The Caribbean is an attractive place to escape to, especially for those seeking sunshine and warmth.
But traveling there during the height of hurricane season always carries a slight risk of a major storm ruining your vacation plans, and some islands dodge tropical storms better than others.
The FOX Forecast Center has discovered six islands that have served as “hurricane havens” over the past 170 years, providing safe havens for vacation seekers.
“Of course, any island in the Caribbean can develop a hurricane,” says Fox Weather meteorologist Michael Estime, “but there are some islands south of the so-called ‘hurricane belt’ that are less susceptible to tropical disturbances, hurricanes and tropical weather.”
The islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao (colloquially known as the “ABC Islands”) have not suffered a major hurricane in over a century.
Since 1851, eight hurricanes have passed within 100 miles of the island, but none have been recorded making direct landfall on the island. The last time a hurricane caused damage was over 130 years ago.
The twin island chain of Trinidad and Tobago has also been fortunate to avoid hurricanes: only eight have passed close to the islands, and the only recorded hurricane to make landfall was an unnamed storm in 1933.
However, the island was devastated by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Emily in 2005.
San Andres, a small island near Nicaragua, was not as badly hit as the previous five, but is still unusual in the way islands experience hurricane damage.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, only two hurricanes on record have made landfall, including Tropical Storm Julia in 2022. Only 13 hurricanes have passed near the island, most recently Hurricane Iota in 2020.
