Barbara L. Griffin

Beautiful to me is rolling green hills and mountains, country roads to drive on, foreign flavor to an American, great cuisine, palm tree lined, not to crowded beaches with crystal clear water, decently priced villa rentals which offer pool and beach, and an interesting town to visit for night
life and shopping.

Bill

A tall order. I've never been to an island that satisfies all of your criteria, but from what I've heard about Jamaica, that sounds like it. I'm also thinking of St. Lucia, another island that I still haven't been to.

Usually a drier island (hence, not so green) will have better beaches and clearer water, but that's just a generalization.

I hope to see some other posts with more direct info than mine.

Jean E. Bowers

You are looking for a location that does not exist. Pick which of those things are most important and go from there. Except for the mountains what you are looking for cound be found in the Florida keys. Of the places I have visited the ones that come close are Cancun,Bermuda(not in the caribbean) St. Barths and perhaps St. Maarten. If you are looking for a villa the most reasonable time of the year is between May and mid December.

l.martin

Look into Barbados...each coast line ( north, east, south, west) has a different flavor. Use the search engines under Barbados and view some of the most beautiful villas I've ever seen but also at beautiful prices. It has British roots and is pretty civilized. It is not a bargain place like Jamaica would be but I love it. I would pick it over St. Maarten but each person has their own preferences. Get Fodor's Caribbean guidebook and check 'em out....

Monica Richards

I just returned from a carribean cruise and a week in Jamaica. In my opinion, Barbados is by far the cleanest, prettiest and best run of all of the islands. It is also one of the most expensive, however. Jamaica was nice and has a lot of bargain villas, but it is definitely a developing nation. If you don't find that charming, then probably Barbados is your best bet.

Bruce Potter

There are good reasons why St. Lucia is known as "The Helen Of The West Indies".

Gail Hafner

you referred to Jamaca as a developing nation. Thinking of going there in 1998 - have
heard most resorts are "gated" for a reason and leaving the compound results in a great
deal of harrassement. Any comments?

lisa krieger

Returned 2 weeks ago from Enchanted Garden Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was so beautiful, and so stereotypically TROPICAL. The resort was perfect.
As for the town, it's not nearly as "scary" as you might think. For daytime shopping, I'd say there's no risk at all except for vendors calling out to you- but you'd get that at a county fair!
All in all, it is gorgeous- don't worry.

Betty Carr

My first time out of the U.S. was last January to Negril at Foote Prints on the Sand Hotel in Jamaica. It was by far not the fanciest of places there but was adequate.
Yes there are vendors on the beach but after a few days they seem to not bother you as much. My husband and I also traveled to the Craft Market in Negril one day which was quite an experience for us to bargain with the Jamaican people and ended up with some nice buys.
We did go to Alfred's and DeBuss which are bars on the beach at night by taking taxis down there and traveling with other couples so we didn't feel unsafe. I wouldn't recommend walking down the beach at night alone just as you wouldn't do in the states.
Downtown Negril is a very poor town when you see the homes of the people but it is also a very beautiful place to visit and has one of the most beautiful beaches I have been to. We are again discussing to go back this coming winter.
I would definately recommend Negril to you and not stay at an all-inclusive so that you can experience different places along their beautiful beachfront.

jryan

Barbara: Read with interest your wish list for a Caribbean island. We have not been to every one of the island, but enough to answer your request. I must admit that if you could take something special from each one and combine them, you wouldn't be able to keep the tourists plus those cruise ships out.
Here goes: Rolling hills and mountains I would rate St. Kitts a 10 followed by Saba; country roads would probably be St. Martin and Barbados; foreign flavor and friendly St. Kitts wins again; not too
crowded beaches goes to Anguilla--not even a contest there plus the water is clear--if you are a diver this crystal clear water title goes to Tobago; shopping is terrific on Aruba with Curaco and St. Martin coming in second; interesting town for night life probably would be St. Martin and Barbados (we are not up on this); great cuisine would be Barbados, although you have to have a car (depending on where you stay) and St. Martin; Tortola in palm tree lined in places, as is St. Kitts and Barbados;
and as for villa rentals, I think you could find something suitable in any of the larger developed islands such as St. Martin, Barbados, Aruba, and the Caymans. Hope this gives you something to mull over--we have not been to Grenada, the Grenadines, St. Lucia or St. Vincent. It will be interesting to see where you go. Keep all of us posted! Oh, you might add another catagory--base from which to island hop! Food for thought!

Lynn

My two favorite islands in the Caribbean are St. John and Virgin Gorda (the baths) because they are prestine and preserved and have the beautiful clear water that everyone (at least I hope so) goes to the Caribbean for.