Which island to go to in January/February
 

My husband and I want to go to the Caribbean for a week in January or February. We have been to St. Martin, Aruba, Martinique, Cancun. We want to go somewhere that has good weather, good food and nice beaches. We loved the food in St. Martin and are considering going back. I was wondering about St. Martin versus Curacao. Does anyone have any advice or another island to recommend?

Can't comment on Curacao but can tell you that in January/February if you go to any island south from Puerto rico south the general "weather" will essentially be the same (there's usually only a 3 to 5 degree difference in average temperatures between the northern Caribbean islands and the southern Caribbean islands (of course, whether one area is cloudy or sunny or rainy on any given day is impossible to predict - call up Mother Nature and ask her).

As for an island with a perfect combination of nice beaches and good food consider the following:

St. Bart's - small hilly island with a French flair. Excellent shopping, very nice beaches and plenty of excellent restaurants (you know how the French love their food). Some people think this is the "perfect island".

Anguilla - flat, arid scrubby island with 35 spectacular white sand beaches and over 80 restaurants (some among the best in the Caribbean). This island is all about beaches & food.

Curacao. Curacao is unique and different. What atttracts me more is the island´s capital Willemstad. It has a nice European touch to it. The food there is great and Willemstad offers a wide variety of restaurants. The beaches , although not as white sandy as Aruba is nice. Snorkeling and diving in Curacao is a must do. If I were you I would like to try something new so yes, I´ll pick Curacao.

I was there in Curacao in April...I loved the island..

Could also try Guadeloupe, have been during December/January and the weather was hot. There are great beaches on the Grande-Terre side of the island.

I was also in Curacao, it has completely different landscape to other islands, lots of cactus. It's more of a real place with tourism as a side line rather than the main industry. I thought the beaches were great, especially Knip Beach which is stunning and the beach by the Marriott is good as well. I thought the food was better in Aruba & Bonaire.

I went to Curacao years ago (17 years or so)...loved the resort....I didn't like the island so much....maybe things changed - but then it appeared to be a stop for ships to refuel for gas...i don't know - to me Curacao is no comparison to Anguilla or St. Barts - maybe Bonaire compares - but not Curacao.

BellaClaire. I started going to Curacao for vacation since 2001 and boy it changed everytime I went there(yearly almost)...
Especially now that tourism is rapidly growing on the island.( I searched online and found out they have an overall growth(North America residents) of almost 40 % compare to last year.

The refinery is still active and yes ships still pass through the lake to refuel.

Still a nice island though....

I am a fan of the Cayman Islands. Seven mile beach is a place where you can easily spend your entire vacation. There are a wide range of excellent restaurants from the ones at the Ritz-Carlton to jerk shacks.

Rose23 - one thing I just thought of that was very cool on Curacao - we were on the beach at night - noticed a ton of people right next door - and it was Earl Klug (sp) in concert - that was a very fond memory and a great time!

I find myself getting attracted to the idea of going to St. Bart's! Does anyone have any moderate priced accomodations to look into?

Can you share your nightly/weekly budget? "Moderate" on St. Barth's can be quite different that in the US and Caribbean islands...

I was thinking that moderate would be something like $150 per night for hotel.

If you have never tried the Turks & Caicos Islands, please check us out. Grace Bay Beach was voted best beach in the world by Trip Advisor! There are great deals being offered right now as well. The resturants are fantastic and variety is amazing.

Love St. Maartin, the landscape is beautiful and with both the French and Dutch side you have alot of restaurants to choose from. We stay at the Weston, actually just bought a time share there b/c we love the property so much..

Sorry we stay at the Westin not Weston..OMG check it out...

Curacao, even though one of the ABC islands, is very different than Aruba.

Aruba is more like the Jolly Pirates, banana rides, jet skis and windsurfing at the fisherman's huts.

Curacao has the canal like in Amsterdam, the world famous Curacao liquor distillery, and the trolley trains. It also has the sea aquarium and the ostrich farm. I personally really, really like Curacao!

Sorry to say there is only one hotel on St. Barth that I can recommend that would make your budget requirement during high season. The Sunset Hotel is located in Gustavia, on the harbor. [email protected]

It can be noisy, but is ideally located for food, drink, and shopping. Very basic accomodation. Good luck in your vacation search.