1

of my 4 transits of that area, it rained on one. they had tarps we held over us on the ocean crossing from Punta Gorda to Livingston. All I had was a crappy plastic bag compact raincoat which completely disintegrated. I got all wet and cold, so I've carried a GOOD raincoat on every central america trip, since then.

*Good: unwoven thick sheet plastic, not goretex or the like.

2

The rainy season ends in that area around the end of January. I wouldn't stay home because of it unless of course you are soluble.

3

I had a similar experience as Eddy. It was raining when we got on the the boat in Livingston. But luckily the tarp kept me from getting wet. And it was only a 30 minute boat ride to Puerto Barrios. I stayed in Livingston at Doña Alida a nice and clean hotel for about $23 with private bath and a balcony for relaxing with ocean vew. I think it was sometime in January about two years ago.

4

I wouldn't worry too much about the rain. Adds to the experience!

I've had a similar situation to 1 & 3. Was in Livingston the end of December one year. On the transfer boat to Puerto Barrios, it downpoured on us for maybe 10-15 minutes. They had tarps on board to help keep dry. Was quite fun actually. :-)

But it didn't rain every day. Don't sweat it.

5

Was there last Janurary at around the middle of the month and it was cloudy and had light rain sizzles, didn't really use an umbrella much while I was there but they sadly canceled the tour to Playa Blanca-7 Altares.

I decided to tag along another few tourists and walked the 45 minute trip to the entrance to 7 Altares for free, paid the park the small entrance fee and had a lot of fun. The day was uber cloudy so the lagoons didn't get that picture perfect glow, but they were still very beautiful. The advantage of visiting 7 Altares when there is still rain is that the waterfall is still there at the top lagoon and you can jump into the lagoon and get soaked in cold water, the drop is like 3 m!!! Dangerous but very fun, I had a great time! :D It did rain that evening though..

6

I'll take a good old fashioned raincoat over a pseudo-high tech woven one any day. I dont give a rat's ass about their preposterous diagrams or claims that their material is water vapor-permeable, yet sheds precipitation.

Youre wearing a soggy woven raincoat, it's weighing you down. Supposing it does breathe to a miniscule degree, even then it's not going to be enough to make a noticable difference. Where youre really getting significant ventilation in a raincoat is through the openings and vents, not through the fabric. So there!