© Discover SVG

St. Vincent is not as popular or famous as some other Caribbean islands, but it still manages to attract nearly 200,000 tourists every year.

These cruise and resort visitors find that the best time to visit St. Vincent is during the winter and early spring months from November through March, according to the SVG Tourism Authority for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Temperatures reach the mid 80s Fahrenheit. The risk of rain is low.

During those months, St. Vincent attracts a large number of cruise visitors who want to escape cold northern winters and instead spend time on warmer islands in the eastern and southern Caribbean.

The island also attracts hotel visitors who spent a week or more on the island because its average temperatures are warmer than many Caribbean islands.

Along with Barbados, St. Vincent is the southernmost island for eastern Caribbean cruises except for Grenada, which is slightly farther south. St. Vincent is only 47 miles south of St. Lucia, one of the most popular destinations on eastern Caribbean cruises. It shares much of the same weather.

Cruise tourism to St. Vincent drops steeply in April and stays near zero during most of the Caribbean hurricane season, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). St. Vincent has more rainfall during the hurricane season, which goes from June through November, than most islands.

St. Vincent Weather

© Scott S. Bateman

Average monthly rainfall reaches a low point from February through April with two inches or less each month, according to historical data from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. These are the best times to visit St. Vincent.

By comparison, it reaches a high point of more than eight inches a month from July through October. These months are the most actives times of the Caribbean hurricane season.

Average annual rainfall is 150 inches in the mountains and 80 inches on the coast.

The average high temperature in St. Vincent stays in the mid-80s Fahrenheit or high 20s to low 30s Celsius from late winter through spring, according to the Climatic Research Unit.

Those temperatures make the island one of the warmest destinations in the Caribbean during that time period.

They reach into the 90s Fahrenheit or low 30s Celsius during the summer, which also is the period with the highest rainfall. Again, these high summer temperatures make St. Vincent one of the warmest destinations in the Caribbean.

Most and Least Popular Months

The most popular month to visit St. Vincent is December followed by July, according to the CTO. The least popular month is September followed by October.

It is no coincidence that September and October are the least popular months. Both months have the highest risk of rain, tropical storms and hurricanes in the Caribbean. They bring more rain to St. Vincent.

December is popular with northerners who want to escape cold winters. The island averages about 85,000 cruise visitors a year, the CTO reports.

Best Times to Go

Although St. Vincent is popular with cruise visitors from November through January, the best time to go for a combination of warm temperatures and low risk of rain is February and March.

Tourism drops off in April, but that month has only slightly higher rainfall plus the benefit of warmer temperatures.

The fact that cruise lines schedule few trips to St. Vincent in April won’t stop hotel vacationers who plan to visit the island for a week or more.

Hotel visitors will find empty and quiet beaches during a month such as April. They also will find major attractions are less crowded, including the historical forts, the oldest botanical gardens in the western hemisphere and the island’s extensive hiking trails.