More and more curious travellers to the Caribbean are veering off the beaten path. From dramatic landscapes to flamboyant festivals, these five under-the-radar destinations promise a different kind of adventure.
Detour destinations are booming. In fact, according to Expedia’s Unpack ’25 report with Vrbo and Hotels.com, some 63% of travellers say they’re likely to add a lesser known spot to their next trip. Think a peaceful stay in Girona after buzzing Barcelona, some downtime in Krabi following Phuket’s party scene, or a trip to Guadeloupe after a few days in St Lucia.
With its lush mosaic of islands, the Caribbean offers ample opportunity to try something new. It’s a region long synonymous with dream trips — turquoise waters, soft sand and rum punch — but there’s far more to discover beyond the usual suspects. Old favourites such as Barbados, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic continue to draw travellers, but other islands — just as beautiful, with fewer crowds — are beginning to muscle in on the action, too. Increased flight connectivity has made it easier to enjoy a twin-centre trip. For example, Virgin Atlantic flies direct from Heathrow and Manchester to Barbados, where the airline’s island-hopping service can then take travellers on to either Grenada or St Vincent. British Airways, meanwhile, flies from Gatwick to Tobago, with a stop in St Lucia en route. Admittedly, a little more planning is required, but the reward is a chance to escape the crowds and uncover a new corner of the Caribbean, with no compromise on those lush, brochure-worthy backdrops.
So, whether you’re a hiker looking to get off the beaten path or a seasoned gourmet hungry for new flavours, we’ve picked five of the best islands for a new kind of Caribbean escape.
While the Dominican Republic’s shores gleam with luxury resorts, travellers after a secluded escape should head south. Sprinkled through the southern Antilles, St Vincent & the Grenadines is a chain of 32 islands that remains largely unspoilt.
Perhaps the most exclusive hideaway of all is the tiny (and now privately owned) isle of Mustique. When Princess Margaret holidayed here in 1960, Mustique’s hedonistic heyday began, with musicians including David Bowie and Quincy Jones buying their own homes on the island. Today, visitors come for exclusivity, kicking back on the sands of Macaroni Beach, perhaps, or sinking a rum or two at the legendary Basil’s Bar.
But visitors needn’t be A-listers to enjoy the islands’ charm. On St Vincent, the largest island in the country, nature trails snake up from Kingstown into the hills, where botanical gardens showcase lush flora. The tiny isle of Mayreau, by contrast, lies off the beaten track and is reachable only by boat. Salt Whistle Bay in the north is a moon-shaped slick of golden sand, palm trees and neon-blue shallows, making it a haven for snorkellers.
Laid-back Union Island is a short boat ride away, with forest-covered cliffs in the west and the harbour town of Clifton, with its bars and snack shacks, in the east. Bequia, meanwhile, is rumoured to be where pirate Blackbeard had his base, though today the island is better known for honeymooners than high-sea marauders. It’s the most visited of the islands, but still has a laid-back feel and the magnificent Princess Margaret Beach.
While St Lucia’s emblematic Pitons and breathtaking landscapes make it a favourite for travellers, Dominica — to the north — is no less spectacular. Its rugged interior is a wonderland of winding gorges, sulphurous springs and lush forests, all fit for adventure.
Dominica’s beaches are as seductive as anywhere else in the Caribbean: sunseekers head for the fine sands of Hampstead or the coconut-littered shores of Batibou, while snorkellers will find much to discover along Champagne Reef, named for the underwater fumaroles that let out streams of fine bubbles. The island’s wild interior also beckons. Nature-lovers will find themselves drawn to Morne Trois Pitons National Park, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park is dominated by the now-dormant Trois Pitons volcanoes, in whose shadows lies a host of geological wonders. Titou Gorge is a winding canyon with plunge pools that make it a magnet for canyoneers. The Valley of Desolation is a vast sweep of land that leads hikers to the Boiling Lake, one of the world’s largest hot lakes with otherworldly views.
Should hiking through the tropical heat prove too much, Dominica has no shortage of spots to cool off. Emerald Pool is a lush swimming hole in Morne Trois Pitons, while Trafalgar Falls is a soaring pair of cascades, ‘Father’ and ‘Mother’ falls, with a plunge pool beneath the latter. But perhaps the most epic waterfall is Victoria Falls, which thunders 165ft into a gorge below, as it cuts through a rocky valley near the village of Delices.
Picture the castaway beauty of the Caribbean, laced with a touch of Gallic glamour. This lush quartet of islands — Guadeloupe, Martinique and the tiny isles of St Martin and St Barts — are relatively under-explored by British travellers.
The landscapes are far more dramatic than the low-lying sands of the Bahamas, and there are few better places to appreciate it than Guadeloupe’s La Soufrière volcano. At over 4,800ft high, it rewards hikers with sweeping views of sinuous bays, lush hills and mangrove forests. But not all of Guadeloupe’s appeal is on land: oceanographer Jacques Cousteau once proclaimed Pigeon Island one of the world’s finest diving spots; travellers dive at his namesake reserve to see turtles, coral reefs and tropical fish.
