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Best luxury Caribbean Beach Resorts are arranged in island/country
alphabetical order.
Anguilla,
Cap
Juluca $$$
[picture above left]
A 179-acre 5 star Caribbean resort overlooking mountains and set
on two spectacular beaches, just 15 mins. from Anguilla's airport.
The Moorish style villas are elegant and romantic, especially at
sunset. Some sea-front suites have covered terraces and marble bathrooms.
Trips to inhabited islands can be arranged. Water sports and tennis
lessons are free; also there's a free kids club with supervised
activities for 3-9 yrs from mid June- early Sept, but no children
under 6 allowed in high season.
Bahamas,
Harbour Island, off Eleuthera Island, Pink
Sands
$$$
This resort is located on one of the Caribbean's
best beaches [3 mile Pink Sands] and used be the most stylish hotel
in the Bahamas attracted many celebrities as a hideaway, but recentry
some say food quality has been gone down the tube.
The 25 cottages scattered in 20-acre tropical gardens are furnished
simply in ethnic style, casual but elegant.
Pink Sands is a 5 minute water-taxi ride from Eleuthera Island.
Barbados,
Cobblers
Cove $$$
A 3 acre resort with 40 English style suites
including 2 deluxe with private pools. It hosts the award-winning
Terrace Restaurant which serves some of the best cuisine on the
island.
Cobbler's Cove offers complimentary tennis and watersports; weddings
can be arranged.
It's 18 miles [45 minutes] from Barbados Airport. Families are welcome
and will find kid's programs and facilities. However no children
under 12 are permitted mid Jan - mid March.
Dominican
Republic, Casa de Campo Resort
$$-$$$
This is the choice for people who think a
Caribbean beach holiday should be packed with action. A massive
complex which has everything, 300 rooms, 150 villas, 3 beaches including
one private, 14 pools in different designs with landscaped patios,
3 championship golf courses, 13 tennis courts, a fitness centre
and so on.
Also boutiques, craft shops, a gallery, a museum and a church. It's
not a bad idea to hire a golf cart to get around this huge area.
Otherwise there are shuttle buses running regularly.
Weddings can be arranged and the place has a good honeymoon package.
It's one and half hours from Santo Domingo town and airport. The
rate depends on the room. Some mixed reviews.
Jamaica,
Half
Moon [Golf, Tennis and Beach Club] $$-$$$
The Half Moon has a worldwide reputation as
one of the finest hotels in the Caribbean and is a holiday destination favoured
by royalty, artists and film stars. It certainly enjoys the most romantic
settings on the island.
The resort is on 400 acres of well-maintained gardens with over
400 rooms/suites, cottages and villas [some with private pools]
and has a private white sandy beach along the half-moon shaped bay.
There are 6 superb restaurants [some of the best in Jamaica] including
an open-air diner specializing in Caribbean cuisine, an 18 hole
championship golf course, 9 tennis courts, and pools.
There's a fully staffed children's center; wedding/golf package
are also available. It's 6 miles from the airport.
Turks
and Caicos, Beaches
Resorts $$$
[picture above right]
For families: this is a sibling of the Jamaican Sandals all-inclusive
hotel chain and especially aimed at families.
It's located on the famous, Grace
Bay, with excellent facilities such as 5 pools [one for scuba
certification, one for kids with a Pirate Island], tennis courts,
fitness centre and 10 restaurants [including Japanese].
3 separate, age-based kids clubs provide both indoor & outdoor
programs. Free spa treatment are also available.
All Sandals resorts, including this one, offer a Hurricane Guarantee
[replacement holiday] as well.
Turks
and Caicos, Grace
Bay Club
$$$
Small
and sophisticated but with large, stylish rooms or villas with sea
views and a full service spa offering various therapies. GBC is
also known for a superb oceanfront restaurant which serves gourmet
Mediterranean-Caribbean cuisine.
A shuttle bus travels to a nearby 18-hole championship golf course,
and there are excellent Scuba and Deep Sea fishing facilities available.
But it's not for children. Turks
and Caicos, Parrot
Cay
$$-$$$
A
60 room 'holistic' designer beach resort with gym, spa, infinity
pool [the island's largest] and plenty of birds [feathered]. A more
Indonesian than Caribbean feel, seafront villas have private pools
and there's Yoga without end and 3 miles of porcelain white sand.
Lots of flash, lots cash, A-list paradise but a very, very dumb,
slow website!
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Caribbean Tours
The
best time to go on a Caribbean Beach holiday:
In
general, December to May is climatically the
best season in the Caribbean while economically May is the best
month as hotel prices double or triple mid-December through
April but the weather is usually still good in May.
Officially
the hurricane season is August
to the end of October but the rainy
season is from May to December.
Mid December is a reasonably safe bet, while good weather
often persists into May.
Of course around Christmas/New Year [last two weeks of December
and first ten days of January] and a week either side of Easter
is the very busiest and most expensive time to travel here
[air tickets too!].
Book
winter Caribbean hotels several months in advance.
August to the end of October is the normal hurricane season
but though hurricanes are rare [especially in southern
islands], rain is not, the humidity can be oppressive and stormy,
water may be rough and unclear and beaches garbed in seaweed.
n.b.
Many Caribbean resorts, restaurants and other services are limited
or shut down completely from September to end of November.
$$=
moderate
$$$ = expensive [over $400 per room]
These are Caribbean low season estimates. In high season some rates
double.
For
more information
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See also
these beach destinations:
Best
Beaches
Pacific
Ocean
Indian
Ocean
Hawaii
Brazil
Greece
Turkey
Thailand
Malaysia
Vietnam
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