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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March is the heart of the Caribbean dry season, and the weather scores show it: every island on this list scores 9.6 or better for the month, and six of them score a perfect 10. That leaves the ranking to be settled by everything else, and it is tight. Jamaica, Curaçao and Martinique are separated by 0.09 points.
What really changes in March is demand. American college and school spring breaks run through the month, and in 2027 Easter falls early, on March 28, so Holy Week lands in March too. The right island for you may depend less on its score than on whether you have a passport, how many people you are traveling with, and how far ahead you are booking.
At a glance
Best overall
Jamaica, by 0.09 points over Curaçao and Martinique
Driest
Curaçao: about 1.1 inches of rain in March, with 85°F days
Best no-passport pick
Puerto Rico, fourth, with nonstops from 41 US airports
Easter 2027
Sunday, March 28: Holy Week fills hotels and flights
New this March
Southwest starts Nashville to St. Thomas and to Aruba on March 13, 2027
The ranking
Score = 55% this month's weather + 45% the island's other five factors. How we score
Jamaica leads March with a perfect weather score, 83°F (28°C) days and an 82°F (28°C) sea, and the strongest non-weather score of the three front-runners: nonstops from 24 US airports, $53 rooms on our check and a large island that absorbs 2.6 million stay-over visitors a year. It is the spring-break pick for Negril's Seven Mile Beach, Rick's Cafe and Dunn's River Falls. The catch remains Melissa's damage in Montego Bay, where several big resorts are still closed. Unico Montego Bay is due in March 2027.
Curaçao ties for second and has the driest March here, about 1.1 inches of rain, with 85°F days. It is the reliable choice if you cannot afford a rained-out week. Its value score is close to perfect, with Willemstad rooms from $62, and its things to do score 8, from the UNESCO-listed old town to the Shete Boka sea caves. It trails Jamaica because only six US airports fly nonstop and the island is busier for its size. Spring-break groups should rent a car for the west-coast coves.
Martinique ties Curaçao on 9.05 and has a perfect March weather score, with 84°F days in the middle of its carême dry season. It ties Jamaica on things to do, 8.5 out of 10: Mount Pelée, Saint-Pierre, the Route de la Trace and rhum agricole distilleries. It is also the least spring-break island on this list, because only American flies nonstop, from Miami. Rooms in Les Trois-Îlets started at $102. Rent a car and split the stay between the south and the north.
Puerto Rico returns to fourth in March, with 82°F days and a weather score of 9.6; only its 3.0 inches of rain keeps it behind the top three. It has the most to do on this list and the most flights, from 41 US airports, with no passport needed, which makes it the default family spring break. Expect cruise crowds in Old San Juan, where most of 2025's 1.6 million cruise passengers arrived between November and March. San Juan's cheapest 3-star room was $120 in mid-January.
Barbados scores a perfect 10 for March weather, with 82°F days and an 82°F sea, and its beaches score 8.5. The calm west coast at Paynes Bay and Carlisle Bay suits families and snorkelers, and the south coast's St. Lawrence Gap gives spring breakers bars within walking distance. It sits fifth because rooms are pricier, $140 on the south coast in mid-January, and the island is busy, with 707,046 stay-overs in 2025. Fill in the online Immigration and Customs Form within 72 hours of arrival.
Antigua has the best beaches in this ranking, 9 out of 10, and a perfect March weather score with about 1.8 inches of rain. Darkwood, Ffryes and Dickenson Bay are calm and sandy. It ranks sixth because things to do score 7 and rooms on the beach strip cost far more than the $99 town hotel in our check. Antigua Sailing Week follows on April 21–25, 2027. Book a beachfront room early, and complete the ArriveAntigua form before you fly.
Grenada has a perfect March weather score, 83°F days and about 1.9 inches of rain, and almost none of the spring-break crowd: about 186,000 stay-over visitors in 2025. It ranks seventh because only four US airports fly nonstop and its beach and activity scores, both 7.5, trail the leaders. Grand Anse is long and calm, and the Grand Etang rainforest and Belmont Estate's chocolate tours fill the inland days. Southwest rooms started at $96 with taxes.