Martinique, while smaller, packs no less of a punch. The island has the aesthetics of a Hollywood star with some of the finest experiences in the Antilles: unwinding on the Grand Anse des Salines beach; diving to the wreck of the Nahoon, now a thriving reef, or hiking the mountains, where hummingbirds flit between branches and jaw-dropping coastal views peek through the trees.
Tiny St Martin is divided between France and the Netherlands, and promises a blend of French, Dutch and Creole cultures. Philipsburg is the capital of the Dutch half, famed for the candy-coloured houses on the boardwalk. On the French side is Marigot, with its boulangeries and lavish 19th-century villas. But for the ultimate in Caribbean glamour, head to tiny St Barts, where the rich and famous let down their hair on gold-sand beaches.
Welcome to the spice cabinet of the Caribbean, where lush slopes abound with fragrant groves of bay leaves, and the air bristles with the scents of cinnamon, ginger and cloves. But perhaps the most emblematic spice of all on ‘Spice Island’, as Grenada proudly calls itself, is nutmeg and its derivative, mace. Grenada is the world’s second-largest producer, and so central is it to the island’s culture that it even features on the national flag. It’s more than an export — it’s part of the island’s soul.
For the perfect introduction, Market Square in the capital, St George’s, is the place to go. Each Friday and Saturday, locals stock up on spices, sauces, jellies and jams, fresh fruit and vegetables. The atmosphere hums with conversation and the occasional steel-pan soundtrack. For something stronger, swing by Clarkes Court distillery for a bottle of Black Gold, a premium-grade rum infused with nutmeg.
Though not built on the same scale as Barbados, Grenada has its share of luxurious resorts with exquisite dining options, including the elegant Calabash Hotel, where white tablecloths and swaying palms await at Rhodes Restaurant. Other culinary gems are more laid-back affairs: the Beachside Bistro on Grand Anse beach serves up octopus gnocchi and old fashioneds, while in St George’s, Dexter’s is a neighbourhood restaurant focusing on Caribbean classics, from curried goat to spicy crab backs. Armadillo, in the far north, promises an unforgettable lunch of lionfish ceviche with papaya, garlic lobster or lime pie with passion fruit sauce, all served in a garden of tropical flowers.
Chocoholics can follow the bean-to-bar process at the historic Belmont Plantation, dating back to the late 17th century. The 400-acre estate grows its cocoa beans among groves of nutmeg and coffee plants, which impart their flavours into the cocoa to produce a unique range of dark, milk and white chocolates. Visitors can tour the grounds, sample the goods and soak in the serenity of rural Grenada.
But no trip to the island is complete without a plate of oil down. Recipes for the national dish vary, although this fragrant stew always contains breadfruit, meat and dumplings, slowly simmered in coconut milk and spices. It’s a staple during Spicemas, the biggest of Grenada’s festivals; celebrations run between April and August, with plenty of parades, parties and local fare. It’s a jubilant showcase of the island’s spirit.
The birthplace of reggae and Rastafarianism, of dancehall and ska music, Jamaica has a special place in the Caribbean’s cultural jigsaw. But curious travellers will also find much to discover in the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Kissing the northern tip of South America, the islands’ multicultural past has produced a fascinating culture of its own, with a mouthwatering cuisine and lively festivals to rival anywhere else in the region.
Aside from its natural wonders — glorious beaches, mangrove forests, a wealth of colourful birdlife — Trinidad and Tobago is a simmering stew of cultures, shaped by centuries of immigration from India, Africa, Europe and Latin America. Amble through the streets of Port of Spain, the capital, and admire the French-style villas on Maraval Road and Stollmeyer’s Castle, built in the Scottish baronial fashion, before a tour of the National Museum and Art Gallery. It retraces the nation’s patchwork history, from early Indigenous settlers to the buzzy, modern art scene of today.
Along with Crown Point on the island of Tobago, the capital offers an immersion in the islands’ mouthwatering cuisine. Shaped by the food of Africa, Europe and the Americas, Trinidadian fare takes a strong cue from the subcontinent, too: classic dishes include curry crab and dumpling, rotis and parathas, aloo pie (pastry stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes) and doubles, a pair of bara flatbreads loaded with spiced chickpeas, fresh cucumbers and a fiery mango relish called kuchela. Rustled up at streetside shacks all year round, they’re the quintessential Trini snack.
Naturally, the Indian influence can be felt in the islands’ events, with Diwali and Holi firm fixtures on the local calendar. The biggest celebration of all, meanwhile, is Carnival, held in the run-up to Lent. Defined by the hip-swaying rhythms of calypso and soca music — both of which originated in these islands — it’s an exuberant festival of parades, limbo, steel pans and larger-than-life costumes depicting Trinidadian characters from Carnivals past.
