Dear Readers,

Do you ever worry about booking a Caribbean trip during hurricane season?

We're often asked that question by readers, especially when the peak of hurricane season rolls around. Although hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30, the number of storms reaches its peak in September.

We've been lucky: in 10 years of traveling back and forth to the Caribbean, we've only had to hurry off an island twice: last September in Grand Cayman and the previous October in Jamaica. Both storms wound up just skirting those islands but, to play it safe, we'd headed off on the last available aircraft each time.

So when we set down to plan this September's travels, hurricanes were definitely on our minds--especially in the middle of such a busy hurricane season. But we remembered the advice we always give our readers: the forecasting of these storms is very good so you'll have ample warning if you should need to leave an island to avoid a storm.

So we headed off to Jamaica in mid-September. As authors of several guidebooks to Jamaica, we're very familiar with this island but on this trip we were set to experience something new: a barbecue cookoff, Jamaican style.

Held at Montego Bay's Sunset Beach Resort, this weekend of barbecue cookoffs featured both local teams and competitors from around the world. We had a great time talking with the teams (and sampling some terrific barbecue).

In the coming issues, we'll be telling you more about the all-inclusive Sunset Beach Resort and its very economical wedding packages.

In our free time, we took a tour of nearby Rose Hall (which is said to be haunted...and also makes a beautiful wedding location!)

So should you plan a trip to the Caribbean in the middle of hurricane season? You bet. You'll find that many of the resorts have "hurricane guarantees," promising refunds if your trip is cut short by a hurricane (check with your travel agent for the details.) Also, the Caribbean is a large region. There can be bad weather in some parts of the Caribbean and picture-perfect weather elsewhere.

Next month we're off to the Caribbean Tourism Conference, held this year in St. Thomas. We'll be meeting with tourism officials from throughout the islands to hear what's new in the world of romantic travel. Back with more soon!

Until later, Paris and John

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