Hey Guys,

My wife and I are looking to go to the Caribbean this December/January but we are stuck on which islands to go to. We were thinking Barbados, Montego Bay (Jamaica) and/or Turks and Caicos. As we live in Australia, not many agents here know much about the Caribbean so hoping to get some advice on where to go.

Looking for beach, restaurants, beautiful hotel, etc...basically paradise

Definitely not looking to travel on a small budget so open to all suggestions

Also, keen to find out how easy it is to travel between the islands as we have read that we need to fly back to the US each time?

We need to be in Cabo, Mexico on the 29th December and arriving in Miami on the 11th December so we have couple of weeks to spend some time on a few islands.

Would love some advice

Barbados has lots of activities such as swimming, windsurfing, snorkeling and sailing. There is just a lot to offer for anyone seeking fun or just wanting beautiful beaches and awesome food.

in all likelihood you will need to return to miami, atlanta or san juan, puerto rico to change islands.
some exceptions would be:
-the usvi & bvi. once you're on one you can ferry to any other except st.croix (it's too far).
-antigua & barbuda < this could be an option for you as antigua has nice resorts and good food
-st. kitts & nevis <neither known for beaches
you might go to the Liat Airlines site to see what else is possible - they are the main small airline going between some of the islands.

another idea would be to combine puerto rico with another island. it's huge & has a great variety of things to go do including the el yunque rain forest. historic san juan is interesting to tour.

cabo san lucas is a very very busy place. tons of shoppping & major nightlife. some of the beaches are not swimmable due to undertow. excellent deep sea fishing. as such would you like to find a caribbean island equally busy or prefer someplace more laid back?

just my thought but after the long flight from oz & then the flt to cabo, i'd choose one island and stay there - but i can snorkel & lay on the beach with a good book for weeks at a time. i know this would bore some people.

provo, t&c is my favorite island. it has one of the most beautiful beaches you'll ever see with oh so soft, blindingly white sand. it's coral based so fairly flat & arid with outstanding snorkeling & diving. the restaurants are some of the best in the caribbean and there are some gorgeous hotels. small island, very little shopping, very low key nightlife, and not really a lot to do other than beach/water activities. very relaxing. has a golf course.

usvi/bvi is more lush and hilly. st.john and virgin gorda in particular have excellent beaches and nice resorts - like caneel bay, little dix bay, biras creek, bitter end yacht club (not really a yacht club). good dining is mainly in those resorts. this area has good snorkeling & diving as well. st. thomas is very busy, but makes a good hub to explore bvi and st. john usvi from. st. john & virgin gorda also have some really nice rental villas.

barbados is lovely. a larger island with nice beaches, decent restaurants, a bit of a british flavor and lots of things to see/do. sandy lane is a dream resort for me - it's expensive but stunning!
fodorite lois swanson has been to barbados 25+ times and has made this very informative, useful site: http://www.barbadostips.com/Barbados_Tips/Welcome.html

another option for you would be cuba. we (americans) can't go so i don't know much about it but i do know the beaches are gorgeous and have seen some nice looking resorts. lots of history. no clue about the dining.

you should know that xmas/new years is the Most expensive time to visit the islands, and that some resorts require you to book 2 weeks.

hope some of this helps

You might want to combine a "beach" island stay with a lush volcanic island stay. We knew British visitors in Nevis who would stay two weeks in Barbuda for the beach experience, then move to Nevis for the plantation inn on the mountain slope experience.

You have enough time to experience different cultures and landscapes. Caribbean islands are quite different from one another. Depending on where you go, you may be able to take one of the local airlines from one island to another without going back to San Juan.

Barbados is the only Caribbean island I've been to, so I'm not qualified to compare it to the other islands. But it is paradise. Excellent beaches, friendly people, just wonderful. Loved Barbados & highly recommend it!

We love to sail in the British Virgin islands. We have now sailed aboard the charter catamaran Mustang Sally 4 times seeing all the islands and enjoying chef Wicked Wendy's wonderful meals. Sailing allows you the freedom to see many different islands while spending time with others or alone at night. We did have 2 wonderful meals off the boat, a lobster beach bar-b-que and and mocko jumbie dinner/show. It was a very interesting and wonderful week. We have booked again for this year and never thought we would return to the same islands year in and out.