7 Perfect Islands You Must Visit In the Caribbean

Of all the places I’ve been in the last few years, one place I throw back to often is the Caribbean. I’ve been there a few times now; once by plane and twice by Cruise. Cruising is my preferred mode of transport because not only is your transport your hotel, but that hotel is of the luxury variety, yet still can be one of the cheapest holidays you go on. Not only this, but because you are at sea a lot of the time, you have no choice but to switch off because there is no connection. I love sitting out on the deck by the pool as we sail from island to island. In between bingo and trivia games of course.

This is a collection of some of my favourite places in the Caribbean. I hope I can inspire you to visit as well.

St Maarten

St Martin/Sint Maarten was one of my favourite islands in the Caribbean. Like many Caribbean islands it has changed hands several times, but unlike most Caribbean countries, two powers actually decided one day to draw a line down the middle and occupy half each. That was the Dutch and the French and the island retains influences from both depending on which side you are on.

Maho Beach is a highlight of St Maarten where you can watch jumbo jets fly in over the beach to the airport next door. It’s exhilarating. Fort Louis in Marigot is an historical spot with some lovely views over the bay and you can have lunch in one of the local lolos in Grand Case. If you have time, drive up to Pic du Paradis for some of the best views on the island.

St Maarten (as well as many other islands in this article) features on many of Celebrity Cruises Eastern Caribbean cruises from Florida.

St Lucia

St Lucia is almost the complete opposite of St Maarten (and many other Caribbean nations). Whereas the Caribbean might bring pictures of crisp white sand, coral and sea life, those features are conspiuously absent in Lucia. St Lucia is more known to mountains, winding roads, and colourful towns such as Soufriere.

On my cruise day ashore in St Lucia I also visited the Sulphur Springs Volcano — the Caribbean’s only drive-in volcano — where you can take a bath in the mud that has been heated by the volcano. You could dedicate the day to hiking up one of the Pitons — the paired mountains on the coast near Soufriere; or you could just take a photo of them from a nearby hill as I did. It’s not the idyllic “park yourself on a beach” destination, but I loved St Lucia for its variety and its difference.

Barbados

Barbados is the classic island destination. You know what I said about St Lucia above? Well Barbados is the complete opposite. Wide beaches, snorkelling, beers on the beach, rum punch and the odd rope swing all feature heavily in Barbados. When my cruise took me here I spent the day in and out of my deck chair, jumping off the rope swing on the pier, drinking cocktails, seeing turtles and drinking beers. It was paradise. On the way back to the ship I stopped off at the Mount Gay Rum Distillery for a tour and some very generous samples.

St Kitts

St Kitts, one of two islands that make up St Kitts and Nevis, is a great island to drive around. The mountains in the centre are lassoed by a ring road with activities around it perfect to fill in a day. Romney Manor is an historic property that is now home to a batik shop complete with demonstrations. Arguably (definitely) more important to the history of St Kitts, Brimstone Hill Fortress sits high on the hill keeping watch over the tiny island nation as it has done for centuries under the command of, depending on the season, the British and the French.

All the best beaches are down south, past the incredible views of Sir Timothy’s Hill. Relaxation is the order of the day around Cockleshell Bay while adventure activities and beach bars abound on South Frigate Bay.

Some may also wish to take the scenic railway through villages and sugar cane while drinking unlimited rum punch. I didn’t do it but it sounded like an easy way to see a lot — and drink a lot — in a short amount of time.

St Thomas

St Thomas housed one of my favourite Caribbean Beaches, Magens Bay. We had a wonderfully relaxing morning playing in the calm water before the crowds arrived. Drake’s Seat and Mountaintop both offer incredible views of the island below, but Mountaintop has the added benefit of offering Banana Daquiris, which they claim was invented here.

Charlotte Amalie, the capital of St Thomas had the most character of all the towns I visited in the Caribbean. It was genuinely bustling with bars and restaurants overflowing with people. After taking the Skyride to Paradise Point (cable car), my brother and I stopped and had a beer at a small rotunda bar in a swing. It was a glorious day.

Grand Turk

Grand Turk, the capital of Turks and Caicos, is a tiny blip in the ocean and when our ship arrived, it became the tallest structure there by a fair margin. We took a short boat ride to some of the clearest water I’ve ever seen, which made it the perfect place to go snorkelling. After, we were taken to Gibbs Cay where we all took turns of having a little cuddle with a manta ray before heading back to the beach near the boat for some beach beers.

But even though that sounds like an incredible day, it won’t be complete unless you take some Turks and Caicos chocolate rum home with you. Even if you don’t like rum, put me to the test and try it. My only regret in life is that I couldn’t bring home 100 cases of the stuff.

Nassau, Bahamas

While Nassau does not come across as your typical beach island escape, as the capital of the Bahamas it does emit its own certain charm. If you don’t mind splashing the cash, the Atlantis mega-resort is a must-stop. There is a huge pool and waterslide complex, a casino, endless eating options (in case you haven’t eaten enough on the cruise already), and you can even swim with stingrays.

We hired a driver for a few hours who took us through the ghetto (for some reason), then contrasted this to the affluent area, which was attracting a lot of investment. We finished the visit of Nassau at Junkanoo Beach, my favourite spot because I love being able to buy food and beers on the sand. For a couple of bucks I tried the conch fritters, which is something I’d never even heard of at the time but is somewhat of a specialty in the Caribbean.

Just writing this article has got me pining for the Caribbean again. I long for the blissful days at sea, bottomless virgin piña coladas (we didn’t spring for the alcohol drinks package haha), and dinners where everyone calls you “sir” with adding “you’re making a scene”.

This post is done in collaboration with Celebrity Cruises but all opinions remain my own. 

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