The best islands in the Caribbean
The Caribbean has captivated travellers from the temperate zones for centuries. And after nearly 40 years visiting 75 islands (several a dozen times) in nearly 30 countries and dependencies, each with its slightly different but distinctly Caribbean story, I am still wowed by the islands’ tropical beauty: the coral cays and sandbars with cream-coloured strands set in dazzling turquoise sea, and the vertiginous drama of the volcanic islands with their million shades of jungle green.
The Caribbean air rings to the sounds of island rhythms – reggae, steel pan, soca, merengue, zouk and salsa – and as many languages – Spanish, French and Dutch and their Creoles, and English. Island life is demonstrative, lively and colourful. West Indians themselves are welcoming and generally laid back.
A Caribbean holiday is the perfect antidote to winter. There are pockets of sophistication and metropolitan style – some of the world’s finest beach hotels await you on the west coast of Barbados and on St Barths – but the Caribbean also has its own distinctive vibe, in its scores of upbeat resorts, boutique inns and charming beachside hideaways. And beyond the seafront screen of coconut oil and palms, there is a more natural island life to discover. Below are the best islands in the Caribbean. Perhaps their heart-stopping beauty will captivate you in your turn.
Which is the best Caribbean island for families?
When little travellers are involved, the ease of a resort jam-packed with activities takes the strain off parents and lets everyone enjoy the trip. Barbados is probably the best island in the Caribbean for families. Resorts offer Kids’ Clubs, activity programmes and special menus, smaller boutique hotels arrange child-minders and baby-sitting. For intergenerational holidays and trips with older children and teens, consider renting a villa from Oliver’s Travels.
What is the prettiest Caribbean island to go to?
There is geographical drama aplenty in the islands, but the diminutive grandeur of Nevis makes it the Caribbean’s prettiest island. You will fall in love as you approach it across the Narrows from St Kitts in a water taxi, its concave faces sweeping up to Nevis Peak, just 3232 feet and always capped by a cloud. The traditional stone buildings of tiny Charlestown speak of a more gracious West Indian age, and on the forested hillsides the intricate fretwork and finials of pretty gingerbread houses peek from among the jungle greenery.
Best islands in the Caribbean at a glance
- Best Caribbean island for beaches: Anguilla
- Best Caribbean island for diving: Dominica
- Best Caribbean island for honeymoons: St Lucia
- Best Caribbean island for island hopping: British Virgin Islands
- Best Caribbean island for families: Barbados
Getty Images1. Barbados
Best island for: action
Barbados is the best all-rounder island in the Caribbean, and fabulous for a first-time visit. Its western ‘Platinum’ coast has some of the region’s top hotels, whose beaches (all accessible to the public, as in the rest of the Caribbean), are still and serene. But as you head south and east, so the beaches, waves and watersports kick up - through the capital Bridgetown and the lively south coast resorts, to wind- and kite-surfing at the southerly Needham’s Point, body-boarding at Crane and full-on surfing on the Atlantic rollers in the east. Similarly the beach bars – from the Sea Shed at Mullins through raffishly elegant La Cabane at Batt’s Rock and rustic Dinah’s in Bathsheba on the Atlantic.
Poolside drinks are laced with Bajan (native Barbadian) rum, which is best discovered at St Nicholas Abbey, a plantation house, museum and distillery. Inland sights range from superb tropical gardens (Andromeda, Hunte’s), Bridgetown’s UNESCO-listed Garrison Savannah, to a ride in a racing car. Return to the Platinum coast to dine in some of the islands’ best restaurants (The Cliff, Tides and Lone Star), or for evening-long night action, head south to St Lawrence Gap. James Henderson
Where to stay: Sandy Lane Hotel, the glitziest hotel on the island, has a British or American country club vibe, with a huge spa and several restaurants, and three golf courses on the hotel grounds. For something more low-key, Little Good Harbour’s rooms feel more like private cottages and its fuss-free restaurant, The Fish Pot, is beloved as one of the best in Barbados. For more recommendations, see our best hotels in Barbados guide. Brian Major
Getty Images2. St Barths
Best island for: an indulgent holiday
St Barts is untypical for the Caribbean, with its feel of Saint Tropez transported to the Tropics, but nowhere in the islands can compete with its style and sophistication. Nor its cuisine. St Barts brings a French and cosmopolitan chic to Caribbean shores.
