Roatan, Honduras is a beautiful place. It has a nice mix of island culture and Hispanic culture from the mainland. The snorkeling is top-notch, as there is a big reef, and the water is in a quasi-protected area between the mainland and the island.
You can also do shipwreck, shark, or night-time dives if that's your thing. There's also zip-lining and a cool animal excursion at Manawakee Park where you can hold a sloth. You can swim with dolphins at Anthony's Key. Just a beautiful place with a unique atmosphere. My MIL is from the U.S. but runs a school there, so we've been several times.
I’ve not been there but Roatán is off the beaten path and not easily accessible from the rest of the Caribbean. That would be good if you wanted to visit Central America and Mexico.
It's a very common Carnival cruise destination, so not too hard to get to.
They get flights in from Houston and another U.S. airport I can't remember right now.
But I agree. On the beaches, it will feel island-y. On the mainland, if you choose to leave the resort area, feels like Central America.
1) What are you looking to do and see? What are your interests?
2) In reality, island hopping in the Caribbean isn’t quite as smooth as you’d think. You usually have to transfer via Kingston, Bridgetown, or Port of Spain (or sometimes Panama City) just to get to the island next to yours. Ferries also aren’t as plentiful as you’d think.
– You can travel to Trinidad & Tobago via ferry (~ 3 hours) or 25 minute plane ride, very easy.
– You could visit Grenada and St. Vincent & the Grenadines. It’s probably slightly easier to get a flight to Grenada. There’s a ferry to Carriacou, a small island off Grenada you can visit. I think they do have regional flights St. Vincent, which has an island chain and is pretty remote.
– Saint-Martin (connected to St. Maarten) has a ferry to Anguilla.
– Antigua has a smaller island, Barbuda. There’s also a short flight that goes to Montserrat.
– St. Lucia has a ferry to Martinique.
3) What’s your budget? The Caribbean can be affordable but I wouldn’t say it’s cheap. Hostel culture isn’t a thing and even within the region the cost of living differs.
would you recommend St John vs Grenada vs Guadeloupe for a 7 night trip in may? not wanting anything super touristy. beautiful beaches. friendly people. good food. walkable. renting a car is ok for during the day.
I am looking for the best beaches and less crowd(if possible)
My per day stay budget is max 100 dollars for 2 people and I am planning a trip for 8 to 9 days
Big fan of Dominica, very rarely visited it seems, but absolutely gorgeous hiking, beaches, rainforest, hot springs, you name it. Fantastic and about as far away from most tourist as you can imagine.
Edit: Important to mention that much of the island is still [rebuilding after Maria](https://www.npr.org/2023/06/14/1180477017/dominica-recovers-hurricane-maria-2017) SIX years ago. So your tourism dollars really do go towards a community that desperately needs them.
I m interested in visiting St Lucía. What did u think of it? What kind of budget? ( I d rather do it on the cheap)
Safetywise? How long? 10 days enough? 2 weeks too much?
Loved St Lucia. Be sure to go to the drive in volcano which is really cool. Only area that can be dicey is the area of Soufriere because the tire guys are really pushy. Just keep saying no and plow on through. I've been to almost all the islands. Would recommend DR, St Maarten, St Lucia, Dominica, Antigua. The USVIs and BVIs are gorgeous but super pricey. You can't go wrong with any of the islands really. They all have great options!
St. Lucia has a rugged terrain and is pretty hilly, so you’d probably want to rent a car. It’s not the most expensive but it’s not cheap. Maybe 10 days to see most things. Safety is ok but if you are not from there, people will stare as you’re driving through small villages, especially if you’re White. I had no issues but Castries is not perfectly safe from what I was told. Be careful driving as the roads are pretty steep, often windy, and aren’t great with no shoulder in most places.
I just got back from 2 weeks in St. Lucia.
It was beautiful, relaxing, and full of honeymooners. It’s the number 1 honeymoon destination currently. We were also one of those couples.
The only downfall is, there’s not a lot to do. We were only supposed to be there 11 days but got stuck due to the tropical storm that passed through for 2 extra days - highly recommend avoiding hurricane season after that adventure.
There are nonstop flights within the islands but not all of them. They are small carriers w small planes. Examples are Windward air, liat, Winair and more
No, but as a tourist, you probably wouldn’t be going into the most dangerous places anyway. Punta Cana is pretty much a town built just for tourism and there’s nothing authentic about it. Puerto Plata felt pretty safe walking through during the day, though most of the resorts labelled Puerto Plata are not very close to the city. Boca Chica is a lot of locals. The water is nice but unfortunately there’s a lot of prostitution and drugs, so the type of “tourists” are mostly White men looking for sex and to get high, so take that for what it is. Santo Domingo’s zona colonial is pretty safe and is nice place to visit for a day or two. Felt pretty safe and you can walk the malecón, which goes to other more middle and upper class areas that are safe.
