Caribbean Best Beaches

Bounded by Ocean Park and Santurce, Isla Verde is one of the most accessible and popular beaches on mainland Puerto Rico's northern coast.  Most of the beach is taken up by luxury hotels and condos, but it’s never so crowded that you can’t find a spot. Buy a cocktail or a coconut and settle in for a day of serious sunbathing, or join the locals surfing, parasailing, or jet-skiing.

Local lore claims Antigua has a beach for every day of the year; our favorite is Half Moon Bay on its southeastern coast. This pretty semicircle of white sand stretches for almost a mile along a deep-blue bay. It’s blessed with cooling breezes and a reef that protects the shore and delivers calm waters. 

Anguilla’s most renowned beach, this superb sweep of powdery white sand has sea shell fragments mixed in, lending it a lovely glow. The snorkeling here reveals iridescent submarine life among the coral reefs. It’s well-equipped with watersports rentals and beach-y offerings such as food vendors, hair-braiding, and glass-bottom boat rides.

Le Diamant, as Diamond Beach is locally known, is a sparkling expanse of white sand that runs for six miles facing a rocky offshore islet, Diamond Rock. Lined with turquoise seas and backed with groves of palm trees, it features good restaurants, watersports galore, and terrific swimming, surfing, and sunbathing.

The island of St. Barts has 22 beaches and coves but the most striking swath of golden sand is at St. Jean. Lined with hotels and bistros and sheltered from swells by a reef, this attractive beach is great for swimming and, thanks to frequent winds, windsurfing.

Stretching 12 miles along the northern coast of Providenciales, the pale white sands of Grace Bay Beach are the archipelago’s treasure. Fringed by a barrier reef that calms the Atlantic waters, the ocean here boasts a turquoise luster. Watersports rental outfits line the beach, providing plenty of opportunities for seaborne adventures.

Even though it’s Tortola’s most popular beach, this gorgeous strip of white sand only gets crowded when a cruise ship disembarks for the day. Running for almost 1.5 miles, with lucent seas, emerald reefs, and a palm-lined backdrop, it has beach bars and watersports vendors aplenty to keep you entertained.

On the western coast of Grand Cayman, this crescent of coral sand stretches for 5.5 miles, fringed with crystal-clear aquamarine waters and Australian pine trees. Touristy it is, dotted with upscale resorts and condo compounds, but that doesn’t take away from its natural beauty. Plus it offers a wide variety of water-based sports.

This two-mile sliver of white sand backed by mountains and palms is Grenada’s crown jewel, overshadowing the island’s 40+ other beaches. On this sugary bay, which is sheltered from strong currents and waves, you can swim, snorkel, or just soak up the sun. The hotel district and the local market are just steps away.

Baie Orientale, as Orient Beach is known in French, stretches for two miles. Its smooth white sands and translucent waters are sheltered by snorkel-friendly reefs, which are protected as part of a marine reserve. The entire beach is swimsuit-optional, though you’ll find the greatest concentration of naturists at the southeast end of the bay.