Port Antonio in November: Weather, Rain Days, Sea Temperature and Heritage Sites

JAMAICA · PORT ANTONIO · NOVEMBER

Port Antonio is the Jamaica of rain forest and deep coves, a harbor town on the northeast coast with the Blue and John Crow Mountains rising straight behind it. By November the town is shaking off October’s heavier rain. Showers still come on a little under half the days, but they thin out, and the sea stays bath-warm from the first swim of the morning to the last one before dark.

You have already picked the town. The open question is the date: whether a November trip delivers the swimming and the heritage walks you came for, or whether moving four weeks either way would serve you better. Every number below comes with its source, and where our sources ran dry, we say so.

On this page

• Port Antonio weather in November81.9°F highs and 13.4 rain days
• Can you swim in November?Sea at 85.1°F, measured as daily maxima
• How busy is Port Antonio in November?What we know about rates, booking and tax
• Things to do in NovemberFolly Point, the Titchfield Peninsula and Moore Town
• A two-day November itineraryTwo days built around a 5:29 p.m. sunset
• October or December instead?How the three months compare on rain and sea
• Is November a good time to go?Who should go, and who should wait for December

A two-day trip covers the peninsula and one mountain outing, and a third day adds breathing room for weather. The logistics live elsewhere: routes and airports in flights from the US, the ride east in airport transfers, and beds in where to stay in Jamaica.

Port Antonio weather in November: average highs, lows and rain days

Our normals are ERA5 reanalysis figures for 1991-2020, computed by Open-Meteo for the model grid cell at 18.18° N, 76.45° W, over Port Antonio. A reanalysis blends weather models with observations, so read every figure here as a modeled average for a patch of coast rather than a reading from an airport thermometer. On that basis, November runs an average high of 81.9°F, an average low of 74.6°F and 5.43 inches of rain. The cell sits at the wet northeastern tip of the island, the rainiest corner of Jamaica, so these numbers do not travel to Montego Bay or Negril.

Rain of at least a tenth of an inch falls on 13.4 days in an average November, a little under one day in two, or about three days a week. Heavy downpours are rarer: days with an inch or more average 0.7 per November, less than one in a typical month. Keep each day’s outdoor plan movable by a few hours and hold one flexible half-day in reserve.

From 81.9°F in the afternoon to 74.6°F at night, the swing is only 7.3°F. Nothing warm goes in the bag. Pack light cotton or linen, a packable rain shell and quick-drying sandals for streets still wet after a shower, plus one light long sleeve for air-conditioned rooms and evening insects. Our Jamaica packing list has the full kit.

On November 15 the sun rises at 6:11 a.m. and sets at 5:29 p.m. local time (Jamaica keeps Eastern Standard Time all year), for about 11 hours 19 minutes of daylight. Darkness arrives before most people sit down to dinner. Put beach time and inland drives in the morning and early afternoon, and plan to be back from the hills by about 5 p.m. Road conditions and night-driving advice are in our Jamaica driving guide.

Can you swim in Port Antonio in November? Sea temperature and what it feels like

The sea surface off Port Antonio averages 85.1°F in November, according to the Open-Meteo Marine API over 2015-2024. That figure is the mean of each day’s highest reading, so it runs a shade warmer than a 24-hour average would, and it covers a more recent decade than the 1991-2020 air normals. Tables built on daily means will print a slightly lower number, and both are correct about what they measure.

In practice, getting in is no shock at any hour. The sea’s daily peak sits above the 81.9°F average air high and 10.5°F above the 74.6°F night, so a late swim before the 5:29 p.m. sunset can feel warmer than stepping back onto the sand. Nobody needs a wetsuit for comfort, though snorkelers may want a rash guard against the sun.

We found no wind or swell series for this coast in November, so we can’t tell you how often the surf builds. Port Antonio faces the open north coast and conditions change from cove to cove. Ask at your hotel or on the beach before swimming, and keep away from river mouths after heavy rain. General water-safety advice for the island is in our Jamaica safety guide.

How busy is Port Antonio in November? Crowds and prices

We found no occupancy series and no monthly room-rate data for Port Antonio, so we rank November neither cheap nor expensive against the rest of the year. The calendar fact we can give: November is the last month of the Atlantic hurricane season, which officially ends on November 30. Where the month falls in the island’s wider travel calendar is set out in the best time to visit Jamaica.

We can’t give a reliable lead time in weeks for Port Antonio rooms, because we found no booking data to base one on. Book flights and your airport ride together, since the drive east from the airport sets your arrival time, and check our after-Hurricane Melissa update for the status of the coast before you commit.

We could not verify the lodging-tax rate or any per-night guest charge for Portland parish hotels, so we give no figure. Ask whether a quote includes taxes and service charges before you pay, and use our Jamaica trip-cost guide for the wider budget.

Pay extra for a refundable rate before paying for anything else. A sea view does nothing for you if the tropics force a change of dates in the season’s final weeks, while a refundable room lets you move the trip without losing it. For flights, travel insurance that covers named storms does the same job. Read its purchase-date rules before you buy.

Things to do in Port Antonio in November

Against October, November cuts the average rain count by 4.4 days and still holds the sea at 85.1°F at its daily peak. Against December, the water stays 1.9°F warmer. For a trip split between swimming and the heritage sites of Portland parish, that mix leaves enough dry hours to walk the peninsula in the morning and head inland on a clear day.

On the Titchfield Peninsula, the oldest settlement of Port Antonio and the first place in the area the English settled, Fort George stands near DeMontevin Lodge, an eclectic mix of Victorian styles. In town, the Port Antonio Court House went up in 1895, and Christ Church, the Portland Parish Church, stands on land indentured on September 3, 1836. Folly Point Lighthouse dates from 1888. West of town, Orange Bay Railway Station shows Jamaica Georgian features, and Seaman’s Valley holds the ruins of a great house and the area’s first European cemetery.

