How much do we love the TCI? From the ritzy resorts on the islands' hub of Providenciales to the deserted sands of quirky outpost Salt Cay and all the beguiling islets in between, here are a few of our favorite things about one of our favorite destinations.

Compact + cool = five of our favorite boutique hotels

Few places in the world boast as many idylic settings for golf as the Caribbean. With seaside holes replete with alluring vistas, you're going to want to schedule a tee time in paradise.

Las Terrenas, the heart of the action on the Samana Peninsula, offers natural beauty and boho sophistication in equal measure, with little in the way of the DR’s typical sprawling resorts and their attendant crowds. Here, the focus is on the fun and funky, with an international crowd drawn to the expat-owned hotels, cafes and bars that have laid claim to the one-time fishing village’s primo locale and carefree spirit.

The oft-overlooked enclave of Las Terrenas is ready to move beyond its fishing-village roots and into the spotlight as a fun and funky destination. 

For a family-friendly, no holds barred all-inclusive experience, keep it classic with Club Med Punta Cana. This amenity-laden, activity-filled resort brings people together in a joyful, energetic, and multicultural environment.

The Caves resort, perched on the limestone cliffs of Negril, Jamaica, include 12 cliffside cottages and private cave dining. There’s no beach here, but there is some of the world’s most astonishing water. It’s warm and transparent and bristling with fishes of all sorts.

This six-acre preserve on the Riviera Maya is a nature-seeker's dream, where voile-draped swinging beds overlook the sea, waterfalls hidden by lush undergrowth provide opportunities for personal contemplation, and seven miles of pearly sand invite early-morning exploration. 

Your own sun-drenched island afloat in turquoise waters, fringed with talcum-soft sand and studded with swaying palms. It sounds too good to be true, but it isn’t. You can have all of the above — plus five beaches, three hiking trails and all the food and drink you can consume — at this private-island resort in the Grenadines.

Attention, Caribbean reefs: Something hungry this way comes.

Peek inside the Dominican Republic's new luxury resort complex, the Grand Resorts at Cap Cana, part of the Salamander Caribbean Collection.

Special section presented by a valued Caribbean Travel + Life partner.