Rainy season savings
TRAVELLERS willing to trade unbroken sunshine for cooling rain showers may want to investigate green season deals. While traditional travel advice often suggests avoiding destinations during their rainy season, hotels and tour providers are now offering compelling reasons to rethink that point of view.
Many deals are available in Southeast Asia. The tour company Red Savannah offers a green season itinerary in Cambodia for travel through October. Seasonal perks of the seven-day itinerary ($4,028 for two people, compared to $4,556 during high season) include a pleasant drop in humidity after rain showers and fewer people at major landmarks like the Angkor temples in Siem Reap. High water levels in the Tonle Sap lake also make it easier to explore its floating villages.
“Life is dictated by the rise and fall of the water,” said Nick Ray, who leads Red Savannah’s team in Cambodia. “The wet season is the most dramatic; I love exploring the flooded forests in a dugout boat or kayak.”
In Thailand, deals include both discounts on nightly rates and valuable extras. At Trisara Resort, rates start at $570 a night for suites and villas that during high season begin at $1,250 a night. For travel through October 31, the offer also includes daily breakfast, dining credits and private car transfers to and from Phuket International Airport.
During the rainy season (sometimes called by the more positive moniker “green season”), travellers are likely to encounter an absence of crowds, a significant drop in prices and unique experiences that aren’t found during the high season.
At Tabacon Thermal Resort & Spa in Arenal, Costa Rica, seasonal rain causes hot springs to produce billows of steam for an outdoor sauna effect, and bungalow spa treatments are a peaceful experience on a rainy afternoon. In high season, suites start at $560 a night, but for travel through October 31, three-night suite packages are on offer for $860. At Casa Palopo, a nine-room Relais & Chateaux property on the shores of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, green season rates start at $184 a night.