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Caribbean, Bahamas & Bermuda

Dana Whitfield

Writes the Caribbean, Bahamas and Bermuda island pages and the Caribbean rankings by month, by traveler and by island group.

Published work

44 signed pages across 2 collections, biggest section first.

Islands 25

AnguillaLong, calm, uncrowded beaches and serious restaurants, with very little else to do. A Miami nonstop helps, but most visitors still come by ferry from St. Martin.Read
AntiguaCalm, sandy west-coast beaches, Nelson's Dockyard and a Barbuda day trip, with nonstops from five US airports. Town rooms are cheap; beachfront rooms are not.Read
ArubaThe easiest beach trip in the southern Caribbean: calm, sandy west coast, dry trade-wind weather, nonstops from 17 US airports. The trade-off is price and a hotel strip that can feel like Florida.Read
BarbadosOne of the most complete Caribbean islands: calm swimming on the west and south coasts, rum, cricket and a UNESCO-listed capital, easy buses and nonstops from 8 US airports. The east coast is for looking, not swimming.Read
BermudaBermuda is not in the Caribbean: it sits in the Atlantic off North Carolina. Short flights from 12 US airports, a Level 1 advisory and pink-sand coves from May to October; cool and quiet in winter.Read
BonaireBonaire is built for divers and snorkelers: a protected marine park along the whole coast, reef you can walk into from the road and very little crowding. Beach lovers and non-divers will find it thin.Read
CozumelA diver's island with cheap rooms and nonstops from 8 US airports. It is also Mexico's busiest cruise port by far, and its calm west coast is mostly rock and beach clubs.Read
CuraçaoMore to do than Aruba and usually cheaper: the colorful UNESCO capital Willemstad, dozens of small cove beaches and easy shore snorkeling. You need a car, and the beaches are coves, not long strands.Read
ExumaA long, quiet chain of cays with shallow sandbars, the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park and the swimming pigs. Few flights, few hotels, and nothing much to do on land, which is the point.Read
Grand CaymanOne of the calmest, simplest family beaches in the Caribbean, a Level 1 US advisory and nonstops from 20 US airports. Not much to do beyond the water, and rooms start well above $300 in January.Read
GrenadaGreen, unhurried and good value: Grand Anse beach, rainforest waterfalls, an underwater sculpture park and real cocoa estates. Its sister island Carriacou is still rebuilding after Hurricane Beryl in 2024.Read
JamaicaMost of Jamaica is open again after Hurricane Melissa. Negril and Ocho Rios are the easy picks this winter; Montego Bay's biggest all-inclusives reopen from December 2026 into 2027.Read
MartiniqueFrance in the Eastern Caribbean: euros, baguettes and rhum agricole, a UNESCO-listed volcano, rainforest and good southern beaches. Getting there from the US means Miami or a connection, and you need some French and a car.Read
Nassau and Paradise IslandThe easiest Bahamas trip from the US: 23 nonstop airports, Atlantis on Paradise Island and day trips to the Exuma pigs. Expect cruise crowds, a Level 2 advisory and resort prices once you leave the cheap end.Read
RoatánThe cheapest good reef-and-beach island on this site, with nonstops from 6 US airports. The trade-offs: a Level 3 advisory for Honduras, limited medical care and big cruise days.Read
St. BartsSmall, French and very expensive. Good beaches in every direction and excellent food, but Kayak's cheapest qualifying room was $1,161 in January and you need a connection.Read
St. LuciaThe most dramatic scenery in the Eastern Caribbean: the twin Pitons, rainforest, a drive-in volcano and steep bays. Beaches are modest, and the main US airport sits at the far south end, a long drive from most hotels.Read
St. Martin / Sint MaartenHalf French, half Dutch, with the most US nonstops in this corner of the Caribbean, good beaches, Grand Case restaurants and ferries to Anguilla and St. Barts. Cruise days are crowded.Read
TortolaThe British Virgin Islands' main island and charter-boat hub. Steep roads, a few very good beaches and the best day trips in the Virgin Islands, with Miami nonstops now.Read
Turks and Caicos (Providenciales)Providenciales has the best beaches in our Caribbean set: Grace Bay, Taylor Bay and Sapodilla Bay. It is pricey, flat and quiet, and one stray bullet in your bag can mean prison.Read
Virgin GordaGranite boulders at the Baths, calm bays like Savannah and Spring Bay, and a yacht-filled North Sound. Getting here takes a ferry or small plane, and winter rooms are scarce and costly.Read
Puerto RicoOld San Juan, El Yunque rainforest, bioluminescent bays, surf in Rincon and ferry trips to Culebra's Flamenco Beach. The best-value Caribbean trip for Americans, if you are willing to drive.Read
St. ThomasThe busiest of the US Virgin Islands: nonstops from 16 US airports, Magens Bay, duty-free Charlotte Amalie and a 15-minute ferry to St. John. Easy and good value, but cruise crowds are part of the deal.Read
St. JohnMost of the island is Virgin Islands National Park, with calm north-shore beaches, reef snorkeling and real hiking trails. Quiet and expensive, reached only by ferry from St. Thomas.Read
St. CroixTwo Danish-era towns, Buck Island Reef, wall diving at Cane Bay and the lowest prices in the USVI. The beaches near the hotels are average and nonstop flights are thin since Spirit's shutdown.Read

Rankings 19

About Dana

Dana covers the islands most Americans can reach in a morning: Puerto Rico and the US and British Virgin Islands, the ABC islands, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, Grenada, Martinique, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Anguilla, St. Barts, St. Martin, Bermuda, Cozumel and Roatán. Each page carries the hotel price found for the same two dates as every other island, the US airports with a scheduled nonstop to the gateway, from airport route data, and the entry rule from the government's page, including the arrival cards and fees some islands now charge online.

Her pages have to say what is closed. Hurricane damage, a resort that has not reopened, a reef or beach fee that has changed and an airline that has stopped flying all go near the top, with the official source. She also writes the Caribbean ranking and its month and traveler lists, where the hurricane season from June 1 to November 30 decides more of the order than any beach.

Dana is an editorial persona. The research, the sourcing and the arithmetic behind her pages are real; the privacy page explains how our bylines work.