Hi Jules,

Have you decided on which area North, East or South of the island.

Weather for September is of course still in the hurricane season , but one has'nt hit the island in years, they normally pass by to the north and miss the Dom Rep, only leaving a few thunderstorms, these tend to happen late afternoon or overnight.It is still very hot and humid in the month of Sept.Here is a site with the history of the weather for September in 2008 but you can change the years to see on average what the weather has been like.Even though some of the boxes show rain these are mainly short, sharp showers as previously mentioned late afternoon or overnight.
Punta Cana on the East coast.
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/MDPC/2008/9/1/MonthlyHistory.html#calendar

Puerto Plata on the North coast.
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/MDPP/2008/9/1/MonthlyHistory.html

When you can tell me which area of the Dom Rep, then I wil be able to help out about resorts.

Angie.

We were in the East of of Dominican, Bavaro, last September and had three days of a tropical storm which eventually became a hurricane after leaving the DR.

While this didn't really affect our holiday greatly as it was still very hot and we could still use the pool, other facilities weren't available and the hotel grounds did flood badly. Having been to the DR many times before, none of it was unexpected and 3 days constant rain out of 14 was OK but if you were only going for a week it would, I imagine, make a difference.

We knew the risks when we booked and would still take the chance again in the future because we love the DR.

Hi Jules,

We've weighed up the pros and cons, and have eventually booked for 15th September 2010 (Punta Cana). You either go for either side of the hurricane season and risk cooler temperatures, or go in the hurricane season (when the best deals are) and risk some rain - it's very unlikely you'll actually get a hurricane. It's all part of holidaying in the Caribbean I think! From what I've heard, if it does rain it tends to just be a shower anyway plus it's still hot. Think you've just got to take your chance, or you'll never get it booked!

Kate

Weather for September is of course still in the hurricane season, but one hasn't hit the island in years, they normally pass by to the north and miss the Dom Rep

The Dominican Republic is composed of the eastern two thirds of the island of Hispaniola, Haiti occupies the western third and last year Haiti was hit by 4 major storms/hurricanes, though only one tracked across the DR in the eastern part fo the island. Haiti has suffered from major deforestation and hence the effects of floods etc tend to be much worse there than in the DR part of the island but it is pretty much the luck of the draw, literally which way the wind is blowing, as to which part of the island, if any, a hurricane will track through. On the whole when they do track through the whole of the island, the DR seems to be less badly damaged because it hasn't suffered the same deforestation and resultant soil erosion that Haiti has.

The following link is really useful for anybody contemplating travelling to the Caribbean/western Atlantic during the hurricane season. You can not only look at which hurricanes tracked where in previous years but it posts regular updates charting the development of this year's storms. Currently 'Bill' is probably causing quite heavy rain in the DR even though it shouldn't make landfall there - it's predicted to head up the east coast of the USA over the next 5 days so look out for TV reports of severe storms there.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2008atlan.shtml

SM

we have come back from punta cana today i'll post a review for the hotel later. out of the 14 days I would say 2 days were totally wasted due to rain the and about another 2 days were cloudy and overcast.

The weather is unpredictable compared to the UK, you will get a grey cloud and the next thing it will be raining by the time you have dived for cover the rain would have stopped but.... when it does rain it rains..

we were staying in the iberostar domincana 3rd floor up and the rain was falling on both sides of the room lighting , thunder (wow very loud) and then the power cuts out. pitch black sat in the dark for over 2 hours this happened for two nights. then we heard hurricane (tropical storm/depression) ana was going to hit the island on monday night/tuesday "our helpful rep put up a notice saying 36 hours notice for tropical storm that may or may not hit the island. will keep you updated" as usual TC were on form and that was the last we heard of anything. spoke to another rep who said we'll have to stay in the rooms they'll cut the power send in food and water. well I was totally petrified. bought candles just encase. got to monday the weather was windy, cloudy loads of rain looking out to see you could see a white mist coming in to the shore. we actually sat through most of it by the pool. looking at CNN we had found that the storm that had come through on the monday was actually ana. Tuesday woke up and we had the best weather of the two weeks. went to the beach and loads of the sand at the shoreline had disappeared.

Hurricanes dont hit the Dom Rep that often they tend to veer off further north of the island, here is a link to the history of Hurricanes round that area.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/history.shtml

Angie.

The link above only takes you into info about the worst hurricanes in history - the more detailed annual maps on the National Hurricane website indicate that since 1995 indicate that at least one tropical storm/hurricane tracked through the DR in

1996
1998
2000
2003
2004
2005
2007
2008

8 years out 15 suggests to me that there is a 1 in 2 chance of at least one tropical storm/hurricane tracking through the DR in any given year. Of course the odds on that happening during the particular week that you have booked to go are very much longer and it has never deterred me from travelling to Cuba in the hurricane season which has an even higher strike rate of 11 out of the last 15 years. Nevertheless, I do think that anybody booking for anywhere in this region needs to decide for themselves whether they are prepared to take the risk and to ask 'How would I feel if it's the fortnight of our holiday that a storm comes through?'

Also, the different TOs do seem to have varying strategies for dealing with the problems that can arise. Some will evacuate holidaymakers to areas that are less likely to be affected, others seem to expect you to just sit it out, so it might be worth asking the direct question of whichever one you are thinking of booking with 'What will you do if the DR is in the projected path of a tropical storm/hurricane?' This is one of the reasons why I'm always willing to take the risk in Cuba - the Government insists that TOs have contingencies plans for evacuating all holiday makers to another hotel in a different area of the island in the event of a hurricane warning being issued.

SM

Hi

We are looking at Bavaro, and the hotel I have looked at is Riu Palace Macao.

Looking at the weather it seems that the rainy season lasts for months ??

Jules,

Online weather forcasts always says chance of rain, what they dont say is what time of the day, such as morning/afternoon/evening.

A friend of mine wrote me this yesterday and they live in the Punta Cana region.
"What we need is a couple days of rain. Not a sporadic shower at 3am, but a day or two of rain.
Fact is, despite all the forecasts of rain rain and more rain...we have been dry dry and almost arid for the past 3 months of the "rainy season"!

So you see what I mean about online weather forcasts.

Angie.

Take no notice of online weather forecasts for the DR unless you know there is a tropical storm or hurricane on the way as they always seem to say its going to rain.

In reality all you usually get is a tropical shower now and again, usually during the night. OK these showers can be heavy but they often don't last long at all and within a few minutes the sun is shining again. Oh and the rain is very warm too.

Hi we are wanting to go to either Iberostar Bavaro or the Grand Bahia Principe in march can anyone tell me what sort of weather we will get and does anyone know which is the better hotel. We have also been told the Riu Palace Macao is good. Thanks

HI we have just booked for gran bahia principe bavaro on 17th sep 2013,i am trying to find out if my hair straighteners will work out there ,allso my travel iron,help thenk you welshpixy

Hi, Would like your views please. We always go to Goa in January,but this year our friends fancy Dominican Republic (Blue bay Villas,Playa Dorado). However...the few people i know who have been there say things like "You have to stay in grounds,it's not safe to go out", "Have to go out with a guide if you do want to go out" and also that there is not a lot to see or do. We like to have a nice mix of beach,sightseeing,good restaurants and being able to wander at our leisure (as we do in Goa). would like to go somewhere else this time but will hopefully get some feedback from HTers. Not tied to this area if you have other suggestions!! By the way,We are 2 young at heart and outlook couples in our late 50's. Paula ps. is the weather ok in January?