Where late December and early January are warm, dry and bright enough to lie out. 66 seaside holiday towns and cities in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean were scored at Christmas, and 29 rate Good or better. The ten below lead, spread across the region.
The shortlist
- 184 · IdealRoad TownBritish Virgin Islands
A typical midday at Christmas feels like 29°C, and the Sunbathing rating averages 84 over the stretch. Good weather here runs from November to July, so there is room either side. Rain is rare at this time of year. See late December on the map.
- 282 · IdealMontego BayJamaica
Rated 82 (Ideal) for sunbathing at Christmas: midday feels like 29°C, with partly cloudy skies. The good spell lasts about ten and a half months, from October to mid August. Open it on the map at late December.
- 379 · GoodWillemstadCuraçao
Midday at Christmas feels like 30°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 79, Good, for sunbathing. Good weather here runs from November to early August, so there is room either side. See late December on the map.
- 478 · GoodCaño Martin PeñaPuerto Rico
A typical midday at Christmas feels like 29°C, and the Sunbathing rating averages 78 over the stretch. The good spell lasts about nine and a half months, from late October to early August. Open it on the map at late December.
- 577 · GoodGeorge TownCayman Islands
Rated 77 (Good) for sunbathing at Christmas: midday feels like 29°C, with partly cloudy skies. Good weather here runs from late October to early May, so there is room either side. See late December on the map.
- 671 · GoodTrinidadCuba
Midday at Christmas feels like 28°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 71, Good, for sunbathing. The good spell lasts about three months, from mid October to early January. Open it on the map at late December.
- 771 · GoodSan Juan del SurNicaragua
A typical midday at Christmas feels like 31°C, and the Sunbathing rating averages 71 over the stretch. Good weather here runs from late November to March, so there is room either side. See late December on the map.
- 869 · GoodPuerto EscondidoMexico
Rated 69 (Good) for sunbathing at Christmas: midday feels like 31°C, with mostly clear skies. The good spell lasts about five and a half months, from mid November to April. Open it on the map at late December.
- 960 · GoodProgresoMexico
Rated 60 (Good) for sunbathing at Christmas: midday feels like 29°C, with partly cloudy skies. Good weather here runs from mid November to mid January, so there is room either side. See late December on the map.
- 1060 · GoodManzanilloMexico
Midday at Christmas feels like 30°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 60, Good, for sunbathing. The good spell lasts about five and a half months, from late December to May. Open it on the map at late December.
How this list is worked out
The data
Every figure comes from a decade of weather-station observations, blended into one typical year and read at midday, local solar time. Scores here are averaged from late December to early January; a city missing a reading for any part of that stretch is left out rather than scored on part of it.
The rating
Sunbathing: Warm feels-like gates the score — best 26–32 °C. Dry air, light wind and clear skies each lift it; none alone rules it out. A place is also left out when its typical readings contradict its own rating, for example a high score alongside frequent rain.
The spread
To keep one warm corner from filling the list, entries are at least 150 km apart, no more than three sit within 1,000 km of each other, and no more than three come from one country unless the list would otherwise run short.
Only seaside places
Towns and cities within 12 km of the coast, with beaches and plenty of hotels, resorts and holiday lets within 10 km for their size. That keeps out hot inland towns and busy ports that nobody visits for the beach. Places to stay are counted from Overture Maps Places, an open dataset, so a resort missing there is missing here.
The dotted links open the map at that place and time of year, on the same layer. The map remembers the time of day you last chose there; set it to midday to see these exact numbers.