When is the diving season in Guanaja?

The diving season in Guanaja runs December to July, and it is at its best December to April.

Is the diving in Guanaja good for beginners?

Yes. It suits Open Water divers, so it works for a first trip after certification.

How warm is the water in Guanaja?

Between 27 and 30 °C at the surface across the year, coldest in February and warmest in September. It runs cooler below the thermocline.

What wetsuit do I need in Guanaja?

A 3 mm full suit covers the coldest water of the year. In the warmest months a skin or 3 mm shorty is enough.

What is the visibility like in Guanaja?

Roughly 5 to 20 m depending on the month. That is estimated from satellite chlorophyll-a rather than measured in the water.

What will I see diving Guanaja?

The most consistently recorded species are Hawksbill turtle (near-guaranteed), Nurse shark (likely) and Southern stingray (hit-or-miss), from 83 records within 60 km.

Does Guanaja get tropical storms?

Yes. Over 30 years of records a storm passed within 250 km in May–Jun, Aug–Nov, most often in October at 10 of 30 years.

Is there current in Guanaja?

The tide rises and falls 0.3 m around the full and new moon, against 0.1 m in between. How much of that becomes current depends on the shape of the channel.

When should I avoid Guanaja?

October is the weakest month for conditions.

How do you dive Guanaja?

Mostly from day boats. Trips run through the season, Dec–Jul.

Honduras

Best Time to Dive in Guanaja

16.44°N 85.88°W

The wildlife shows no season worth planning around, so the weather picks your month: December to April. Diving holds up from December to July.

Best time: Dec–Apr
Water: 27–30 °C
Visibility: 5–20 m
Season runs: Dec–Jul
Dived from: day boat
Tidal range: 0.1–0.3 m
Species logged: 5

Worth knowing: 6 days a month of heavy rain.

Where it is

Honduras

111 km across · coastline from Natural Earth 10m

Diving in Guanaja — monthly breakdown

Best months at this destination

A year of scuba diving conditions at a glance. Hover a month to isolate it.

Month by month conditions, water temperature, visibility and marine life
	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Conditions	Good	Good	Excellent	Good	Good	Moderate	Excellent	Moderate	Excellent	Poor	Moderate	Excellent
Water temp (°C)	27	27	27	28	29	29	29	29	30	30	29	28
Visibility (m)	10–20	10–20	10–20	10–20	10–20	10–20	10–20	10–20	10–20	10–20	5–15	10–20
Marine life	Steady	Steady	Busy	Steady	Steady	Steady	Steady	Steady	Busy	Busy	Peak	Busy
Best time	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak								Peak

Excellent Good Moderate PoorPeak season Dec–Apr

Long-term averages, 2016–2025. Visibility is estimated from satellite chlorophyll-a. Water temperature is the surface mean; it is cooler at depth.

The Guanaja diving season

2 seasons

August to November · Shoulder season

4 months

JFMAMJJASOND

Water temperature: 29–30 °C
Visibility: 10–20 m
Rain: 20 days a month

Diving conditionsIt rains more. The sea is calmer.

December to July · Peak season

8 months

JFMAMJJASOND

Water temperature: 27–29 °C
Visibility: 10–20 m
Rain: 13 days a month

Diving conditionsRain is frequent topside. The sea is rougher. The wind is up.

Water temperature is satellite sea-surface temperature, so expect it cooler below the thermocline.
Visibility is estimated from satellite chlorophyll-a.

Guanaja water temperature and weather

83 underwater observation records · 18 surveyed years of ocean data · 10 years of sea temperature

Water & weather

Guanaja water temperature by month

The dashed line is the monthly average. Eight days in ten fall inside the band.

10th to 90th percentile rangemonthly mean

rough days a month

Seas top 1.5 m on 19% of days. Enough to cancel a day boat

blowy days a month

Gusts over 40 km/h, about where a day boat stays in port

wet days a month

3 of them bring heavy rain

Monthly sea state, wind, rain, air temperature and daylight
Month	Swell	Gusts over 40 km/h	Wet days	Heavy rain	Air	Daylight
January	1.6 m	16%	18	3	27 °C	11.1 h
February	1.8 m	22%	15	2	27 °C	11.5 h
March	1.8 m	27%	9	1	27 °C	11.9 h
April	1.9 m	33%	6	1	28 °C	12.4 h
May	1.8 m	29%	5	1	29 °C	12.8 h
June	1.8 m	30%	12	2	29 °C	13.0 h
July	1.5 m	10%	20	2	29 °C	12.9 h
August	1.2 m	9%	18	3	29 °C	12.6 h
September	1.2 m	6%	17	2	29 °C	12.1 h
October	1.4 m	7%	23	10	29 °C	11.6 h
November	1.5 m	4%	22	9	28 °C	11.2 h
December	1.7 m	8%	22	5	27 °C	11.0 h

Swell is the rough end of the month: nine days in ten come in under it. Sea temperature covers 10 years, waves 4.

