Our palm-fringed and sea-scented salute to the Caribbean sands that keep us all coming back for more. When the beach is all that matters, these are the places that will never disappoint.
Every winter in the Dominican Republic, savvy naturalists witness one of the Western Hemisphere's great migrations: the flight of the snowbirds. More North Americans come down to stake out their stretch of this country's coast than to any other Caribbean destination (more than 1.5 million of them in 2008). With 800 miles of shoreline, there's a habitat for every subspecies: Herds of Allinclusivus pamperus congregate at Punta Cana, where beach butlers proffer cold towels and colder cerveza. In breezy Cabarete, researchers have documented a growin colony of Adrenilus cosmopolitus, distiguished by their trademark kiteboards and nocturnal mating rituals. Watch for the Animal Planet documentary: Same Time Next Year.
– Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon
It's as if a team of benevolent cartographers devised a way to squeeze the highest possible number of shoreline nooks and crannies onto a landmass smaller than Omaha, Nebraska. Happily, all those curves, coves, natural harbors and hurricane holes give Antigua a rightful place on any devoted beach bagger's life list. Pick your spot: Day-trippers explore uninhabited islands like Green and Great Bird. Strolling couples scan for conch shells and sea glass at placid Ffryes, and local teenagers – the lucky dogs – perfect back flips into the surf on lazy Sundays along the crescent of Half Moon Bay. Every pirate who ever lived could've buried his booty here, and the real treasure would still be hiding in plain sight.
– Mike Grudowski
With 700 islands sprinkled over 100,000 square miles of crystalline, come-hither waters, the Bahamas are a beach lover's candy store, packed with miles of powdered sugar shoreline and Dreamsicle sunsets. As in any sweet shop, the hard part is deciding. Picnickers congregate along the silky shores of Grand Bahama's Gold Rock Beach, while more restless types head to Paradise Island's glitzy Cabbage Beach for water-sporting and celebrity-spotting. Harbour Island's blushing Pink Sands Beach temps ambling sweethearts with three miles of rosy track, and for privacy seekers, Eleuthera's secluded Lighthouse Beach is a treat, indeed. By foot or by charter – the best way to sample more than 2,000 cays – Bahamas beach life is sweet.
– Reagan Johnson
Beachgoing isn't necessarily a religious experience, but Barbados could make a believer out of any skeptic. For it was Barbados that located St. Alban's church on Tropicana beach and thus embraced the joining of sun, sand and spirituality. Therefore, blessed is the snorkeling with sea turtles in Paynes Bay, for God's creatures are wondrous. Blessed is the picnic at Bottom Bay – presided over by cliffs and tall palm trees and the playful surf on Crane Beach – for such perfection is divine. To the east, bathed in rocky surf, is Bathsheba, whose exotic beauty and shapely waves inspire surfers to biblical exultations. And check this out: there's a Malibu Rum distillery right on Bridgetown's Brandons Beach. Amen to that, brothers and sisters!
– Zach Stovall
Think of the USVI beaches as the girls next door – natural beauties who don't require a lot of accessorizing to charm you off your feet. The prettiest girls are often the most popular, and St. John's oft-photographed Trunk Bay is no exception; its great snorkeling trail attracts legions of admirers. You could say Magens Bay on St. Thomas is the party girl, its 3-mile stretch of gorgeous coast accented with a smattering of beach bars and plenty of lounge chairs for the adoring cruise-shippers who regularly stop by. St. Croix's quiet Buck Island really blossoms in the late afternoon, after the booze cruises have set sail and you've got her silky sands all to yourself. Best of all, there are plenty more in the neighborhood just like these.
– Becky Strauss
The birds-eye view of Orient Beach makes it look as if a colorful flotilla of sunshades and loungers crashed ashore, like beach wrack riding a high tide. Fact is, hardly any day-tripper, water-sports junkie, beach-bar hopper or naturalist would mind washing up here. St. Martin's best-known jewel isn't the only one worthy of a pilgrimage, though. Geological forces have left their mark on some of the island's best strands: Cupecoy is backed by dramatic limestone cliffs; Baie de Petites Cayes requires an over-hill hike but delivers a jackpot of solitude. Along Grand Case (on the French side, naturally), it's all about the cuisine; some would describe this as the planet's most impressive lineup of seaside eateries. No argument here.
– Zach Stovall
Homage must be paid to Grace Bay Beach, that sublime grande dame of satin sand, curving for 12 miles along Provo's north shore and constantly crashing every "best beach" list under the sun. For sweet solitude, try Provo's reliably abandoned Malcom's Road Beach. You'd rather meet the local wildlife? Little Water Cay, a five-minute boat ride from Provo, is home to more than 2,000 rock iguanas that lounge on the sand. For a different brand of wild life, head for one of the restaurant-cum-bars on Blue Hills Beach (such as Da Conch Shack), which often hosts live music long past sundown. And it would be a shame not to get out on a boat and sample other treasures from the 230 miles of porcelain-white sand on the chain's 40 nearly deserted isles.
– Becky Strauss
Like staccato salsa blaring from a sand-scuffed radio, Puerto Rico's golden strands are upgeat and full of Latin flavor. From funky surf outposts like Rincon to the sparsely visited Spanish Virgins, over 270 miles of sun-drenched coast accommodate hundreds of sandy hangouts. Blue Beach, on Vieques, is a snorkeler's paradise. Its Spanish sister Culebra's prized possession is bustling Playa Flamenco, but unsung Zoni Beach is every bit as wonderful – yet delightfully uncrowded. Wave riders from everywhere make annual surf junkets to Rincon's Tres Palmas Beach, a west-coast bation of cool. In Aguadilla, locals unwind every weekend at Crash Boat Beach with volleyball and local delicacies, always with that high-voltage salsa soundtrack.
– Zach Stovall
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