurants and supermarkets but more expensive than Trini. We will spend our summer next year between Bonaire and Curacao.
Flights to Amsterdam from Curacao are half the cost of Trini or Grenada to London so if you need fly home it can make quite a difference.
 
We spent the first few years in Trindad then the rest of the time, six years in all, in Spanish Waters, Curacao, there is a bus to the supermarket. Do not sail near the Venezulen coast but the out islands are fine and a must visit place only one is inhabited, in total Venezuela has 72 islands.

As said Bonaire is also must visit on the way to Curacao, we learnt to dive there and bought our own kit. The best restaurant we have ever been to is It Rains Fishes by the dock in Bonaire and the best hamburgers are in the City cafe, turn right from the dock and keep going. When clearing in to Bonaire wait until 17.00 and go to customs then clear immigration at the police station the immigration office is a nightmare, a version of Hitler.
 
KellysEye said:
We spent the first few years in Trindad then the rest of the time, six years in all, in Spanish Waters, Curacao, there is a bus to the supermarket. Do not sail near the Venezulen coast but the out islands are fine and a must visit place only one is inhabited, in total Venezuela has 72 islands.

As said Bonaire is also must visit on the way to Curacao, we learnt to dive there and bought our own kit. The best restaurant we have ever been to is It Rains Fishes by the dock in Bonaire and the best hamburgers are in the City cafe, turn right from the dock and keep going. When clearing in to Bonaire wait until 17.00 and go to customs then clear immigration at the police station the immigration office is a nightmare, a version of Hitler.
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Things have changed since you visited Bonaire. Your information is well out of date. Customs and immigration is all in a single building on the waterfront and clearing in and out is easy and free of charge.
The situation in Venezuela has also worsened and very few boats now visit the outlying islands due to security concerns. Advise from local Curacao based dutch sailors is that it is no longer safe to visit
 
geem said:
Grenada is not out of the hurricane belt so you need to check with your insurance company as to what they say. Many stay afloat in Grenada for the summer and take the risk of a hurricane. Grenada is probably the nicest place to be for the summer.
Trini like Curacao is not as nice but they are out of the hurricane belt. If you need to haul out both these places are similar prices. Curacao is considerably drier than Trini but also hotter at night. Lots of boats stay in Spanish Water afloat in Curacao. You can stay on a mooring in Bonaire for the summer for about $10 a day. Bonaire is great. Fantastic diving, good restaurants and supermarkets but more expensive than Trini. We will spend our summer next year between Bonaire and Curacao.
Flights to Amsterdam from Curacao are half the cost of Trini or Grenada to London so if you need fly home it can make quite a difference.
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That is great news on the cost of flights , thanks geem ... And the moorings sound very reasonable :)
 
geem said:
Things have changed since you visited Bonaire. Your information is well out of date. Customs and immigration is all in a single building on the waterfront and clearing in and out is easy and free of charge.
The situation in Venezuela has also worsened and very few boats now visit the outlying islands due to security concerns. Advise from local Curacao based dutch sailors is that it is no longer safe to visit
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When you refer to the Islands off Venezuala I take it you are referring to the likes of Los Roques ? Once again many thanks .
 
Totally overlooked are the islands off the NW of Panama. Bocas Del Toro. Saw some people I knew from years ago in Panama recently. They have spent over 8 years in that area and reckon its the best place they have ever cruised!
 
geem said:
Things have changed since you visited Bonaire. Your information is well out of date. Customs and immigration is all in a single building on the waterfront and clearing in and out is easy and free of charge.
The situation in Venezuela has also worsened and very few boats now visit the outlying islands due to security concerns. Advise from local Curacao based dutch sailors is that it is no longer safe to visit
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Well out of date. Bonaire and Curacao havent been Spanish since the Dutch took over in 1661. Got to admire his memory though......:rolleyes:
 
I stay in one of the bays in the South of Grenada during peak hurricane season. The water is much cleaner than Trinidad, the social scene is more varied and the living is generally easier.

Fewer people are spending the summer in Trinidad. Reasons well the Trini government shot themselves in the foot when they extended a local tax to everything boaty [ now rescinded but the damage is done ] piracy between Trini and Grenada and finally an excellent new boatyard in Grenada with a big travel lift and lots of onsite workshops.
 
