Weather in Belize vs. Roatan at the beginning of December

[ychrisy]

I have seen a lot of posts regarding weather in Belize and Honduras at the start of December. I am currently deciding which place to go. Does anyone know if the weather will differ between these two places at the start of December?

I have read quite a few post warning about rain in December in Roatan:
Plan on rain everyday for hours in November and december, if it is less than that you will be happy. Everyone with any time on the Islands has had guests that had great weather during rainy season but most, unless they work for the chamber of commerce have experienced many less than great weather days.

I was guessing that Belize would suffer from the same weather, but I have seen a few posts saying in Belize the northern winds begin to weaken in December and rainfall is much less. Someone also posted that Dec-March is the best time to go to Belize:
The colder water in dec. jan. and feb. ( 75 to 80f. ) doesn't allow certain small organisms to thrive and the vis. gets 100' + Its a time of the year I see the best vis. when it gets warmer (80 to 85f.) they bloom and vis gets rough ( 60' we call bad in Belize ). march is the most lost days of diving month because of the wind. and hurricane season (june to Nov.) also gives a lot of fresh water that effects vis., again what I call bad may be the best most people have ever seen. If I had a month to chose it would be January.

Does any have any comments on these previous posts? Do they seem accurate? Based on these previous posts, I was thinking Belize would be better at the start of December, but it seems strange that Belize and the Bay Islands would experience different weather.

 

[Mike]

I can't speak for Belize, but for Roatan you will be taking your chances, that's the rainy season. You can do a search and there is a historical data page that you can find with the months going back in Roatan for many years, showing the rain fall percentages and percentages of sun or rain. Take a look at that and study it.

You just never are going to know. We went there last year for 10 days in November and had 8 perfect days and 2 cloudy days, the week after we left it was reported that the weather turned to crap. There is a reason the rates are low during rainy season.

 

[dolesorchard]

Went to Roatan last year the last two weeks of Nov. The first week was quite nice, but the second week was very windy, no sun and highs around 70. Surface intervals were hell. Water temp was still low 80's but I wished I had brought my winter coat for si's.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I agree with Mike. You won't know until you get there, either place. Take rain ponchos no matter which place you choose. Better to have and not need, than need and not have.

I've been to both at that time of year, once did Roatan/Belize back to back mid/late November. On that trip, Roatan was a complete blow out, but weather improved for the Belize portion of the trip. Was still rough, viz sucked and for sure, needed a windbreaker/rain type jacket on the boat.

Have also had fabulous weather in both places at that time of year . . .so ya, you'll know when you get there.

 

[Bryan Cunningham]

Both places have high rainfall in Nov and Dec, being their rainy season. Roatan however is definitely the wetter of the two with rainfall averaging around 300mm for Nov and Dec while Belizes average for these two moths is less than 200mm. Both wet and poor time for viz.

Bryan
SCUBA DESTINATION DEALS - HOME

 

[chillyinCanada]

Just back from 11 days in Belize, weather was fantastic. Spotted eagle rays on most every dive, and of course, the ubiquitous nurse sharks and groupers always showed up. There is a loss of many of the smaller reef fish due to the lionfish but did see fewer lionfish on this trip, so feeling somewhat hopeful that the attempts at irradication will continue to be successful. DM speared up a lionfish and a grouper and triggerfish went for it, had a little tussle. The grouper swallowed the lionfish almost whole and I thought it was going to be a complete swallow when all of a sudden, the grouper spit it out to the delight of the triggerfish.

 

[ychrisy]

Thank you for all the advise. It all turned out to be pretty accurate. We decided to go to Roatan, and it rained a lot. The weather was very unpredicatable. The forecast predicted rain storms everyday, but a few days turned out to be completely clear and visibility was great. When looking at the weather report, Belize seemed to have more sunny days at the time, but who knows what the actual weather was like.

For future visitors, it seems you can usually get a few good dives in November and December if you are there long enough, but there will definitely be a few days lost to rain.