Got our 25th Wedding Anniversary next year and wanting to go somewhere to relax in the sun. Have been to Greece many times but was thinking of maybe somewhere else hence my question. Cheers chaps

In a word, Tobago. In the north you'll find some of the last of the unspoilt Caribbean.

Overheard in the pub:

"I took my wife to the Caribbean"

"Jamaica?"

"No, she wanted to go"

IGMC, couldn't resist

Big fan of Barbados here, usually stay at Cobblers Cove just south of Speightstown. It's a particularly relaxing spot and within easy taxi distance of some of the best restaurants in the Carib like the Fish Pot and The Cliff.

I'd actually consider The Cliff to be the best restaurant I've ever dined at. Absolutely perfect in every way.

Second for Barbados it's beautiful.

Negril in Jamaica was great too and is full of local colour..

cayman islands is crap. full of yank lawyers and accountants, its small, flat, and expensive. underwater its lovely though.

If you go to Barbados, a visit to the Polo Club at Holetown is a must. And you should hire a car and head for the "Scottish District" on the island's north east coast. Completely deserted beaches and spectacular rugged coast line.

What do you want? I live in the British Virgin Islands and have been to a few of the other islands.

Barbados is ok but you'll be falling over Brits. Antigua is about the same, some nice resorts but avoid anything from a Virgin/Thompson brochure.

Dominica (not the Dominican Republic) is Beautiful, unspoilt, low impact tourism, and some of the best diving in the Caribbean, black sand tends to put people off but if you want a Hiking/Diving holiday it's fantastic.

St Vincent hasn't really got the tourism thing yet, but there's some nice resorts. The Grenadines are beautiful.

BVI is the sailing capital of the Caribbean, you can bare boat (sail yourself) or charter with a captain. There's some amazing beaches around the islands. Diving is excellent. Surf is good. There's also some very upmarket resorts. Peter Island, Little Dix, Biras Creek and Bitter End.

Puerto Rico has a nice combination of being a big island but with some good scenery, plenty to do, some good riding (MTB & Darkside) Old San Juan is very cosmopolitan and with everybody speaking Spanish it combines a feeling of mainland USA with Europe. There's also this in February http://www.vueltapr.com/Blog a great way to see the Island, meet the locals and do some great road riding.

St Kitts & Nevis are typical Caribbean Island.

St Maarten/St Martin (half dutch – half french) is ok, but very crowded and very busy when they get the cruise ships in.

Guadaluope and Martinique are part of France, not been to either of them.

Have a look at this forum http://www.traveltalkonline.com they have some very good advice for BVI, St Martin and the rest of the Caribbean.

I'd avoid a package holiday and try and go independently to get the best out of the Caribbean.

I've been to St Kitts.

Small, quiet, pleasant. I liked it – others might find it a little unexciting.

How about spending your redundancy money on a once in a lifetime trip to Here

my sister lived on Monsserat (sp?) for 2 years until March this year.

a boat arriving with some rice on was the highlight of the week.

lots of diving etc, though, maybe it would be different if you just went on holiday there.

Agree with iDave – avoid the Cayman Islands unless you are a diving obsessive.

We had a special year for celebration (two birthdays and a big anniversary). We went to Castara Retreats in Tobago and loved it. Fantastic unspoiled fishing village, great self catering chalets, lovely people. Every afternoon we'd go to the beach and get fresh tuna or kingfish from the fishermen. Gorgeous, fantastic, bliss. Can't praise it enough. We'd go back at the drop of a hat (well, a lottery ticket).

lived on bonaire for a while when i was 5/6.

very nice lizards. and lots of cactii/thorn bushes.

bit small and supposedly now a pretty big nude resort, if you are into that sort of thing.

avoid hurricane season and the super hot summer.

Many thanks indeed – very helpful. Uncle Fred, looking for a quiet beach holiday with white sand and tropical sea etc. Not too touristy (sp)

actually, you really should go to cuba before castro dies and the US go in a shit everywhere

looking for a quiet beach holiday with white sand and tropical sea etc. Not too touristy (sp)

avoid Barbados, St Martin and Antigua.

If you have the cash then have a look at one of the BVI resorts I mentioned, Peter Island or Little Dix would probably suit you best.

Peter Island

Little Dix

St Kitts would also give you some good options and you can get there direct from the UK and you could do a side trip to Nevis from there.

Been to:

Barbados – nice island but I found it very expensive 🙁

Grenada – Got married there 🙂 very quiet & relaxed – nice island 🙂

Trinidad – nice but very scary/violent place – avoid 🙁

Tobago – very cheap but not overly commercialised – will deffo go back & I would happily recommend it to you for your first visit to the Caribbean 🙂 🙂

my sister lives on Antigua, married to an Antiguan. There's plenty there without having to get too touristy, once you know where to go. The SE corner of the island is generally quieter in that respect. The NW is busier, with the larger resorts up there and down the W coast, and the capital city and the ocean port where the cruise vessels dock. That said, touristy or not Shirley's Heights for sunday evening is a must. And despite the murders of 2 tourists last year (which made news because of how out of place it was) it's still one of the safer islands.

wwaswas: I went to Montserrat for a day and once you'd got over the awe of the volcano and the ash, and amused yourself playing dominos for a bit down by the harbour, it was pretty 'quiet'. What was she doing there – part of the gelogical team?

I love the way being descendants of Irish settlers, the names still live on. Dreadlocked guys with names like Sean Fitzwilliam, and the like!!

UncleFred would you be kind enough to email me please

tyger@talk21.com

Many thanks Paul

Turks and Caicos gets my vote – miles of fantastic soft white beaches, coral reefs, amazing sea colours, laid back atmosphere. Heaven …