Het weer in Willemstad (Curacao) in mei

May sits inside this island's windier stretch, roughly January through August, and our column carries it at a genuinely high 35.6 kph. Regulars explain why that barely troubles most visitors: the trade winds blow steadily from the east, leaving the leeward west side - where nearly all the diving and snorkeling happens - predictably calm, while the exposed south sites like Margate see more surge on a strong-wind day. Air is 31.3C reading as 35C at 81.4 percent humidity, over 27C nights, with 21.5mm of rain across 5.2 days. The sea is 27.4C. One regular names May and early June as their favourite non-winter stretch specifically because of this wind-shadow effect. The record: 11.2 hours of sun and AQI 57.

Forum posters describe Curaçao's climate as remarkably consistent year-round, with daytime temperatures in the 80sF and nights in the 70sF, tempered by a steady 12-15mph trade wind out of the east that keeps the heat comfortable even as the rainy season begins toward the very end of September. Posters are consistent that this rainy season is genuinely low-key - short, overnight or early-morning showers rather than anything that disrupts a full day, with sea temperatures around this time among the warmest of the year at roughly 84F. Posters do flag one exception worth knowing: when a storm or hurricane passes to the north, it can knock out the usual trade breeze, making conditions feel unusually humid and sticky even without direct rain. Posters generally rate September as a good, reliably warm time for Willemstad, with the trade wind and brief showers keeping conditions comfortable outside of the occasional storm-linked humid spell.

Curaçao has a desert climate and roughly 340 sunny days a year; March sits at about 27°C by day and 25 overnight, with the sea at 27. The forum's recurring subject is the trade wind, and the record puts it in perspective: it blows here all year, never averaging below about 29 kph, with the stronger stretch running February through July and peaking in May at 37. March, at 34.5, is in the windy half without being the worst of it. Most visitors treat it as the thing that makes the heat bearable rather than a nuisance, and the island's hills — especially towards the west end — block a good deal of it. Sunscreen is non-negotiable.