Covers the six Hawaiian islands, Key West, Nantucket, Hilton Head, Fiji and Bora Bora, plus the passport rules for US citizens.
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You can reach 13 islands in our set without a passport: six in Hawaii, three in the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Key West, Hilton Head and Nantucket. They are very different trips. Hawaii is a long flight to big volcanic islands. The Caribbean territories are closer to the East Coast and sit in the Atlantic hurricane belt. The mainland islands are a drive or a short hop.
We scored all 13 on the same six factors used for 64 islands worldwide, and the result surprises people who assume Hawaii wins. Puerto Rico comes first, 0.3 points ahead of Maui. Maui has the better beaches; Puerto Rico is closer, far better connected and about half the price for a hotel night. Below you get the reason for each island's place, then how to choose between Hawaii and the Caribbean, what ID you need, and the 2026 changes that matter: three Hawaiian hurricanes and the end of Spirit Airlines.
At a glance
Best overall
Puerto Rico, 8.4/10: 41 US nonstop airports, $114 to $120 rooms and a week of things to do
Best beaches
Maui and St. John, both 9 of 10 from our editors
Cheapest room
St. Thomas: $93 a night with tax in Charlotte Amalie on both of our dates
Closest to the mainland
Hilton Head Island: a bridge from South Carolina, 718 miles from New York JFK
Check before booking
Kauai: Koke'e Road and most state parks closed after Hurricane Lowell
Not ranked
Lanai (5.9), Molokai (5.4) and Nantucket (5.2) miss the top 10
The ranking
Score = the weighted average of six factors. How we score
Puerto Rico is first because it is strong on every factor: things to do 9, access 8.9 and value 7.4, with no weak spot. San Juan has nonstops from 41 US mainland airports, more than any island here, and the cheapest 3-star room was $120 on January 13, 2027 and $114 on July 14, taxes in. You get the forts of Old San Juan ($10 for visitors 16 and older), El Yunque, three bioluminescent bays and Flamenco Beach on Culebra. The catch: the best beaches and sights are spread out, so rent a car or book tours, and August to October is the risky end of hurricane season.
Maui is second, 0.3 points behind, despite the best beaches on this list (9 of 10) and top weather. It loses on getting there and on price. Kahului is 2,483 miles from Los Angeles and much farther from the East Coast, with nonstops from 18 US airports, and the cheapest Kihei hotel was $296 in January and $216 in July, about twice San Juan's rate. For that you get Wailea and Kaanapali beaches, Haleakala ($30 a vehicle plus a $1 sunrise reservation) and whales from November through April. You need a car, and Lahaina is still being rebuilt.
Oahu is third: things to do score 9, Honolulu has nonstops from 28 US airports and Waikiki rooms were the cheapest in Hawaii, $139 in January and $169 in July. It is the only Hawaiian island where you can skip the rental car. What costs it is crowds: 5,665,698 air visitors in 2025 on 597 square miles give it a crowd score of 3.9. Beaches score 8, with calm water at Waikiki and Ala Moana and big winter surf on the North Shore. Pick it over Maui for a city, Pearl Harbor and a lower bill.
St. Thomas is fourth and has the cheapest room on this list: Galleon House Hotel in Charlotte Amalie was $93 a night with tax on both dates. Access scores 8.8, because STT still has nonstops from 16 US airports after Spirit's shutdown. Beaches score 7.5: Magens Bay is calm and sheltered, and busy on cruise days. Things to do score 6.5, since much of the best is a 15-minute ferry away on St. John ($8.15 one way from Red Hook). It has no crowd score, because only a partial-year visitor count exists, so its total is averaged over five factors.
The Big Island is fifth: things to do score 9 and crowds 9.1, the roomiest of the big Hawaiian islands. Kilauea has erupted in short episodes inside Halemaumau since December 2024, and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is $30 a vehicle for seven days. Beaches score 7, because many shores are lava rock and the best sand is on the Kohala coast. Weather and price hold it back: Kailua-Kona's cheapest 3-star hotel was $261 to $269. Hurricanes Lala and Nolo flooded the southern Kau district in 2026; the resort coasts were largely spared.
St. John ties Maui for the best beaches here, 9 of 10: Trunk, Cinnamon and Maho bays sit inside Virgin Islands National Park, with calm water and reef a few strokes out. It is sixth because the rest is thin. Things to do score 6, and value 3.4: the cheapest 3-star hotel, St John Inn, was $382 in January and $263 in July, and the next ones were over $600. There is no airport. Fly to St. Thomas, taxi to Red Hook and take the 15-minute ferry. Trunk Bay charges $5 per person aged 16 and up, card only.
St. Croix is seventh. It has strong weather (9.4) and value (7.4): The Comanche Club in Christiansted was $108 in January and The Palms $128 in July. Things to do score 7, the most in the USVI, thanks to the Buck Island snorkel trail, the Cane Bay wall and Fort Christiansvaern. Beaches score 6.5, because the best ones need a boat or a drive. Our verdict is conditional, a 0.4-point penalty: it suits divers and couples more than families, and since Spirit shut down only five US airports fly nonstop, several seasonal. United's Newark flight resumes October 31, 2026.
Hilton Head is eighth and the easiest island here to reach, with an access score of 10: a bridge from South Carolina, and Savannah's airport with nonstops from 39 US airports. A 3-star room was $85 in mid-January and $167 in mid-July. Beaches score 7: wide, flat and lifeguarded in season at Coligny, Driessen and Folly Field, but the water is green-brown, not clear. Weather is the weak factor at 6.5, because winter is too cool to swim. Beach parks charge $3 to $5 an hour for parking from March 1 to September 7, except Coligny.
