Runs the scoring program behind every ranking on the site, and writes the world, month and traveler lists that come out of it.
UpdatedThis page carries dated prices, schedules or seasonal facts checked on the date above, and that window has now passed. Re-check the sources at the foot of the page before you book.
Cheap is easy to find; cheap and worth the trip is harder. This ranking scores every island that rates at least 6.5 overall, then weights hotel value at 60% and the overall score at 40%. Value comes from the cheapest room rated 3 stars or better for two adults, taxes in, on Wednesday, January 13 and Wednesday, July 14, 2027.
Jamaica wins with 9.32. Its cheapest Montego Bay room was $53 on both dates, and 24 US airports fly nonstop, so the flight is short too. The catch is the recovery from Hurricane Melissa: the cheap beds are trading, but several big resorts are not. Curaçao is a close second at 9.26 with dry weather and $62 rooms.
Score = the island's overall score, with islands that suit this kind of trip ranked first. How we score
| # | Island | Score | Weather | Beaches | Things | Access | Value | Crowds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamaica | 9.3 | 9.4 | 7.5 | 8.5 | 9.7 | 10.0 | 8.3 |
| 2 | Curaçao | 9.3 | 9.8 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 9.9 | 4.6 |
| 3 | Fiji (Viti Levu and the Mamanucas) | 9.2 | 8.6 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 4.1 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| 4 | Zanzibar | 9.1 | 9.5 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 2.1 | 10.0 | 7.0 |
| 5 | Bali | 9.0 | 9.2 | 6.5 | 9.5 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 5.8 |
| 6 | Palawan | 9.0 | 7.6 | 8.5 | 8.0 | 2.3 | 10.0 | – |
| 7 | Cozumel | 8.8 | 9.2 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 4.1 |
| 8 | Roatán | 8.8 | 8.9 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 9.9 | 10.0 | 3.2 |
| 9 | Phuket | 8.8 | 8.4 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 1.0 |
| 10 | Rhodes | 8.7 | 8.2 | 7.0 | 8.5 | 3.5 | 9.6 | 4.7 |
1Jamaica is first because it has perfect value and a high overall score (8.3) at the same time. The cheapest 3-star-rated room in Montego Bay was $53 on January 13 and July 14, 2027, on Google Hotels, and 24 US airports fly nonstop. Waterfalls, rivers and Negril's Seven Mile Beach give you more to do than most cheap islands. The $53 room is a small guesthouse, and all-inclusives were not priced. After Hurricane Melissa, seven big Montego Bay resorts reopen only in 2027.
2Curaçao is a hair behind Jamaica, with a value score of 9.9 and an overall 8.3. The cheapest 3-star room in Willemstad was $62 on both dates; most others ran $100 to $200 in January. It is dry and sits south of the main hurricane track, so it is also the safest cheap pick for a summer or fall trip. Budget for a rental car and small entry fees at the managed beaches. Six US airports fly nonstop.
3Fiji scores 10 for value: Nadi rooms were $31 in January and $39 in July. It also scores 10 for room to breathe, with fewer than a million visitors in 2025 across the country. Those rooms are transit hotels near the airport; the beaches worth the trip are in the Mamanuca islands, where resorts and boat transfers cost much more, though backpacker resorts reach the islands by ferry. Avoid January and February in the above-average 2026-27 cyclone season.
4Zanzibar has the cheapest beach rooms in the Indian Ocean on our checks: $36 in Nungwi in January and $41 in July. You get Stone Town, spice farms and boat days to the sandbanks for little money. Two things eat into the savings. Entry costs $144 per person before you land, $100 for the visa and $44 for mandatory insurance, and there is no US nonstop. Skip April and May, the long rains.
5Bali had the lowest prices on this list: a well-reviewed 4-star in Seminyak was $22 in January and $30 in July, and the cheapest 3-star listings were $10 and $14. It also scores 9.5 for things to do, from Ubud's temples to Mount Batur. It ranks fifth because beaches score 6.5 and access 2: no US nonstop, and a long connection via Singapore, Doha, Tokyo or another hub. Add $36 per person for the visa and levy.
6Palawan ties Bali on the list score. A well-reviewed El Nido hotel was $40 in January and $44 in July, and joiner island-hopping tours ran about $19 to $29 a person in August 2026. Beaches score 8.5, among the best in Asia. The costs are in getting there: fly to Manila, then Puerto Princesa, then a 5- to 7.5-hour van, or take a small plane to El Nido from Clark. Go from December to May.
