The question
How do we plan a Caribbean company trip around hurricane season?
Travel in the season if the rates justify it, but insist on a specific force majeure clause, buy group travel insurance, and choose southern destinations like Aruba and Curaçao that sit below the main hurricane belt.
The geography matters more than the calendar
Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao lie south of the typical hurricane track and see direct impacts rarely. Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and the eastern Caribbean carry meaningfully higher exposure in September and October.
Peak risk is late August through early October. Early June and late November carry far less risk while still pricing in the low season.
Write the clause you actually want
Standard force majeure language often requires the event to make performance 'impossible.' A named storm 200 miles out that cancels every flight does not always meet that bar.
- Define the trigger objectively: a named storm warning for the destination or departure region within 72 hours of arrival.
- Specify the remedy: full deposit refund or penalty-free rebooking within 12 months.
- Include airport closure and airline cancellation as independent triggers.
Insure the group, not the individuals
A group policy covering trip cancellation, interruption, and medical typically costs 4–7% of the trip value and is far simpler than asking 80 employees to buy their own. Purchase it at deposit, not later.
Key takeaways
- Southern Caribbean sits largely below the hurricane belt.
- Rewrite force majeure with objective, named triggers.
- Buy one group policy at deposit time.