Pick your week

48 weeks from the daily record. Darker is better, against this site's own year. Pick a month for the detail.

Conditions by week, four weeks per month

Week 1	January week 1: Excellent	February week 1: Excellent	March week 1: Good	April week 1: Moderate	May week 1: Excellent	June week 1: Good	July week 1: Good	August week 1: Moderate	September week 1: Good	October week 1: Poor	November week 1: Moderate	December week 1: Good
Week 2	January week 2: Excellent	February week 2: Excellent	March week 2: Good	April week 2: Moderate	May week 2: Good	June week 2: Good	July week 2: Excellent	August week 2: Moderate	September week 2: Good	October week 2: Poor	November week 2: Moderate	December week 2: Good
Week 3	January week 3: Moderate	February week 3: Excellent	March week 3: Good	April week 3: Good	May week 3: Moderate	June week 3: Moderate	July week 3: Excellent	August week 3: Moderate	September week 3: Excellent	October week 3: Poor	November week 3: Moderate	December week 3: Excellent
Week 4	January week 4: Moderate	February week 4: Excellent	March week 4: Excellent	April week 4: Excellent	May week 4: Excellent	June week 4: Moderate	July week 4: Excellent	August week 4: Moderate	September week 4: Excellent	October week 4: Poor	November week 4: Moderate	December week 4: Excellent

Excellent Good Moderate PoorBest week to go: fourth of April

January, week by week

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Excellent	27 °C	1.5 m	31 km/h	56%
Week 2	Excellent	27 °C	1.5 m	31 km/h	59%
Week 3	Moderate	27 °C	1.8 m	32 km/h	60%
Week 4	Moderate	27 °C	1.9 m	32 km/h	55%

February, week by week

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Excellent	27 °C	1.7 m	32 km/h	57%
Week 2	Excellent	27 °C	1.8 m	34 km/h	57%
Week 3	Excellent	27 °C	1.8 m	34 km/h	50%
Week 4	Excellent	27 °C	1.8 m	34 km/h	42%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Good	27 °C	1.8 m	34 km/h	36%
Week 2	Good	27 °C	1.8 m	34 km/h	32%
Week 3	Good	27 °C	1.8 m	35 km/h	30%
Week 4	Excellent	28 °C	1.9 m	37 km/h	25%

April, week by week

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	28 °C	2.0 m	38 km/h	21%
Week 2	Moderate	28 °C	1.9 m	37 km/h	23%
Week 3	Good	28 °C	1.7 m	34 km/h	23%
Week 4	Excellent	28 °C	1.7 m	35 km/h	17%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Excellent	28 °C	1.7 m	36 km/h	13%
Week 2	Good	28 °C	1.9 m	36 km/h	17%
Week 3	Moderate	29 °C	2.0 m	36 km/h	19%
Week 4	Excellent	29 °C	1.8 m	36 km/h	17%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Good	29 °C	1.7 m	36 km/h	18%
Week 2	Good	29 °C	1.8 m	38 km/h	32%
Week 3	Moderate	29 °C	1.9 m	39 km/h	45%
Week 4	Moderate	29 °C	1.8 m	37 km/h	55%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Good	29 °C	1.7 m	35 km/h	63%
Week 2	Excellent	29 °C	1.6 m	33 km/h	64%
Week 3	Excellent	29 °C	1.5 m	32 km/h	61%
Week 4	Excellent	29 °C	1.5 m	32 km/h	63%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	29 °C	1.4 m	33 km/h	65%
Week 2	Moderate	29 °C	1.3 m	32 km/h	60%
Week 3	Moderate	29 °C	1.2 m	31 km/h	59%
Week 4	Moderate	30 °C	1.2 m	31 km/h	50%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Good	30 °C	1.2 m	31 km/h	46%
Week 2	Good	30 °C	1.3 m	30 km/h	54%
Week 3	Excellent	30 °C	1.2 m	29 km/h	61%
Week 4	Excellent	30 °C	1.2 m	26 km/h	68%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Poor	30 °C	1.3 m	25 km/h	69%
Week 2	Poor	30 °C	1.5 m	25 km/h	71%
Week 3	Poor	30 °C	1.4 m	25 km/h	74%
Week 4	Poor	29 °C	1.4 m	25 km/h	77%

