If you want a quick answer as to the best time to visit consider these options:
Best Overall: mid-April – June
The sweet spot: winter crowds and prices have cleared, hurricane season hasn’t started, and the island is still lush from spring rain.
Best Weather: Dec – April
The dry season. Lower humidity, reliably sunny, and peak cruise/snowbird crowds – expect the highest hotel prices of the year, especially around Christmas and Easter (Semana Santa).
Best Value: June – Nov
Hurricane season. Also the cheapest flights and hotels. Most days are fine – brief, heavy showers followed by sun – but this is when the real storm risk lives.
Hurricane Season is Real
The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 – November 30, with peak activity in August, September, and October. A direct hit on Puerto Rico in any given year is statistically rare, but the risk is real and the consequences – as 2017’s Hurricane Maria showed – can be severe, including extended power and water outages. If you travel June–November, buy travel insurance with named-storm/hurricane coverage, book refundable rates, and monitor the National Hurricane Center in the week before you fly.
Rainy Season versus “It rains every day”
The rainy season technically runs April through November, with the heaviest totals in August–October. In practice, rain on the north and east coasts tends to arrive as short, intense downpours followed by sun – it rarely cancels a whole day. The dry south and southwest coast (Guánica, Cabo Rojo) stay noticeably drier year-round thanks to the rain shadow cast by the central mountains.
Shoulder-season value
Mid-April to early June and again in November (once storm risk statistically drops) offer the best ratio of good weather to low prices – fewer cruise-ship crowds in Old San Juan, easier restaurant reservations, and hotel rates well below the December–March peak.
Please visit the NOAA Climate Table for more detailed climate information.