Weather...predictably unpredictable?

[Tim Green]

Hi all,

My third trip to Tobago from 1st Jan - 15th Jan '04 was a bit of a disappointment in as far as the weather combined with the sea swell was different to what I remembered and imagined for the time of year.

The previous times I've been end of Feb and beginning of April the weather has been fine/hot with the very occasional shower and the seas have been mostly calm with the water visability being fantastic.

This time the weather was very changeable with the evenings being sometimes chilly (yep believe it or not my partner and I had to change one evening for the fact it was quite cold). The seas were great for Surfers or the most dearing of swimmers (even on the carribean coast) whipped up by a strong Northerly. This meant that although Tobago has some wonderful snorkeling it really didn't compare to my previous trips due to the sediment and the strong currents.

It didn't spoil our enjoyment of Tobago, far from it, but for me at least having been a couple of times before, unlike Clare my partner, I was slightly disappointed.

My question is, we're thinking of going back for 2 weeks, last week of July, first week of August, what should the weather and sea conditions be like then, any ideas?

Regards

Tim

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Tim

Bit of a bummer, I know. This year has been exceptionally wet. The rainy season was late coming and doesn't seem to have ended yet. We've had rain every day (??) since we arrived two weeks ago, but it's the usual stuff of heavy rain overnight and then only short sharp showers during the day. It hasn't spoiled anything to be frank and everywhere is looking so lovely and green and lush and smells so wonderfully. At least visitors this summer won't suffer from the awful water shortages of last year.

Anyway, world weather is so unpredicatable that it would only be a fool who would predict the weather for next week, much less next August. Have a look at the weather charts in our Weather articles (Tobago menu) for typical conditions. That's the best I can offer - it really is luck of the draw. At least weather conditions down here are a damn site more reliable than at home (normally).

[Joanne Kassie Foehner]

Hi Steve:

Karl and I just returned from Tobago and I must admit there was a lot of rain but some of the locals advised us that it is a Leap Year after all and this rain is "God's Blessings".

Nonetheless it was still very warm and the sea inviting, so the rain just made the surroundings lush and fresh.

We hope to return next year for a longer period of time.

Joanne

[Zora Lawrence]

Yes, must admit that we had a lot more rain than expected - went on 24/1/04 and returned on 10/2/04. It rained in Charlotteville just about every day - but I just love the sound of heavy rain on corrugated iron roofs (I'm funny that way) so I enjoyed it. But it did spoil our snorkelling a bit as I am not a confident swimmer and prefer to snorkel in calm waters. The locals all said that the rains should have finished at the end of December but we still had a great time!
Cheers
Zora