November, week by week

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	29 °C	1.4 m	24 km/h	76%
Week 2	Moderate	29 °C	1.7 m	23 km/h	77%
Week 3	Moderate	29 °C	1.6 m	24 km/h	76%
Week 4	Moderate	28 °C	1.5 m	26 km/h	66%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Good	28 °C	1.7 m	27 km/h	68%
Week 2	Good	28 °C	1.8 m	28 km/h	73%
Week 3	Excellent	28 °C	1.6 m	28 km/h	74%
Week 4	Excellent	28 °C	1.5 m	29 km/h	65%

10 years of daily records, averaged into weeks.

Gear & storms

What to wear

Off the coldest water of each month, not the average — that is what the suit has to cope with.

Wetsuit thickness by month
	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Suit	January: 3 mm	February: 3 mm	March: 3 mm	April: skin	May: skin	June: skin	July: skin	August: skin	September: skin	October: skin	November: skin	December: skin

Jan–Mar3 mm full suit
Apr–Decskin or 3 mm shorty

Swell through the year

The rough end of each month — nine days in ten come in under it.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Amber is over 1.5 m.

Tides

Daily tidal range across one lunar month.

Tropical storms

10 of the last 30 Octobers saw a tropical storm pass within 250 km. Anything has been recorded May–Jun, Aug–Nov.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Share of the last 30 years with a storm that month.

NOAASea surface temperature, from OISST and MUR
ERA5Wind, waves, rain and air temperature, via Open-Meteo
OBISMarine species records within 60 km
IBTrACSTropical cyclone tracks, 1996 to 2025

Guanaja marine life — what you'll see diving

83 records within 60 km

Only 83 records have been logged within 60 km. A thin record is not an empty reef.

Species	When	Reliability	Evidence	Records
Hawksbill turtle	Sep–Dec	Near-guaranteed	11/18	17
Nurse shark	All year	Likely	6/18	15
Southern stingray	May–Jul	Hit-or-miss	4/18	9
Green turtle	Mar, Nov	Likely	8/18	11
Spotted eagle ray	Mar, Jul, Sep	Hit-or-miss	5/18	10

Peak Present

Observed window: Months with records. Peak is where most of them fall.
Reliability: Near-guaranteed in 60% of surveyed years or more
Likely 30% to 60%
Hit-or-miss under 30%
Evidence: Years it was seen, out of the years anyone surveyed.
Records: OBIS sightings within 60 km.

These are sightings people logged, not a full survey of the reef. A species missing from a month may just mean nobody recorded one.

Diving Guanaja — common questions

When is the best time to dive Guanaja?: The wildlife shows no season worth planning around, so the weather picks your month: December to April. Diving holds up from December to July.
When is the diving season in Guanaja?: The diving season in Guanaja runs December to July, and it is at its best December to April.
Is the diving in Guanaja good for beginners?: Yes. It suits Open Water divers, so it works for a first trip after certification.
How warm is the water in Guanaja?: Between 27 and 30 °C at the surface across the year, coldest in February and warmest in September. It runs cooler below the thermocline.
What wetsuit do I need in Guanaja?: A 3 mm full suit covers the coldest water of the year. In the warmest months a skin or 3 mm shorty is enough.
What is the visibility like in Guanaja?: Roughly 5 to 20 m depending on the month. That is estimated from satellite chlorophyll-a rather than measured in the water.
What will I see diving Guanaja?: The most consistently recorded species are Hawksbill turtle (near-guaranteed), Nurse shark (likely) and Southern stingray (hit-or-miss), from 83 records within 60 km.
Does Guanaja get tropical storms?: Yes. Over 30 years of records a storm passed within 250 km in May–Jun, Aug–Nov, most often in October at 10 of 30 years.
Is there current in Guanaja?: The tide rises and falls 0.3 m around the full and new moon, against 0.1 m in between. How much of that becomes current depends on the shape of the channel.
When should I avoid Guanaja?: October is the weakest month for conditions.
How do you dive Guanaja?: Mostly from day boats. Trips run through the season, Dec–Jul.