Favorite Caribbean Island

[Carolyn]

Hands down, St. Bart's !

A very close second is St. John.



No timeshares on St. Bart's, but I know of a simple hotel that is well-priced and welcoming if anyone is interested.

Must agree with you 100%. We go to these 2 islands every year and we have been to almost every Caribbean island! Also love the natural beauty of St. Lucia!

 

[SpikeMauler]

We've been to St Thomas, St John, Antigua, Jamaica and Aruba for week long stays(Timeshares,Hotels and Resorts) Been to Barbados, St Maarten, St Lucia, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Cozumel, Turks and Caicos, Grand Cayman and Tortola on Cruise stops. We liked them all but St John and St Thomas are my favorites for beaches and all around beauty(more St John than St Thomas).The wife loved St Maarten. Probably gonna trade or rent a week there within the next couple years. We both enjoyed Aruba a lot too. Not as pretty as some other Islands but the driving seems easier and the people are very friendly. Still kicking around the idea of picking up a Marriott gold week there.

 

[Beaglemom3]

St. John & St Bart's are my favorite as they have such natural beauty, no casinos (that I know of), a simple pace, great restaurants (St. B's here) and I love driving on the right side of the road in St. Bart's - truly ! If you're dyslexic as I am, you'll get this.


Other, secondary reasons for me and I'm not trying to incite anything here and may reget posting this as I could come off sounding like "an Ugly American"....... here goes:

I don't want to sound like an effitist here, so
please know that I've been on several voluntary medical missions (Por Cristo, Smile Train, Haiti, Madre, Boston's Vet's Homeless Shelter, Rosie's Place ) all over the world, but these two islands seem to lack the glaring poverty of some of the other islands as well as better caring for their animals. This is something that I find upsetting. I have donated a tidy sum to the spaying and neutering of animals on SXM. I find it hard to relax on vacation when surrounded by this. It's just how I'm wired.

Please know that these are my own opinions and I am not trying to foist anything on anyone else. Please take it in the spirit it was meant - JMHO.

So, this is why I love Sts. John & Bart's.

 

[GregT]

St. John & St Bart's are my favorite as they have such natural beauty, no casinos (that I know of), a simple pace, great restaurants (St. B's here) and I love driving on the right side of the road in St. Bart's - truly ! If you're dyslexic as I am, you'll get this.


Other, secondary reasons for me and I'm not trying to incite anything here and may reget posting this as I could come off sounding like "an Ugly American"....... here goes:

I don't want to sound like an effitist here, so
please know that I've been on several voluntary medical missions (Por Cristo, Smile Train, Haiti, Madre, Boston's Vet's Homeless Shelter, Rosie's Place ) all over the world, but these two islands seem to lack the glaring poverty of some of the other islands as well as better caring for their animals. This is something that I find upsetting. I have donated a tidy sum to the spaying and neutering of animals on SXM. I find it hard to relax on vacation when surrounded by this. It's just how I'm wired.

Please know that these are my own opinions and I am not trying to foist anything on anyone else. Please take it in the spirit it was meant - JMHO.

So, this is why I love Sts. John & Bart's.

No issue at all with your comments, and I think you broached the topic very diplomatically. Thank you as well for your comments on St. Bart's -- sounds like a great place to visit!

Best,

Greg

 

[rwpeterson]

Our favorite Caribbean island is Montserrat. Absolutely beautiful, very friendly people.

 

[riverdees05]

We like Grand Cayman, St. John and Aruba.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Wow! that's pretty much the entire Caribbean!

Were any of these (most of these?) timeshare stays -- and if so, any of the timeshares stick out as being a particularly positive contribution to the island stay?

Thanks!