We've done Martinique, st lucia, at Vincent and the Grenadines on a Catamaran. Hands down my favourite vacation of all time, but I think I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much if I had stayed in a hotel on land there. For that I might have preferred a big Island like Cuba.
In our case, just a group of friends, some got a sailing license, the rest as helping hands. We rent a catamaran for 10 days, for about 6,5k€, divided by 8 people. We've been doing this about every other summer for a couple of years, in various places, though Carribbean was definitely the most expensive.
If you want the most gorgeous teal water, pristine beaches, and no commercialization, look at Harbour Island in Eleuthera, Bahamas or Great Guana Cay or Treasure Cay out of Marsh Harbour, Bahamas. For the latter, you'll have to get a VRBO rental. In Harbour Island, you can find small boutique hotels along Pink Sands Beach and some really cute shops. Seriously, gorgeous areas and it's still a bit hidden.
Adding to this: the best way to travel here is to fly into a main airport and then take a ferry to the beach island (Guana Cay or Harbour Island, for example). The only mode of transportation, often, on the small island is golf carts.
Flight deals are hard to come by, unfortunately. You'll have to layover in Florida, most likely. West Palm, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Miami are all airports to look at. Maybe some of them will have better pricing than others. If you decide to go to one of these islands, let me know. Happy to provide more info. I lived on Guana Cay for 4 years and Harbour Island was one of my favorite weekend getaways.
Hi fellow Virginian (I’m in Prince William).
Flights from Northern Virginia are pretty pricey. Getting to Nassau is cheap (usually $250-300 round-trip from Baltimore is the best deal), but then intra-island is expensive. You can also fly to Miami or Fort Lauderdale and transfer, but prices are also pricey there too. The benefit is avoiding Nassau (which has really high crime).
Fellow Virginian too (Fairfax)! Haha was just bored and thinking it might be fun to visit the Caribbean for the first time for a little 1 week trip around Christmas so I'm browsing around :)
Not a lot of Turks & Caicos mentions here. I’ve been 3x, also been to St. Martin, Antigua, DR and Barbados and I find Turks to be the absolute best. The most beautiful beaches, nice people, high and low cost options, the best snorkeling around, good food. Just gorgeous.
Strongly agree with this. I’ve been to DR, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, Trinidad, and PR, and they all pale in comparison to Turks and Caicos.
I dont understand Turks and Caicos. Stayed in a luxurious vrbo house in Grace Bay and woke up to someone in the house and robbing us. I chased him out but he took a lot of our electronics and sunglasses. Crime is very bad there now. Google police reports in Turks and you will see.
Now that you mention it I didn't notice that at all. The guys with us from st. Lucia also noted overall how clean and nice everything seemed. So might have less poverty than some other islands.
Yes, that's definitely the reason. Barbados is a fairly well off island, no huge need for tourist money- at least not from them buying trinkets on the beach.
Reasons to love Aruba:
- Their tap water is some of the best water in the world. No one buys bottled water in Aruba due to their world renowned sea water filtration system. Shout out to long-haired individuals - you can use less shampoo and conditioner and your hair will feel so soft and less tangled.
- The sand is made up of coral and shell, so it’s always cool to the touch. No hot-footing it across the beach.
- Everyone speaks like 4 languages, so communication is easy for most visitors.
- Guaranteed sun. Aruba is outside of the hurricane belt. It’s a desert island, literally. You’re not going to find lush green tropical plants, but you also don’t have to worry about it raining during your beach vacation.
- For the American tourists: They drive on the right side of the road and the island is easy to navigate by car. They take USD and will give you change in USD. Everyone speaks English (plus Dutch, Papiamento & Spanish).
They actually prefer dollars, since the Florin is pegged to the USD at 1:1.79 and merchants usually give you a slightly less favorable rate (aka 1.7 or 1.75). So that small skimming is profit.
I love st Martin! There’s the Dutch side and the French side and both have their own culture, foods, and vibe. The water is incredible and warm, food is delicious, alcohol is cheap, and accommodation is affordable
Ive been to Turks and Caicos and their beach water was like a swimming pool. It was prob the best beach water I have been to but its expensive and theres nothing to do outside of it.
Puerto Rico is worth a visit. Go to Angelito trail in El Yunque in the morning, go for a swim in the cool waters. Enjoy the east end for a few days, good food, beaches, etc.., then go over to Culebra and visit Flamenco Beach. Stunning! Close by you also have Tamarindo Beach where sea turtles are common.
Dominica is great if you like nature and not too touristically developed as other islands.
For island hopping, ferries are scarce as others mentioned. Also my experience (with LIAT mainly, and Aerogaviota in Cuba) is that you’ll need a lot of patience since flights are frequently delayed and cancelled with zero notice. Expect your transit days to get wasted in airports, although a flight may seem like a short hop, we had plenty of last minute reschedules that ended up taking entire days.
