What's on in San Pedro, Belize through the year

Busy — Winter high season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb), Winter high season (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — El Gran Carnaval de San Pedro, Winter high season

• Festival

  El Gran Carnaval de San Pedro

  1 Feb – 8 Mar · usuallyCarnivalCrowded

  The island's own carnival goes back to the 1870s and turns on the figure of Juan Carnaval. Expect to be painted in the street over the three days before Ash Wednesday whether you meant to be or not. Source ↗

Still on: Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb), Winter high season (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — El Gran Carnaval de San Pedro, Winter high season

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: El Gran Carnaval de San Pedro (1 Feb – 8 Mar (usually)), Winter high season (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — Winter high season

• Season

  Sargassum season

  1 Apr – 31 Aug · usuallyRisk

  The weed lands on the windward beaches through the spring and summer, and how bad it gets varies enormously year to year. The bigger hotels rake it at dawn; the public stretches south of town often do not.

Still on: Winter high season (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Sargassum season (1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Hazard

  Hurricane season

  1 Jun – 30 Nov

  Ambergris Caye is a sandbar barely above the sea, and the plan for a serious storm is to move people to the mainland by boat and plane. Rates drop from August and some smaller places simply close. Source ↗

• Opening

  Lobster season opens

  15 Jun – 14 FebForaging season

  The spiny lobster fishery opens on 15 June and closes on 15 February. San Pedro turns the opening into a week of street food and beach cook-offs, which is when it is cheapest and freshest. Source ↗

Still on: Sargassum season (1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Sargassum season (1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually)), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Sargassum season (1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually)), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb)

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb)

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb)

Busy — Winter high season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Winter high season

  15 Dec – 15 Apr · usuallyWinter-sun seasonCrowdedBook early

  North American flights into Belize City double up and the golf carts on Front Street stop moving. The reef trips to Hol Chan and the Blue Hole run every day and want booking a week out.

Still on: Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb)