The Caribbean is generally thought of as a supreme luxury destination, where elderly people with plenty of money go to relax on a beach or in an all-inclusive resort. Jet skis, sailing boats, luxury yachts, 5-star hotels, all the things that would never normally feature in a typical backpacker region!

This impression exists for very good reason. The Caribbean is an incredibly expensive place to get to, travel through, stay in or generally just to do anything unless you really hunt around for good deals. The entire tourism industry on the islands revolves around cruise ships and resorts, hostels are few and far between and public transport is scattered at best and often non-existent. The whole region is just not set up with budget backpacking in mind.

But what do we go travelling for? What do we want to see? Some people go for the food – here you can try every kind of fish imaginable and a dozen different cuisines and specialty dishes as you move around the islands. Others want to see nature and you can hardly do better than the perfect beaches, lush rainforest, towering volcanos and dense reefs that cover the Caribbean. If its history and culture you go for this area is completely unique, if it’s to party then there are cheaper places for sure but the rum and bar vibe in the Caribbean is pretty hard to beat.

Essentially this area has every single thing that would ever draw backpackers as long as they have the budget, time and patience to get to the islands and away from the cruise ship ports and resorts and into the true heart of the Caribbean.

My Trip to the Caribbean

I decided to come to the Caribbean for three reasons. Firstly, I desperately didn’t want to have a cold winter this year. After Harbin and Northern China last year I wanted to spend the winter months in a region that never gets cold. Secondly, thanks to the fantastic people I work for, I had a guaranteed job lined up from February onwards meaning that my budget could be stretched to cover a proper trip here. Finally, after 6 months in China and plans to travel even more in Asia later in the year, I wanted to try a new style of travelling in a completely different region of the world.

If I was going to come here though I was going to try to see as much as possible, as many islands as I could reach, to get a true taste of the Caribbean and the variety of culture here. I flew out to Puerto Rico for the New Years celebrations and spent about a week in San Juan and exploring other parts of the fantastic island

  • Puerto Rico – The Hispanic-American island with its fascinating culture, amazing fiestas and wonderful scenery

The next step was to book a cruise….! I still can’t really explain where this decision came from; one of the only affordable ways to reach Aruba and Curaçao, a totally different style of holiday to anything I’d ever even considered before, unlimited food and alcohol, I’m not sure. These are all good reasons to try it but I don’t remember how they overcame my natural resistance to being stuck on a monster cruise ship with thousands of tourists and only able to see each island stop for less than a day. It was probably just the offer of all the alcohol!

The cruise took me to the following islands:

  • Aruba – This gorgeous island has completely perfect beaches, crystal clear seas and excellent food. This would be a definite option for a beach holiday in the future if flights weren’t so expensive
  • Curaçao – The most Dutch feeling of the Dutch Caribbean islands but one of my least favourites. Willemsted is lovely but when hiking away from the centre I didn’t much like the feel or the amount of trash everywhere
  • St Lucia – This island is covered in lush greenery, stunning coves with all the beaches, bars and restaurants you could ask for. Top of my list of islands to return to for the huge range of exploring and hiking on offer and the sheer friendliness of the locals
  • Barbados – I only saw the coastline of Barbados on my snorkelling excursion but the seas and beaches were fantastic. It felt the most touristy of the islands though, covered in resorts and private houses for celebrities
  • Martinique – One of the French West Indies and easily the most French feeling of any of the islands. The centre of Fort-de-France boasts superb French food while the outskirts demonstrate a very different side to the Caribbean and the colonial neglect here
  • Guadeloupe – Another French island with an interesting main town, historic forts and friendly locals and visitors from mainland France. I didn’t get enough time to explore properly and it won’t be high on my list to return to
  • Tortola & Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands – Both islands were beautiful and managed to keep me interested through one of my worst days in the region. The famous baths area was my least favourite experience of a cruise excursion but the rest of the Virgin Gorda that I explored was wonderful

I got back into San Juan, Puerto Rico drained, exhausted and very conflicted about cruise holidays in general. I had an amazing time but am pretty sure that I won’t do another any time soon or at this stage of my life. Read more here:

Once I’d recovered in San Juan it was time to get back to being a backpacker again. The aim was to visit as many islands as possible without flying between Puerto Rico and Martinique. In order to meet the terms of my USA ESTA I had been required to book my flight out of the region before flying out and the cheapest route I could find between the Caribbean and Europe was from Martinique to Paris. It’s a direct route and kept cheap to maintain links between the French island and the mainland, definitely check it out if you are planning to go this way.

Travelling without flying didn’t work at all! You would think that islands so close together would be connected by an excellent ferry network and you would be exactly as wrong as I was when I assumed that! There are hardly any islands connected by ferries at all. I’ve done my best to summarise the public transport options and restrictions here:

There was always the chance of finding private boats or cargo ships travelling between the islands but that requires 4 things in order to work: Lots of money, infinite time (to wait around on the islands while you are asking at the ports), local connections or a lot of luck. I had none of these things and my efforts were a complete failure. If anyone reading this has some advice about how you can do this successfully please contact me about it, both for any readers and for if I return to the region.

My island hopping took me to the following islands:

  • Sint Maarten/St Martin – The island split between the Dutch and the French is one of the most interesting islands I stayed in and definitely somewhere I would return to. It also features one of the rare hostels in the region
  • Anguilla – perfect beaches, empty of tourists with incredibly friendly people and lovely places to stay. Top of the list for a beach holiday in the future
  • St Barthélemy – The most exclusive and luxurious of all the public islands and by far the least interesting to me. If you have an unlimited budget, a luxury yacht or a private villa this is the island for you, otherwise I’d skip it
  • Saba – The smallest of the islands I stopped at, the whole place is just a single volcano 5km in diameter. It is serene, peaceful and relaxing and I loved my stay there. I’ll definitely return once I have learned to scuba dive as it is supposed to have some of the best dives in the region
  • St Kitts & Nevis – Wonderful people and some of the most diverse and authentic of the cities in the West Indies combined with peaceful nature on Nevis. For some reason though I just didn’t connect to it at all
  • Antigua – Perfect blue waters, amazing beaches and super friendly locals, this was surprisingly one of the more affordable islands to stay on and one with a lot to do and explore
  • Dominica – Say goodbye to the stunning beaches and hello to the dense rainforest, waterfalls and incredible hiking routes on this fantastic island. The weather is deeply unpredictable all year round but in between the heavy downpours are some truly amazing views

I had an incredible 6 weeks exploring the Caribbean. There were hardly any islands that I’d say I spent enough time on, other than those I decided I don’t want to return to. But as a taste of the region, a relaxing period in my travelling and an entirely different experience it provided everything that I had been hoping for.