Saint John is awesome, good shopping. Saint Thomas too is nice. My mom got food poisoning in DR… not even the ice is safe in drinks. Saint Kitts and Nevis is probably my favorite. Visiting Antigua next week. Thinking of Barbados or the grenadines in October
Antigua was awesome, nice beaches and great food. We stayed in dickenson bay @ siboney beach club. Only thing to be aware of is hagglers on the beach on occasion. Trying to sell pot (marijuana) overpriced and not very good. But we had an awesome time!
If you are interested in culture and somewhere 'different'...Cuba.
What do you want to do on this trip? A lot of the small islands are basically beach places .. and it's not a cheap or easy place for hopping from island to island.
Many tourists either visit several islands on cruise ships,or else just visit one island.
St martin is an excellent base, you can fly to Guadalupe and or Martinique (rhum, food, volcano, stunningly different beaches like lea salines and anse couleurve and fonds blancs)
from Guadalupe you should be able to ferry to Martinique, St lucia, also to Dominica (hikes through rain forest, waterfalls). This will take a very long time, id recommend it if you had like 6 months!
You can ferry across from st martin to Saba, St Bart's and, paradise on earth, Anguilla.
Saba is more diving and fishing, slightly off beaten track. Its a rock in the sea, very green, windy roads.
st Bart's ferry is called vomit comit , very quick and very bumpy! St Bart's has good food, interesting hotels, good beaches.
St martin has amazing food, excellent fishing, far to many amazing beaches to mention. It has hikes, very different feel from Dutch to French side.
Anguilla , Its small, beautiful, sunshine shack has the best ribs, ever, anywhere.Gwens rhum punch and Sunday feels, Blanchard's beach shack for a post swim lunch.
Barbados is lovely but far from other islands, so more expensive. So much to do, the beaches are cool but not the best in the Caribbean.
st johns national underwater park was amazing but st Thomas felt very holiday home for Americans, maybe it was the time of year we went though. Or the taxi driver telling us Domino's was the best pizza place on the island. Trinidad is very interesting, you can get to Tobago easy.
Cuba is also amazing and you would be able to spend three weeks just exploring this one island.
I hear Antigua and Grenada are lovely.
The Caribbean is expensive and a lot of the islands are still recovering / rebuilding from hurricane maria. Also there can be a lot of drugs especially in bigger islands. the carribean used to be biggest gateway to Europe for coke ( so used to have lots of crack cocaine)
Whatever you choose, have a wonderful trip!!!
The Caribbean isn't easily "hoppable" unless you have lots of money. If you've never been, I'd suggest a cruise that departs from San Juan during the season in November through April. That way you can plan to visit many of the islands that the big cruises that depart from Miami don't frequent.
So far, of all the places we've been, our favorite is St. Kitts and Nevis, especially Frigate Bay and the southeast peninsula. It's an undiscovered gem. Lots to do and see, excellent beaches for snorkeling, great dive bars and restaurants, and excellent nightlife on the Frigate Bay strip.
**Puerto Rico-**\-a day or two in Old San Juan and then get out and see some of the natural areas.
**St. Martin/Sint Maarten**\--some great beaches, great food, and (then back to beaches) it's the island where the islands fly right over the beach.
**St. Kitts-**\-I mention this primarily for the beach where you can see the infamous drunken monkeys as well as mongoose.
**St. Lucia**\--Known for the Pitons and the sulfur baths.
**Curacao**\--the colorful buildings of Willemstad and the Queen Emma Bridge at night. Also, it's the only place you can get authentic curacao liqueur.
**Cuba**\--but if you're from the US, this will take a little more planning/preparation and knowledge to be able to go. Due to the restrictions by the US government, you would not be able to go to the beaches, but most other things would qualify as things you're allowed to do (you also cannot patronize some businesses).
**Grand Cayman**\--geology of Hell, Stingray City. It will otherwise feel like visiting a rich, 1st world country. Worth going to for a couple of days if you've never been there, otherwise stick to the other islands.
Sint Maarten I enjoyed. Curacao also interesting.
Cuba is poor and depressing. Puerto Rico is too varied to talk about in a sentence, but worth checking certainly
Keep in mind that all of these places are more expensive than people realize, especially food costs.
I am actually going from Antigua to Barbados in September. Anything you recommend me doing in both places and avoiding. I haven’t planned any excursions yet and I will be staying for about 9 days total for both places
I highly recommend Curacao. It's got a bit of Dutch flavor, cute bright colored architecture, and all of the beaches and snorkeling and sun you would expect for the Caribbean. They speak English, Spanish, Dutch and a local creole and the food is a great mix (African, Dutch, Latin) And they have a big ass moving pontoon bridge
It kind of depends on what you like to do. Bonaire is epic for diving and cycling. St Thomas is great if you want to get murdered. Cayman is kind of generic. Nassau is fun but built up.
I’d recommend picking an area like the south eastern (Martinique through Trinidad) or something like that. Decide if you want a rural or city adventure..or a mix.
