The climate of the region is tropical but rainfall
varies with elevation, size and water currents (cool upwellings keep the
ABC islands arid). Warm, moist tradewinds blow consistently from the
east creating rainforest/semidesert divisions on mountainous islands.
Occasional northwesterlies affect the northern islands in the winter.
The region enjoys year-round sunshine, divided into 'dry' and 'wet'
seasons, with the last six months of the year being wetter than the
first half.
The waters of the Caribbean Sea host large, migratory schools of fish,
turtles, and coral reef formations. The Puerto Rico trench, located on
the fringe of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea just to the north of
the island of Puerto Rico, is the deepest point in all of the Atlantic
Ocean.[11]
Hurricanes, which at times batter the region, usually strike northwards
of Grenada, and to the west of Barbados. The principal hurricane belt
arcs to northwest of the island of Barbados in the Eastern Caribbean.
