Sail on Sail Pending

As our first season is downwind from us and a new season is approaching, we are going to look back over the past 12 months and give you a list of our favorite Eastern Caribbean Islands. Everyone has different tastes and I know our list is probably different than someone else’s list. This is just our opinion. Below is a map to see where we have traveled.

Last year we visited 11 countries and 62+ islands from Puerto Rico to Trinidad. Here is the list to our top 10 islands.

10.) Trinidad; We really enjoyed this island because it was so different than the rest. It had the huge city of Port-of-Spain and the remoteness of the Eastern Coast. The Indian style food was delicious and the people of the island were friendly. We visited places where tourist don’t go and WE were the ones getting our picture’s taken. We are sorry we didn’t have time to visit Tobago, but maybe next time around. (Literally, We will have to go the entire way around the world to get back to Tobago from where we are going.)

9.) Water Island and USVI’s; I am looking forward to movie night at Water Island and just sitting in the water watching tourist come off the Kon-Tiki. I know I am weird, but this feels like home and I am ready to get back for a visit.

8.) The BVI’s; OK, OK, I Know….The BVI’s are crowded and things are expensive (VERY EXPENSIVE!) You have to hit the stores at the right time to get semi-fresh food and I don’t know how I am going to spend more than $2.00 on a beer. But, I am looking forward to going back to these islands. It is an easy sail from one island to another and they are beautiful and fun!!

7.) Culebra; Is just off the coast of Puerto Rico, but feels like its 100’s of miles away from the US. The beaches are beautiful, the snorkeling is excellent, the hiking is good if you stay on marked paths, AND the best butcher in the Eastern Caribbean is located in a small back room of the grocery store. (note: not sure why we can not find any pictures of Culebra? I guess we have to go back and take more)

6.) Antigua; Beaches, Beaches, Beaches. How can you not love an island with 365 snow white sand beaches. One for each day of the year!!

5.) Montserrat; The people of this tiny island still live here because they love it and they are happy to show you why Monserrat is such a special place that even an active volcano won’t make them leave. Monserrat’s first settlers were Irish (white) slaves and St. Patty’s Day on this island is a must for any true blooded Irish person. It is a week long national celebration.

4.) Dominica; This country was truly amazing. The people were proud of their island and their culture. The locals tell us that there are more centenarians here than anywhere else in the world. Dominican’s pride themselves on living off the land and preserving the special resources of the island. They use herbs to heal everything from arthritis to cancers and also have the lowest health care cost per capita, at less than $300 per person, per year.

3.) Martinique; The French islands really have it going on. Maybe its the food that gets us, but the islands are green and lush. For the most part people are friendly, but they are French, so what do you expect? Provisioning is easy because fresh items like meats and cheeses are flown in from France daily and fresh fruits and vegetables are grown locally on the islands.

2.) The Grenadine’s are a small group of Islands between St. Vincent and Grenada. The islands of Bequia, Canouan, Mustique,Tobago Cays, Mayreau, and Union make up these islands. They are not easy to get to unless you’re not on a boat and there really aren’t any posh resorts to stay at, but these islands are spectacular!! Every beach and every view is as beautiful as a postcard. The people are friendly and the snorkeling is amazing. This area truly is paradise and this is the area where we spent the most time last season and we still feel like we could spend more. It’s not #1 because of the lack of provisioning and stores. You have to come to these islands well stocked with food and spare parts.

1.) Guadeloupe; this was our absolutely favorite group of islands. The French food was amazing and provisioning was easy at every stop. The snorkeling at Iles de la Petite Terre was the best we’ve seen. The hiking was amazing and they had good trails. We loved everything about Guadeloupe and this is the one island we think we could live on if we had to choose one.

A couple notes to the above list:

St. Martin/Sint Maartin; Would probably be farther up the list if it wasn’t the Marine Center of the Caribbean. We spent WAY too much money on boat parts and spares while we were here and did WAY too many boat projects. We worked more than played.

Grenada; I know people are wondering why Grenada isn’t on the list and here is why. Currently, there is a lot of crime against cruisers on the island, which makes it not so desirable. Also, there are SO many cruisers that spend months/years anchored in the same spot and it is very neighborhood like and “clicky.” Yes, Grenada is a beautiful island, but there are so many other wonderful islands around we found it very easy to leave and we were ready to go. BTW, If we only had to judge Grenada on the out islands of Carriacou, Sandy Island, and Petit St. Martinique then it would be pretty high on the list. We loved these islands.

So, There’s our list of the TOP 10 Islands in the Eastern Caribbean. What islands are your favorite?

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