The centre of daytime action (seeing and being seen on the beach) is St Jean, whose blond sand fronts hotels and beach bars (including Nikki Beach), not to forget the island’s miniature airstrip, overlooking a vibrant turquoise bay. Bronzed beauties slink by in a mere nuance of a bathing suit (sometimes nothing at all – going topless here is quite normal, unlike most of the Caribbean). To be alone, order a picnic (supplied in a hamper) to one of St Barts’ remote, undeveloped strands, Salines or Gouverneur, or take a boat ride to Grand Colombier.
St Barths has serious shopping, so you can splash out on the chicest beach wraps, jewellery and island-made perfumes. Then linger in a garden restaurant by day (Tamarind or brunch at Le Toiny). In the evenings, the gravitational pull is towards Gustavia (the island’s old Swedish capital), where cocktails are served waterside at La Guérite or at Bonito with its harbour view. Bonito serves fine French fare, Isola Italian, Black Ginger Thai – the list and flavours go on and on... If you are still looking for fun, the waterfront bars stay open late, and there is even a cabaret at Le Ti St Barth, where your Champagne is opened with a sabre.
Where to Stay: Eden Rock has held pride of place on a miniature outcrop in St. Jean Bay since the eccentric early days of St. Barts in the 1950s. Now run seamlessly by Oetker, it is sumptuous and vivacious. James Henderson
Getty Images3. St Lucia
Best island for: romance
The Caribbean is synonymous with honeymoons, but Saint Lucia is so attractive – and moved so many armies to capture her - that she became known as Fair Helen of the West Indies, and tops them all for a sense of romance. This rises from Saint Lucia’s mountainous nature, her secluded coves and soaring, forested flanks culminating in the majestic twin volcanic peaks, the Pitons (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), but also more subtly from her enigmatic creole character, steeped in French Caribbean style and African rhythms and manner.
There’s adventure to be found too, in ziplines that fly through the island’s rainforest canopy and mud baths at the Sulphur Springs, a geothermically active basin of hot springs and fumaroles above Soufrière. The full glory of the Pitons is best seen from offshore, on a boat trip. Brian Major
Where to stay: The most sublime and romantic rooms look onto the Pitons. At Jade Mountain, an architectural flight of fancy, the vast suites have no fourth wall. The view carries from your four-poster bed, over your infinity pool and out to one of the Caribbean’s most dramatic landscapes. See our edit of the best hotels in St Lucia for more. James Henderson
Getty Images4. Anguilla
Best island for: beaches
In a region famed for its beaches, Anguilla has the finest of them all, 33 stunning strands with gin-clear shallows receding into surreal blue sea, and powdery white sand so sumptuous that simple walking becomes aerobic exercise. Some are isolated, barely accessible coves, others mile-long stretches of superb blond sand. Try Cove Bay, Meads Bay, Rendezvous Bay and busy Shoal Bay (west). Most have a bar – linger for an elegant lunch or eat lobster to the plink of reggae. Towards sunset, all roads lead to Sandy Ground, where the beach bars stand shoulder to shoulder.
Anguilla has an unexpectedly fine culinary scene, with offers ranging from French and continental gourmet cuisine to local West Indian fare, most notably several family-run restaurants where internationally-trained Anguillian chefs turn gourmet technique to Caribbean ingredients, including conch and local crayfish. Try Dale Carty’s coconut-crusted fish and marinated conch salad at Tasty’s .
Where to stay: Cap Juluca, now run by Belmond, has long been a Caribbean favourite, a gently curving run of faux-moorish beachfront rooms and villas set on the impeccable sand and water of Maunday’s Bay. James Henderson
Getty Images5. British Virgin Islands
Best island for: island hopping
Islands should really be approached by sea – they rise from hazy outcrops into rainforested giants, their folds revealing secluded anchorages and hideaway coves. The British Virgin Islands are ideal for island-hopping – in fact, not to sail between them, on a yacht or a public ferry, misses the point.