Kauai would rank higher in a normal year. Its beaches score 8, and Hanalei Bay, Na Pali and Waimea Canyon are the wildest scenery in Hawaii. Hurricane Lowell changed that on September 7 and 8, 2026. On October 19, Koke'e Road, all Kauai camping and most state parks were still closed, so things to do score 7 and the verdict is conditional, a 0.4-point penalty. Haena State Park and the Kalalau Trail reopened on October 15. Kapaa hotels were $233 to $236. Lihue's 11 nonstops are all from the western US.
Key West is tenth because it is a town, not a beach island: our editors score its beaches 4 of 10, with shallow, often weedy water and coarse sand at Fort Zachary Taylor. Access scores 10, with nonstops from 24 US airports or a drive down the Overseas Highway. Things to do score 7.5: Mallory Square at sunset, the Hemingway Home and the Dry Tortugas ferry, from $260 including the $15 park fee. Value is weak in winter: the cheapest 3-star room was $314 on January 13, 2027 and $197 on July 14. Go for a long weekend, not a beach week.
Every island gets a score out of 10 from six factors: weather (20%), beaches (25%), things to do (25%), getting there from the US (10%), value (10%) and room to breathe (10%). Weather, access, value and crowds come from data: airport climate records, distance from four US hubs plus nonstop counts, Kayak hotel prices for January 13 and July 14, 2027, and official visitor counts per square mile. Beaches and things to do are our editors' scores. An island with a conditional verdict loses 0.4 points. St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix, Hilton Head and Key West have no reliable island-level visitor count, so their score is averaged over the other five factors. The details are in how we score islands.
Why Puerto Rico beats Maui
Maui scores higher on weather (9.7 against 9.0) and beaches (9 against 8), and the two tie on things to do at 9. Puerto Rico wins the rest by wide margins. Access: San Juan is 1,602 miles (2,578 km) from New York JFK, while Kahului is 4,917 miles from JFK, and San Juan has nonstops from 41 US airports against Maui's 18. Value: the cheapest 3-star-or-better room was $114 to $120 in San Juan and $216 to $296 in Kihei. Crowds: Puerto Rico is a big island, about 3,515 square miles, and spreads its visitors thinner.
So the ranking turns on where you live and what you want. From the East Coast or the Midwest, Puerto Rico is the easier and cheaper trip. From the West Coast, Maui is 2,483 miles from Los Angeles, and Puerto Rico 3,382, so the access advantage flips. If beaches are the whole point, Maui or St. John is the better pick.
Hawaii or the Caribbean: seasons and storms
The two groups have different calendars. Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are driest and busiest from December to April, and August to October is the risky stretch of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks around September 10, per the NOAA National Hurricane Center. Hawaii's Central Pacific season has the same dates but usually fewer direct hits.
2026 was the exception. Hurricane Lowell hit Kauai directly in September, Lala and Nolo flooded the Big Island's Kau district, and on October 19 Kauai's Koke'e Road and most of its state parks were still closed. If you are booking August to October anywhere on this list, buy refundable rates or insurance with hurricane cover. Our hurricane season guide has the month-by-month risk.
ID, inspections and the Spirit shutdown
None of these islands needs a passport for a US citizen. To fly anywhere you need a REAL ID-compliant license or a passport, and TSA charges a $45 ConfirmID fee if you show up without acceptable ID. Two extra steps apply in the Caribbean territories. Flying home from Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands, USDA inspects your bags for fruit and plants. From the USVI you also clear CBP, so carry a passport, or a raised-seal birth certificate plus photo ID. Our passport rules guide covers the details.
Flights changed in 2026. Spirit Airlines shut down on May 2, ending its Fort Lauderdale and Orlando flights to the Virgin Islands; the Port Authority told senators St. Thomas lost 565 scheduled flights and St. Croix 81 from May to December. St. Thomas still has nonstops from 16 US airports. St. Croix is down to five, several of them seasonal.
Which US island for which trip
Families with small children: Hilton Head for lifeguarded, flat beaches and a drive; Oahu or St. Thomas for calm water and easy logistics.
Couples: Maui for resorts, St. John for quiet national park coves, Key West for a long weekend of food and sunsets.
Divers and snorkelers on a budget: St. Croix, for Buck Island and the Cane Bay wall at $108 to $128 a night.
A beach-first week: skip Key West, whose beaches our editors score 4 of 10, and Nantucket outside June to September.
Lanai, Molokai and Nantucket miss the top 10. Lanai's cheapest qualifying room was $1,959, Molokai has limited swimming, and Nantucket is a summer-only island priced from $709 a night in July.
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.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best island in the US to visit?
On our scores, Puerto Rico, at 8.4 of 10, followed by Maui at 8.1 and Oahu at 7.9. Puerto Rico wins on flights, hotel prices and things to do; Maui has the better beaches and weather.
Do you need a passport for Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands?
No, not as a US citizen. You need a REAL ID-compliant license or a passport to fly. Flying home from the US Virgin Islands you clear federal inspection, so carry a passport or a raised-seal birth certificate with photo ID.
What is the cheapest US island to visit?
On our Kayak checks, St. Thomas: $93 a night with tax in Charlotte Amalie on both January 13 and July 14, 2027. Hilton Head was $85 in January but $167 in July, and San Juan was $114 to $120.
Which US island has the best beaches?
Maui and St. John, which our editors both score 9 of 10. St. John's north shore is a row of calm national park bays; Trunk Bay charges $5 per person aged 16 and up. Key West scores lowest, at 4.
When is hurricane season for US islands?
June 1 to November 30 in both the Atlantic and the Central Pacific, per the NOAA National Hurricane Center. In the Caribbean the riskiest months are mid-August to mid-October. In 2026 Hawaii took unusual hits, including Hurricane Lowell on Kauai.
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