Which island has similarities to Hawaii?
 

My wife and I were planning on heading to Hawaii for the fourth time this fall, but are now contemplating a change fo scenery. What we love about Hawaii: The beaches and snorkeling, but also the other activities (hiking, going to the top of a mountain, finding hidden waterfalls, national parks and scenery, good restaurants, etc.). What we don't like: the travel time to get there from NYC! We actually will likely be heading on vacation from Chicago (my wife will be running the Marathon there), with a return to NYC. We are both 40 and very active. Honestly, I need more than a pretty beach and some snorkeling. I get bored by that pretty quickly.

We have been looking into Barbados and Aruba as options. Do either of those islands fit the bill for what we are looking for? Any others I should explore and research?

Thanks for the help!

I don't see Barbados as fitting the bill at all; has stunning beaches, not very good snorkeling, has a flattish landscape, no rainforests, great restaurants. Aruba is dry flat and arid and the landscape is not like the other islands but does have a national park. I have not been to that park but to similar ones in Curacao and Bonaire and they were both well worth visiting (4x4 essential). I like these islands very much but they don't seem to match what you are looking for. None of the islands are like Hawaii IMO, the feel/vibe/landscape is totally different.

Grenada or St Lucia might fit the bill, both have mountains and rainforests, hiking, good restaurants, the French islands Martinique & Guadeloupe may require extra effort to get to but well worth it for something different (St Pierre in Martinique is very interesting with it's historic remains), they have volcanos and rainforests, lots of hiking, cycling is popular, lots of plantation houses and botanical gardens, small islands to visit for day trips eg Les Saintes, good restaurants as you would expect.

Dominica is famous for it's natural beauty, it has lots of waterfalls and a national park, scuba diving is good.

I would add St. John, USVI. Good snorkeling, good hikes in the National Park, some good restaurants, beautiful beaches.

The main difference I see is the Hawaiian islands are all quite large, compared to most of the Caribbean islands which are mostly pretty tiny. Jamaica is a good sized island so has mountains, waterfalls, jungles, etc.

Aruba and Barbados will have the exact opposite topography than Hawaii. However, I feel Aruba and Maui are the same where is comes to commerical and Americanzied. The beaches In Aruba are also better. (IMHO)

For the same type of topography look at Puerto Rico, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Grenada and Dominica. Puerto Vallarta, MX comes close also.

Puerto Rico has all that you say you want. Also check into Costa Rico or Mexico.