Caribbean Vacations: What Have Been Your Experiences?

Go all inclusive. Sans Souci and Ciboney in Ocho Rios are quite superb. Day trip to Dunn's River Falls (Dr. No). Stay away from bus trips to markets, etc. Tourism folks are top notch in Jamaica.

Antigua was a great time. Jolly Beach. Great beach. Very nice islanders.

st martins is always rated pretty high in terms of best places to go in the caribbean. it was beautiful and the people were incredibly nice. st.thomad was also real beautiful but a little different feel considering it is an american island and is more touristy in a way. both beautiful though.

The only place I have been in the Caribbean is Anguilla. Loved it, but if nightlife and/or shopping are on your list, this is not the appropriate island.

Haven't been to Jamaica, so all I know is what I hear. Almost everyone says "Don't leave your resort compound", which sounds like some sort of punishment to me. I have met a couple of people that have explored the island on their own, but it seems like they were pretty savvy/adventuresome/not-worth-robbing types.

But I have spent a lot of time on some of the other islands.

I am more of a stay in a small inn, hike/drive around and explore kind of guy than a stay in an all-inclusive resort person, so FWIW:

My favorite is Puerto Rico. The people are really great. Get out of San Juan (although hitting the little bars in Old San Juan is really cool) and see the countryside a bit. Steer really clear of La Perla in Old SJ- got shot at once there. Get away from the bad inner-city element, and Puerto Ricans are the nicest people I've met anywhere. There are some bad apples here and there, but they're usually easy to spot. Vieques and Culebra are really cool; Vieques has a little bit of a rough druggy element in town, and a lot of ex-pat substance abusers bumming around, Culebra is pretty mellow.

St. Thomas is nice, but Charlotte Amalie has a rough Rasta element and some crime. Got a knife pulled on me there years ago. Get out around the island, though, and there are great beaches and it's very beautiful.

St. John is like la-la land. Relatively quiet, safe, extremely beautiful. Great beaches. More high-end, boutiquey.

Tortola has beautiful scenery and that cool yachting vibe. I was there during a garbage strike and a holiday, so my experience wasn't the greatest, but I'd try it again.

Jost Van Dyke is wacky and has a great beach. The opposite of a resort, very small and quiet.

Let's see... St. Martin I thought sucked, at least the Dutch side. Gross tacky tourist trap. On the French side got robbed of all my high-end camera equipment, and got the impression from the police that it's basically to be expected. The French side does have some great French restaurants, especially in Grande Casse (sp?). The beaches and general scenery are mediocre, IMO.

Saba is flipped out, and incredibly cool. No beaches- I swam off the harbor jetty. Clean, safe, tidy, German/Dutch work ethic. A diver's paradise. No big hotels, but nice little inns.

St. Kitts is different, and pretty cool. The beaches are mediocre. Driving around the island is interesting, and the whole sugar plantation feeling is interesting. Some really nice inns and restaurants. Not super scenic. The locals seem pretty cool for the most part.

Dominica is really cool for the first few days, but can wear you down a little bit after a while. Very scenic, great mountain drives, hiking. Very hot and humid and jungle-ey. A lot of critters- I had to swerve to avoid running over big road-kill boa constrictor. The locals are pretty cool, but a little funny at times. Overall, Dominica is pretty spartan, with few creature comforts, mediocre restaurants and beaches.

So that's where I've been in the Caribbean. If you're looking for resort/golfing/shopping/night life, I can't help you (except that San Juan has cool night life.)

Oh- and summer in the Caribbean is BRUTALLY hot and humid, and I avoid it if I can.

If I can provide any more specific information about any of the places I've mentioned, let me know. Good luck.

David

From the places I visited:

Puerto Rico: Love the culture, the food, and the people.

St. Maarten: I frequent this island quite often since my family has a house down there. The nightlife is good, great food on the French side, overall it's a great vacation spot. Here are some pics from the house:



Anguilla: I absolutely love, very underdeveloped Island, some great restaurants, the beaches are some of my favorites. It is a very laid back and relaxing place so don't expect much of a night life. I usually stay in the Villas at Cap Juluca (pricey but worth it)
Here is the view from one of the villas


St. Barts: Good nightlife, good beaches, overall you can't go wrong with this island.

Of the places I've been in the Caribbean (which is by no means everywhere), Jamaica is solidly on the "not anxious to go back" list.

Here is a quick summary of places I have some experience with:

Favorites:
--Virgin Islands...any of them, USVI or BVI. Except St. Croix which is on my no experience list.
--St. Martin/St. Maarten
--Grand Cayman
--St. Barts
--St. Kitts

To Be Avoided:
--Barbados

Not Anxoius to Go Back/Not that Great:
--Jamaica
--St. Lucia (beautiful island, but bad panhandling)
--Puerto Rico (big island, only been to San Juan, perhaps other parts are better).

I have been to CArtegena a few times, and would highly recomend it. not too expenseive, beutiful old city, good beaches with very nice, warm water. not very many tourists.

I have been to Cancun - totally different experience, all inclusive, hardly left the hotel. but I would do that again, too. great beaches, great weather.

Agreed. Or Playa del Carmen. Same experience. Right down the beach, but a bit less crowded.

Mark - such a strange statement about Barbados. I absolutely loved Barbados when I went there a few years ago.

That's interesting. There were things I liked about the island (the people seemed very nice, for instance). But the island is flat and featureless (like the Bahamas and Caymans, to be fair) and we were accosted by panhandlers nearly everywhere. There was one nice beach we found, but beyond that I must have missed what the attraction is. Admittedly I don't know the island well, so I'm happy to be corrected. I just think that there is much more to be offered nearly everywhere else I've been in the Carribbean. But again, maybe I just went all the wrong places.

EDIT: Our best experience on Barbados was taking the city bus to the beach. The people were extremely helpful and friendly in helping us get where we needed to go. I contrasted it to the lady working in the Paris Metro that refused to even make change for us.

We were on the east coast of the island which had unbelievably beautiful landscapes (flat white sand beaches in the south, rocky surfing area in the north). People were really nice in the small villages, especially the middle age and older ones. Fish markets, cricket games, local attractions, local Saturday village fair/party, etc.. We really had a great time there beyond the beach.