I'm looking for the following in a Caribbean island:

- safe
- cool hikes (waterfalls, mountains, volcanoes sort of thing)
- snorkeling (good...but doesn't have to be awesome)
- nice beach
- reasonably easy to get to from the southeast - max 7 hours

st. john, usvi (no mtns or volcanoes)
st. lucia has all (not sure of your travel time - but worth it)
click destinations above for a basic overview of any island.

St. Kitts, Nevis, St. Vincent, Grenada and St. Lucia each have all you are seeking.

St Kitts would be perfect for you, see St Kitts Tourism website for more info
http://www.stkittstourism.kn/

Plus we stayed in this wonderful villa
http://turtlebeachhousestkitts.shutterfly.com/

Hope this helps

cl10 - i love the house you rented. great view! how did you spend you time on st. kitts? i know next to nothing about the island...

Hi Virginia
It's a lovely, friendly, unspoilt part of the Caribbean, and with 4 kids we were pretty active, we:
Swam / Snorkelled / hiked in the rainforest / took a day trip to Nevis / jet skied / explored the island from one end to the other / ate lots of lobster / had breakfast at the Marriott (for the 'eat as much as you like' buffet which the boys loved)lazed by the pool, and spent time just chilling out around the house
The location was great as it was really quiet, and I felt safe letting our older 2 go to the beach on their own. Actually we could see them from the verandah, but they didn't know that!
Let me know if you have any other Q's

Montserrat fits all your criteria except for the last one. But, if you can fly directly to St. Maarten or Antigua, it is much easier to get to via Win-air. Click on Montserrat for trip reports & links.