jinz

Our much researched and planned holiday to the Caribbean in late April has been postponed to mid to late January so we want to head further south for warmer water. We have two full weeks excluding our in and out flying days.

Research on this forum has helped me narrow it down to keeping our planned week in Anguilla and one week in Barbados. It seems these will give us two different experiences.

We love white beaches and calm, turquoise sea which is preferably not too rocky. We can't stay on the beach all day so we like the idea of how much there is to see in Barbados.

Are these two destinations a good idea for our first visit? If so which one should we do first? We also have a week for Miami - should we put this between the two Caribbean places or at the start?

Any comments, ideas or suggestions on our plan would be gratefully received. Thank you.

blamona

You'll loose 2 days traveling. Eternal them, you'll probably have to spend night somewhere else. Not easy connections

FYI January has "Christmas Winds" which cause some big waves all over Caribbean.

To have calm- you need to travel June-August

There's calm most of the year off and on, but calm is not constant in January (coincides if USA east coast weather is a roller coaster)

RoamsAround

It will be difficult and time consuming to get from Anguilla to Barbados or vice versa so your idea of going back to Miami for a week or so will make it easier on you.

Google "Things to do on Barbados" to get an idea of what is available and to see if those things appeal to you.

Anguilla will have the white sand beaches and bright turquoise waters you crave. No one can guarantee you calm waters anywhere in the Caribbean during January however, on most islands (Anguilla included) if the water is "wavy" on one side of the island you can usually find calmer waters on the opposite side.

Barbados is fairly far out in the Atlantic so it will tend to get more breezes all year round. Beaches are quite nice with sand that is more golden in color vs. sugar white. Surrounding waters will vary, depending on depth, from turquoise to dark blue.

jinz

Thank you for answering my post. Unfortunately, we have to travel in January so it is not negotiable for us. Our original plan to go in April this year has been scuppered by medical things.

Thank you for the info on the waves and wind.

We are pretty set with Anguilla but having had a holiday in Cancun affected by so much wind we couldn't go on the beach it is a factor in our decision.

Are there any other places in the Caribbean you would recommend for us to compare with Barbados? I will do all the research just need recommendations as to which islands to compare.

Thank you so much.

jinz

PS We are not fussed about the traveling and have taken into account the days this will take and have added time for overnights, etc. So the 7 days in each place excludes travel.

Our total time in the US and Caribbean is 6 weeks.

Odin

I really like Barbados, the beaches on the west coast are calm, turquoise and beautiful. It is popular during the winter months as many people esp from the UK/Europe spent time in Barbados. There is plenty to do away from the beaches too.

I've combined Barbados with St Lucia and Grenada, I would have suggested St Lucia as a contrast to AXA but it does not have white sand beaches, the beaches are either golden(in the north, Reduit Beach for instance) or dark volcanic (around Anse Chastenet, which is stunning BTW). Grenada is a wonderful island.

doug_stallings

It's particularly easy to combine Barbados with St. Lucia since there are frequent short flights between the islands, and to me it makes a nice comparison to Barbados, which has beautiful white-sand beaches and a different topography. there's a lot to do on each island, much less on Anguilla. Would you consider the Grenadines for a completely different kind of experience? There are several flights from Barbados there.

doug_stallings

There are several islands in close proximity to and very different from Anguilla. St Martin is the most obvious and the place you'll have to fly into when going to Anguilla, which has no airport. You could also visit Saba, which is particularly good for divers. St Bart's is probably out of reach in January, though it can be reasonable if book a house off the beach.

Odin

Anguilla does have an airport (AXA), short runway so no big planes. Seaborne Airlines fly there from SJU.

The trip I'm doing in a couple month's time is St Martin, Anguilla, St Barths and Saba, which I've done before except for Saba.

doug_stallings

Yes, of course Odin is correct. I should have said that Anguilla has no international airport. But few people fly there since it's a short ferry from St. Martin.

blamona

Combine with St Martin. Close enough to not loose time, completely different in feeling, atmosphere, things to do, shop, different beaches

Even day trip to St. Barts from there too

WoinParis

St Martin is half Dutch half French.
Very different on either side.

ekscrunchy

Odin would you mind going into a little detail about why you like Granda and St Lucia so much? Is there warm calm water off pretty beaches, even if the sand is not white, on both islands?

I began another thread on this topic today..

Odin

Grenada has beautiful white sand beaches (Grand Anse for instance) but several other smaller beaches eg La Sagesse, (not white sand though), some lovely hotels (eg Spice Island Resort) and restaurants (eg Gary Rhodes restaurant at the Calabash), a rainforest interior, hiking trails etc and the people are really friendly. St George's is a pleasant enough capital to walk around.

St Lucia has stunning scenery in the south, dark volcanic beaches but some are truly beautiful, the sea is clear and calm, in the north there are lighter sand beaches eg Reduit.

Barbados is more upscale, has lots of higher end hotels and restaurants, the west coast is where the best properties are, the sea is calm, sand is light. There are things to do away from the beach, historical buildings, the rugged and windy east coast.

Antigua also has many beautiful beaches with calm turquoise water.