My first post here:

My Fiance' and I are looking into traveling to the Eastern Caribbean for our honey moon, and I am pulling my hair out trying to figure out which island I want to go to. I will list some of the things I am looking for, and not looking for. I will also list some of the things I like or don't like about some of the islands I have looked into and maybe it can help give an idea.

1) beautiful white sand and crystal blue water is a must
2) resort must be all inclusive

We are looking at spending 10-14 days, and will get much of our enjoyment and time out of simply relaxing on a white sand beach with a drink in our hand surrounded by good food. However; we do love to travel and adventure around. So having the option of things to do outside the resort is great as well.

We would like to be able to travel the local city and feel safe, the option of renting a captain and catamaran for the day and sailing to near by islands and relaxing would be a HUGE PLUS. Zip lining and other activities would be a plus as well.

We do not want to be in a busy; americanized place. We would like for there to be activities and things to do, but not feel like we are back in the states. We want to experience the true life of the Caribbean

I have looked into a few places

St. Thomas: It seems too busy, and too americanized. Biggest plus is taking a Catamaran to nearby islands for the day

St Lucia. Love the scenery, the things to do, but do not like the "volcanic sand" on the island

would love to have access to great snorkeling waters as well

Also, price is of consideration so if there is a great difference between one suggestion to another please just let me know a cost comparison and then I can decide from there

Thank you so much in advance for all of the help

Take a look at St John. Seems to hit most of your "want list"

Sorry, I missed the part of your post about all inclusive...so St John wont work.

The Dominican Republic has the highest concentration of All Inclusive Resorts in the Caribbean so start your search there. You'll also find lots of All Inclusives on Jamaica, in Cancun and Playa del Carmen and a number of them on Antigua.

Those islands also tend to have the biggest selection of the more moderately priced All Inclusive Resorts in the Caribbean.

Since you mentioned a desire for "good food" I'll add one caveat: The more moderately priced All Inclusives tend to offer lots of buffet style meals that are big on "quantity" and not necessarily noted for having "good food". Of course, that depends on your definition of "good food".

If you can opt out of the All Inclusive requirement there are a number of islands that will meet all of your other expectations. If so, give serious look to St. John and Virgin Gorda or one of the smaller islands in the British Virgin Islands.

Finally, if you give us an idea of your budget for accommodations, food and activities it would be easier to make specific recommendations. Give us a dollar range not some nebulous term like "affordable" or "reasonably priced" as we have no idea what YOU can afford or think is "reasonable".

Tell us too, what you have budgeted for air travel and where you are flying from so we can help narrow down your choices.

Finally, when will you be traveling as that will have a big affect on room prices. Generally speaking the period between December 15 and Easter is considered "High Season" in the Caribbean which means rooms are at a premium. By contrast room rates drop to their lowest in late summer through late fall while "shoulder season" (late spring/early summer) usually has mid-to-lower rates when compared to High Season.

Try Saint Barth. Not so much to do, but ideal place to relax on a beach with a drink in your hand surrounded by good food. Great shopping, safe, and beautiful all around. And when you watch the gorgeous women sunbathing topless everywhere, or even the nude couples on some beaches, you'll definitely know you are in a foreign country. If Saint Barth is too expensive, try Saint Martin. Similar, not as relaxed, but much cheaper.

Saint Barth is the perfect place for a honeymoon. That is where I had mine, and we have been going back every year.

Only drawback is there is no "all inclusive" -- just uber chic boutique hotels. Believe me, if you can afford it, you will love it.

Send me a private message if you want more information.

St Marteen is pretty good. Lots of all-inclusive resorts to choose from great beaches, and one half is part of the Netherlands and the other half is French so visiting the other side of the island might be a fun thing to do.

Mexico's Riviera Maya area fits your requirements. Lots of all inclusive resorts, ruins to explore, zip lining, cenotes to snorkel, etc.
We need to know your budget and time of year to really help you.

You tagged the BVI and there are only a few all-inclusive spots there such as Peter Island and Guana Island. These will not have Americanized activities such as zip-lining.

As Roams Around said, if you can give up on the all-inclusive idea, you will have a good number choices. Have you considered a crewed yacht for two?

Easter will be busy everywhere in the Caribbean.

Thank you all very much for the help thus far

I would like to travel to the Eastern Caribbean, be it BVI, Anguillia, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Croix.... etc

I have traveled to the dominican republic, cancun, and the western caribbean. For this honeymoon I am wanting to go the the Eastern Caribbean and I am struggling as to which island in the Eastern Caribbean to pick

I will be traveling in early July

and as far as money goes it is really something I am not trying to get too concerned with. If options A and B are nearly identical then if course I will take money into consideration, but if option A is more expensive than option B, yet outweighs it is beauty or things to do then I will go with option A.