7Cozumel combines a perfect 10 for value with a perfect 10 for access. The cheapest 3-star-rated room in San Miguel was $37 on both dates, and 8 US airports fly nonstop. Its reefs are among the best in the Caribbean for divers. A conditional verdict and a 6 for beaches hold it to seventh: the calm west coast is mostly rock and paid beach clubs. It also received 4.7 million cruise passengers in 2025, so plan town days around the ships.
8Roatan has the same perfect value score as Cozumel: the cheapest 3-star-rated rooms were $52 in January and $54 in July. West Bay Beach is soft and calm, with reef a short swim out, and dive courses are the main expense. It loses 0.4 points for a conditional verdict, because the State Department rates Honduras Level 3, reconsider travel, though Roatan is not on its list of high-crime areas. Six US airports fly nonstop.
9Phuket scores 10 for value: the cheapest well-reviewed 4-star in Patong was $76 in January and $32 in July. Boat trips to Phang Nga Bay and Phi Phi, the Big Buddha and Phuket Old Town give an 8.5 for things to do. Crowds (1.0) and access (2) hold it to ninth: more than 13 million overnight tourists in 2025 and no US nonstop. Since September 15, 2026, US citizens get 30 days visa-free, down from 60.
10Rhodes is the cheapest Greek island that clears our 6.5 cutoff: $36 near the Old Town in January and $96 in July, a value score of 9.6. Only Santorini's Fira was lower, at $32 and $92, but Santorini scores 5.9 overall. It also scores 8.5 for things to do, with the UNESCO-listed Medieval City, the Lindos acropolis and boat trips to Symi. No US airline flies nonstop, so connect in Athens or take a ferry from Piraeus of 10 hours 40 minutes or more, from $51 (€45.50). Add the per-room climate fee at checkout.
In this guide
The value score turns the average of our two hotel prices into a 1-to-10 score on a log scale: $60 a night or less scores 10, $600 or more scores 1. The list score is 0.6 times value plus 0.4 times the island's overall score, so a cheap island still needs good beaches, weather and things to do to rank. Islands below 6.5 overall are left out. The full method is on how we score islands.
One adjustment: on Bali, Palawan and Phuket the cheapest 3-star listings came in at $10 to $24, so those pages price the cheapest well-reviewed 4-star hotel instead. Their real floor is even lower than the prices below.
Our value score counts the hotel, not the flight. That favors islands that are cheap to sleep in but far away. Bali, Zanzibar, Palawan, Phuket and Rhodes have no US nonstop, and the first four need a long connection through the Gulf or Asia. Fiji is the exception among the far islands: Fiji Airways flies nonstop from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu, with LAX and SFO round trips from $898 in a sale ending November 3, 2026.
For a short trip from the US, the cheap picks are Jamaica (24 US nonstop airports), Cozumel (8), Curaçao (6) and Roatan (6). Over a week, the hotel savings on the far islands can outweigh the fare; over a long weekend, they rarely do.
The cheapest no-passport options miss the top 10 because their rooms are not cheap enough. St. Thomas had a $93 room on both dates and scores 8.1 on this formula; Puerto Rico, at $120 and $114, scores 7.8. Rhodes, tenth, scores 8.68. The Maldives had a $43 guesthouse room on a local island, but its overall score is 6.3, below our 6.5 cutoff. For Hawaii on a budget, see our Hawaiian budget ranking.
Admission to both sites is included; meals, water shoes and tips are not. Pickup is free around Ocho Rios but costs extra from Montego Bay, about 90 minutes away.
Rating as shown on Viator
It is short for the price and has no hotel pickup. A good option for non-swimmers who want to see the reef.
Rating as shown on Viator
Pickup on Denarau, lunch, beer and wine are included; a small marina levy is paid at check-in and pickups outside Denarau cost extra.
Rating as shown on Viator
Booking through these links supports this site at no cost to you. Prices move by date, so we do not print them here; the official prices we checked are in the page above.
For the lowest hotel price, Bali: a well-reviewed 4-star room in Seminyak was $22 in January 2027. For the best mix of price and trip quality from the US, Jamaica, with $53 rooms and nonstops from 24 US airports.
On our prices, Cozumel ($37), Roatan ($52 to $54) and Jamaica ($53) had the cheapest rooms, then Curaçao ($62). Our Caribbean ranking weighs them on everything else.
St. Thomas, where the cheapest 3-star room was $93 on both January 13 and July 14, 2027. Hilton Head was $85 in January but $167 in July.
On our dates, Santorini's Fira had the lowest floor ($32 in January, $92 in July), though it scores only 5.9 overall. Rhodes ($36 and $96) is the cheapest that ranks here, and Paros ($60 and $89) and Crete ($59 and $112) were also good value.
No. Each is the cheapest double room for two adults for one night, taxes and fees included where the booking site showed them, in a hotel rated 3 stars or better.
Further reading
