Doris Visits - Port Guides for cruisers: Hurricane strikes Caribbean, Volcano to blow in the Canaries

Hurricane Matthew strikes Caribbean, Volcano to blow in Tenerife - where is safe to holiday

I was about to write a blog on the terrible hurricane named Matthew and say how it is often bad weather in that region this time of year and it is a little early for the Caribbean season. How the cruise lines stick to safe areas at safe times of year so the customers are happy and while we all wait for Caribbean season to start now is the time to go to Iberia, the Canaries.

But, In Teneriffe on Oct 2nd 2016 the Volcanology Institute of the Canary Islands (Involcan) reported a significant spike in seismic activity, leading to fears that Mount Teide is about to blow.

Caribbean Warning

Let us start with the hurricane, where warnings are in effect for Haiti, eastern Cuba, the southeastern Bahamas (including the Inaguas, Mayaguana, Acklins, Crooked Island, Long Cay and Ragged Island) and the central Bahamas (including Long Island, Exuma, Rum Cay, San Salvador and Cat Island). And there is a constant monitoring program as it could reach the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Cuban province of Camaguey and the northwestern Bahamas, including the Abacos, Andros Island, Berry Islands, Bimini, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama Island and New Providence.

Tenerife Warning

Whilst this is the season to go to the Canaries and we leave Friday to film many places including Tenerife, there were nearly 100 mini earthquakes reported in just four hours in the region on Monday. To take a quote, 92 microquakes were recorded in Adeje and Vilaflor, with one measuring more than 1.5 on the Richter scale.

The majority of the quakes took place between 7 and 13km below ground sparking fears Mount Teide could be about to blow. You will know from our drive into the live volcano in St. Lucia that it stinks. The guide there told us, as it says on the the film that that is a good thing. If the smell goes, the follow her as she will be running... the gases in the air change prior to erruption and in Tenerife teams have been sent to the area to measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere following the quakes, which they described as a “seismic swarm” which is “abnormal” for the region.

Cruise away from trouble

So, that appears to be reason to think about where you holiday. Because if you have a fixed location, your holiday could be blighted. On a cruise the ship is your hotel and it can move away from areas and change desination. I have been on ships that have avoided storms and taken us and stopped at an unexpected island or missed an island if the weather did not allow.