>Things have changed since you visited Bonaire. Your information is well out of date. Customs and immigration is all in a single building on the waterfront and clearing in and out is easy and free of charge.
The situation in Venezuela has also worsened and very few boats now visit the outlying islands due to security concerns. Advise from local Curacao based dutch sailors is that it is no longer safe to visit

Thanks for that I didn't know about customs and immigration. I am surprised about the out islands because there is almost nothing there and they are of no interest to drug smugglers. Have there been reports of boat thefts and cruisers killed I couldn't find any crime there in a search? The Paria peninsular was out of bounds because it was used by drug smugglers and they would rob the boats and kill the crew who anchored in a bay. Margarita is also to be avoided.
 
capnsensible said:
Totally overlooked are the islands off the NW of Panama. Bocas Del Toro. Saw some people I knew from years ago in Panama recently. They have spent over 8 years in that area and reckon its the best place they have ever cruised!
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If you are looking in the Western Caribbean check out Rio Dulce Guatemala as well, the best hurricane hole in the entire Caribbean, you are 12 miles inland!!!!
 
capnsensible said:
Well out of date. Bonaire and Curacao havent been Spanish since the Dutch took over in 1661. Got to admire his memory though......:rolleyes:
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Well the name of the bay is still Spanish Water...

Having lived here (Curacao) for close to 6 months now, I can say Curacao Marina is doing it's best to accommodate yachts in the hurricane season, but their means are limited. I was impressed by the sanitary facilities. Very clean. The marina is no too far from the town as well as a decent supermarket, although a bike and some nerves of steel are recommended. Not too many bikes on the Island.
Like said before, there is also the bay called Spanish Water where several boats are moored. Being pretty sheltered, it's a good place to stay, but the facilities are a bit remote. It's home to the Curacao Yacht Club but Curacao is not really "big" when it comes to sailing yachts. Mostly motorboats used for fishing. Maybe because the seas can be quite rough for extended periods or simply because the government does little to promote it. Understandable as they have bigger problems to resolve.

Bonaire is beautiful in it's own way. If you are into diving, it's the place to be, but with 18.000 inhabitants very small. They do have a fantastic Italian restaurant with sea side view.
 
aluijten said:
Well the name of the bay is still Spanish Water...

Having lived here (Curacao) for close to 6 months now, I can say Curacao Marina is doing it's best to accommodate yachts in the hurricane season, but their means are limited. I was impressed by the sanitary facilities. Very clean. The marina is no too far from the town as well as a decent supermarket, although a bike and some nerves of steel are recommended. Not too many bikes on the Island.
Like said before, there is also the bay called Spanish Water where several boats are moored. Being pretty sheltered, it's a good place to stay, but the facilities are a bit remote. It's home to the Curacao Yacht Club but Curacao is not really "big" when it comes to sailing yachts. Mostly motorboats used for fishing. Maybe because the seas can be quite rough for extended periods or simply because the government does little to promote it. Understandable as they have bigger problems to resolve.

Bonaire is beautiful in it's own way. If you are into diving, it's the place to be, but with 18.000 inhabitants very small. They do have a fantastic Italian restaurant with sea side view.
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A friend of ours, Duncan Gould lived there with his Dutch wife Irene for a good few years. He writes (very witty) articles for Sail Magazine. His articles have been condensed into two books. I get a mention in both!

I have absolutely no reason to write this, only prompted by the Curaçao reference and that I met up with him recently in Panama after years since the time before. Then they had a steel yacht called Moose ( he is Canadian). They will spend the next however long revisiting the South Pacific in their catamaran, Fox. If you see them you will get a warm welcome!

More relevantly, they mentioned crime in Curaçao is getting very bad. Go careful!
 
May 25, 2017Forecasters at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center say the Atlantic could see another above-normal hurricane season this year.

Just saying......................................................
 
For something a little different, but becoming more commonplace, you can go to French Guiana or to Suriname for the hurricane season. Only 3 or 4 days sail from Grenada and no hurricanes at all: totally safe from weather (but golly, it can rain!). Possibly best of all, fresh water so all the fouling drops off. I very much recommend St Laurent du Maroni in French Guiana (on the border with Suriname). Excellent services, in the EU so for EU citizens the health service is very competent and free, French restaurants and much better provisioning than anywhere in the Caribbean imho, including St Martin or Martinique. Downside is that the water is café laté coloured. But trips inland are wonderful: real rain forest and jungle with wild swimming, sloth and jaguar watching etc.

Contact office@marinaslm.com
 
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