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.
UpdatedThis page carries dated prices, schedules or seasonal facts checked on the date above, and that window has now passed. Re-check the sources at the foot of the page before you book.
November is when the Caribbean changes over. The Atlantic hurricane season, which NOAA's National Hurricane Center dates June 1 to November 30, is in its last weeks, and our storm deduction falls back to its June level. The northern islands, led by the Bahamas, start their dry season. The ABC islands in the south go the other way and have their wettest month.
That flip makes this one of the most mixed rankings of the year. Curaçao still leads, because even its wettest month is drier than most of the region and its year-round score is strong. Exuma is second, its best placing of the year, and Jamaica third. The top eight are separated by less than half a point.
Score = 55% this month's weather + 45% the island's other five factors. How we score
| # | Island | Score | High °F | Sea °F | Rain (in) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Curaçao | 8.3 | 86 | 85 | 4.3 |
| 2 | Exuma | 8.2 | 81 | 81 | 3.0 |
| 3 | Jamaica | 8.2 | 84 | 85 | 4.1 |
| 4 | Martinique | 8.0 | 84 | 85 | 4.7 |
| 5 | Antigua | 8.0 | 84 | 84 | 4.0 |
| 6 | Barbados | 7.9 | 84 | 84 | 5.4 |
| 7 | Grenada | 7.8 | 84 | 84 | 5.1 |
| 8 | Aruba | 7.8 | 85 | 84 | 4.4 |
1Curaçao leads November by 0.13 points. Its weather score, 8.6, holds up in its wettest month, about 4.3 inches, with 86°F (30°C) days and an 85°F (29°C) sea, and its storm deduction is the smallest on the list. The lead comes from its year-round profile: $62 rooms, beaches and things to do both at 8, and nonstops from six US airports. Showers suit city days in Willemstad's Punda and Otrobanda. Fill in the free Digital Immigration Card before you land.
2Exuma is second, its best placing of the year, with the driest November here, about 3.0 inches, and the best weather score on the list, 8.7. It is the coolest island on this page at 81°F, which many visitors prefer. Its beaches score 9, from Tropic of Cancer Beach to Stocking Island, and it is among the least crowded islands we score, with 69,437 foreign air arrivals in 2025. Two weaknesses: things to do score 6, and the cheapest George Town room was $256 in January.
3Jamaica is third, and November is when its recovery speeds up. Its November weather score, 8.2, comes from about 4.1 inches of rain, 84°F days and an 85°F sea. Its year-round profile is the strongest here, with $53 rooms and 24 US nonstop airports, less 0.4 for its conditional verdict. Resorts return through the month: Sandals South Coast is due back November 18, 2026. Breeze adds Tampa nonstops to Montego Bay from December 19, 2026.
4Martinique is fourth, with 84°F days, an 85°F sea and about 4.7 inches of rain as its wet season winds down. It is one of the least crowded islands on the list, and its things to do score 8.5, from Mount Pelée to the Habitation Clément rum estate. Rooms in Les Trois-Îlets were $82 to $102 on our dates. The single US nonstop is American from Miami. Late November is a good time for the south-coast beaches before the winter visitors arrive.
5Antigua is fifth, with an 8.3 weather score, 84°F days and about 4.0 inches of rain. Its beaches, 9 out of 10, are the best here, and Dickenson Bay and the southwest coast are calm. It ranks behind the leaders on things to do (7) and value: beach-strip rooms started at $222 in our January check. From November 1, 2026, JetBlue's JFK route is listed as ended, though American still flies JFK. Barbuda is a 90-minute ferry away.
6Barbados is sixth. November rain is about 5.4 inches, the most on this list, but its weather score of 8.0 is helped by a halved storm deduction and warm, 84°F days. Its beaches score 8.5, and the calm west coast at Mullins Bay and Carlisle Bay is good for snorkeling with turtles. Eight US airports fly nonstop, none seasonal. South-coast rooms were $92 on our July date and $140 in January, so expect late-November rates in between.
7Grenada is seventh, with about 5.1 inches of rain, 84°F days and an 84°F sea. The halved storm deduction helps, and it is a quiet, good-value island, with southwest rooms from $96 to $100 on our dates. Things to do score 7.5: the Underwater Sculpture Park, Grand Etang and Fish Friday in Gouyave. It ranks low on access, with four US nonstop airports. Fill in the online E/D card, which replaced paper forms on March 2, 2026.
