Covers 25 islands from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to Aruba, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cozumel and Roatán, with prices, flights and entry rules checked at the source.
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February is the Caribbean's most dependable month. Across the eight islands below, rain is light, the trade winds keep the heat down, and there is no hurricane season to price in. Seven of the eight score 9.9 or 10 out of 10 for February weather.
Jamaica moves to the top this month. Its weather score rises from 9.7 in January to a full 10, and it already had the strongest mix of flights, cheap rooms and space of any island in the region. The one real question is not the weather but the recovery from Hurricane Melissa, which still keeps several big Montego Bay resorts closed. If that question bothers you, Curaçao is 0.09 points behind and has no such caveat.
At a glance
Best overall
Jamaica: a perfect February weather score, $53 rooms and nonstops from 24 US airports
Best if Jamaica's resorts worry you
Curaçao: 84°F days, the driest February of the top eight and $62 rooms
Best beaches
Antigua, 9 out of 10 from our editors
Carnival
Martinique: the season ends on Ash Wednesday, February 10, 2027
Busiest week
Presidents' Day weekend, February 13–15, 2027
The ranking
Score = 55% this month's weather + 45% the island's other five factors. How we score
Jamaica tops February with a perfect weather score: 82°F (28°C) days, an 81°F (27°C) sea and about 1.8 inches of rain. It also has the best access in this list, with Montego Bay nonstops from 24 US airports, and the cheapest room, $53 with taxes on our January check. It suits couples at all-inclusives, budget travelers and teens who want Dunn's River Falls and Rick's Cafe. The catch is Melissa: several big Montego Bay resorts stay closed until 2027, so Negril and Ocho Rios are the bases to book.
Curaçao is second, 0.09 points back. It has the driest February in this top eight, about 1.3 inches, and the warmest days at 84°F, with an 80°F sea. Its value score is near the top, with Willemstad rooms from $62. It loses to Jamaica on access, six US nonstop airports against 24, and on crowding: 788,427 stay-over visitors in 2025 plus 881,665 cruise passengers on a much smaller island. Rent a car for the west-coast coves and do the Christoffel climb early, before the heat.
Martinique's dry season, called carême locally, runs from about February to April, and it shows: a 9.9 weather score with 82°F days. Its non-weather score is strong too, with things to do at 8.5 for the Mount Pelée hike, Saint-Pierre and the rum estates. It ranks third because only Miami has a US nonstop. February is also carnival time; Fort-de-France fills before Ash Wednesday, February 10, 2027. Book the south coast, around Sainte-Anne and Grande Anse des Salines, for beaches.
Barbados scores a perfect 10 for February weather, with about 1.5 inches of rain and an 81°F sea that stays flat along the west coast at Mullins Bay and Paynes Bay. Its beach score, 8.5, is the second-highest here. It ranks fourth because its cheapest south-coast room was $140 in mid-January, and because 707,046 stay-overs and a heavy cruise schedule make it one of the busier islands per square mile. It suits families and first-timers who want easy buses and English everywhere.
Antigua has the best beaches on this page, scored 9 out of 10, with calm water at Dickenson Bay, Ffryes and Pigeon Point. February is dry, about 2.0 inches, with 81°F days. It ranks fifth because things to do score 7, and because the cheapest beach-strip room in mid-January was $222, against $99 in town. Visit Nelson's Dockyard, a UNESCO site, and the Sunday barbecue at Shirley Heights. Fill in the ArriveAntigua form before you travel.
Puerto Rico falls to sixth in February only because it is wetter than its rivals, about 3.3 inches of rain, giving a weather score of 9.4. On everything else it leads this list: things to do score 9, and San Juan has nonstops from 41 US airports with no passport needed. Plan El Yunque on a dry morning, and check the Forest Service's access rules, since parking is still capacity-managed.
Grenada scores a perfect 10 for February weather, with 82°F days and about 1.8 inches of rain. It is quieter than the islands above it, with about 186,000 stay-over visitors in 2025, and rooms in the southwest started at $96 with taxes. It ranks seventh on access: four US nonstop airports, Charlotte only seasonal. Stay at Grand Anse, the long, calm beach that suits children, and book a snorkel trip to the Underwater Sculpture Park at Moliniere Bay.
St. Lucia enters the list in February, when its weather score reaches 9.9. That matters because its strength is on land: the Gros Piton climb, Sulphur Springs, rainforest zip lines and boat days down the west coast, worth 8.5 for things to do. It ranks eighth because its beach score, 6.5, is the lowest here; Reduit Beach is good, but most beaches are small coves. Rodney Bay rooms started at $81 in mid-January. Allow for the long transfer from Hewanorra in the far south.
