Barbados

Barbados, the easternmost of the West Indies, is sometimes called "Little England" for its resolutely British character. Here you can read the cricket headlines over a breakfast of bangers, enjoy afternoon tea at your hotel, even don a jacket for dinner. But those traditions sometimes take on a Bajan twist. Breakfast can also feature fried flying fish, the rum shops function as local versions of British pubs, and the island "tuk bands" feature both drums and pennywhistles.

Beyond the busy streets of Bridgetown, this highly developed island offers all the creature comforts of a longstanding resort destination, from high-quality golf courses to lively nightlife. There are good beaches, too – fine white-coral-sand strands extending for miles – and some of the region’s best windsurfing (experts favor Silver Sands, at the southern tip, for wave jumping). While the diving is not spectacular by Caribbean standards, wreck-divers can chalk up a lot of bottom time at Carlisle Bay or at Folkestone Marine Park, where a Greek freighter was deliberately sunk to form a now-burgeoning artificial reef.