The 10 best Caribbean holidays to book now

From diving in Dominica to scaling the heights of St Lucia, Nigel Tisdall reveals great new ways to explore

2023-11-11 -

Our love affair with the Caribbean is enduring – the guaranteed warmth, bountiful sunshine, scenic splendour and charismatic people are just a small fraction of what makes it one of our favourite winter sun destinations. And that doesn’t look set to change anytime soon. “It’s been a fantastic year,” Donovan White, Jamaica’s director of tourism, recently announced. The flagship Caribbean island is expected to clock up 3.8million visitors this year, an increase of over five per cent on pre-pandemic levels. Almost 400,000 of these will be from the UK, a sure sign that our long-running ardour for this charismatic region remains as strong as ever.

This winter there are even more ways to reach that life-enhancing sunshine. Virgin Atlantic has just launched a twice-weekly route from London Heathrow to Turks and Caicos and will next month increase its services into Grenada to three times a week. Norse Atlantic Airways will start flying from London Gatwick to Barbados and Montego Bay, Jamaica, on December 1. While for travellers in the north of England, Aer Lingus recently commenced flights from Manchester to Barbados three times a week.

If there is a fly in the callaloo soup, it is that holiday prices can seem eye-wateringly high. Bagging a week in the Caribbean warmth between December and March for under £2,000 a head with flights can be done, but you’ll need to double that budget if you want a luxury hotel at peak time.

Yet this isn’t stopping many of us from booking. Paul Cleary, CEO of luxury operator Caribtours, reports that “bookings are really strong, with old favourites like St Lucia particularly popular”.

One clear trend is that many of us, especially families, are opting for all-inclusive resorts in order to help keep costs under control – and hoteliers are responding. Marriott is busy upgrading six properties on Barbados, including the child-friendly Turtle Beach and Crystal Cove resorts, while Sandals will open a couples-only all-inclusive on the island of St Vincent in March.

Even if you’re the most seasoned Caribbean holidaymaker, there’s plenty that is new and enticing on offer this season. Yet while developments on the islands abound, the good news is that the essential joys haven’t changed. You’ll find warm turquoise sea, vivid flora, waving palms, smiles of welcome and a hit-the-spot rum punch at sunset waiting. Here’s our pick of the best places to take your sun-hat in the coming months.

DIVE INTO DOMINICA

Green and mountainous Dominica is well-known for its rewarding hiking but also offers plenty of thrills underwater. At the heart of its sleepy capital, Roseau, Fort Young Hotel & Dive Resort has just this month completed a £14 million upgrade that includes 60 new rooms, some with a seaview balcony, plus a wellness roof garden and rum shop. A 40-minute guided dive from its private jetty costs £56 per person, where sights include the cannon from a sunken Spanish ship, the wreck of an early 1900s luxury yacht and submerged factory equipment that is now squatted by colourful crustaceans.

Two new dive boats run three-hour trips to see sperm whales that are resident year-round (peak viewing is November to March) while snorkelling fans should seek out Champagne Reef where underwater hot springs create a magical bubbling effect. If you like lots to do, book an “island included” package which combines a daily adventure such as hiking to waterfalls and spearing the invasive lionfish, with yoga and massages in the waterfront Zemi Spa.

Trailfinders (020 7368 1317; trailfinders.com) offers seven nights at Fort Young Hotel from £2,059pp room only, including British Airways flights from London Heathrow to Barbados, inter-island flights and transfers.

SEE ST KITTS DIFFERENTLY

While its beaches are certainly glorious, there’s so much more to St Kitts than fly-and-flop bliss – and Charitable Travel has launched a new holiday to prove it. Staying at Belle Mont

Farm, a hilltop eyrie with panoramic views across land and sea, you’ll have the chance to volunteer with a local turtle conservation project, explore the island’s cloud forest on hikes and ziplines, join a traditional batik-dyeing workshop and discover its rich maritime past at Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park – a Unesco World Heritage site. St Kitts is served by direct flights from Gatwick by British Airways, and enjoys smart, speedy ferry services to neighbouring islands too: Nevis, its even quieter sister isle, is just 45 minutes away. Charitable Travel’s itinerary can include a day trip to Nevis – but to explore even farther, hop on the new fast-ferry service to St Eustatius, or “Statia”, a little-visited Dutch island of just 12 square miles (makanaferry service.com). It is 80 minutes from St Kitts (or 45 by private speedboat), and promises a mix of culture and adventure: there is plenty to satisfy hikers, birdwatchers and divers. The Quill/Boven National Park has eight trails, including one to Mazinga Peak. Stay at the new, 70-room Golden Rock Dive and Nature Resort which has a football pitch-sized saltwater lagoon with a sunken school bus serving as an artificial reef.

Charitable Travel (020 3092 1288; charitable.travel) offers seven nights at Belle Mont Farm from £3,130pp, including flights, private transfers, breakfast and a £313 donation to a charity of your choice.

Turquoise Holidays (01494 678400; turquoiseholidays.co.uk) offers seven nights at Golden Rock Dive and Nature Resort on St Eustatius from £2,956pp, including flights to St Kitts, transfers and breakfast.

REACH NEW HEIGHTS IN ST LUCIA

St Lucia’s World Heritage-listed twin peaks, the Pitons, are one of the top sights in the Caribbean. Most visitors admire them from the sea or viewpoints on land, while a plucky few take a guided ascent up the 2,619ft Gros Piton. This takes around four hours return with an early start advisable. For a bucket-list experience, this winter sees the launch of the expert-led Three Peaks Challenge that adds in the summits of Petit Piton (2,438ft) and Mount Gimie, the island’s highest peak at 3,117ft. In 2022, British ultra-runner Sabrina Verjee climbed all three in just five hours 16 minutes. If you fancy following in her trainers, local climbers Julian Toussaint and Jason Sayers, aka The 758 Adventurers, offer this trio-ina-day for £410 per person or any of the peaks can be tackled individually for £98 per person (facebook.com/ The758Adventurers.com).

For something far less arduous, try a new bamboo rafting experience that takes a leisurely glide down the rainforest-fringed Roseau river. Lasting a couple of hours, the sedate cruises seat up to four guests with children over five welcome, from £45 per adult (stluciabamboorafting.com).

Têt Rouge is a six-suite hillside hotel just a 15-minute walk from the Gros Piton hike. Double rooms from £383, room only (00 1 758 487 5054; tetrouge. com). British Airways (ba.com) offers flights to St Lucia from London Gatwick, from £690 return.

DISCOVER TURKS & CAICOS

Virgin Atlantic’s new flights touch down in Providenciales, the gateway to this beach-rimmed British Overseas Territory 30 miles southeast of the Bahamas. Low-lying and arid, the destination is popular with North American sun-seekers who often stray no further than the upscale resorts that line the stunning 12-mile Grace Bay Beach. Even though it is a British Overseas Territory with driving on the left and a Union Jack on the flag, the currency is the US dollar.

Warm, safe and friendly, the islands are a good pick for a family beach holiday at a dependable all-inclusive like Beaches Turks and Caicos. This covers all the bases with its 21 restaurants, kids