For all purposes aside lets say I am trying to spend under 10,000 US dollars for two people round trip.

I am just mainly trying to narrow down the Eastern Caribbean Islands. As stated I have looked into St. Lucia and biggest turn off is that the beach is not white sands, but I love the scenery, and the things to do outside of the all inclusive resort. St Thomas does not have a nice all inclusive resort in my opinion and it is too busy

Any suggestions on and Island in the Eastern Caribbean that would fit my needs in the first post?

Not sure what you mean by "Option A" and "Option B" but if you mean going to an All Inclusive vs. non-All Inclusive then you may find when it's all said and done often there isn't that much of a difference "money-wise" between the two options. By the way, a $10,000US budget for 10 to 14 days during July (Low Season) should be very doable.

One thing I'd like to point out - When you express a desire for "white sand beaches" most of the contributors here will point you towards the flatter coral/limestone based island like Anguilla, the Turks & Caicos, Aruba, and the Bahamas Out islands since those are the ones with "white sand". Trouble is, only one of those (Anguilla) is in the Eastern Caribbean and none have hills or mountains so you won't get zip lining. If, however, you are willing to compromise a bit and accept "light golden sand" than a world of possibilities opens up to you.

With that in mind, from what you describe you might enjoy going to one of the US or British Virgin Islands since the will have the beautiful (golden sand) beaches you crave, easy access by catamaran, sailboat, motorboat and/or ferry to a dozen or so other nearby islands, plenty of restaurants in all price ranges, great snorkeling and diving, plenty of water sports and other land based and water based activities. You'll also find zip lining on St. Thomas and Canopy tours on Tortola (which you can get to on a day trip from many of the other islands.

So if you'll accept "light golden sand", you might want to have look at the following:

Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda

Caneel Bay on St. John

Peter Island Resort, Peter Island (BVI's)

If you have your heart set on the "white sand" then your best in the Eastern Caribbean be would be Anguilla - it has 35 spectacular VERY WHITE SAND beaches. It's flat and arid so no zip lining but you could easily take a 20 minute ferry ride to St. Martin and do zip lining on that island. You'll find everything else on your wish list there except "All Inclusive" but many resorts do offer optional Meal Plans. Keep in mind, however, that Anguilla has over 80 different restaurants on the island, some of which are among the best in the Caribbean so if "good food" is a high priority for you skip All Inclusive or any Meal Plan and dine around the island, you'll be glad you did. On Anguilla, look at Cap Juluca, Cuisinart, Viceroy and the newly refurbished Malliouhana.

In your last response you mentioned, St. Kitts - it's a very nice island with Old World Caribbean Charm but be aware the island DOES NOT have white sand beaches - at best some are a shades of brown, dark gray and even black. And, there is very little snorkeling - simply put no one goes to St. Kitts for the snorkeling. From what you've indicated in your prior posts you'll be disappointed in St. Kitts.

Hope this helps.

RoamsAroundl; your post was extremely helpful for me. Thank you very much.

I would like to stay with an all inclusive. It just always feels like more of a vacation to not think about money nearly as often once you are there

The problem is that there are not really a lot of all inclusive resorts in the Eastern Caribbean.
Antigua has several all inclusive resorts and MANY gorgeous beaches.

Since your first priority seems to be all-inclusive I'm going to agree with schmerl about Antigua. There aren't many all-inclusives on a lot of islands but Antigua has some nice ones and some nice beaches. I've only stayed at Galley Bay and I wouldn't recommend it as I thought the food was only so-so and they up-charged you on a lot of things which to me defeats the "all-inclusive" tag.

Alternatively, you could choose the meal plan at Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda. That wouldn't include drinks but they have a couple of different meal plans you could choose from. And an advantage to staying in the BVI's is that there are plenty of opportunities to rent a boat with a captain for the day and the snorkeling is some of the best in the Caribbean. Last year we spent a week on St. Thomas and then a second week on Scrub Island. We were with another couple and we rented a captained boat about every other day. It's a great area to explore by water. Tortola has some beautiful white sand beaches at Smuggler's Cove and Cane Garden Bay and Jost Van Dyke not only has the Soggy Dollar Bar but white powdery sand as well. Or you can save a lot of money and just take the ferry to some of the other islands in the BVI's or even the USVI's.

It looks like Caneel Bay on St. John also has meal plans. Even though St. John is in the US Virgin Islands it doesn't feel as Americanized as St. Thomas.