Best Caribbean islands to visit

Seven hundred islands of impossibly clear water, from cruise-port Nassau to the empty Out Islands.

Music, classic cars, and crumbling grandeur — go for the country, not the comfort.

Cheap flights, warm sea, and a lot more country than the resort brochure admits.

The most characterful island in the Caribbean — and the one that asks a little more of you.

The Caribbean with a US plug socket — old-city romance, rainforest, and a bioluminescent bay.

Three islands, one national park, and no passport needed if you hold a US one.

The dry, breezy Caribbean island that sits below the hurricane belt — sunshine you can actually bank on.

Two coasts on one small island — calm Caribbean west, wild Atlantic east — with the best rum in the world.

The sailing capital of the Caribbean — sixty islands, short hops, and a bar you swim to.

Seven Mile Beach, world-class diving, and the smoothest logistics in the Caribbean — at a price.

The most dramatic-looking island in the Caribbean — two green volcanic spires rising straight out of the sea.

One small island, two countries — Dutch nightlife on one side, French cooking on the other.

One of the great beaches on earth, and not a lot else — which is exactly the appeal.

A beach for every day of the year, and a sailing heritage to match — the Caribbean at its most classic.

The most characterful of the Dutch ABC islands — a candy-coloured capital, below the hurricane belt, over great diving.

The Spice Island — nutmeg, a genuinely lovely harbour capital, and no crowds.

Two islands in one — a rainforest volcano on the left wing, beaches on the right.

France in the tropics — rum distilleries, a volcano, and food that takes itself seriously.

A French village with superyachts parked outside — the Caribbean’s most expensive small island.

The Caribbean’s biggest party and its best birding — on two islands that share nothing but a flag.

Thirty-three beaches, no high-rises, and not much else — deliberately.

The best shore diving on earth, outside the hurricane belt, with flamingos in the salt pans.

The Nature Island — a volcanic rainforest with a boiling lake and almost no beaches.

A UNESCO fortress, a sugar-train railway, and a two-mile channel to a much quieter island.