Погода: Виллемстад, февраль

Bonaire's diving works because of a wind rather than in spite of one: the trades blow steadily from the east, so the western, leeward side stays predictably calm, and that is where the marine park's sixty-odd marked shore dives are. The forum's line is that any month works here, with February sometimes coming in cool and windy - our row puts it at 35.1 kph, the strongest figure in this stage, though regulars reckon May and June are the windier months of the year. The east coast is a different proposition entirely, dived only with an operator who knows it. The record: 30C days that feel like 32C, 24.8C nights, 7.7 precipitation days carrying 18.6mm, 10.8 hours of sun and a 26.5C sea.

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.