Caribbean Island Tour / Where to go

[NCherches]

I am planning a Caribbean Island trip and am curious what everyone thought on where to go. We will probably skip the Bahamas as we have been there before and would like to hit 5-6 great locations.

Is a handler recommended for multiple caribbean destinations? I'm fairly strong with US/Bahama Customs stuff but haven't really done a trip of this nature before.

Turks / Caicos still a good spot? How about St. Lucia, Barbados, etc?

Anything will help.

 

[Hawker800]

Grand Caymans were good as is St. Thomas. Has been a couple of years since I was there. Maybe someone else can help out.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

Antigua, St Kitts, and Barbados are all OK if you have to go....customs is really no issue at any, typical island stuff just like Marsh Harbor.

Not a fan of most of the Caribbean myself, and imho you wont find nicer people than in Marsh/Hopetown.

 

[NJAowner]

Carib

Depends whether you want busy nightlife or beautiful and peaceful.

St. Lucia is beautiful as is most of St Vincent & the Grenadines. Beautiful water, scuba, snorkeling, etc. A little further north, Saba has some great diving -- I'd skip St. Barfs.

 

[con-pilot]

Through out my career I have favored St. Maarten Island over all the others. One of the many unique things that make St. Maarten so interesting is the dual culture that is on the island. The north half is French and south half is Dutch. The better hotels are on the Dutch side as far as I am concerned, while some of the best restaurants are on the French side. However, don't get the wrong impression, there are many excellent restaurants on the Dutch side as well.

Possibly the most famous bar and airport combination in the world is at St. Maarten. The Sunset Beach Bar located at the end of the runway offers some the most spectacular views of large, B-747s, AB-340s and all the other types of airliners that operate worldwide. It is damn near worth the trip to St. Maarten just to have a fews beers at the Sunset Beach Bar and watch people being blown into the water by large aircraft on takeoff.

So as far as I am concerned, a tour of the Caribbean must include a few days on St. Maarten.

Here is a link to the Sunset Beach Bar. And no, I don't own it, I wish to God I did.


www.sunsetbeachbar.com


Have a few beers for me and enjoy the trip no matter where you go. :beer:

 

[NCherches]

...Any hidden small, peaceful islands we can get a Citation in? I think the bahamas have some that you can park the plane and almost walk to your hotel right?

 

[NJAowner]

I know NJ (if that is any guide for you) will take Citations into many Bahamas islands, St. Lucia, Grenada, Anguilla, Antigua, St Kitts, to name a few.

 

[patq1]

Tortola is a nice place to go in the British Virgin Islands. From there you can explore the the rest of the BVI by boat.

 

[Tgaug6300]

I have been to most islands, the only thing I do is e-mail a handling request (from my BB) to a Handler (pick one in the International Acuquick or get the recent copy of the airport guide to the Caribbean) then get a confirmation back from them. I NEVER use Universal in the Islands (because you will be dealing with the same people as if you do it yourself, it is just they will put their Universal hat on and charge you 10x more).

 

[jetpig32]

Just did Harbor Island, Bahamas (AKA Brilland). Fly to N. Eleuthera and take a quick water taxi over to the island. Rent a golf cart for transportation. Very underdeveloped and not commercialized. Great people, great pink sands beach, a few top notch restaurants. Hotels beach-side are coral sands and pink sands. Hotels bayside are Ramoro Bay (capture point of the Barefoot Bandit), the Rock House, Valentines. Nightlife includes Gustys, Daddy D's, and Vic Hum (this is last case result if you are willing to keep partying till 4am with mostly locals)