Negril in February: Weather, Sea Temperature, Crowds and How It Compares to January and March

NEGRIL · FEBRUARY · 18.27° N

February in Negril averages a high of 82.6°F and a low of 73.6°F, with 0.75 inches of rain spread across the whole month. The sea off the beach runs 81.7°F. The Atlantic hurricane season closed on November 30 and does not reopen until June 1, so a February week carries none of the storm risk that sits over a September one.

What the month takes back is water. The sea averages 81.7°F here against 82.7°F in January and 82.6°F in March, the coolest of the three. Rain stays close to nothing at 1.3 measurable days. On crowds and cost we have to be straight: we found no occupancy series and no monthly room-rate series for Negril, so we crown no month busiest and none cheapest.

On this page

• Negril weather in FebruaryHighs of 82.6°F and 1.3 wet days
• Sea temperature for swimming81.7°F, read as daily maxima
• Crowds, prices and when to bookWinter demand, taxes and booking order
• Things to do in Negril in FebruarySeven Mile Beach, the West End cliffs, Booby Cay
• A two-day plan for NegrilHour by hour, 6:39 am to 6:15 pm
• February vs January and MarchHow the three months compare, in figures
• Is February a good time to visit Negril?Our verdict, and who should shift a month

February barely moves Negril’s thermometer: the three winter months sit inside a degree and a third of each other at the top end. What moves is the sea, the monthly rain total and the booking calendar for a winter week. Our twelve-month calendar for Jamaica takes the island-wide version of the question.

Negril weather in February: average highs, lows and rain days

The normals below come from ERA5, the European reanalysis served through Open-Meteo, averaged over 1991-2020 for the grid cell at 18.2683° N, 78.3475° W. That is a model rebuilding the atmosphere over a square of coastline, not a thermometer at an airport: we read no official station series for Negril itself. Take 82.6°F and 73.6°F as the shape of a normal February, good to about a degree rather than to the tenth we print.

In an average February, 1.3 days record at least a tenth of an inch of rain and none records a full inch. Over 28 days that works out to measurable rain roughly one day in three weeks, and the 0.75-inch monthly total says the rest: what falls, falls briefly. Our packing list settles the rain jacket question, and the short answer for this month is a hat instead.

Nine degrees separate the 82.6°F afternoon from the 73.6°F night, which is modest by continental standards and still enough to notice on a boat at dusk or in a taxi back from dinner. One long-sleeve layer and a pair of long pants cover it for a week. Air conditioning is the other argument for that layer: rooms and transfer vans run cold regardless of the outside air.

On February 15 the sun rises at 6:39 am and sets at 6:15 pm local time, for 11 hours 35 minutes of daylight (sunrise-sunset.org, UTC times converted to Jamaica time). That puts the last comfortable beach hour near 5:30 pm and dinner firmly after dark. A reef trip or the ride out to Booby Cay has to start early enough to be back before six.

Can you swim in Negril in February? Sea temperature and what it feels like

The sea off Negril averages 81.7°F in February, and how that figure is built matters: it is the mean of daily maxima over 2015-2024 from Open-Meteo’s marine model, which makes it a shade warmer than a 24-hour average would read. It is also the coolest water of the three winter months. January comes in at 82.7°F and March at 82.6°F on exactly the same method.

In practice that is water about a degree below the afternoon air and eight degrees above a February night. Entry is uneventful, no gasp, no ten-minute negotiation at the waist. A long snorkel does not end in shivering for most adults, though anyone who feels the cold will be glad of a rash guard after an hour. Children stay in until someone makes them come out.

We could not verify a wind or wave series for Negril in February, so we publish no swell height and no wind speed. The reanalysis behind the temperature normals says nothing useful about an afternoon sea breeze at beach level either. Ask the boat operator on the morning you go out, and ask again if the trip crosses to open water.

How busy is Negril in February? Crowds, prices and when to book

February sits in the northern winter, after the Atlantic hurricane season closes on November 30 and before it reopens on June 1. That part is calendar rather than opinion. The price part we cannot give you: we found no occupancy series and no monthly room-rate series for Negril, so no month here gets called the cheapest or the busiest. Compare quotes across your own candidate dates before you commit.

Without demand data we name no number of weeks to book ahead either. What holds regardless is the order of booking, cheapest to change first: the room, then the flight, then the airport transfer from Montego Bay, which is the piece people leave until they land. Routes and carriers are in our flights from the US guide.

We could not verify Jamaica’s lodging tax rate, so we give no percentage. Two moves stand in for the figure: ask whether the quoted nightly rate includes tax and any resort or service charge, and get that answer in writing before the deposit leaves your account. Our trip cost page breaks a Jamaica week down line by line.

One upgrade changes February rather than just the room: which way the balcony faces. Sunset lands at 6:15 pm on the 15th, out over open water on this west-facing coast. Our where to stay guide sorts the beach side from the cliffs. On either side, ask for west-facing when you book and confirm it at check-in.

Things to do in Negril in February

The month is outside the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks on September 10, and it carries 1.3 measurable rain days. Together those two numbers buy something August cannot: a boat day booked on Monday for Thursday that almost certainly happens. The monthly risk curve for the rest of the year sits in our hurricane season guide.

