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St. Lucia is the sort of island that travellers to the Caribbean dream about--a small, lush tropical gem that is still relatively unknown. One of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located midway down the Eastern Caribbean chain, between Martinique and St. Vincent, and north of Barbados. St. Lucia is only 27 miles long and 14 miles wide, with a shape that is said to resemble either a mango or an avocado (depending on your taste). The Atlantic Ocean kisses its eastern shore, while the beaches of the west coast owe their beauty to the calm Caribbean Sea.

Antigua is an island that has always lived by the wind. In the late 18th century, when Horatio Nelson was still a captain, he made the island Great Britain's most important Caribbean naval center. Today the superbly restored dockyard that bears his name at English Harbour is home base for April's Sailing Week, the Caribbean's premier yachting event – and its most boisterous beach party. As for beaches, Antigua's promoters like to say that the island has 365 of them, one for every day of the year. Certainly there are more beaches than you could ever stroll during a long holi...

You’ve probably know Antigua: resorts aplenty, more than 300 beaches, a favorite with sailors… But what about Barbuda? In the West Indian dual nation of Antigua and Barbuda, she is the forgotten stepchild – and for some sophisticated travelers, that’s all the more reason to count their blessings. Barbuda is actually about half the size of her glamorous sibling (and only a 20-minute flight away). However, as sister islands go, A & B are worlds apart. Barbuda has more than its share of glorious (and virtually deserted) beaches, but most of the island is low and scrubby, and the small populat...

Many visitors to Puerto Rico never leave the streets and plazas of San Juan, and that’s understandable, because this most beautiful of Caribbean cities can charm you in a way few tropical getaways can. Walk along the narrow cobblestone lanes and gaze at the wrought-iron balconies, archways, and plazas, and you are in an 18th-century Spanish colonial city, alive with antique shops, art galleries, and small cafיs. By night, this is a city that lives by its after-hours diversions, set to the rhythms of hip-swiveling Salsa. But there are also other, less familiar Puerto Ricos. Sun-and-sand love...

In the days when sugar was the engine that drove the economy of the West Indies, Nevis was known as the "Queen of the Caribbees. " That was a tribute in part to the island's natural beauty, and also to the glittering social life in the plantation houses – a time epitomized by the courtship of a dashing young British naval officer, Horatio Nelson, and his soon-to-be-bride, Fanny Nisbet. What's remarkable about Nevis is that it has lost neither its natural heritage nor its sense of history. Until recently those plantation houses, transformed into stylish, intimate country inns, set th...

In the late 18th century, the massive fortress of Brimstone Hill was known as "The Gibraltar of the West Indies." Built of black volcanic rock (then called "brimstone"), it was held at times by both the English and French, but was a neglected, almost forgotten legacy when efforts to restore it began in 1965. Today the fort, with one of grandest views in all the Caribbean, is a national park and the island's historical centerpiece. But you don't have to be a history buff to get caught up in charms of St. Kitts. This is mostly a low-key island, but shoppers can survey duty-free barga...

Long Island is not only long (60 miles), it is also narrow--no more than 4 miles at its widest point. It is indeed a land of eloquent contrasts in geography, architecture and enterprise. One of the most scenic hideaways in The Bahamas, it is divided by the Tropic of Cancer and bordered by two very different coasts, one with soft-white, broad beaches and the other rocky headlands that descend suddenly into the roiling sea. The terrain varies from sloping hills in the northeast to low hillsides in the south fading into stark white flatlands where salt is produced; from swampland to beautiful ...

Divers and fly-fishermen know Caye Caulker well, but it’s only in recent years that the island has become a popular Belizean getaway for that vast tribe of savvy travelers who judge a place by the availability of hammocks, cold beer, and time for a good book. The island, which sits less than a mile inside Belize’s long barrier reef, is just four miles long and the streets are white sand (which helps explain why golf carts are the most popular way of getting around). Locals say that if you want to know what San Pedro, the main town on neighboring Ambergris Caye, 12 miles to the north, was l...

Stroll at sunset down the Malecón, the timeless waterfront wall on the Havana waterfront, and you begin to get the feeling that time itself stopped in this city in the 1950s. It’s not just the old American cars in the streets or the exquisite colonial architecture with peeling paint in Old Havana. Instead, it’s a sense that the world of modern tourism has somehow largely bypassed the Caribbean’s largest island. And that’s an island with some of the region’s finest beaches (Varadero, with 12 miles of palm-lined white-sand, is as close as Cuba comes to a resort area), untapped diving ...

Grenada's greatest natural assets are, well…its natural assets. Beach lovers have their pick of more than 40 ribbons of sand. Grand Anse, with two miles of white sand and sheltered waters, is the best known, but secluded strands abound within easy reach along the east coast – if you have a 4-wheel-drive. And you'll want one on this island of tropical rain forests, waterfalls, mountain lakes – and some of the most rewarding hikes in the Caribbean. One of the rewards? Take a deep breath: The scent of spices – nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and clove – is always in the air. Grenada...