Barbados, Antigua and St. Maarten
 

Would love your opinion on the following for each island:

1. Best beach to visit/snorkel

2. Best excursion (must see/must do - side trip to Barbuda ?? for example)

3. Island highlights/don't miss

4. Recommendation for tour company/taxi company/private individual for site-seeing.

Thanks!!

I can only respond about Antigua. In my opinion, the best beach is Dickenson Bay. It's good for water sports, has the powder-soft white sand and usually calm water. A lot of the hotel and beachfront restaurants are on this stretch of beach.
The best excursion is Shirley Heights. We also really liked Nelson's Dockyard. The rain Forest, although not the biggest in the Caribbean, has pineapples, banana trees and mangoes.
The atmosphere in Antigua is one we really enjoyed. It truly is a wonderful island.
The taxi's are not metered and the rates are fixed. Our hotel arranged our guide with a taxi cab driver they had on call. He was wonderfully mellow and did an excellent job!

I have only been to Barbados once (briefly on a ship) so I will just talk about Antigua and St Martin.
Antigua:
There is some decent snorkeling at Long Bay. Best excursion:
take a "historic" tour (I recommend Lawrence (website - www.lawrenceofantigua.com )
He does a very good tour of the historic sites of Antigua (Nelson's dockyard, Shirley Heights, Dows hill Interpretation Centre, The Blockhouse)
St Martin:
good snorkeling at Dawn beach but the surf can be rough. Best "developed" beach (very nice too) - Orient Beach (not much snorkeling there). Orient Beach is (my opinion) the best people watching,developed beach in the Caribbean - so I guess it is a "don't miss".
Joyce Prince has a very good reputation for doing tours in SXM (I have not been with her but she is well-spoken of)
Have a great trip.

Are you going on a cruise and visiting these islands, or will you have more time on each one?

I can help you a bit with Antigua. Most folks think that Dickenson Bay is the best all-around beach for watersports (other than snorkeling), people watching, and for beach bars. It's a long stretch of lovely white sand, but it is certainly busy.

Half Moon Bay is about half as long, but since there are no facilities on it, there's always a good chance of having it to yourself for the day. Just bring water, snacks, and arrange for a taxi pick-up. There's decent snorkeling there, too.

I love Long Bay, which probably has about the best snorkeling off shore of any place in Antigua. It gets crowded in season when there are cruise ships in port, however.

My favorite way to spend the day in Antigua is to book a full day at Harmony Hall: go in the morning, take their launch out to Green Island for sunning and snorkeling. Bring a change of clothes for a LONG lunch. After lunch, either more time at Green Island or time spent lingering over cappuccino or grappa, and then browsing in the art gallery & goft shop.

Nelson's Dockyard is very interesting, but quite frankly it's a nightmare when the cruise ships are docked. Wall-to-wall people.

St. John's is also fun to explore, but also extremely crowded when the cruise ships are docked.

The beaches at Hawksbill Beach Resort are gorgeous, and one of them is clothing optional, but there is no snorkeling to speak of from those beaches.

If you were going to have a good bit of time in Antigua, I would recommend checking out all of the above. As well as a sidetrip to either Montserrat via helicopter or Barbuda via fast ferry.

Also, Eli's Eco-Tour, or the Wadadli Cats day sail. And Shirley's Heights on Sunday evenings.

Thank you everyone - this is exactly what I was looking for, especially the names you provided for more private/personalized tours.

Yes, ejcrowe, it's a cruise - probably first and only one for some time. We went to St. Lucia for a week last year and really enjoyed being land-locked(and a week was still not long enough) and are returning to St. Lucia on this itinerary (can't wait to see more!). Thought a cruise would be a nice change of pace and one of those things to at least do once and go as many places as possible. Going in February. So lots of research time!

And I'm already thinking for 2 years from now (which is giving my husband a headache) -- I want to go to Tortola and stay and enjoy all of those islands!

My comments are for St. Maarten/St. Martin and are just my personal faves.

1. Grand Case for sure. Grab a table, umbrella and chairs at Calmos Cafe. We just did this Saturday and had a lovely time.

2. Rhino Safari boat/snorkel trip around the island and out to Creole Rock for snorkeling.

3. The jets landing over your head between 1 and 3 p.m. at Sunset Beach Bar at the end of the runway. Gorgeous beach, neat experience.

4. Don't know any personal tour guides. Cabs can be picked up easily at the airport or cruise pier. Shop around until you find one you jive with.