The Best of The Caribbean islands
Those unfamiliar with the Caribbean might imagine that one island paradise would be the same as another. After all, isn’t one palm-fringed beach much like another? Well of course the answer is no.
St Kitts & Nevis
Each island in this chain of more than seven thousand has its own character and culture. They are also very different in many surprising ways. Richard and I were lucky enough to visit various islands over the years and on one memorable visit we got to sail St Vincent’s and the Grenadines visiting many of the smaller islands, retracing the footsteps of Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew. Our first visit way back when included two stunning Irish owned hotels, Carlisle Bay in Antigua and Sandy Lane in Barbados. But we also ventured to a little island outpost,
Union Island, where we met Heather Grant and her family who ran Erika’s Marine, supplying most of the yacht supplies and charters out of the small town of Clifton. We really enjoyed their company and stayed in touch. We went back to do a month’s travel writing and Heather organised a catamaran charter and so we set sail with Captain Andell. Our route took us to Petit St Vincent, Tobago Cays, Mayreau, Bequia, Mustique and St Vincent. We fished for our supper at sundown and cooked on board or we took our little dinghy to the beach to explore some island cooking.
We were helped enormously by the handsome and charismatic Andell’s popularity with the locals. If you want to do likewise, I can’t recommend Heather Grant at erikamarine.com highly enough, say I sent you!
>> Room with a View One of my top destinations in the world is Carlisle Bay, an Irish-owned luxury resort in Antigua. I’ve been back a few times now and I’d hop on a plane back tomorrow if I could.
Open your curtains in the morning and step out onto a glorious white sandy beach. Watch as a couple of Pelicans lazily fly around the bay before diving into the clear blue Caribbean waters to catch fish. And in the distance gaze at the island of Montserrat with its smoking Soufrière Hills volcano. Eat great food in either of its two restaurants while deciding whether to go fishing, play tennis or take up a class of yoga at the perfectly equipped Spa. There’s a children’s club, a library and even a cinema. Visit carlisle-bay.com.
>> More Cannes than Caribbean St Bart’s, or the Isle de St. Barthélemy to give it its formal name, is one of the most intriguing islands in the world. Now it’s not unusual for an island in the Caribbean to be French speaking, nor for the Euro to be the main currency, but where are the rusty buses or the run-down beach shacks serving rum? Not here. St Bart’s is not like any other part of the Caribbean, in fact this is France, the chic, sexy and ooh so beautiful Caribbean Cannes. A multitude of restaurants provide brilliant food and at really good prices, from the decidedly gourmand to the beach bar.
>> The X Factor Sandy Lane in Barbados has been renowned amongst royalty, movie stars and the world’s top people for its beauty, service and style. We stayed there for a friend’s wedding and unbelievably met Simon Cowell who is a regular (and he was perfectly friendly). Built amidst idyllic gardens in the style of a colonial villa, it dazzles in the sunlight. It’s also blessed with a long stretch of beachfront and the dominant colour is pink. It has a vast array of activities, including of course three world class golf courses – the Old Nine, the Country Club, and the Green Monkey. Each room is fitted with the latest technology and ours had a fabulous view of the Caribbean Sea and its incredible sunsets.
Visit sandylane.com.
>> Genteel Charm St. Kitts and Nevis, like no other islands in the Caribbean, seem to embody a kind of lush tropical paradise. At the center of Nevis stands the spectacular, Nevis Peak, a dormant volcano covered by dense tropical forest. On the island of Nevis the pace of life is very different to Antiqua or Barbados which is why many people continue to return here. Much of the island’s history is bound up with that of the British Navy. The charm and tranquillity takes you back to a time when things were simpler, when life was more peaceful, when stress was just a word, not a way of life. Like they say on Nevis: “You’re only a stranger here once.”
>> Palm Island One New Year we escaped to the beautiful and remote Palm Island. There were more giant land iguanas than people there when we visited. We rented a rustic villa on the beach and walked the island every night at sunset. We ordered provisions from Union when we needed them and lived a barefoot life for a week.
Now it has developed a bit and you can stay at the Palm Island Resort. I hope it has retained some of its magic and seclusion.