When is Lobster Season in the Caribbean?

Few flavors complete a trip to the Caribbean quite like lobster. Lobster salad. Lobster pasta. Lobster bisque. Lobster rolls. Lobster fritters. Or just plain grilled lobster drizzled with garlic butter. It doesn’t matter how you like your lobster, if you want it in your belly, you’re going to need to know when it’s lobster season in the Caribbean.

Here at Uncommon Caribbean, we’re constantly island hopping for any number of reasons — though they usually aren’t lobster related. But for some reason, this morning while going through the calendar of upcoming destinations, my mind started drifting toward grilling up my own Caribbean lobsters.

Mmmmm… Lobster…

A couple of quick Google searches later and I realized that a lot of the information outlining when it is or isn’t lobster season can be a little tricky to find. And what can be found (often in forums) is confused with North American lobster season. (Check the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for that info!) And don’t get me started on the months with “R” rule!

So, I dug deeper… And a little deeper… And in the end, put together my own calendar that I’m happy to share with you!

But before we get into the dates, a few caveats.

First, as you may notice, it’s not a completely exhaustive list and I’m uncertain of a few dates at this time, but I promise to return here from time to time to add updates as I find out more information.

Also, note that the dates are subject to change year to year. So, what may be right as of me writing this, could become wrong with a policy change here or there.

And perhaps the most important thing to consider is that while some destinations may have lobster on offer in their restaurants year-round, if you’re planning on searching coral reefs and catching some Caribbean spiny lobster yourself, pretty much all destinations have restrictions of some kind (gear used to catch the lobster, minimum size limits, daily bag limits, possession limits, restricted areas, landing “berried” aka fertilized egg-carrying females, quotas, etc.) governing their capture.

So, just because I note that it may be lobster season wherever you are, you still should get the details of and respect the regulations of the sport season in any particular destination.

Ok, now on to the calendar!!

Lobster Season in the Caribbean

Destination	Open	Closed
Anguilla	All year
Antigua	July 1 – April 30	May 1st – June 30th
Aruba	July 1 – March 31	April 1 – June 30*
Bahamas	August 1 – March 31	April 1 – July 31
Barbados	September 1 – April 30	May 1 – August 31
Belize	June 15 – February 14th	February 15 – June 14
British Virgin Islands	November 1 – June 30	July 1 – October 31
Cayman Islands	December 1 – February 29	March 1 – November 31
Cuba	June 15 – February 14th	February 15 – June 14*
Dominica	All year
Dominican Republic	August 1 – March 31	April 1 – July 31
Grenada	September 1 – April 30	May 1 – August 31
Jamaica	July 1 – March 31	April 1 – June 30
St. Kitts & Nevis	All year
Roatan	July 1 – February 28 (29)	March 1 – June 30
St. Lucia	August 2 – February 28	March 1 – August 1
St. Martin/St. Maarten	All year
St. Vincent & The Grenadines	September 1 – April 30	May 1 – August 31
Trinidad	All year
Turks and Caicos	August 2 – March 31	April 1 – August 1
U.S. Virgin Islands	All year