Hello all. I am planning a weeklong honeymoon for February next year and really would love to try the Carribean. We live in New England so the flight to Hawaii is prohibitive. We've never been to the Carribean before but it has always been one of our dream vacation spots.

I have been reading alot about St. Lucia and so far love it BUT we really wanted the beautiful beaches and crystal clear calm waters along with the lush tropical rain forests and beautiful points of interest. We want to be able to laze about on a gorgeous beach, snorkel/kayak maybe do some hiking or scenic/historical touring and shopping.

We don't want to be innundated with crowds, kids or have the unpleasantness of unfriendly or poverty stricken natives. Neither one of us require a night life, quiet and romance amoung gorgeous views is way more important. Maybe one or two nights going to a local restaurant and listening to the local band is about our speed. For hotels, either the AI or the plan it as you go route is fine. Is there an island that offers all this and can be done on a budget too? Thanks for any help

St. John, USVI absolutely gorgeous island. We rented a villa there for our honeymoon instead of staying at one of the two resorts. A villa has much more privacy and views to die for. There are not many villas on the beach for it's a hilly island but you will want to rent a car to explore all the beaches. It only takes 30 min. to drive the whole Island.

The town of Cruz Bay on the Northshore side is lovely with plenty of restaurants and nice shopping. It has stunning "azure" beaches It's paradise!

St. John is close to the Brish Virgin Islands (BVI's) that you can take a 1/2 or full day excusrions.

Here's the villa agency we used:
www.vacationvistas.com and the url that I got all my info for my honeymoon was: USVI On-line forum.

Congrats and good luck in your search. Again, you will love St. John.

When you say "on a budget" it would help if you could give us some idea of what you had in mind. That will help us steer you in the right direction.

Since you are seeking rain forests you have to limit your choices to islands that are volcanic in origin which generally means smaller darker sand beaches as opposed to the coral based islands that have long white sand beaches but little vegetation. For starters look at the following islands:
St. John in the USVI, Virgin Gorda in the BVI's, St. Lucia, St Kitts, Nevis, and Grenada. You can find accomodations on each of these islands in all price ranges, you just have to be realistic.

When I said budget I was thinking along the lines of 200 a night give or take hopefully total trip no more than $5000. This is my first time planning a trip so the wealth of information is rather staggering. Thanks for helping me narrow down some choices

Unfortunately there are very few islands with both rain forests and white beaches/clear water, as sunnyboy explained. You'd have many more options if you only wanted great beaches, but there's nothing wrong with "wanting it all" for your honeymoon.
I'd look into St. John and the BVI's for starters. St. Lucia isn't one of the better islands for great beaches.

With a budget of $5,000 you should have no trouble finding the right destination among the islands I mentioned in my earlier post even though you are going "in season". Some hints:

A) Most resorts and hotels charge more for rooms with the best views, since you'll be spending most of your day outside of the room and have the curtains closed for privacy when you are in the room opt for one of the lower priced rooms. You'll have access to all the resorts amenities and the money you save can pay for several top quality dinners.

B) Don't get hung up on staying at a hotel on the beach. All of the islands I mentioned have numerous beaches that are all "open to the public". You'll enjoy your island experience more if you visit one or two different beaches each day. The islands are small and staying at a resort or hotel that is in the mountains will save you money yet you'll still be only a 5 or 10 minute drive from the beach.

C) Taxi's can get expensive (fares can easily be $10 to $15 one-way). Budget money for a rental car ($35 to $40 per day). It will allow you to come and go as you please and explore the entire island. Think about it, you can visit a beach for an early morning swin, drive over to the rain forest for some hiking, then it's off to a cafe in town for some lunch and shopping afterwards you go to another beach where you sip pina coladas and soak up the sun in between dips in the Caribbean, then it's back to your hotel to shower up before going out for cocktails and dinner while watching a beautiful sunset, all for a fraction of the cost of taxi fare.

C) You don't have to eat at the resort or a fancy restaurant for every meal. Ask the staff at your hotel to recommend some local favorites. You'd be surprised at how resonable and enjoyable meals can be if you "just ask".

Hope this helps.

Have you thought of the French Caribbean, Guadeloupe or Martinique. Guadeloupe has lots of rainforests on Basse-terre and white sand beaches on Grande-terre. Great for those on a budget with great supermarkets with produce imported from France, great choice of accommodation although limited for the luxury end of the market. Deshaies in Guadeloupe is a pretty fishing village with a surprising no of local restaurants with really good food, close to the sea (pieds dans l'eau-with your feet in the water as they say). Very well off islands being part of France unlike St Lucia where I felt uncomfortable outside the hotels.Martinique also has rainforests and black volcanic sand beaches (not unlike those found in Hana, Maui) in the north plus a beautiful town called St Pierre (former capital destroyed in volcanic eruption) and in the south there are beautiful white sand beaches (anse aux salines) and on the atlantic coast more spectacular beaches, some of which you can swim in. Lots of history, great shopping, much less visited islands than St Martin or St Bart. Plus in Guadeloupe you can visit small islands for excursions eg Marie Galante. A little French is very useful if not essential. Fort de France (Martinique) has interesting architecture. These islands are not predominately AI destinations although there are Club Mediterranee, it would be a pity to be limited to meals in a hotel.