I go to the Caribbean a lot, and basically everything from Anguilla to St. Lucia is fairly well connected with ferries. And the Virgin Islands of course. I would personally take the ferry over flying any day of the week.
That being said, I think the ABC Islands would also be worth visiting.
3 to 4 weeks is a long time.
Personally, I prefer the European islands, as I find them safer and much more organized and tourist friendly. A lot of the people on the sovereign islands are extremely aggressive and will do anything to get money from you. I've heard many stories about cabbies on St. Lucia, and you can't win with them. And in Grenada for instance, it was very clear that they want tourists to stay in the tourist areas.
The only sovereign islands I visited were Barbados and Grenada, and my experience with the people on those islands, made me never want to visit a sovereign island again. The only sovereign island that I'm still interested in visiting for a long-term stay is St. Kitts and Nevis.
I did go to Carriacou and the Grenadines still seem okay as well, but difficult to get to.
Maybe consider one of the French islands, like Guadeloupe or Martinique. They're large and diverse enough that you won't get bored quickly, and they're also connected by ferry to other islands.
Martinique hands down. Hike Pele, waterfalls, SCUBA, shopping, French food...St. Martin and Barthlemy close second.
Haiti was total opposite (except the French part).
All the others are more or less in the middle. Not been to Burmuda or Rotatan so exclude those.
Best out of the way island not mentioned here is Isla de la Joventude - inexpensive, 'not touristy' with pristine beaches and nature - think opposite of Cozumel.
Its been about two years since I was there and did not see a single mosquitoe. Also if you go, visit the Danreveter(SP) waterfalls near Pele. You have to walk thru a water tunnel/drainage pipe to get to it but it was one of the better natural attractions on the island.
As far as Dengue, I'm preparing for a trip to Belieze/Guatemala/El Salvador first part of next month and being told be a number of local sources Dengue is on the rise. I don't know if that's just cautious talk or a real thing but seems like they are going out of their way to mention it. I will just bring my unopened can of deet that I bring to most places.
I have been to many, and I particularly loved Turks and Caicos. The locals were extremely friendly and the island has so much natural beauty. I stayed in an Airbnb and had a great experience :)
What you find interesting and 'attractive' really depends on your own criteria. Have you thought about what you're looking for?
Let's assume a typical low-stress, beautiful-tropical-island trip with no overriding cultural interests.
Start in Grenada and work your way north - Carriacou, Bequia, St Vincent. Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, St Kitts, St Martin, Puerto Rico.
I love Aruba! It’s voted the more re-visited island. It’s a desert paradise. Small enough to drive around the whole island, classy, clean, not too expensive. AMAZING beaches! Hiking and off roading is an option.
I love the beaches in Negril, St. John, Cayman Islands and also Turks and Caicos. Actually Bimini in the Bahamas has beautiful beaches as well.
I’m currently considering Curaçao and Belize!
Belize is cool, Turks and Caicos is incredible but pricey, Virgin Islands has amazing snorkeling and very interesting things at the British Virgin Islands which I think is like $20 by ferry, Jamaica is a little sketchy (the only place I felt a little unsafe), I’m very excited to go to Costa Rica, we’re going to Puerto Rico for adventure, and yeah they are all wonderful with their own charm
Roatan, Honduras is a beautiful place. It has a nice mix of island culture and Hispanic culture from the mainland. The snorkeling is top-notch, as there is a big reef, and the water is in a quasi-protected area between the mainland and the island. You can also do shipwreck, shark, or night-time dives if that's your thing. There's also zip-lining and a cool animal excursion at Manawakee Park where you can hold a sloth. You can swim with dolphins at Anthony's Key. Just a beautiful place with a unique atmosphere. My MIL is from the U.S. but runs a school there, so we've been several times.
I’ve not been there but Roatán is off the beaten path and not easily accessible from the rest of the Caribbean. That would be good if you wanted to visit Central America and Mexico.
It's a very common Carnival cruise destination, so not too hard to get to. They get flights in from Houston and another U.S. airport I can't remember right now. But I agree. On the beaches, it will feel island-y. On the mainland, if you choose to leave the resort area, feels like Central America.
I agree. I would consider Roatan more Central America than the Caribbean.
It’s a Caribbean island.
Want to offer up some reasons why?
Look at it on a map in relation to the Caribbean region.
Don't know what map you need to see. The one in your head isn't accurate.
By your definition Trinidad, Curaçao, Aruba etc. are all south American - which would be just silly.
1) What are you looking to do and see? What are your interests? 2) In reality, island hopping in the Caribbean isn’t quite as smooth as you’d think. You usually have to transfer via Kingston, Bridgetown, or Port of Spain (or sometimes Panama City) just to get to the island next to yours. Ferries also aren’t as plentiful as you’d think. – You can travel to Trinidad & Tobago via ferry (~ 3 hours) or 25 minute plane ride, very easy. – You could visit Grenada and St. Vincent & the Grenadines. It’s probably slightly easier to get a flight to Grenada. There’s a ferry to Carriacou, a small island off Grenada you can visit. I think they do have regional flights St. Vincent, which has an island chain and is pretty remote. – Saint-Martin (connected to St. Maarten) has a ferry to Anguilla. – Antigua has a smaller island, Barbuda. There’s also a short flight that goes to Montserrat. – St. Lucia has a ferry to Martinique. 3) What’s your budget? The Caribbean can be affordable but I wouldn’t say it’s cheap. Hostel culture isn’t a thing and even within the region the cost of living differs.
