This time of the year is the dry season in the Caribbean. Later in the summer, the rain will return and the bush will green up.

So do I have those time frames right? Would like to visit during the lushest time so we get some great backgrounds for pictures. 🙂

Well, the lushest (?) time is also the time you are most likely to have, uh, rain. The reason people flock here this time of year is that the weather is usually clear and warm.

Remember - lush & rain come together. November usually has beautiful green hills and rain. We've never been completely rained out and prefer November for the lushness and the warmer water.

Cheers, RickG

The whole weather pattern changes so much over the years all over the world and the USVI is no exception to the trend. Whether it's global warming or not, the patterns have definitely changed. That said, you'll never see (at least not right now but that could change) vast areas of brown at any time of the year (unless you count construction sites!) From time to time the foliage "hibernates" in dry spells but can sprout up overnight when we get a good rain. A couple of weeks can make a huge difference.

Maybe because the tourist season tends to die down end of March through October (much more to do with summertime finally coming in colder climates than to do with the the advent of hurricane season here) less tourists are here and therefore less photographs are being taken? Just an opinion from a 25 year resident. Cheers!

Here's my take from a photographers point of view....winter = green grass, minimal flowering plants, big poinsettias summer = brown grass, gorgeous hibiscus, bouganvilla, flamboyant trees in full bloom my fav months April, May, June

I think that STJ photographs pretty well whatever the season is. I know that I find it absolutely gorgeous at all times of year.

Here's a link to historical climate data for St. John: http://cirrus.dnr.state.sc.us/cgi-bin/sercc/cliMAIN.pl?vi1980 (don't know how to make it a hyperlink on this forum so you'll just have to copy it into your browser window). But it indicates that Aug thru Nov are the wettest (therefore likely to be greenest) months but with a bit of rain in May as well.

I'm chuckling a bit while I write this though as the weather broadcasts are projecting 2" to 3" of rain for us just in 1 or 2 days right now (not that unusual). In fact, I guess this rainy weather is stretching from Texas to Michigan. So, bottom line, I agree with one of the previous posters: anytime you can be in St. John is a good time of year 😛

Barring an intense tropical storm season [Aug + Sept] -- Nov or May are the wettest months and it is a toss-up.

Thank you so much!! Everyone on here is just great, glad I joined! 🙂

Thanks so much! Everyone on here is just great, glad I joined! Carla 🙂

We've almost always gone to STJ in the "off" season, usually May. A few years ago, we arrived mid May. The hills above Cruz Bay were brown/crispy and many of the cisterns had run dry. Many were tanking water over from STT--if they could get on a waiting list for a tank of water. During our two week stay, the rains came, filling up the cisterns and greening up the whole island. The transformation from brown to lush green was beautiful and amazing. We were lucky that we were staying for two weeks, because it rained for almost a solid week of our stay--usually it only rained for a few days or a portion of the day. We took advantage of the rain, sightseeing, shopping, and hiked to locations because it was cooler/cloudy. Anytime is a great time as far as we are concerned to see STJ. If you are there during the dry season, remember to help conserve water.

Liz