Timeshares (or other notable resort/access) stayed at:

Aruba - Costa Linda and Divi Dutch Village
Antigua - Antigua Village, Jolly Beach and Tradewinds Cruise Club
Anguillia - overnight from boat.
Bahamas - No timeshares, Atlantis, Sheraton, various Sandals and liveaboards,
Belize - B&B and Tradewinds cruise club, 3 cruises,
Barbados - Residences at the Crane 4X (one of my favorites for land based timeshare)
British Virgin Islands - Tradewinds Cruise Club 4X plus visits from cruise ship Dominican Republic - resort only NO timeshare,
Cuba -resort only NO timeshare,
Dominica - tradewinds cruise club only (Delivery trip from Antigua to Bequia)
Grand Cayman - Morritt's
Guadaloupe - Tradewinds cruise club,
Jamaica - All Sandals and all Beaches properties only,
Mexico (Cozumel) - Coral Princess, Allegro plus resorts and cruise ships,
Puerto Rico - resorts stays only,
Roatan - resort and cruise ship only,
St Barts - small cruise ship only,
St Eustatius- small cruise ship only,
St Kitts- small cruise ship only,
St Martin(SXM) - Atrium, small cruise ship only, hotel and tradewinds cruise club
St Lucia - Sandals, and Tradewinds cruise club (stop on delivery cruise),
St Vincent and the Grenadines(SVG) - Tradewinds cruise club 3X
Trinidad (Tobago) - Tradewinds cruise club,
Turks & Caicos - Alexandra timeshare (good choice if you can get it), Sandals and tradewinds cruise club,
US Virgin Island - Westin St John timeshare (awesome), Bluebeards STT, various cruise stops.


Obviously Tradewinds helps, as I can visit a variety of islands via tradewinds cruises. Since I am a member I am not restricted by the 1 in 4 rule. My favorite TWCC locations are BVI and SVG. My favorite timeshare resorts are Residence @ Crane and the Westin St John. My visit to a lot of the smaller islands around SXM were from Windjammer when they were still in business. Sandals is also a nice place to stay and I have stayed at everyone of them in the caribbean. Staying at Sandals I would pick either St Lucia or Emerald Bay (Bahamas), or Beaches Turks and Caicos.

 

[nsstampqueen]

I've been to the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.

Out of those Jamaica was my favourite hands down. But we stayed at a 5* all inclusive Grand Lido property and only left on a day trip or two. The scuba was excellent, the beaches were amazing, the people incredibly friendly and it was nice to be somewhere where English was spoken everywhere. That being said, we travelled to Mexico a few years later and I couldn't believe how different it felt to be somewhere and you could walk all over the place, take public buses, etc. and not feel threatened or scared. I never realized until then how gated in we felt in the Caribbean. Earlier this year was our trip to Punta Cana, DR and again I felt gated in and cooped up - we went on several outings and still felt uncomfortable and that everything was really spread out - it just didn't have the same community feeling of Mexico for me.

We will go to lots of places in the Caribbean in the future, but there will always be a week in Mexico every year that feels like home!

 

[GregT]

Timeshares (or other notable resort/access) stayed at:

Aruba - Costa Linda and Divi Dutch Village
Antigua - Antigua Village, Jolly Beach and Tradewinds Cruise Club
Anguillia - overnight from boat.
Bahamas - No timeshares, Atlantis, Sheraton, various Sandals and liveaboards,
Belize - B&B and Tradewinds cruise club, 3 cruises,
Barbados - Residences at the Crane 4X (one of my favorites for land based timeshare)
British Virgin Islands - Tradewinds Cruise Club 4X plus visits from cruise ship Dominican Republic - resort only NO timeshare,
Cuba -resort only NO timeshare,
Dominica - tradewinds cruise club only (Delivery trip from Antigua to Bequia)
Grand Cayman - Morritt's
Guadaloupe - Tradewinds cruise club,
Jamaica - All Sandals and all Beaches properties only,
Mexico (Cozumel) - Coral Princess, Allegro plus resorts and cruise ships,
Puerto Rico - resorts stays only,
Roatan - resort and cruise ship only,
St Barts - small cruise ship only,
St Eustatius- small cruise ship only,
St Kitts- small cruise ship only,
St Martin(SXM) - Atrium, small cruise ship only, hotel and tradewinds cruise club
St Lucia - Sandals, and Tradewinds cruise club (stop on delivery cruise),
St Vincent and the Grenadines(SVG) - Tradewinds cruise club 3X
Trinidad (Tobago) - Tradewinds cruise club,
Turks & Caicos - Alexandra timeshare (good choice if you can get it), Sandals and tradewinds cruise club,
US Virgin Island - Westin St John timeshare (awesome), Bluebeards STT, various cruise stops.


