Hi everyone,

I am 28 yrs old and my boyfriend and I are looking for the right island vacation for late April. I need the perfect mix of seclusion, nature, but yet something to do (shopping) nearby if I get the desire. We love water sports and would like to relax to an island band while having some drinks at night. I looked into St. Lucia and St. Martin (the later being to risqué w/ the nude beaches). Please help!

St. John is the place for you. And it is the off season so you can get some deals. Check out St.John on the Fodors search and you will find plenty of good information posted here. Have fun.

St Lucia is not the best place for shopping and watersports. Seclusion and nature, yes. The islands claim to fame is not great beaches, but lush, beautiful scenery. Also, getting around the island can be time consuming. That said, we have been there twice and would return in the future after I check out a few more islands.

By the way, St John will be my next destination. I hope it meets the best of both worlds. Beaches AND secenery.

I am 37 and have been to St. Martin 2 times. Believe me, we do not bare and share, but we stayed at a hotel near a nude beach. While our beach was clothing only, we did run down to the other one on our daily run, as that was the only place to run!! It's fine. Keep your eyes forward, or if you are like me and blind as a bat, wherever you want!! It is not gross or yucky. You will be surprised at the size of body types that you will see. Not Sports Illustrated, I assure you. If I wasn't offended on our daily outings, I don't think anyone will be. Each to his own...you will not be hit in the face with anything that is offensive!

You can easily avoid the nude beaches on St. Martin, especially if you stay on the Dutch side (a lot of what you read about nudity on St. Martin is way over-blown, although there is a good deal of toplessness on the French side), but you will have a tougher time finding seclusion and nature. You could consider Anguilla - everything but the shopping, but a half hour ferry ride from St. Martin where you can get your fill of it.

I know this is the caribbean board, but how much time do you have? Hawaii sounds perfect for you. But, if you have pinned down the caribbean I would recommend St. Lucia. The shopping is not the best. But, if you stay close to Castries you will have some shopping. It is really a beautiful island.

I agree with wtggirl,more specific Kauai,Hawaii is so beautiful.It has the Waimea Canyon,Wailua Falls and a ton more falls,beautiful beaches,Queens Bath that is a natural pool,mountains,great snorkeling.If you get up early, and go to Secrets Beach , you might find the sunrise shell that is worth money to locals(it looks like the Shell Gas Station sign)beautiful chickens are everywhere( like birds) shopping is also plentiful.The food is great too.You can also hike to the Napali Coast, which is gorgeous.
It just depends on where you are in the US as to if you would wanna go to Hawaii for 4 days.My husband and I wanna retire there years from now.

thanks for all of your replies...I will check out St. John today-I did hear that it has beautiful beaches. I did have my heart set in St. martin, so it's comforting that I can stay on the dutch side and not experience the nudity. St. Lucia does look lush, but if the beaches aren't that great then it isn't the spot for us. Has anyone gone to Grand Cayman, someone threw that out the other day at work?

GC has wonderful water sports, but is not secluded nor is it a greener nature type of island. It's very americanized. The shopping is very tame and we were pretty impatient in trying to find nightlife there, as it offers very little. You would be better off in the USVI. Between STT and STJ, all of your needs would be met and they're easily accessible via a 30 minute ferry ride between the two.

I suggest a look at the BVIs, particularly Tortola. It shares a lot of St John's physical flavor (they're only a few hundred yards apart) but it is decidedly not Americanized.

The BVIs are very charming with wonderful people who are not preoccupied with your presence (read - no hawking).