8Aruba is eighth, with an 8.5 weather score as its short rainy season brings about 4.4 inches, but warm 85°F days and calm west-coast water at Palm and Eagle beaches. Its beach score of 9 is the highest here, shared with Exuma and Antigua. It is held back, as all year, by price and crowding: $203 in mid-January and $173 in July in Noord. It has nonstops from 17 US airports, several of them seasonal.
In this guide
Every score is 55% November weather and 45% the island's year-round profile. Weather combines daytime high, sea temperature, rainfall and sunshine, then subtracts a November storm penalty of 0.6 points out of 10, or 0.3 for Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Barbados and Grenada. The year-round profile is beaches and things to do from our editors, plus access, hotel value and crowding from data. Details are in how we score islands.
Our dataset puts Curaçao's November rain at about 4.3 inches, the most of any month on the island. That is still close to the norm in the region this month: Martinique gets about 4.7, Barbados 5.4 and Grenada 5.1. Curaçao's November weather score, 8.6, is the second-best on this list, behind Exuma's.
The rest of its lead is year-round: rooms from $62 in Willemstad, eight-out-of-ten scores for beaches and things to do, and a low storm record. If you want a drier November, Exuma has the least rain here, about 3.0 inches, and Nassau scores 9.0 for November weather, the best of any island we score in the region, though its other factors leave it ninth, level with Aruba to two decimal places.
November is the first month of the year in which the Bahamas score better for weather than the ABC islands. The trade-off is temperature: Exuma's typical November high is 81°F (27°C), with an 81°F sea, against 84°F to 86°F days and 84°F to 85°F seas on the other islands here. That suits travelers who find the southern Caribbean too hot, and it suits boat days to Exuma's cays. It is the start of a pattern: by December, the northeast Caribbean and the Virgin Islands join the leaders. See the December ranking.
Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, 2026, and Thursday, November 25, 2027. It is the busiest week of the month for flights from the US, especially to islands with many nonstops: Puerto Rico (41 US airports), Jamaica (24) and St. Thomas (16). The weeks before Thanksgiving are among the quietest of the year on most islands. We did not price November nights; our hotel checks cover January 13 and July 14, 2027 only.
November also opens the cruise season in the northern Caribbean. Old San Juan's port counted 1,615,039 cruise passengers in 2025, most of them between November and March, so expect busier days in town from now on.
Jamaica is third, and its recovery from Hurricane Melissa picks up pace this month. The Jamaica Tourist Board lists Sandals South Coast reopening on November 18, 2026, Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica on December 1, 2026, and two Sandals resorts in Montego Bay on December 18, 2026. The tourism minister's target, reported by the Jamaica Information Service, is all 33,000 rooms back by December 2026. Seven large Montego Bay all-inclusives remain listed for 2027. Check your hotel before you pay.
It is short for the price and has no hotel pickup. A good option for non-swimmers who want to see the reef.
Rating as shown on Viator
Lunch, an open bar, snorkel gear, pickup and gratuities are included; towels are not. The ride is about an hour each way and hard on backs in a chop.
Rating as shown on Viator
Admission to both sites is included; meals, water shoes and tips are not. Pickup is free around Ocho Rios but costs extra from Montego Bay, about 90 minutes away.
Rating as shown on Viator
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.
Yes, especially in the second half. NOAA puts most storm activity before mid-October, and the islands are quiet until Thanksgiving. The hurricane season formally ends on November 30.
Yes, until November 30, according to the NOAA National Hurricane Center. NOAA says most activity falls between mid-August and mid-October, so November risk is much lower than September's. Our scores apply only a small deduction.
Everywhere on this list. November highs run 84°F to 86°F on the southern and eastern islands and 81°F on Exuma, with seas from 81°F to 85°F in our dataset.
On our November scores, Curaçao, Exuma or Jamaica. For the easiest flights and no passport, Puerto Rico, which has nonstops from 41 US airports; it finishes tenth this month. Book early, since Thanksgiving week is the busiest of the month.
November is its wettest month, about 4.3 inches in our dataset, as its short rainy season runs from about October to December. That is still drier than Martinique, Barbados or Grenada in November.
Further reading