Obviously Tradewinds helps, as I can visit a variety of islands via tradewinds cruises. Since I am a member I am not restricted by the 1 in 4 rule. My favorite TWCC locations are BVI and SVG. My favorite timeshare resorts are Residence @ Crane and the Westin St John. My visit to a lot of the smaller islands around SXM were from Windjammer when they were still in business. Sandals is also a nice place to stay and I have stayed at everyone of them in the caribbean. Staying at Sandals I would pick either St Lucia or Emerald Bay (Bahamas), or Beaches Turks and Caicos.

Wow -- this is awesome, thank you! You've listed three here that are on my list: Residences at the Crane, Alexandra and Windjammer (St. Lucia). Thanks for the details!

Best,

Greg

 

[Sandy VDH]

Wow -- this is awesome, thank you! You've listed three here that are on my list: Residences at the Crane, Alexandra and Windjammer (St. Lucia). Thanks for the details!

Best,

Greg

Windjammer St Lucia is the only one I have not stayed at that I really want to. Seen it on points several times, but never pulled the trigger.

Have weeks to burn on Tradewinds so we are trying to step up our usage.

 

[bobby]

Hmm, it is so easy to forget each vacation. None of these stays were cruises, almost all timeshares: Aruba, St. Martin, Eleuthera, St. Croix, Grand Cayman, Bermuda, Barbados, Nassau, Paradise Island, Antiqua, Belize,
Cozumel, St. Lucia, Abaco, Dominican Republic.

We didn't like Aruba that much - too boring. One day of touring the island and you were left with the beach, and ours was the race or buying shade/chairs. Great choice of restaurants though.

Barbados was nice, with a variety of things to see. ditto Bermuda and Grand Cayman.

We look for easy shore access to good snorkeling so boat trips are a necessity, safe places to walk and explore, and some variety on the island besides beach.
Abaco and Eleuthera had little to do. Staff at St. Croix was awful (long time ago), and others agreed they did as little as possible. St. Martin is nice, but we hit at New Year's Eve (cool, with boats honking horns at midnight), but also the winds come in and blow sand in your face by noon.

It all really comes down to the time of the year, what you want to do, do you cook in or eat out all the time, etc.

 

[Maple_Leaf]

Cuba

Cuba -resort only NO timeshare

Where did you stay in Cuba? Did you spend any time in Old Havana?

 

[Sandy VDH]

Where did you stay in Cuba? Did you spend any time in Old Havana?

No I was actually on the southeast portion of the island, near Santiago de Cuba, actually not far from Guantanamo.

 

[Larry]

We have been to a few islands, and I love Aruba too. We just got back from our second trip to Aruba. With our timeshare we have visited:

Nassua, Bahamas
Aruba twice
Barbados
Grand Cayman
St. Maarten

We enjoyed Aruba for the walk-out snorkeling, easy driving, easy groceries, and gigantic, walkable beaches in the low-rise timeshare section.

My next favorite island is probably Barbados. The Crane Resort was great, but I'd rather be in an area with a longer beach. St. Maarten had small beaches, except for the two afternoons we spent at Orient Beach. For a beach-walker like me, I need lots of uninterrupted distance on the beach!

