Winter Sun · The Journal
Winter sun: three places
Winter sun: three places
where January is 29 degrees
29 °Cair in January
27 °Cthe sea
Dec – Aprthe dry season
6–9 monthsahead
There are places for which January is the best month of the year. Not as an escape, but because that is exactly when they are dry, the sea is warm, and things happen that do not happen at any other time.
The three destinations below have one thing in common: at the height of our winter they are at their best. All three are different, though — in temperature, in humidity and in what there is to see. Here are the numbers and the reasons.
The Caribbean
29 °C by day, 22 °C at night, sea 27 °C. December to April is the dry season of the Lesser Antilles — locally the carême. February and March are the driest months of the year.
There is a second reason that is rarely mentioned: the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June to November. The winter months fall entirely outside it — this is the stretch when the sea is calmest and boat days are almost never cancelled.
In practice this means a journey like ours to Guadeloupe and Saint Lucia makes sense precisely then. A day on a catamaran, the crossing to Les Saintes, the climb beside the Pitons — all of it depends on the weather, and winter is the season when the weather is predictable.
The Seychelles
26–30 °C all year, sea 28–29 °C. The Seychelles are the warmest of the three and the only one without real seasons. The difference between January and July is a few degrees.
What does change is the wind. From November to March the north-west monsoon blows — more humid, greener, with short afternoon showers that pass quickly. These are the months when the islands are at their most lush and the water at its warmest.
If you have seen a photograph of granite boulders standing in water the colour of glass, that is Anse Source d’Argent on La Digue. Before nine in the morning it is empty.
Hawaii
26–27 °C by day, sea 24–25 °C. The mildest of the three — and the only one where winter gives you something the other seasons do not.
From December to April humpback whales come into Hawaiian waters to breed. They are visible from a boat and, on many days, straight from the shore. These are also the months of the big swell on the north shores — Pipeline and Waimea are a winter phenomenon, not a summer one.
Winter is the wetter season on the islands, but the rain is very unevenly spread: the windward, eastern side takes almost all of it, while the leeward west and south stay dry and sunny. The difference is measured in a couple of hours’ drive.
Which one for whom
The Caribbean — if you want a dry, calm sea, two islands with different characters, and the shortest flight of the three.
The Seychelles — if you are after the warmest water and beaches that look exactly as they do in the photographs.
Hawaii — if you want the journey to contain a natural event, not only a climate.
When to book
Six to nine months ahead. For the weeks around Christmas and New Year, nine to twelve.
The reason is not the flight. The boutique hotels we work with have ten to fifteen rooms, and those are the weeks that fill first. The same goes for private boats and guides in the best months.
If January or February sound right to you, browse the collection or simply write to us. We talk first — with no commitment.
January is four months from here. The hotels are filling now.
Frequently asked questions
About winter sun
How warm is the Caribbean in January?
Around 29 °C by day and 22 °C at night, with the sea near 27 °C. January falls in the dry season the locals call the carême, which runs from December to April. The hurricane season is June to November, so the winter months sit outside it.
Which is the warmest in winter?
The Seychelles — 26 to 30 °C all year and water at 28–29 °C. The Caribbean is about a degree cooler but considerably drier in January and February. Hawaii is the mildest: 26–27 °C air and 24–25 °C water.
Why Hawaii in winter?
For the humpback whales, which come into Hawaiian waters from December to April. The same months bring the largest waves in the world to the north shores, while the leeward side of the islands stays dry and sunny.
How far ahead should it be booked?
Six to nine months, and nine to twelve for Christmas and New Year. Boutique hotels have ten to fifteen rooms and fill up first in exactly those weeks.
In the dry season
Caribbean: two islands, one soul
Guadeloupe and Saint Lucia, eleven days in March 2027 — in the middle of the dry season, for a small group of up to eight guests. The programme day by day.
See the journey