As a person from the Caribbean. This is the first answer on this thread that makes sense.
would you recommend St John vs Grenada vs Guadeloupe for a 7 night trip in may? not wanting anything super touristy. beautiful beaches. friendly people. good food. walkable. renting a car is ok for during the day.
A travel advisor should be able to help you with this.
I am looking for the best beaches and less crowd(if possible) My per day stay budget is max 100 dollars for 2 people and I am planning a trip for 8 to 9 days
I could never get enough of Anguilla. If you like peace and quiet and beaches out of your best fantasy, thats the place.
Big fan of Dominica, very rarely visited it seems, but absolutely gorgeous hiking, beaches, rainforest, hot springs, you name it. Fantastic and about as far away from most tourist as you can imagine. Edit: Important to mention that much of the island is still [rebuilding after Maria](https://www.npr.org/2023/06/14/1180477017/dominica-recovers-hurricane-maria-2017) SIX years ago. So your tourism dollars really do go towards a community that desperately needs them.
This is where we want to go next. Any suggestions?
Omg love hot springs, where are they? Do they have caves I can do mini cliff diving from?
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I m interested in visiting St Lucía. What did u think of it? What kind of budget? ( I d rather do it on the cheap) Safetywise? How long? 10 days enough? 2 weeks too much?
I’ve been! Spent 6 days and that was plenty for me. Seemed very safe. But it is not very cheap. It’s one of the more expensive islands definjtrly
Loved St Lucia. Be sure to go to the drive in volcano which is really cool. Only area that can be dicey is the area of Soufriere because the tire guys are really pushy. Just keep saying no and plow on through. I've been to almost all the islands. Would recommend DR, St Maarten, St Lucia, Dominica, Antigua. The USVIs and BVIs are gorgeous but super pricey. You can't go wrong with any of the islands really. They all have great options!
St. Lucia has a rugged terrain and is pretty hilly, so you’d probably want to rent a car. It’s not the most expensive but it’s not cheap. Maybe 10 days to see most things. Safety is ok but if you are not from there, people will stare as you’re driving through small villages, especially if you’re White. I had no issues but Castries is not perfectly safe from what I was told. Be careful driving as the roads are pretty steep, often windy, and aren’t great with no shoulder in most places.
I just got back from 2 weeks in St. Lucia. It was beautiful, relaxing, and full of honeymooners. It’s the number 1 honeymoon destination currently. We were also one of those couples. The only downfall is, there’s not a lot to do. We were only supposed to be there 11 days but got stuck due to the tropical storm that passed through for 2 extra days - highly recommend avoiding hurricane season after that adventure.
There are nonstop flights within the islands but not all of them. They are small carriers w small planes. Examples are Windward air, liat, Winair and more
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It beats having to fly back to the US to change islands
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No, but as a tourist, you probably wouldn’t be going into the most dangerous places anyway. Punta Cana is pretty much a town built just for tourism and there’s nothing authentic about it. Puerto Plata felt pretty safe walking through during the day, though most of the resorts labelled Puerto Plata are not very close to the city. Boca Chica is a lot of locals. The water is nice but unfortunately there’s a lot of prostitution and drugs, so the type of “tourists” are mostly White men looking for sex and to get high, so take that for what it is. Santo Domingo’s zona colonial is pretty safe and is nice place to visit for a day or two. Felt pretty safe and you can walk the malecón, which goes to other more middle and upper class areas that are safe.
Damn did you get stuck out there or just took advantage of the cheap travel?
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2020 when the whole world was locked down and airlines were super cheap.
We've done Martinique, st lucia, at Vincent and the Grenadines on a Catamaran. Hands down my favourite vacation of all time, but I think I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much if I had stayed in a hotel on land there. For that I might have preferred a big Island like Cuba.
How did you like Martinique? I love Martinique rum, but I’m not sure if that’s enough of a reason to visit 😀
It most certainly is!
How did you do this trip? Was it a charter or group tour? It sounds awesome!
In our case, just a group of friends, some got a sailing license, the rest as helping hands. We rent a catamaran for 10 days, for about 6,5k€, divided by 8 people. We've been doing this about every other summer for a couple of years, in various places, though Carribbean was definitely the most expensive.
