Do NOT Ignore the Weather in Latam...
Many a noob continually fucks one ting’ up when traveling to LatAm for their first time:
They forget to check the weather.
“Oh, it’s the land of tropical beaches, sunny skies, and bountiful bunda. There’s no rain, cloud cover, or cold in Latin America. Just gonna book this flight.”
I was once borderline retard too, ser. However, after learning my lesson a few times, slow learner here, I has not made same mistake again.
See what had happened was…
Costa Rica…Sucks?
The first time methinks I fucked up a trip due to weather was in Costa Rica. On a trip pillaging the capitals of Central America, I decided to book a month long stay in San Jose.
Now, even in good weather months, San Jose is not exactly a stunning city.
It’s a concrete jungle filled with dirty streets, cracked sidewalks, and a below average skyline.
Most travelers completely skip the capital of Costa Rica once their flight lands. Opting to immediately take a shuttle bus to the beaches or mountains.
Not a bad call.
But being a young, hornt digital bromad, I decided a month in San Jose was ideal — during rainy season.
So I showed up on a bus from Panama, booked a beautiful $400 USD a month studio in the university area, and began to swipe my life away. Hornt.
I did no research on the weather. Only to wake up around noon after a big night out and find a torrential downpour.
Not a drizzle. The streets were legit flooding as I stepped out of my apartment.
Not one to be deterred, I chalked it to the game and figured the weather wouldn’t be like this everyday.
I was wrong…
I booked my stay in San Jose during September and October. In these lovely months, the capital of Costa Rica gets rain 25+ days a month. Heavy rain, almost 13-14 inches per month.
It rained almost every damn day. Heavy.
Rain that causes flooding. Rain that affects traffic. Rain that makes girls cancel plans with what could only be called the most handsome gringo in Costa Rica at the time.
The trip was so bad that I haven’t been back to Costa Rica since. No plans to, either.
Do NOT fade the weather…
There’s No Sun in Lima…
Fast forward a few years…
A couple buddies have been hyping Lima, Peru to the moon and back. So I decide it’s time to get there ASAP.
I book a flight, show up ready to rumble, staying in a nice apartment with a good buddy in Miraflores — the best area in Lima.
I’m hype. Have only heard great things about the Pacific Ocean views, nightlife, and how safe Peru is.
I get to my apartment, walk out on the balcony, and of course — it’s dreary as hell. Grey skies with a lil’ fog as far as the eyes can see.
I don’t think anything of it.
Proceed to live the life of a functional alcoholic for the next two weeks. Two weeks in which the sun shows up for approximately two hours on a Wednesday.
The rest of the time…
Grey skies, overcast, fog, light rain once or twice a week, and even a bit cold.
At this point, I’m struggling to get out of bed before noon each day. My productivity with work is plummeting. My desire to party and meet gurls is non-existent. Borderline depressed.
But I hadn’t put two-and-two together just yet.
So I’m chatting with my buddy and I notice he’s feeling the same way — low energy, almost depressed, not working at all.
At first, we blame it on the boozing and philandering. But after a few minutes, we realize we’d been living the same lifestyle in other places for the past few months.
Being alcoholics addicted to Tinder wasn’t the issue.
So what was it?!
It clicked…
We hadn’t seen the sun for weeks. We decided to visit Lima, Peru during September — a month where the city gets barely over one hour of sunshine a day. Miserable.
Do NOT fade the weather…
How to Check the Weather Before Booking
Luckily, the solution here is simple.
Check the got damn weather before finalizing plans anywhere in Latin America. Which is easy.
Whatever city you’re thinking about checking out, just type the name into Google. Then click the main Wikipedia page for that locale.
On the Wikipedia page, click the “Climate” section and look for the table with all the data — like the two above.
From there, you’re looking for a few things:
Daily mean °C (°F)
Average precipitation mm (inches)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)
Mean monthly sunshine hours
In an ideal world, you’d want to make sure these metrics are met:
Daily mean should be between 60-80°F. This means it won’t be too hot or too cold. Once you get above 80°F for the average temp each day, it’s going to be hot as hell. Below 60°F means it’s legitimately cold in the evenings.
You want less than 9 inches of rain each month. Once you get above that, the rain will start affecting day-to-day life. Dreary weather, traffic, canceled plans, etc.
Less than 15 days of rain each month. Anything more than that and there’s a chance the rain screws up your trip.
At minimum 100 hours of sun each month. 150+ hours of sunshine is preferable.
Think about it…
No one visits Europe during the winter. It’s cold. There’s very little sunshine. People aren’t as social.
So, why visit LatAm during rainy season?