Hurricane Season and Cheap Vacation Deals: How to Lower the Dangers
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These days it is pretty easy to find a deal on a vacation in the Bahamas: The rates are basically half of what they cost during the winter.
For example: New Yorkers looking for a two-week getaway to Nassau Island can get a round trip flight for as little as $233 courtesy of JetBlue (JBLU) airlines. Headed to Grand Bahamas from Memphis? It will cost you $393 on Delta (DAL) -- layover included. And Mid-Westerners departing from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago should expect to pay $486 to Abaco via US Airways (LCC). (Prices are all before taxes.)
The approximate 50% discount is in place for a reason: There's basically a 50% chance your vacation could be rained out. That's because it is hurricane season and according to the Caribbean Hurricane Network, five of the most hurricane-prone islands belong to the Bahamas. And even though the season's first squall, Bertha was recently downgraded to a tropical storm from a category two hurricane, Bertha is right now lingering around Bermuda, unnerving tourists in search of tranquility and tan-time.
But planning a Caribbean vacation during hurricane season (June to November) doesn’t require packing foul weather gear. Consider the southern islands of the Caribbean. Located just off of the Southern American coast, these tiny islands rarely experience the full wrath of hurricanes.
ARUBA
This tiny Dutch island sits completely outside of the hurricane belt, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely hurricane-free. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan barely missed making landfall. Two years later, Aruba did manage to get soaked by Hurricane Felix. Airfare for a two-week round-trip: $532.25.
