NOAA Coral Reef Watch’s 7 Nov data puts much of the eastern Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles in severe bleaching heat stress. Dive trips are still on — go gently, and log what you see.
NOAA Coral Reef Watch’s 5 km regional virtual stations, latest data 7 November 2026, show severe bleaching heat stress across a wide Caribbean band.
Alert Level 3 (multi-species mortality risk) covers Northern and Southern Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Leeward Caribbean Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and Panama Atlantic East. Alert Level 4 (severe multi-species mortality risk, over half of corals) is on Turks and Caicos and Colombia Atlantic. Windward Caribbean Islands hold at Alert 2. Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire are at Warning. Cayman Islands, Belize, Central Bahamas, Jamaica, Honduras, and Quintana Roo are at Watch. Florida Keys remain No Stress.
For divers, that means many Dominican Republic and Lesser Antilles reefs are under heat stress strong enough for severe bleaching and coral death, even when boats still run. Expect pale or fully bleached hard coral on shallow sites. Soft coral, sponges, and fish can still look lively; the reef frame is the story. Visibility and animal encounters can remain good.
Dive gently: perfect buoyancy, no fin strikes, no touching. Prefer deeper or better-flushed walls when guides offer them. Ask the shop what they are seeing this week—bleaching is patchy by site. Log sightings for Reef Check or BleachWatch if your operator participates. Bonaire, Curaçao, and Aruba are milder (Warning), not risk-free. Levels move week to week. This is a conditions update, not a cancel-your-trip notice.