What’s your favourite Caribbean island and why?

[AutumnalLight]

Looking at going for a first visit 🌴

Watching! I’ve only ever been to Barbados and didn’t love it. Would be especially interested in islands with good snorkelling from the shore.

why didn’t you love it @minipie?

We liked Barbados because it’s a very safe one and you can do lots of things on your own. We hired a car and did many trips, used busses and had no issues.

but it’s not a tropical paradise, it’s very much agricultural and so nature wise it’s less of a wow factor.

St Lucia is great for nature, volcano, rainforest but i definitely didn’t feel that great leaving the resort on our own, organised tour or car and driver were ok.

we currently look at St Maarten, but there are no direct flights from the UK, you need to change in Paris or Amsterdam. I know someone who lives there and she loves it.

St Vincent and the Grenadines, especially Bequia. Tobago Cays is spectacular for diving

St Vincent and the Grenadines, especially Bequia. Tobago Cays is spectacular for diving

To be fair it was a cheap deal! The hotel was ok but inland in the middle of nowhere- had to get a shuttle to the beach- and the food wasn’t great. More a reflection of the hotel than the island as we didn’t see much else of it.

Loved St Lucia and Grenada, off to Antigua at Easter so will see how they compare 🙂

St Kitts
Tortola
Grenada

Grenada is a lovely island not overly touristy save for the Grande Anse beach area. Lots to see. We booked independent self catering places/small hotels and hired a car. The north of the island is stunning. We felt very safe there. We have also been to Tobago which has excellent snorkelling facilities and enjoyed that.

Tobago.

The people are incredibly welcoming and friendly.

I always stay in a traditional fishing village, so it feels very 'real'.

The birds. Everyone feeds hummingbirds.

The restaurants serve fantastic local food and are not at all expensive.

The whole island is breathtakingly beautiful.

The snorkelling. Just beautiful.

Rum punch!

Trinidad or Jamaica.
still authentic

Dominican Republic was amazing when I went years ago. Went AI and had a lovely time.

Hello @minipie. Can I please ask why you didn't like Barbados?! I'm surprised because those I know who have been said it was wonderful. My dream is to go to Turks and Caicos. 🧳

Ive loved Barbados and woul move there given the opportunity. We stayed in a rental cottage and met a lot of the very friendly locals. Plus we saw Rihanna at a concert.

I really liked st Lucia , very green and the residents were very proud of their island. Our most recent visit was to Antigua , it was OK but it felt overwhelmed with cruise liners.

We also did the Dominican Republic and it was my least favourite. It did feel unsafe in some places

Turks and Caicos! Just stunning, crystal clear water and beaches that beat some amazing ones we visited in Australia, which I didn’t think were beatable!

St Lucia or Grand Cayman.

Jamaica.

To be fair it was probably just a poor choice of hotel (cheap last minute deal) the food there wasn’t great and it was a long way from anywhere, shuttle to the beach etc. Not really a reflection of the island!

Guadeloupe.

Jamaica

Here’s my summary:

Dominican republic - shit hole and pretty much confined to resort
Jamaica - semi shit hole with some interesting culture and excursions, can be a good holiday depending where you go
Barbados - nice but expensive and very westernised/touristy, feels less authentic
St Lucia - stunning scenery, good excursions but parts can feel unsafe
Antigua - not been but know people who have and it’s ok but nothing to particularly make me want to go there
BVIs/USVIs - very nice but small so could get boring
St Vincent/Grenadines - lovely but expensive
Turks and Caicos - lovely but expensive

Not done Trinidad/tobago or the ABCs so interested to hear about those!

For a first timer I’d go for St Lucia or Jamaica (Negril) unless you have a very big budget in which case I’d go st Vincent.

Trinidad is good if you like to party , go around Feb time for Carnival and if you enjoy Indian food.

Tobago is good for relaxation , snorkelling etc

Family are from there so I have been many times!

We have been to loads. My least favourite by a mile was Jamaica. It doesn’t feel safe and we live to explore on our own. We loved the drugs though!

We tend to go to Barbados nowadays. It’s safe and easy and classy.

Conversely I loved Jamaica as there's just more to do than many of the other islands!
My favourite is Grenada, it's everything I imagined the Caribbean to be before I visited.
I liked Aruba even though it's pretty Americanised, it's safe, clean, great bars etc. I loved Bonaire but it's very small so probably not for 2 weeks.
My least favourite is St Barts - just too french (I love France but if I go to the Caribbean I want the Caribbean)

St. Lucia. Went to a beautiful AI resort, Windjammer landing. Excursions were great. I would love to go back. Recommend this for a first time visit.

Jamaica, nice resorts but sketchy walking outside alone. Amazing food.

Dominican Republic, nice inside resorts not so much outside. Can be cheaper than other islands.

St. Kitts & Nevis, beautiful, clean, safe, loved it. Would also recommend this for a first time visit.

Apart from that is say weather is a huge factor, they are tropical islands so it can rain at anytime!