leapinlarry

My wife and I who are very active adults in our mid 50's and three late 20's children are planning to spend a week in June 2010 on a Caribbean Island. The question is which one?
First, I've narrowed my choices down to 5 based on various reasons. They are:
Barbados
Cayman Islands
St. Lucia
St.Martin/St.Marteen
St.Thomas and/or St.John
Our interests/desires include: laying on the beach, snorkeling, island exploring, reasonable priced accomodations and food, feeling safe, beauty of nature, some nightlife, not being elbow to elbow with others

Based on my criteria, could you offer suggestions. Try to pick one of my 5 or feel free to point me in another direction.

Leapinlarry

cariblover10

They are all great destinations, but you might also like to take a look at St Kitts which would tick all your boxes as well

Here's a link to the St Kitts tourism site
http://www.stkittstourism.kn/

and a selection of villas to choose from
http://turtlebeachvillas.shutterfly.com/

Have a wonderful time wherever you decide to go!

RoamsAround

First off, you actually have 6 islands on your list as St. Thomas and St. John while next to each other are two very distinct islands. Here are some observations which might help you:

1) All of the islands on your list have beaches you can lay on however, in terms of which has the better beaches I'd rate them in this order: Grand Cayman, St. John, Barbados, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Lucia.

2) For snorkeling the order would be: St. John, Grand Cayman, St. Thomas, Barbados with St. Martin and St. Lucia a distant 5th and 6th.

3)Average Pricing structure (from most expensive to least expensive): Grand Cayman, St. John, Barbados, St. Thomas, St. Martin and St. Lucia.

4) Food - St. Martin (especially the French side), Grand Cayman, Barbados, St. John, St. Lucia and St. Thomas.

5) Feeling of Safety - Grand Cayman, Barbados, St. John, St. Lucia, St. Thomas and St. Martin.

6) Beauty of Nature - St. Lucia, Barbados, St. John, St. Thomas, Grand Cayman, St. Martin.

7) Nightlife - St. Martin, St. Thomas, Grand Cayman, Barbados, St. Lucia and St. John.

8) Crowds (listed from most crowded to least crowded) - St. Thomas, St. Martin, Barbados, Grand Cayman, St. John, St. Lucia - note: You are planning to go in June which is Low season so none of the island will seem to be very crowded when compared to High Season.

TPAYT

Some of them are very busy islands. We've been to all and IMO it sounds like renting avilla on St. John would be for you. Not much nightlife though other than going out for dinner to some wonderful restaurants. We liked all of them for various reasons, and also had our dislikes on each island. Our favorite islands are Anguilla and Grace Bay, Turks & Caicos.

I do agree with RoamsAround (above post) in their description of the islands.

In any case check out www.VRBO.com for some wonderful villa & condo deals on all of them. We've used them all over the world with great success.

luvtotravl

I agree with RoamsAround, but since you said you like to snorkel, I would move Grand Cayman up in the list for 'Beauty of Nature', since the underwater beauty and the beaches are much nicer than St. Thomas, Barbados or St. Martin. I haven't been to St. Lucia, but compared to the rest of your list Grand Cayman is our favorite. We are going there the end of January for two weeks with three of our kids in their early 20's and a nephew in his late 20's. They just love it. (as do we!) We stay on the east end of Grand Cayman in an ocean front condo with diving, snorkeling, pools, beach bar, tennis, health club, etc, and rent a car for the occasional trip to 7MB or Rum Point. Check out the Reef Resort and Morritt's Grand Resort. They might be what you are looking for.

leapinlarry

I sincerely thank all of you who have responded so far. Your responses are just the kind of input that I was looking for.

If there is anyone else out there with an opinion? I would like to here from you!

Also, what about renting a car on these islands? Any do's or don'ts. My wife and I were recently in Aruba and I rented a 4x4 and went all over the island. Driving in Aruba is on the right so it was no big deal.

Additionally, I thought about renting a condo or private house instead of going with a traditional hotel. Any suggestions?

Thanks again!
Larry

mesnorkle

Have not been to St. Lucia, so can not comment on it. We are in are late (ugh!) 50's, and travel Europe and the Islands with our 20+ daughter. Barbados is geographically beautiful, but they used to dynamite/fish, and the snorkeling is not great. St. Martin is also very nice, some breathtaking views, but is not as safe as some areas. We did see our first octopus there, but the snorkeling is not the best.
We have been to Grand Cayman three times, and stay in the same condo each time. We do a short morning snorkle trip from our beach to a wreck a few hundred yards away. There are amazing snorkle spots all around the island. Nightlife is minimal, but you feel very safe.
Have been to St. Thomas/St. John twice. St. Thomas is great, and St. John is amazing. Many turtles in the water.
You can step in the water almost anywhere on St. John and see amazing things.
For the feeling that you have landed on a deserted, desert island, nothing beats Culebra. Fly into SanJuan, drive to Fajardo and take a ferry to Culebra. Rent a Jeep, only a 4WD will do. The sealife is wonderful, and you often have the beaches to yourself. If you require a Hair Dryer, you MUST bring your own, as NO ONE uses them on this island. It is laid back, casual, only casual Bar nightlife, and very little of that.
We are trying Belize in March. Beach and Rainforest combined!