The shortlist is compact: Seven Mile Beach along Long Bay and Bloody Bay, the West End cliffs, the Negril Lighthouse on West End Road, and Booby Cay offshore. We could not confirm current admission prices or opening hours for any paid attraction in Negril with an operator, so no fee and no time appear here for them. What we can number is the water at 81.7°F and the sunset at 6:15 pm.

The sea hardly notices the season: 82.7°F in January, 81.7°F in February, 82.6°F in March, one degree of spread across the whole winter. Air and rain move more. A cliff jump or a reef swim in February is the same act it would be in March, minus roughly half a measurable rain day over the month and 0.2 inches of total rainfall.

We found no published February discount, free-entry day or dated event for Negril, so we list none. Things to do in Jamaica carries the island-wide list of paid sights. What costs nothing this month is the light: 11 hours 35 minutes of it on the 15th, from 6:39 am to 6:15 pm.

Negril in February: a two-day itinerary

Day one runs on the light. Swim at 7, while the air is still well under its 82.6°F afternoon mark. Late breakfast, beach until noon. Spend the hottest stretch on the water rather than beside it, with a reef trip or the boat to Booby Cay between 1 and 4. Back on the sand by 5, facing west by 5:45, sunset at 6:15. Dinner after dark, with the layer a 73.6°F night makes useful.

Day two goes east along the coast or inland, using a rental car or a route from our getting around Jamaica page. If a shower crosses, and 1.3 days in an average February carry measurable rain, it rarely takes the day: no day in an average February records a full inch. Move the boat to the next morning, keep the afternoon, and let the beach dry out by four.

Negril in February vs January and March

Daytime air separates the three months by 1.3°F, from 82.0°F in January to 83.3°F in March, and no skin detects that. Rain does a better job of telling them apart: 0.63 inches and 1.4 wet days in January, 0.75 inches and 1.3 in February, 0.95 inches and 1.9 in March. The sea runs against the trend, warmest in January at 82.7°F and coolest in February at 81.7°F.

Shift four weeks earlier and you gain a degree of water plus 0.12 inches less rain, and you give up half a degree of afternoon air. Shift four weeks later and March adds 0.7°F to the days while the wet-day count climbs from 1.3 to 1.9. Crowd levels are the fourth variable, and we have no occupancy data to chart them for any of the three.

Is February a good time to visit Negril?

Yes for anyone who wants warm, dry beach days with no weather drama: 82.6°F by day, 0.75 inches of rain across 28 days, the storm season closed since November 30 and not reopening until June 1. No for two groups. Swimmers chasing the warmest possible water should look at January or March, and travelers picking dates on price alone get no help here, because no rate series exists for us to read.

If the answer is no, take January instead: the same sun, a degree more water at 82.7°F and 0.12 inches less rain, at the cost of half a degree on the afternoon high. March buys the warmest days of the three at 83.3°F and pays for them with 1.9 measurable rain days. Our January page carries that month’s full set of figures.

February’s one exclusive claim is dryness by frequency: 1.3 measurable rain days, the fewest of the three winter months, with the sea still at 81.7°F.

The last word

Decide this month on water and rain, the only two figures that genuinely separate it from its neighbors. The nights are the quieter argument: 73.6°F on average, three tenths cooler than January’s and four tenths cooler than March’s, the coolest sleep of the three. The Negril guide handles the town in every season. For February itself, book a west-facing room, set the last swim at 5:30 pm, and pack one long-sleeve layer for the ride home after dark.

Sources & data for this guide

• February normals: 82.6°F high, 73.6°F low, 0.75 in, 1.3 days at 0.10 in or more, 0.0 day at 1 in or more · Open-Meteo / ECMWF ERA5, 1991-2020, grid cell 18.2683° N, 78.3475° W · model reanalysis, not an airport station reading · checked Sep 20, 2026
• January and March normals, same source and same period · Open-Meteo / ECMWF ERA5 · checked Sep 20, 2026
• Sea surface 81.7°F, mean of daily maxima 2015-2024 · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 20, 2026
• Daylight 11h 35m on February 15, sunrise 6:39 am and sunset 6:15 pm · sunrise-sunset.org, UTC times converted to Jamaica time · checked Sep 20, 2026
• Atlantic hurricane season June 1 to November 30, peak September 10 · NOAA National Hurricane Center · checked Sep 20, 2026
• We found no occupancy or room-rate series for Negril and could not verify Jamaica’s lodging tax rate, so no month is ranked on price and no percentage is quoted. Admission prices and opening hours at Negril attractions were not confirmed with operators · check with them when you book.

To plan your stay

• Things to Do in Negril: Reef Snorkeling, the West End Cliffs, Mayfield Falls and Free Beach Days
• Where to Stay in Negril: Zones, Evening Noise and the Walk to the Sand
• Montego Bay Airport to Negril: Shuttles, Private Transfers and the Departure-Day Return
• Things to Know Before Going to Negril: Norman Manley Boulevard, the West End Cliffs, Sunset Crowds and the Airport Run

Nearby places

• Montego Bay, Jamaica: Doctor's Cave Beach, the Hip Strip and Where to Base
• Luminous Lagoon Jamaica: Tickets, Sunset Departures and the Moonless-Night Rule
• The South Coast and Treasure Beach, Jamaica: YS Falls, Pelican Bar and What Has Reopened