An island's February score weights February weather at 55% and its year-round strengths at 45%. Weather combines the daytime high, sea temperature, rain and sunshine for the month. Year-round strengths are our editors' beach and things-to-do scores plus data on access from the US, hotel prices and crowding. Islands whose own page has a conditional verdict, as Jamaica's does, lose 0.4 points on that second half. The weights and sources are on how we score islands.
Why Jamaica beats Curaçao in February, in numbers
Both islands score a perfect 10 for February weather, so the weather half is a tie. The other half decides it. Jamaica has nonstops to Montego Bay from 24 US airports against Curaçao's six, it sits about 440 miles (705 km) closer to New York, its cheapest 3-star room was $53 against $62, and its 2.6 million annual stay-over visitors are spread over an island about 25 times Curaçao's size. Those advantages survive even the 0.4-point deduction for its conditional verdict.
What the numbers cannot show is how much of Jamaica is open. The Jamaica Tourist Board lists seven large Montego Bay all-inclusives, including Secrets St. James, Hyatt Ziva and Breathless, as reopening only in 2027, and Unico Montego Bay as opening in March 2027. Negril's Seven Mile Beach resorts and Ocho Rios are trading. If you book Jamaica for February, book a named hotel that is on the open list.
Carnival, Presidents' Day and other February crowds
February is carnival month in much of the Caribbean, because the pre-Lent season ends on Ash Wednesday, which falls on February 10, 2027. Martinique's tourism board lists the Carnaval de Fort-de-France among the island's main events; expect parades, closed streets and full hotels in Fort-de-France in the days before Ash Wednesday. If you want quiet, stay in the south at Sainte-Anne or Les Trois-Îlets.
The other crowd driver is American. Presidents' Day falls on Monday, February 15, 2027, and many school districts take a winter break around it. Book flights for that week early, particularly from the Northeast to Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Barbados.
When to pick a lower-ranked island instead
Choose Curaçao if you want the driest February in this list, about 1.3 inches of rain, and the warmest days at 84°F (29°C). Choose Barbados if you want calm west-coast swimming and an English-speaking, low-effort week; February is its second-driest month here at 1.5 inches. Choose Antigua for beaches. Choose Puerto Rico if you have no passport: it is sixth only because February is wetter there, about 3.3 inches, and it still has the most to do of any island on this page.
St. Lucia joins the list at eighth, displacing January's St. Thomas. Its February weather score of 9.9 suits the Gros Piton climb, which is best done in the dry season before the heat builds.
What February does not suit
The northern Bahamas and Turks and Caicos are pleasant but not hot in February. Our dataset puts Nassau's typical February high at 78°F, with a sea of 76°F, which many swimmers find brisk. Nassau's February weather score is 8.7, the lowest of the 24 islands we score in the region. If warm water is the point, go south: every island in the top eight has a February sea of 80°F or 81°F.
February is also among the most expensive months, though we priced only mid-January and mid-July. Use the January 13, 2027 rates on each island page as a guide; February rarely comes in cheaper.
Entry rules to sort before you fly
Jamaica requires a passport and its online C5 immigration and customs declaration. Curaçao requires the free Digital Immigration Card, Barbados an online Immigration and Customs Form that opens 72 hours before arrival, and St. Lucia an online entry form submitted no more than three days before travel. Puerto Rico needs no passport, but you need a REAL ID or a passport for the flight. Details are in our passport rules guide.
Booking through these links supports this site at no cost to you. Prices move by date, so we do not print them here; the official prices we checked are in the page above.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Caribbean island to visit in February?
On our February scores, Jamaica, at 9.14, narrowly ahead of Curaçao at 9.05 and Martinique at 9.00. Jamaica wins on flights and price; Curaçao wins on dry weather and has no hurricane-recovery caveat.
Where is warm in the Caribbean in February?
Everywhere south of the Bahamas. In our dataset, February highs run 81°F to 84°F across the top eight, warmest on Curaçao. The Bahamas are cooler, with Nassau's high around 78°F.
Is Jamaica open for tourists in February 2027?
Yes. The Jamaica Tourist Board says all three international airports and the seaports are operating and most attractions are open. Its reopening list still shows seven large Montego Bay resorts closed until some point in 2027, so confirm your specific hotel.
Which Caribbean islands have carnival in February?
The pre-Lent carnivals peak in the days before Ash Wednesday, February 10, 2027. On our list, Martinique's tourism board names the Carnaval de Fort-de-France among its main events. Barbados's Crop Over and Grenada's Spicemas are summer festivals instead.
Is February hurricane season in the Caribbean?
No. NOAA's National Hurricane Center gives the Atlantic season as June 1 to November 30. February carries no storm penalty in our scores. See our hurricane and cyclone seasons guide.
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