The Caribbean
The Caribbean is not one kind of holiday. It is many islands, and the right one depends on you.
The Caribbean is not one kind of holiday. It is a sea well over a thousand miles across, scattered with islands that were shaped by different histories and feel different from the moment you arrive: British, French, Dutch and Spanish influences, flat coral islands and steep volcanic ones, places with a lively beach scene and places where the evening’s entertainment is the sunset.
The photographs can look alike: white sand, palm trees, blue water. What you find behind the beach is not. One island is known for its restaurants, another for rainforest, waterfalls and mountains, another for sailing. The same is true of the places to stay, which run from large all-inclusive resorts to hotels of a dozen rooms.
Auria Travel is an independent UK travel agency, and we arrange holidays to the Caribbean of every kind. Most are holidays that tour operators already offer, and our part is to help you choose the right island and the right resort, then book it. Where you want something less usual, such as two islands in one trip or a cruise with a stay, we can put that together.
How Auria can help you choose an island
Most people come to us knowing they want the Caribbean, and not yet sure where. So we start with you, not with a brochure. Who is travelling? Do you want to stay put or explore? Is it a celebration? Do you want everything included, or to eat somewhere different each night? Would you enjoy a lively resort, or a quiet one? Does a direct flight matter?
From the answers our travel professionals suggest the islands and resorts that fit, and explain how they differ. For most Caribbean holidays the right answer is a package from an established tour operator, with flights, transfers and hotel together, and we will find it and book it for you. There is nothing lesser about that: for a week or two in one resort it is usually the simplest way to do it.
Sometimes the holiday you have in mind is not in any brochure: two islands in one trip, a few days in a city on the way, a villa for a family gathering, or a stay before or after a cruise. Then we can put it together around your brief, with the flights, the places to stay and the journeys between them.
Where it helps, we work with trusted local experts on the islands for the arrangements that make a trip run smoothly: a private transfer from the airport, a boat between islands, a guide for a day’s exploring or a table booked for a special evening. Many holidays here need nothing of the kind, and we will not add it for the sake of it.
Ways to holiday in the Caribbean
- All-inclusive
- Meals, drinks and often activities paid for before you go. Some islands have a wide choice of all-inclusive resorts and others very few, which is one reason the island matters.
- Luxury
- Villas with their own staff, beach hotels with long histories and small, polished resorts where the service is the point.
- Family holidays
- Calm, shallow beaches, children’s clubs, water sports and family rooms or villas. The school holidays are the busiest weeks of the year.
- Honeymoons and weddings
- Resorts for adults only, rooms with private pools and hotels that can arrange a wedding on the beach.
- Small hotels
- A dozen rooms, an owner who knows the island and a beach that is never crowded. For people who would rather not be in a large resort.
- Cruises
- Many Caribbean cruises can be joined in the region, and a hotel stay before or after makes two holidays of one.
- Villas
- A house with a pool for a family or a group of friends, often with a cook and a housekeeper.
Ready-made first, tailor-made when it helps
The Caribbean is well served by tour operators, and for most holidays here a ready-made package is the right answer. We say so because it is true, and because it keeps tailor-made for the trips that need it.
Those tend to be trips with more than one part.
Two islands
A holiday split between two different islands: a lively one and a quiet one, or mountains and then beaches. Short flights link many neighbours, and ferries a few.
Cruise and stay
A few nights in a hotel before or after a cruise, on the island where it starts or ends.
A city on the way
A few days in a city such as New York or Miami, then a week on the beach.
Sailing between islands
A crewed yacht or catamaran through a chain of small islands such as the Grenadines or the British Virgin Islands, with a hotel at either end.
A villa and a hotel
A villa for the whole family, then a few nights in a hotel for the two of you.
Islands, and what sets them apart
A few of the better-known islands, as examples of how much they differ. There are many more, and we are happy to talk about any of them.
Barbados
Among the easiest islands to like: a calm west coast of sheltered bays and well-known hotels, a livelier south coast, and an Atlantic east coast of surf and open views. It is known for its restaurants and rum shops, and has direct flights from the UK.
Antigua
An island of bays and beaches, with a long sailing tradition centred on English Harbour and Nelson’s Dockyard. Many of its hotels have a beach to themselves, and it has a good choice of all-inclusive resorts.
Jamaica
Larger, greener and louder, with music, food and a strong character of its own. Resorts line the north coast around Montego Bay and Ocho Rios and the long beach at Negril, while the south coast is quieter and more rural.
Grenada
Called the spice island for its nutmeg and cinnamon. Its capital, St George’s, curves around a harbour of Georgian buildings, and beyond the long beach at Grand Anse are waterfalls and rainforest. It has fewer hotels than its larger neighbours and a slower pace.
- St Lucia
- Mountainous and dramatic, with the twin peaks of the Pitons, rainforest and hot springs in the south and most of the beach resorts in the north. A favourite for honeymoons.
- The smaller islands
- Places such as Nevis, Anguilla, Bequia and the islands of the Grenadines: fewer hotels, no crowds and often a short onward flight or boat from a larger island.
- The large resort islands
- The Dominican Republic has long beaches and many large all-inclusive resorts, with a great deal of choice.
- By sea
- A cruise shows you several islands in a week or two, which is a good way to find the one you want to come back to.
When to go
The Caribbean is warm all year, and the differences between seasons are of rainfall, humidity and price more than of temperature. It is also a very large region: Jamaica and Barbados are more than a thousand miles apart, and the weather in one says little about the other.
- December to April
- The drier months, with lower humidity, and the most popular time to go. Prices are at their highest, above all at Christmas, New Year, February half-term and Easter.
- May and June
- Warmer and a little wetter, with showers that tend to pass quickly. Quieter, and often less expensive.
- July to November
- The more humid part of the year, and the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June to the end of November and is usually most active from mid-August to mid-October. Many people travel in these months without difficulty, and the summer holidays are popular with families, but storms do occur and can disrupt travel. The risk varies from island to island: those in the far south of the region, close to South America, lie on the edge of the usual storm tracks and are affected less often.
- Choosing your dates
- If your dates are fixed, tell us and we will suggest islands that suit them. If they are flexible, a week or two either side of the peak can make a real difference to the price.
Planning your trip
What tends to decide a Caribbean holiday.
- Choose the island first
- Then the resort. The right hotel on the wrong island is still the wrong holiday.
- Flights
- Some islands have direct flights from the UK, taking around eight to ten hours. Others need a change, or a short onward flight or boat, which adds time but often leads somewhere quieter.
- Board basis
- On some islands eating out is part of the pleasure and bed and breakfast makes sense. On others the resorts are self-contained and all-inclusive is the natural choice.
- Size of resort
- A large resort has more restaurants, pools and activities. A small hotel has more character and more quiet. Neither is better: they are different holidays.
- Getting around
- Some islands reward a hire car or a day with a driver. On others most people are happy to stay close to the beach.
- More than one island
- Possible and often rewarding, but connections between islands are not always daily, so the route needs working out before anything is booked.
- Booking ahead
- Christmas, New Year and the school holidays sell out many months ahead, as do the smallest hotels in the winter season.
Thinking about the Caribbean?
Tell us who is travelling, what kind of place you like to stay in, when you would like to go and roughly what you would like to spend. If you have been before, tell us what you liked and what you did not. We will suggest the islands and resorts that fit, and explain the differences between them.