St. Lucia stays eighth in March with a 9.8 weather score, 83°F days and an 82°F sea. It is the couples' answer to spring break: hillside hotels facing the Pitons, the Gros Piton climb with a required local guide, and Sulphur Springs. It ranks last of the eight because its beach score, 6.5, is the lowest; most beaches are small coves, some with dark sand. Rodney Bay rooms started at $81 on our January check. Submit the online entry form no more than three days before you fly.
Our March score is 55% March weather and 45% the island's other strengths: beaches and things to do, scored by our editors, and access from the US, hotel value and crowding, computed from data. Weather uses the daytime high, sea temperature, rainfall and sunshine. There is no storm penalty in March. Jamaica's page carries a conditional verdict after Hurricane Melissa, which costs it 0.4 points on the non-weather half; it still leads. The method is on how we score islands.
Jamaica, Curaçao or Martinique: breaking the tie
Treat the top three as equals and choose by trip type. Jamaica is the pick for an all-inclusive with day trips, the cheapest rooms and the most flights. Curaçao is the pick if you want the safest bet on dry weather, about 1.1 inches of rain in March, and a real city to walk around at night. Martinique is the pick for food, hiking and the least spring-break atmosphere: it is French-speaking, has one US nonstop, from Miami, and draws far fewer American students.
Jamaica's recovery is moving in March. The Jamaica Tourist Board lists Unico Montego Bay as opening in March 2027, and seven other large Montego Bay resorts as reopening at some point in 2027. Check the list again before you pay a deposit.
Spring break and Easter week
Easter Sunday is March 28, 2027, and Good Friday is March 26. Holy Week is a public-holiday week on many islands as well as a school break in much of the US, so it is the most crowded week of the month on almost every island. If your dates are flexible, the first half of March is the calmer choice.
Spring-break crowds concentrate where flights are many and short. That means Puerto Rico, with nonstops from 41 US airports, Jamaica's Negril and Montego Bay, and St. Thomas. If you want a quieter March, Grenada, St. Lucia and Martinique have fewer US flights and fewer visitors. We did not price March nights; expect rates at or near the mid-January levels on each island page.
The no-passport spring break
Many families discover in March that a child's passport has expired. Puerto Rico, fourth on this list, needs none; nor do St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix, which all score 9.6 or better for March weather. You still need a REAL ID-compliant license or a passport to fly, and TSA charges a $45 ConfirmID fee to travelers without one. Puerto Rico's March is a little wetter than the islands above it, about 3.0 inches, which is the only thing keeping it out of the top three. See the best islands to visit without a passport.
Islands with perfect March weather that still miss the cut
Aruba, Grand Cayman, St. Croix and Cozumel all score a full 10 for March weather and still finish outside the top eight. Aruba and Grand Cayman lose on price, with the cheapest 3-star rooms in our mid-January checks at $203 and $337. Aruba and St. Martin also rank among the most crowded islands for their size in our data. Cozumel's rooms are cheap, $37 in our January check, but our page rates it conditional and its beaches, mostly ironshore and paid beach clubs, score 6. Southwest's new Nashville to Aruba service, which begins March 13, 2027, makes Aruba easier to reach from the mid-South but does not change its prices.
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 for spring break?
On our March scores, Jamaica, then Curaçao and Martinique. For a spring break without passports, Puerto Rico is the best-scoring choice, fourth overall. For a quiet one, Martinique or Grenada.
Where is warmest in the Caribbean in March?
Curaçao, with a typical March high of 85°F (29°C) in our dataset, followed by Martinique at 84°F. Every island on this list has a sea temperature of 80°F to 82°F in March.
Is March a good time to visit the Caribbean?
For weather, it is among the best. It is dry, sunny and outside the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June 1 to November 30 according to NOAA. For crowds and prices it is one of the hardest months, because of spring break and, in 2027, Easter week.
Is Easter week busy in the Caribbean?
Yes. Easter falls on March 28, 2027, and Holy Week is a holiday on many islands as well as a school break in the US. Book flights and rooms for March 20–28, 2027 early, or travel in early March.
Do I need a passport for a Caribbean spring break?
Not for Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands. Every other island on this list requires a passport, and most also require an online arrival form, such as Jamaica's C5 or Curaçao's Digital Immigration Card. See our passport rules guide.
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