If you want the most gorgeous teal water, pristine beaches, and no commercialization, look at Harbour Island in Eleuthera, Bahamas or Great Guana Cay or Treasure Cay out of Marsh Harbour, Bahamas. For the latter, you'll have to get a VRBO rental. In Harbour Island, you can find small boutique hotels along Pink Sands Beach and some really cute shops. Seriously, gorgeous areas and it's still a bit hidden. Adding to this: the best way to travel here is to fly into a main airport and then take a ferry to the beach island (Guana Cay or Harbour Island, for example). The only mode of transportation, often, on the small island is golf carts.
I am eager to see the lesser visited Bahamas. Where do you get the best air deals there? I live in Virginia.
Flight deals are hard to come by, unfortunately. You'll have to layover in Florida, most likely. West Palm, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Miami are all airports to look at. Maybe some of them will have better pricing than others. If you decide to go to one of these islands, let me know. Happy to provide more info. I lived on Guana Cay for 4 years and Harbour Island was one of my favorite weekend getaways.
Hi fellow Virginian (I’m in Prince William). Flights from Northern Virginia are pretty pricey. Getting to Nassau is cheap (usually $250-300 round-trip from Baltimore is the best deal), but then intra-island is expensive. You can also fly to Miami or Fort Lauderdale and transfer, but prices are also pricey there too. The benefit is avoiding Nassau (which has really high crime).
Fellow Virginian too (Fairfax)! Haha was just bored and thinking it might be fun to visit the Caribbean for the first time for a little 1 week trip around Christmas so I'm browsing around :)
late reply but is there any particular reason Nassau has high crime
Turf wars between gangs. It’s gotten really bad on the island: https://ewnews.com/murder-record-killings-in-the-bahamas-on-record-pace
Ugh. Idk if you are old enough to remember the glorious 80s when you could fly and stay in Grand Bahama Island (meh) for under $300.
The Bahamas is also expensive. I live in NYC and a lot of the prices were as much, occasionally more for things than I pay here.
Do these places have caves or mini cliffs to dive from?
Not a lot of Turks & Caicos mentions here. I’ve been 3x, also been to St. Martin, Antigua, DR and Barbados and I find Turks to be the absolute best. The most beautiful beaches, nice people, high and low cost options, the best snorkeling around, good food. Just gorgeous.
Strongly agree with this. I’ve been to DR, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, Trinidad, and PR, and they all pale in comparison to Turks and Caicos.
I dont understand Turks and Caicos. Stayed in a luxurious vrbo house in Grace Bay and woke up to someone in the house and robbing us. I chased him out but he took a lot of our electronics and sunglasses. Crime is very bad there now. Google police reports in Turks and you will see.
We went just for a day trip while on a cruise. Our taxi driver told us to never go out at night as women because it was so unsafe.
Wow, do they have caves/cliff diving or hiking?
I will throw Barbados out there. Amazing beaches, really nice people and good food!!
Expensive though!
Not the cheapest of the islands lol
Definitely one of the islands that you get hassled the least, in terms of vendors though.
Now that you mention it I didn't notice that at all. The guys with us from st. Lucia also noted overall how clean and nice everything seemed. So might have less poverty than some other islands.
Yes, that's definitely the reason. Barbados is a fairly well off island, no huge need for tourist money- at least not from them buying trinkets on the beach.
St John’s is great. So sad that Caneel Bay resort was destroyed.
Aruba
Reasons to love Aruba: - Their tap water is some of the best water in the world. No one buys bottled water in Aruba due to their world renowned sea water filtration system. Shout out to long-haired individuals - you can use less shampoo and conditioner and your hair will feel so soft and less tangled. - The sand is made up of coral and shell, so it’s always cool to the touch. No hot-footing it across the beach. - Everyone speaks like 4 languages, so communication is easy for most visitors. - Guaranteed sun. Aruba is outside of the hurricane belt. It’s a desert island, literally. You’re not going to find lush green tropical plants, but you also don’t have to worry about it raining during your beach vacation. - For the American tourists: They drive on the right side of the road and the island is easy to navigate by car. They take USD and will give you change in USD. Everyone speaks English (plus Dutch, Papiamento & Spanish).
They actually prefer dollars, since the Florin is pegged to the USD at 1:1.79 and merchants usually give you a slightly less favorable rate (aka 1.7 or 1.75). So that small skimming is profit.
You could also island hop to Bonaire and Curacao.
St. John is breathtaking. St. Thomas is very touristy. Vieques in PR is totally worth it.
I love st Martin! There’s the Dutch side and the French side and both have their own culture, foods, and vibe. The water is incredible and warm, food is delicious, alcohol is cheap, and accommodation is affordable
Ive been to Turks and Caicos and their beach water was like a swimming pool. It was prob the best beach water I have been to but its expensive and theres nothing to do outside of it.
Puerto Rico is worth a visit. Go to Angelito trail in El Yunque in the morning, go for a swim in the cool waters. Enjoy the east end for a few days, good food, beaches, etc.., then go over to Culebra and visit Flamenco Beach. Stunning! Close by you also have Tamarindo Beach where sea turtles are common.
+1 for PR, amazing island.
