Click here to Uncover the Caribbean’s secret islands
In association with Booking.com
The thought of a Caribbean getaway instantly drums up images of deserted, palm-fringed white sands and clear waters. To help you find the paradisaical setting of your fantasies, we went in search of the Caribbean’s hidden and lesser-known islands.
The northernmost of the British Virgin Islands, Anegada is home to the largest coral reef in the Caribbean (and the fourth largest coral reef in the world). At 18 miles long, it’s a kaleidoscopic, almost psychedelic, patch of colour that’s become as famed for its looks as for the number of shipwrecks it has caused. Embark on a scuba dive to get a glimpse of its thriving marine life and natural beauty, and expect to see sea turtles and shoals of fish flickering by. When you’re back on land and not strolling on kilometres of empty sands including curiously named beaches like Loblolly Bay, a visit to the island’s salt ponds is a chance to watch flamingos basking in the still waters. And when it comes to local food, the lobster here is regarded as being some of the best in the Caribbean. Stay at Four Diamonds Park Villas on Anegada or head back to the main island Tortola and Lambert Beach Resort.
One of Dominica’s most striking aspects is just how much greenery there is to be found here (it’s nicknamed ‘Nature Island’ for a reason). There are three nature reserves on Dominica, the largest of which is the impressive Morne Trois Pitons National Park. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this sprawling park runs along the spine of the island and covers almost 10% of its land mass. One of the park’s highlights is the boiling lake – a flooded fumarole that’s a bubbling swirl of grey-blue waters. Hike to the lake where stacks of vapour curl upwards against the sage-green mountains. Beyond the park, the hot springs on this volcanic island make for a rejuvenating dip after a long hike. While Champagne Reef is a surreal spot where divers can swim through reef waters that bubble on account of volcanic springs on the ocean floor. When you come up for air, these apartments are welcome stay further up the coast.
For the largest island of the Bahamas, Andros is strangely unpopulated. But it’s a welcome kind of sparseness; swathes of pine forest, white sand beaches and mangroves separate the settlements on the island’s eastern shore, while the western side is simply known as ‘The Mud’ (empty swampland). The forests are allegedly home to legendary ‘owl-man’, Chickcharnie, whose sighting is said to bring good luck. While the cavernous ocean sinkholes in the island’s Blue Holes National Park are said to have a resident colossal, mythical octopus known as Lusca. Along the coast, visit the ‘Tongue of the Ocean’ in the Andros Barrier Reef – an oceanic trench and submarine canyon that plunges for 6,000 feet – for guaranteed sightings of flourishing marine life. Paddle back to shore and lounge on the island’s eastern beaches near Small Hope Bay Lodge.
Providencia can only be reached from another Colombian island, San Andrés, which might account for why it’s often overlooked by visitors to the Caribbean. The island’s off-the-grid location is an advantage, though, allowing its untouched scenery to flourish. Blonde sand and pink-shelled beaches are everywhere, while mangroves and tropical forest grow across the island. One of Providencia’s natural highlights is the Old Providence McBean Lagoon, a collection of lagoons, cays and coral formations that have earned Providencia the moniker ‘The Sea of Seven Colours’. The water shifts from turquoise to sky blue, which eventually bleeds into sapphire dappled with azure. End a day of exploration at a restaurant with locals as you tuck into plates of black crab laced with a fiery chilli sauce. And head back to the pink-hued Hotel Encanto afterwards.