Where the half-term fortnight is still properly warm. Of 108 seaside holiday towns and cities in North America, 27 rate Good or better in the second half of October. These six are the best of them, spread across the region.
Where to go
- 178 · GoodKapaaHawaii, United States
Rated 78 (Good) for sunbathing in the second half of October: midday feels like 29°C, with partly cloudy skies. The good spell lasts about eight and a half months, from late March to early December. Open it on the map at late October.
- 276 · GoodHonoluluHawaii, United States
A typical midday in the second half of October feels like 28°C, and the Sunbathing rating averages 76 over the stretch. Good weather here runs from mid April to early December, so there is room either side. See late October on the map.
- 373 · GoodKahuluiHawaii, United States
A typical midday in the second half of October feels like 28°C, and the Sunbathing rating averages 73 over the stretch. The good spell lasts about seven months, from mid May to early December. Rain is rare at this time of year. Open it on the map at late October.
- 470 · GoodFort PierceFlorida, United States
Midday in the second half of October feels like 29°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 70, Good, for sunbathing. See late October on the map.
- 568 · GoodCape CoralFlorida, United States
Midday in the second half of October feels like 30°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 68, Good, for sunbathing. The good spell lasts about two months, from October to November. Rain is rare at this time of year. Open it on the map at late October.
- 664 · GoodMiamiFlorida, United States
Rated 64 (Good) for sunbathing in the second half of October: midday feels like 29°C, with partly cloudy skies. Good weather here runs from October to November, so there is room either side. See late October on the map.
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 in mid and late October; 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.