Inland, the Blue and John Crow Mountains became Jamaica’s first UNESCO World Heritage site in 2015, a mixed property of 26,251.6 hectares rising from 850 to 2,256 meters (about 2,790 to 7,400 feet). Moore Town, governed today by a Colonel and inscribed by UNESCO for its Maroon heritage in 2008, lies inland too, as do Nanny Town and Charles Town, near Buff Bay, dating from around 1754. The stone stays the same all year, and November changes only the weather around it. Our 13.4 rain days describe the coastal cell, and we have no normals for the slopes, so carry the rain shell on any mountain day.

We could not find an opening hour or an admission fee for any of these sites, nor a rate for a raft on the Rio Grande. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust declares and describes monuments without publishing visiting times or prices, so confirm both locally before planning around an open door. The public streets of the Titchfield Peninsula, the Court House and Christ Church seen from the road, and the view of Folly Point from shore cost nothing.

Port Antonio in November: a two-day itinerary

On day one, start at 7 a.m., under an hour after the 6:11 sunrise, with a walk around the Titchfield Peninsula past Fort George and DeMontevin Lodge while the air sits near its 74.6°F low. By 9:30, cross into town for the 1895 Court House and Christ Church. Swim from late morning through lunch as the air climbs toward 81.9°F. Around 4 p.m., head out to Folly Point Lighthouse for the late light, and be back in town before the 5:29 p.m. sunset.

For day two, drive inland toward Moore Town and the edge of the Blue and John Crow Mountains, leaving by 7 a.m. with rain gear and aiming to reach the coast again by mid-afternoon so the drive ends in daylight. If the morning opens wet, as it will on many of November’s 13.4 rain days, flip the order: stay near town for Orange Bay Railway Station, west of Port Antonio, and the Seaman’s Valley ruins, and save the mountains for the next dry morning. Ask your hotel about a Rio Grande raft, since we could not verify rates, and see getting around Jamaica for drivers and transport.

Port Antonio in November vs October and December

Step back a month and October runs warmer and wetter: an 83.8°F average high, 7.19 inches of rain and 17.8 rain days, against November’s 81.9°F, 5.43 inches and 13.4 days. December moves the other way, with an 80.4°F high, a 73.4°F low, 4.58 inches and 11.5 rain days. Both neighbors come from the same ERA5 cell and period. At sea, the Open-Meteo Marine API’s daily maxima for 2015-2024 slide from 87.4°F in October to 85.1°F in November and 83.2°F in December, a drop of 4.2°F across the three months.

Shifting to October gains 2.3°F of sea warmth and a 1.9°F warmer afternoon, at the cost of 4.4 more rain days and 1.76 more inches of rain. Shifting to December trims 1.9 rain days and 0.85 inch of rain and cools nights by 1.2°F, but the water loses 1.9°F and your dates move toward the Christmas holidays. We found no rate data, so we can’t say what either shift does to the room bill.

Is November a good time to visit Port Antonio?

Yes, for travelers who want warm water and heritage walks and can live with showers about three days a week. Swimmers, history lovers and anyone planning a Moore Town day will find November easy to work with. It’s a harder sell for a vacation built around one day that must stay dry, such as a beach wedding, or for anyone holding non-refundable bookings in the hurricane season’s last weeks. Couples weighing that trade-off can read our Jamaica honeymoon guide.

If your answer is no, pick December. It averages 11.5 rain days and 4.58 inches of rain, the lowest of the three months, falls after the hurricane season closes on November 30, and still keeps the sea at 83.2°F.

Of the three months, November alone pairs a sea above 85°F with fewer than 14 rain days.

The last word

Settle the booking first, with a refundable room and a changeable flight, and after that the trip is warm water and old stone. Walk the peninsula at 7 a.m., swim through the middle of the day, and finish the evening at Folly Point, whose 1888 tower was built of masonry to be fireproof. With a third day, add St. George’s Anglican, once the parish church of the former parish of St. George.

Sources & data for this guide

• November, October and December air normals, precipitation and rain days · Open-Meteo / ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis, 1991-2020, grid cell 18.1789 N, 76.4522 W · a model reanalysis, not a station reading · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Sea surface temperature, October to December · Open-Meteo Marine API, mean of daily maxima, 2015-2024 · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Daylight, sunrise and sunset on November 15 · sunrise-sunset.org, converted from UTC to Jamaica local time · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Titchfield Peninsula, Fort George, Court House, Folly Point Lighthouse, DeMontevin Lodge, Christ Church, St. George’s Anglican, Maroon settlements, Orange Bay and Seaman’s Valley · Jamaica National Heritage Trust, Portland Heritage Sites · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Blue and John Crow Mountains and Moore Town Maroon heritage · UNESCO World Heritage Centre, property 1356 · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Our sources carried no opening hours, admission fees or Rio Grande raft rates, and we found no occupancy, room-rate, booking or lodging-tax data · confirm locally when you book · checked Sep 24, 2026

To plan your stay

• Port Antonio: When to Go, When to Swim and Which Month to Avoid
• Port Antonio in October: Weather, Sea Temperature, Crowds and a Two-Day Plan
• Port Antonio in December: Weather, Sea Temperature, Crowds and Things to Do
• Port Antonio in January: Weather, Sea Temperature, Rain Days and Things to Do

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• Blue Mountains, Jamaica: Peak Hikes, Coffee Farms and the Two Ways In
• Kingston, Jamaica: The Bob Marley Museum, Devon House and Trench Town
• Dunns River Falls: Tickets, Timing and How to Beat the Cruise Crowds