Sounds similar to my list and favorites as follows;

Aruba -Four times
Barbados
Grand Cayman
St. Maarten- three times
Jamaica
Dominican Republic ( Punta Cana)
St. Lucia three times
Bermuda ( Not really Caribbean Island)
Antigua

We just returned from Windjammer and The Crane and had a great time. The Crane is now one of my favorite resorts and we loved our first visit to Barbados and enjoyed each and every one of the above listed Islands.

However our first week in St. Lucia reconfirmed why Aruba is our favorite Island. It rained almost every day in St. Lucia during our week and we were told the previous week in both St. Lucia and Barbados rained every day and just about all day for week 48. Week 49 When we were there, had warm but very humid weather with clouds and very sporadic sunshine every day and rain, rain and more rain.

Aruba is desert like and not as pretty as St. Lucia or most of the Caribbean Islands, but it almost never rains with annual rain fall the lowest in the Carribean. Combine their great weather, trade winds, fantastic friendly people and low crime rate makes this my favorite Island.

Going back to Aruba in January and can't wait.

 

[Maple_Leaf]

San Pedro de la Roca

No I was actually on the southeast portion of the island, near Santiago de Cuba, actually not far from Guantanamo.

Did you like Santiago de Cuba? I'm thinking about taking the family down there in the new year. There are some great deals from Toronto right now.

 

[Maple_Leaf]

Did you like Santiago de Cuba? I'm thinking about taking the family down there in the new year. There are some great deals from Toronto right now.

San Pedro de la Roca is the old Spanish fort at Santiago de Cuba.

 

[kcgriffin]

My three favorites are: St, John, St, John and St, John, and we have been to most of the others mentioned.

 

[pharmgirl]

Interested in going to st kitts, our favorite islands have been st John and the BVIs
Seems that st kitts would have similar topography and not built up
But flights seem to be very expensive in winter from nj/ny area
Any recommendations? Maybe as time gets closer to feb the flights may decrease in cost?

 

[ilene13]

Interested in going to st kitts, our favorite islands have been st John and the BVIs
Seems that st kitts would have similar topography and not built up
But flights seem to be very expensive in winter from nj/ny area
Any recommendations? Maybe as time gets closer to feb the flights may decrease in cost?

I just checked for late February from Buffalo and the flights to St. Kitts were about $2000 pp. No way!!!!!

 

[hcarman]

Interested in going to st kitts, our favorite islands have been st John and the BVIs
Seems that st kitts would have similar topography and not built up
But flights seem to be very expensive in winter from nj/ny area
Any recommendations? Maybe as time gets closer to feb the flights may decrease in cost?

I have not been to St. John, but I have been to the BVI out islands (Virgin Gorda) and St. Kitts (last fall).

St. Kitts is mountainous and has some very pretty scenery. It is not real developed - there is a down town area with a market and some stores - it is a fair taxi ride. The grocery stores close to the resorts are small markets, but they have all the basics. I don't remember much about the more developed BVI islands - so I can't compare real well. Nevis is connected by a ferry and is even less developed than St. Kitts - also very pretty.

 

[m61376]

However our first week in St. Lucia reconfirmed why Aruba is our favorite Island. It rained almost every day in St. Lucia during our week and we were told the previous week in both St. Lucia and Barbados rained every day and just about all day for week 48. Week 49 When we were there, had warm but very humid weather with clouds and very sporadic sunshine every day and rain, rain and more rain.

Aruba is desert like and not as pretty as St. Lucia or most of the Caribbean Islands, but it almost never rains with annual rain fall the lowest in the Carribean. Combine their great weather, trade winds, fantastic friendly people and low crime rate makes this my favorite Island.

Going back to Aruba in January and can't wait.

All that, along with a wide variety of really good restaurants and non-stop flights from the NY area, with a manageable flight time, makes Aruba our top choice too. It's the only island we've been to that beckons us to return. Most of the others we visited were great one day stops on cruises, but never had a yen to return for an extended visit.