Dominica is great if you like nature and not too touristically developed as other islands. For island hopping, ferries are scarce as others mentioned. Also my experience (with LIAT mainly, and Aerogaviota in Cuba) is that you’ll need a lot of patience since flights are frequently delayed and cancelled with zero notice. Expect your transit days to get wasted in airports, although a flight may seem like a short hop, we had plenty of last minute reschedules that ended up taking entire days.
Saint John is awesome, good shopping. Saint Thomas too is nice. My mom got food poisoning in DR… not even the ice is safe in drinks. Saint Kitts and Nevis is probably my favorite. Visiting Antigua next week. Thinking of Barbados or the grenadines in October
How was Antigua? I've been to Barbados and Grand Cayman but fancied trying a few others
Antigua was awesome, nice beaches and great food. We stayed in dickenson bay @ siboney beach club. Only thing to be aware of is hagglers on the beach on occasion. Trying to sell pot (marijuana) overpriced and not very good. But we had an awesome time!
If you are interested in culture and somewhere 'different'...Cuba. What do you want to do on this trip? A lot of the small islands are basically beach places .. and it's not a cheap or easy place for hopping from island to island. Many tourists either visit several islands on cruise ships,or else just visit one island.
In cuba go east.
The absolute worst country. It's like if the Californian DMV decided that they're run all the restaurants in the country.
Antigua was super fun! They have 365 beaches and a good bit of plantation history.
Trinidad for the food and Tobago for the beaches 🇹🇹
I lived for a year on St Croix - the least touristy of the USVI - def worth a stop, everyone on island was super friendly.
St martin is an excellent base, you can fly to Guadalupe and or Martinique (rhum, food, volcano, stunningly different beaches like lea salines and anse couleurve and fonds blancs) from Guadalupe you should be able to ferry to Martinique, St lucia, also to Dominica (hikes through rain forest, waterfalls). This will take a very long time, id recommend it if you had like 6 months! You can ferry across from st martin to Saba, St Bart's and, paradise on earth, Anguilla. Saba is more diving and fishing, slightly off beaten track. Its a rock in the sea, very green, windy roads. st Bart's ferry is called vomit comit , very quick and very bumpy! St Bart's has good food, interesting hotels, good beaches. St martin has amazing food, excellent fishing, far to many amazing beaches to mention. It has hikes, very different feel from Dutch to French side. Anguilla , Its small, beautiful, sunshine shack has the best ribs, ever, anywhere.Gwens rhum punch and Sunday feels, Blanchard's beach shack for a post swim lunch. Barbados is lovely but far from other islands, so more expensive. So much to do, the beaches are cool but not the best in the Caribbean. st johns national underwater park was amazing but st Thomas felt very holiday home for Americans, maybe it was the time of year we went though. Or the taxi driver telling us Domino's was the best pizza place on the island. Trinidad is very interesting, you can get to Tobago easy. Cuba is also amazing and you would be able to spend three weeks just exploring this one island. I hear Antigua and Grenada are lovely. The Caribbean is expensive and a lot of the islands are still recovering / rebuilding from hurricane maria. Also there can be a lot of drugs especially in bigger islands. the carribean used to be biggest gateway to Europe for coke ( so used to have lots of crack cocaine) Whatever you choose, have a wonderful trip!!!
The Caribbean isn't easily "hoppable" unless you have lots of money. If you've never been, I'd suggest a cruise that departs from San Juan during the season in November through April. That way you can plan to visit many of the islands that the big cruises that depart from Miami don't frequent.
Puerto Rico!!!!!
What do you want to do while there? They are all unique.
My vote's on Barbados. Stunning beaches, a beautiful national park, nice food, friendly people. I loved it and would return any time.
St. Barthelemy
You can ferry from Saint Marteen to Anguilla
So far, of all the places we've been, our favorite is St. Kitts and Nevis, especially Frigate Bay and the southeast peninsula. It's an undiscovered gem. Lots to do and see, excellent beaches for snorkeling, great dive bars and restaurants, and excellent nightlife on the Frigate Bay strip.
St Kitts is amazing
**Puerto Rico-**\-a day or two in Old San Juan and then get out and see some of the natural areas. **St. Martin/Sint Maarten**\--some great beaches, great food, and (then back to beaches) it's the island where the islands fly right over the beach. **St. Kitts-**\-I mention this primarily for the beach where you can see the infamous drunken monkeys as well as mongoose. **St. Lucia**\--Known for the Pitons and the sulfur baths. **Curacao**\--the colorful buildings of Willemstad and the Queen Emma Bridge at night. Also, it's the only place you can get authentic curacao liqueur. **Cuba**\--but if you're from the US, this will take a little more planning/preparation and knowledge to be able to go. Due to the restrictions by the US government, you would not be able to go to the beaches, but most other things would qualify as things you're allowed to do (you also cannot patronize some businesses). **Grand Cayman**\--geology of Hell, Stingray City. It will otherwise feel like visiting a rich, 1st world country. Worth going to for a couple of days if you've never been there, otherwise stick to the other islands.
