Throughout the world’s temperate zones, there’s are two words that inspire fear whenever they get lumped in alongside a vacation: rainy season. It’s a fear that’s common across tropical vacationers across the world, particularly those with limited time to spend overseas and a budget that doesn’t extend beyond a single destination.
But more often than not, we’ve found that the ‘fear’ of rainy seasons just isn’t justified. With most tropical destinations experiencing at least some degree of stormy behaviour and limited monsoon activity, the dreaded rainy season is often little more than a minor inconvenience. From Thailand’s tropical beaches to Mexico’s resort-lined coast, most rain activity barely hits ninety minutes daily.
Travel organisation PlanetTravel suggests that the fear of rainy season vacations is overstated and needless, claiming that most off-season holidays suffer few interruptions. Like many other tourism fears, this one can be debunked using simple data – the vast majority of tropical rain activity occurs during the early evening, lasts only one hour, and is surrounded by periods of heat and sunshine.
However, that’s not to say that fear of off-season travel isn’t justified. Along with downpours and mild inconvenience, many tropical monsoons bring about a season that’s rich with diseases. If you plan on travelling through parts of Africa or South Asia during a seasonal monsoon, consider that the risk of contracting tropical diseases increases significantly due to excess moisture.
In civilized areas, however, the amount of damage that seasonal rain can do to your holiday is close to nil. The few showers that occur in the tropics – be it in Asia or the Caribbean – are typically dried as quickly as they arrive. Our suggestion – take advantage of the limited demand and enjoy cheaper accommodation, entertainment, and sightseeing during a tropical country’s rainy season.
