island hopping
 

Does anyone know how we can do island hopping for short stays on each island?
ie. flying to British Virgin Islands and then going to some of the smaller ones and perhaps flying back home from St. Kitts
(Others we would like to visit: Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis.

LIAT has an island-hopping fare that varies with how many islands you want to visit over varying lengths of time and allows you to do just what you are asking.

Here is the website and the page:

http://www.liatairline.com/dreamVacations.html

We've done this a couple of times, and it is a great way to see some of the other islands.

Be sure to allot time to see each one. Also, some islands don't have many flights in and out, so make sure you have at least a rough schedule mapped out.

Have fun! :)

Have you considered a Windjammer cruise? It goes through some of those islands you'd like to visit. Keep in mind, you are taking on alot, so make sure you have a long vacation. (a month at least?) You can island hop around the Virgin Islands for a week, and still not see it all. (You can't miss: Virgin Gorda, St. John, Jost Van Dyke, and maybe Anegada.) Also consider, LIAT is not always on time, so allow to miss days on islands of travel days. Some islands are easier to get to from others, (ex. St. Kitt's and Nevis are a short ferry from each other, Anguilla-St. Martin-St. Barts-Saba is day trips from each other)
I'm not trying to discourage you, I love to hop, and I love to see it all, but the Caribbean is alot bigger than you think. It would be like going to Europe, and "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium". Most islands have different feels from each other, and keep in mind Caribbean standards are different than American ones. (On time? rent a car? hours to shop? getting things done?) Remember you are on island time!!! You also may have to backtrack, for example, fly to St. Martin, take a ferry to Anguilla,back to St. Martin, fly to Barbados, spend the night, go to Montserrat, fly back to Barbados.....)
It's alot of fun, but it's not like backpacking through Europe.

blamona's info is "right-on". You can easily visit several of the BVI's if you are staying in the BVI's but to hop around to other islands requires a lot of airport time as it is not always easy to get around the Caribbean. You'll need several weeks to effectivly do the type of island hopping you describe. You cannot always get from one island to another without going through one of the major gateway islands (San Juan, St. Martin, Barbados). Before planning such a trip you'd be wise to get a good map of the Caribbean so you can check distances between the various islands. You can then visit the web-sites for LIAT, Winair, Caribbean Star, Caribbean Sun (to name a few) to check schedules and fares.

Jennie, Agree with blamona's suggestion of a Windjammer. If you truly want to do some island hopping this an excellent way to visit a variety. WJ spends entire days on various islands and occasionally some evenings. The different itineraries cover the entire chain of Caribbean islands although there are instances when plans and scheduled trips may be altered for a multitude of reasons. weather, social implications, for example 2 weeks ago I sailed the Grenadines on the Yankee Clipper it rained a good portion of the week so Capt Julian rerouted to try and provide us with some good beach time. The other happening was the election of the Prime Minister in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Most often the ship spends a day on the main island of St. Vincent, because of the election rallies etc he opted not to go there that week. I spent 4 days prior to the cruise on the mainland and let me tell you things were quite intense and loud. Didn't bother me as I've been there for Vincy Mas but to someone who may not have ever been outside the confines of a resort or large cruise ship it might have been a bit overwhelming.FYI I think Capt. Julian is one of the nicest and most concientious captains I have sailed with in 10 weeks of sailing WJ. Incidentally the incumbent won and the Labor Party retained majority. There were some problems with missing ballots etc., I thought I was back home and reliving last 2 U.S. elections.
I returned to St. Vincent the Sat following the elections and what a difference, now everyone was in the Christmas mode. Anyone who has spent time in the islands between Thanksgiving and Christmas can attest to how much the people celebrate the holidays. The day after the election lights started to shine. All around communities were setting up the Christmas lights competitions. Now this is more like the Caribbean I know and love at Christmas time, a much more gentler and kinder place.

Onto LIAT (Leave Island Anytime) make sure if booking, and reading schedules on line you pay close attention. The schedules aren't always direct flights. I miss read and ended up calling to reschedule as my original booking would've kept me in the air back and forth for about 3 hrs that is only 1/2 hr directly. I was concerned if it was all in place and my direct flight from St. Vincent to Grenada went off without a hitch other than being a bit late. Returning to St. Vincent was a different story. We left Grenada late surprise surprise I reach SVG only an hour late. Then when i waited for my bag ....no luggage. You see all the med students from St. George's University were going home for Christmas break. The check in counter had difficulty handling so many passengers and then of course they all had these humongous suitcases. ow don't get me wrong I'm glad LIAT takes the overweight thing very seriously but did my carry on size have to be the victim as opposed to the giant sized ones? Anyways the luggage was to be delivered later that day, I stopped by the airport around 7pm and the nice young lady who helped me says I don't know why they told you that. She tracked my bag for me and said it still hasn't left grenada but she had it tagged to be sent out first thing in the am. Next day I arrived around 8 am and yes my bag had arrived.
Same thing happened on my flight home between PIT and Charlotte, wasn't a weight problem though just USAirways not being on time in Barbados, creating chaos when clearing customs in CHL making everyone in line on edge with regards to making the connection to their final destinations. Went to the luggage kiosk in PIT guess what? You're right NO LUGGAGE ! USAirways had my bag delivered to my home the following day. All things considered if I could leave tomorrow I would be on the first flight out of PIT.

Sandy

To all those that replied - Many thanks - info was very helpful.
Will check into airlines website and Windjammer cruises!
The only problem is that my husband may plan some business appts. on some of the islands which places some time contraints on us. We will see.
Again, thanks and happy holidays!

FYI WJ has a 1/2 price deal week of January 29. If I had not just returned I'd book right now. The offer supposedly only lasts until 11 am tomorrow EST