Tortola’s lush hillsides enclose coves with marinas, yachts, restaurants and bars. From there, sail forth across Sir Francis Drake Channel to Norman Island (for snorkelling and sometimes raunchy Willy T, a bar on a former Baltic trader), to Peter Island for Deadman’s Beach and then Cooper Island, a lively overnight stop. Pass the Baths (lovely sand mysteriously stacked with boulders) and enter Virgin Gorda’s North Sound, rimmed by beaches and bars, a calm anchorage by day and a lively night ashore. Anegada is laid back to the point of somnolence. From there, run with the wind to lovely, dozy Jost (van Dyke), with its bars in Great Harbour (Foxy’s is famous for New Year's) and White Bay, the BVI’s most beautiful cove, whose water is so clear that yachts appear suspended in the air. James Henderson
Where to stay: Located on a broad, secluded, calm-water bay on Virgin Gorda, Rosewood Little Dix Bay has 80 villas and suites, each staffed with a personal butler. The Reef House is one of three restaurants and features farm-to-fork dining with fresh provisions sourced locally. Brian Major
Getty Images6. Dominica
Best island for: scuba diving
Dominica is as fertile below the waterline as it is above, making its rainbow-coloured seascape one of the best diving spots in the world. Witness it at Champagne Reef, named for bubbling waters that rise hot and cold from volcanic springs in the ocean floor. The reef also comprises plummeting cliffs, towering volcanic formations and the remains of a 17th-century Spanish shipwreck. Near the island’s southern tip, L'Abym is suited to all skill levels due to Soufriere Bay’s gentle current. Look inshore for parrot fish and angel fish, ranging over soft corals like a hundred green molar teeth; look outward for passing pelagics. Beyond the underwater wall, the sea descends into the abyss of the dive site’s name.
Dominica also has some of the finest hiking in the Caribbean, ideal for when you’re ‘fizzing out’, waiting to fly home.
Where to stay: Secret Bay captures the spirit of Dominica to a tee – nature and calm in a handful of cabins nestled in greenery on the cliffs above a tiny cove on the Caribbean sea. Activities are available, but peace is the hammock on your balcony among the trees. James Henderson
Getty Images7. Grenada
Best island for: natural beauty
In Grenada, the Caribbean’s extraordinary natural beauty and fertility – its rainforests networked with rivers and waterfalls – is turned to cultivation. Once known as the Caribbean’s Spice Island, Grenada has led the recent rebirth of Caribbean chocolate, with at least half a dozen fine cocoa producers and an annual Chocolate Festival each May. Visit the plantations, whose immortelle shade trees flame with orange blooms in January, and see the cocoa beans hulled, fermented and roasted before milling, conching and tempering into chocolate bars. Also visit Gouyave’s headily fragrant nutmeg factory, where the nutmegs are stripped, sorted, floated, cracked and bagged to export nutmeg and mace. Other spices, which also appear in Grenadian food – cinnamon, allspice, ginger and local chadon beni (similar to coriander) – can be seen growing at Laura’s and Smithy’s Gardens.
Don’t forget tiny sister island Carriacou (and even tinier Petite Martinique), well worth the fast ferry day trip for its superb blinding-white sandy beaches and top-shelf diving and snorkelling. James Henderson
Where to stay: Few places capture Grenada's understated magic like the Silversands Grenada resort, found at the sleepy end of the two-mile Grand Anse Beach. The biggest draw here is the 330-foot infinity pool, said to be the longest in the Caribbean, which stretches from the hotel’s entrance all the way to the sea. Brian Major
Getty Images8. Puerto Rico
Best island for: history and culture
There’s a distinct energy to Puerto Rico, one that draws upon a fascinating blend of Hispanic, African, USA and Caribbean culture and history. To see it start in colonial San Juan, the second oldest European-founded city in the Americas. Head to the old town where the cobblestone streets are lined with colourful Spanish colonial buildings housing trendy bars, boutique shopping and all-night entertainment.
Hundreds of thousands of Africans arrived in Puerto Rico via forced migration in the colonial era. Their contributions to the island’s culture, art, music and cuisine live on today in Loiza, home to Puerto Rico’s largest Black population. You can witness it via the artwork on display at Samuel Lind Studio, or at the Don Rafael Cepeda School of Bomba and Plena, which puts on traditional music and dance workshops.