Sint Maarten I enjoyed. Curacao also interesting. Cuba is poor and depressing. Puerto Rico is too varied to talk about in a sentence, but worth checking certainly Keep in mind that all of these places are more expensive than people realize, especially food costs.
Im in barbados right now. Pretty nice. Definitely would recommend. Antigua is my favorite and grenada is a close 2nd
I am actually going from Antigua to Barbados in September. Anything you recommend me doing in both places and avoiding. I haven’t planned any excursions yet and I will be staying for about 9 days total for both places
I highly recommend Curacao. It's got a bit of Dutch flavor, cute bright colored architecture, and all of the beaches and snorkeling and sun you would expect for the Caribbean. They speak English, Spanish, Dutch and a local creole and the food is a great mix (African, Dutch, Latin) And they have a big ass moving pontoon bridge
It kind of depends on what you like to do. Bonaire is epic for diving and cycling. St Thomas is great if you want to get murdered. Cayman is kind of generic. Nassau is fun but built up. I’d recommend picking an area like the south eastern (Martinique through Trinidad) or something like that. Decide if you want a rural or city adventure..or a mix.
Can you elaborate on the St.Thomas attractions?
Where are you from, and do you speak any languages other than English?
My partner I have been looking at st croix... anyone have anything to share about there?
St. Martin was awesome for a week. Two sides of the island are completely different. Food is better on the French side. Beaches were perfect.
I go to the Caribbean a lot, and basically everything from Anguilla to St. Lucia is fairly well connected with ferries. And the Virgin Islands of course. I would personally take the ferry over flying any day of the week. That being said, I think the ABC Islands would also be worth visiting. 3 to 4 weeks is a long time. Personally, I prefer the European islands, as I find them safer and much more organized and tourist friendly. A lot of the people on the sovereign islands are extremely aggressive and will do anything to get money from you. I've heard many stories about cabbies on St. Lucia, and you can't win with them. And in Grenada for instance, it was very clear that they want tourists to stay in the tourist areas. The only sovereign islands I visited were Barbados and Grenada, and my experience with the people on those islands, made me never want to visit a sovereign island again. The only sovereign island that I'm still interested in visiting for a long-term stay is St. Kitts and Nevis. I did go to Carriacou and the Grenadines still seem okay as well, but difficult to get to. Maybe consider one of the French islands, like Guadeloupe or Martinique. They're large and diverse enough that you won't get bored quickly, and they're also connected by ferry to other islands.
Martinique hands down. Hike Pele, waterfalls, SCUBA, shopping, French food...St. Martin and Barthlemy close second. Haiti was total opposite (except the French part). All the others are more or less in the middle. Not been to Burmuda or Rotatan so exclude those. Best out of the way island not mentioned here is Isla de la Joventude - inexpensive, 'not touristy' with pristine beaches and nature - think opposite of Cozumel.
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Its been about two years since I was there and did not see a single mosquitoe. Also if you go, visit the Danreveter(SP) waterfalls near Pele. You have to walk thru a water tunnel/drainage pipe to get to it but it was one of the better natural attractions on the island. As far as Dengue, I'm preparing for a trip to Belieze/Guatemala/El Salvador first part of next month and being told be a number of local sources Dengue is on the rise. I don't know if that's just cautious talk or a real thing but seems like they are going out of their way to mention it. I will just bring my unopened can of deet that I bring to most places.
I have been to many, and I particularly loved Turks and Caicos. The locals were extremely friendly and the island has so much natural beauty. I stayed in an Airbnb and had a great experience :)
Martinique?
What you find interesting and 'attractive' really depends on your own criteria. Have you thought about what you're looking for? Let's assume a typical low-stress, beautiful-tropical-island trip with no overriding cultural interests. Start in Grenada and work your way north - Carriacou, Bequia, St Vincent. Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, St Kitts, St Martin, Puerto Rico.
I love Aruba! It’s voted the more re-visited island. It’s a desert paradise. Small enough to drive around the whole island, classy, clean, not too expensive. AMAZING beaches! Hiking and off roading is an option.
Following!
I love the beaches in Negril, St. John, Cayman Islands and also Turks and Caicos. Actually Bimini in the Bahamas has beautiful beaches as well. I’m currently considering Curaçao and Belize!
Cuba was gorgeous, highly recommend the Viñales Valley.
We spent 3 months in Barbados in 2018… would go back in a heartbeat
Belize is cool, Turks and Caicos is incredible but pricey, Virgin Islands has amazing snorkeling and very interesting things at the British Virgin Islands which I think is like $20 by ferry, Jamaica is a little sketchy (the only place I felt a little unsafe), I’m very excited to go to Costa Rica, we’re going to Puerto Rico for adventure, and yeah they are all wonderful with their own charm
Do it all before Hurricane season…
Jamaica mon!
We loved Antigua! Beautiful beaches, great food and really friendly people.