The Caribbean temperatures range from around 28oC (83oF) in the winter to nearly 32oC (89oF) in the summer. Some of the coolest daytime temperatures in the wintertime are noticed in Turks & Caicos, Puerto Punta, The Bahamas, Punta Cana, and Roatan, with averages around 27oC (80oF), while the hottest destinations with daytime temperatures flirting with the low 30s Celsius (low 90s Fahrenheit) in the summer are St. Thomas, Grand Cayman, Curacao, Cancun, Aruba, and Cozumel islands.
Located on the northern end of the Lesser Antilles, Anguilla is a beautiful British overseas region that consists of the main island and many smaller coral islands and cays. Despite its small size (26 kilometres/16 miles- long by 5 kilometres/3 miles wide), it is home to an impressive array of 30+ sugary shores and powdery beaches to cater to the needs of tourists loving seaside activities.
Antigua and Barbuda supposedly have as many sugary shores as the days in a year! With around 365 beaches to choose from, visitors are definitely spoiled for choice. Some of the most pristine and popular shores along the Antigua and Barbuda coasts are the Atlantic Ocean-facing Half Moon Bay, quiet and scenic Darkwood Beach, charming Crab Hill Beach (aka Turners), lively Dickenson Bay, family-friendly Long Bay, relaxing and “wild” Fryes Beach, and snorkelling-perfect Pigeon Point.
Tucked in the Southern Caribbean Sea, just a few miles off the Venezuela coast, Aruba is one of the Lesser Antilles islands, alongside the Barbados, Grenada, Virgin Islands, Curacao, Tobago, and a few more other islands. The independent country of Aruba is located within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and spans over 33 kilometres (21 miles) in length and 9 kilometres (6 miles) in width, covering an area of around 193 square kilometres (75 square miles).
Aruba is covered with more than 150 flights from several countries, including the U.S.A, the UK, the Netherlands, and other Caribbeans islands, while it can also be reached via cruise ships, which arrive at the island every week.
Although a relatively small island, compared to its other Caribbean siblings, Barbados is home to amazing towns and villages that dot its stunning landscape. Some are lively and scenic and perched inland, amidst exotic terrain and historic buildings, while others are more remote and tranquil and offer magnificent views of either the Caribbean Sea or the Atlantic Ocean. In any case, expect a wide array of options waiting to surprise you in their own special way.
From coral gardens and once-pirate coves to boulder-spattered shores, volcanic peninsulas, granite rocks, multi-coloured reefs, secluded shores, and lobsters’ marine playgrounds, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) is a paradisal land in the Caribbean enchanting visitors with unparalleled beauties, impressive diversity in everything around and about the BVI, and exoticism at unbelievable levels, both above and below the water. Of course, the picture is not complete before we count the always-smiling locals who are ready 24/7 to fire up that BBQ and grill anything from mahi-mahi to kingfish and yellowtail! Wondering what you can do when vacationing in the BVI? Here is an illustrative list to give you an idea!
When you fly to Curacao, you land at the main Curacao airport, the Hato International Airport, which is about 9.5 kilometres (6 miles) from Willemstad, the island’s capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its beautiful, historic, Dutch colonial-style buildings in bright pastel shades, such as yellow, orange, and red. These include former plantation estates (aka Landhouses) and former slave quarters in impressive West African-style architecture scattered across Curacao. Some of these dwellings have been restored and turned into museums that everybody can visit.
The official name of Dominica is the Commonwealth of Dominica. However, the indigenous Carib tribe that settled the island in the 14th century called it Waitikbuli, which translates as Tall is Her Body! It ended up being called Dominica when Christopher Columbus sighted the island during his explorations in 1493. It was a Sunday then, or Domingo in Latin!
Also referred to as the Isle of Spice, Grenada is a West Indies island soaking some warm rays in the eastern Caribbean Sea while sitting on the northern arc of the Lesser Antilles, some 160km (100 miles) from the north Venezuela coast. You’ll find it spreading its feet between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator and, as a country, it consists of the main Grenada island and the southern Grenadines (a complex of two smaller, but equally ravishing and charming, islands, namely Petite Martinique and Carriacou).
Located in the Leeward Islands in the West Indies, Montserrat is a popular tourist destination primarily for its superb natural landscape and the unique morphology that has been shaped after the catastrophic volcanic eruption of the Soufriere Hills Volcano in 1997 that reshaped the island almost in its entirety, making its shores adorned by black sand and nearly 75% of its inhabitable land turned into the now referred to as the Exclusions Zone, which is home to more than 50 towns and villages buried under tons of lava and volcanic ash, including the former Montserrat capital, Plymouth.
The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis is a country belonging to the inner arc of the Antilles island chain. Once part of the British Leeward Islands Colony, it got its independence in 1983, forming one of the newest nations in the Western hemisphere. However, both islands have retained strong ties with the other nations of the Commonwealth, while also having the British monarch as their sovereign.
Saint Lucia got its name from French sailors whose ship, Saint Lucy of Syracuse, crashed in 1502 off the shores of the island. This makes Saint Lucia the only nation in the world that has been named after a woman.
St. Vincent's rugged and mountainous terrain, which lies across the whole back side of the Island, protected it for many years from those who wished to colonize it and control the indigenous people. The Kalinago or Carib indigenous people named it "Hairoun" or Land of the Blessed – a name still used today.
The entire Bahamas has a remarkably rich colonial heritage that is highlighted in its lively capital, Nassau. So, expect to find plenty of colourful buildings around popular sites, such as the Price George Wharf and Parliament Square, and an old-world charm swirling in the air. Among the must-visit historic landmarks are the beautiful Versailles Gardens, the Cloisters, and three iconic forts. One of them, namely Fort Fincastle, is also home to Queen’s Staircase, one of the most visited places in the Bahamas.
Trinidad and Tobago is a Caribbean nation located in the southernmost part of the Lesser Antilles, in the West Indies, and northeast of the Venezuela coast. Interestingly, it has not always been a twin island country! Tobago changed many hands up until 1889 and was a colony of the Spanish, then the British, and finally the French and the Dutch, while Trinidad was originally a Spanish colony. The world heard of the Trinidad and Tobago nation for the first time in 1889, and 63 years later, it achieved its independence.
Besides a long stretch of fine sand, the Turks and Caicos Islands are home to dozens of underwater cave systems and the world’s widest Blue Hole underwater cave system, namely the Middle Caicos Ocean Hole, located in Caicos Banks, which is twice the width of the once regarded as the largest blue hole on earth, the Great Blue Hole of Belize.
The US Virgin Islands enjoy a subtropical climate that is significantly tempered by the easterly trade winds that often blow. The average yearly temperature is around 27.6oC (82oF), with the hottest period being between May and October when the temperatures can go as high as 32oC (90oF). Also expect relatively low humidity with little seasonal temperature variation, though. As for the rainy and hurricane season, it starts in September and lasts until November.