Where to stay: Caribe Hilton is within walking distance of historic Old San Juan and the Condado entertainment district. Designed in tropical modernist style by legendary Puerto Rican firm Toro Ferrer, the grounds incorporate 17 acres of tropical landscaping as well as nine restaurants and an oceanfront pool complex. Brian Major
Getty Images9. St. Kitts and Nevis
Best island for: visiting two islands in one trip
Small island charm and historic attractions are the hallmarks of this twin-island nation. It is easy to visit both islands, as smaller Nevis is just a breezy 20-minute ferry ride from larger St. Kitts. Sightseeing on St. Kitts is best via the scenic train, which trundles through the island on a track built for transporting sugar cane. Another highlight is the massive Brimstone Hill fortress, built of hand-chiselled stones by enslaved Kittitians and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Stand among the fort’s ramparts and cannon while taking in the panoramic views of neighbouring Saba, Statia, St. Maarten and St. Barths. Frigate Bay is the liveliest beach, but look farther along the south-western peninsular for more secluded bathing. Try Friar’s Bay.
Tiny Nevis’ resplendent landscape is dominated by 3,232-foot high Nevis Peak. Hikes on the Upper Round Road and ATV tours lead you through jungle to the haunting ruins of colonial-era plantations and sugar mills now mouldering in the undergrowth.
Where to stay: Hide away in one of the traditional West Indian-inspired cottages at Belle Mont Farm. As the name suggests, dining here is farm-to-table, serving up freshly foraged organic fruit and vegetables plus seafood plucked straight out of the ocean. On Nevis choose one of the traditional plantation house hotels Montpelier, a series of stylishly dressed cottages and suites in the garden around a traditional Caribbean windmill. Brian Major
Getty Images10. Jamaica
Best island for: adventure
More than a fifth of Jamaica rises above 1000 feet, offering superb natural features for adventure beyond the beach. On this big and busy island, plenty is organised - ziplines and toboggans (as in Cool Runnings) that fly down through the forested mountainside to the coast - but Jamaica’s mountains are laced with rivers and waterfalls, so there is plenty to explore independently.
Jamaican rafting is diametrically opposite to frenzied white-water rafting. Instead you recline, Red Stripe in hand, on a bamboo seat while a steersman punts your raft gently down grade zero rapids on the Rio Grande or beneath the trees of the meandering Martha Brae. To cool off, simply slip overboard and swim alongside.
The Blue Mountain Peak stands at 7402 ft. You ascend through plantations of famous Blue Mountain coffee, then rainforest and finally stunted cloudforest, where wizened branches hang with wisps of lichen. Jamaica’s extraordinary Cockpit Country resembles a shaggy green 500 ft egg-traywith , paths passing among limestone peaks smothered in jungle. At Good Hope estate you explore on ATVs, E-bikes, ziplines and river-tubes.
Where to stay: Round Hill, a true Caribbean stalwart, is understated elegance to its core, traditional shingle-roofed Jamaican houses with striped green awnings and Ralph Lauren-styled rooms backed by private villas (for rent) on the hillside above. For something lower key, take a thatched waterfront villa at Rockhouse on the cliffs in raffish Negril at the island’s western tip. James Henderson
Getty Images11. Guadeloupe
Best island for: a French Creole experience
Créole is more than a language. It is way of life, you will be told, a sensibilité. Style, cuisine, music and manner, they all make up the mix, even a certain (sometimes infuriating) nonchalance…
Guadeloupe rewards exploration, with the low-lying, limestone landscapes of Grande-Terre and their coral sand beaches, watersports and resorts, standing hard by the immense fertility and volcanic mountains of Basse-Terre, which has botanical gardens, national parks and small hotels with fantastic views. There are also offshore cays: la Désirade inspired Apollinaire to poetry, Marie Galante is famed for its rhum agricole, an essential ingredient in the traditional island apéritif, ti ponch (freshly squeezed lime, cane sugar and rum).
Créole cuisine is a mélange, of metropolitan French cooking techniques and Caribbean produce and spices – court bouillon fish is steeped in Scotch bonnet and vinegar before simmering in a heady sauce of lemon, thyme and bay, and Colombo is a delicate Guadeloupean curry ideal for shrimp and island goat. Expect meals to extend, over rum digestifs, into discussion of love, life and… Créole…
Where to stay: La Toubana, set in a series of cabins ranged on the hillside above a beach near St Anne, has been offering trusty tropical elegance for decades. Now updated, it is cool and classic. You can reach Guadeloupe via Paris or on LIAT from Antigua, even from St Lucia by ferry.
