Best 3 weeks in the Caribbean?

[SaltyTanned]

During December I would favour the southern Antilles. The weather in the BVI and other islands close to the continent get cold fronts and bad weather from December until March.

You could arrive at Martinique ou Saint Lucia. Martinique offers more anchorages and much better provisioning. And sail to Grenada. It is never close to the wind and you can expect good weather. Yes the Christmas winds might be present. 15 to 20 knots are usual.

Lots of swimming and diving in the Grenadines. So I would think: Martinique, St Lucia, Bequia, Union, Tobago Cays, Carriacou, Grenada. There are other islands in between but these are the most popular.

Not too much sailing, give them time to enjoy each visit.

[rockborn]

I had my three daughters and my girlfriends two girls, ages 13 to 22 yrs in the Virgin Islands for 2 weeks and they agree it was the best vacation they have ever had. Chartered from VIP, St Thomas ,went to St Johns, cleared in Jost Van Dyke . Tortola, Peter Island, Virgin Gorda and Anegada are all short sails with snorkeling everywhere. Enjoy

[Wanderlust141]

Years have passed and I consider this to have been one of the best words of advice I ever had. Thank You again. Geoff

Originally Posted by Jsta_Rebel

Because of your timing, and the age of your girls and being your first time, I would suggest flying into St. Thomas and sailing over to Water Island. There are other girls that live on the island that are the same age as your daughters. Heidi (unofficial Mayor) of Water Island has food on the beach, and even sets up a sheet between two coconut trees Tuesday nights for a Caribbean style family drive in movie complete with intermission and pop corn. If you're going to be doing Xmas on island, Heidi also does a pot luck Xmas dinner for the entire island that is an outstanding experience. Your daughters and yourself could explore the island in a rental golf cart, horseshoes on the beach and for the adults, a pot luck at Joe's hut on the beach Sunday night usually with live music and dancing. Water Island is an outstanding Xmas time holiday. Nearby islands you can visit are Culebra, and Vieques which by the way has a bio bay that will make you feel like a teenager again
Quite an experience. island-adventures . There is also buck Island which is a short sail out and has great snorkeling, or you can also sail to Tórtola and BVI in a day easily should you choose to for checking out the baths on VG or Jost Van Dyke.

[seriousailor]

Originally Posted by Tia Bu

This appears to be a useful website:

Caribbean Security Index : Free Cruising Guides

This stuff seems to change over time. One good, scary crime, and that country gets painted as dangerous. Years pass, and it's the safest place in the Caribbean.

Be vigilant. Have fun.

This is an old thread and covid has changed chartering, but maybe it will get going again in 21/22. this CSI thing is really old and there is an excellent site (CSSN, safetyandsecuritynet.org) that provides CURRENT and historic) info about crimes in the Carib. The interactive maps are really cool.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Wanderlust141

Years have passed and I consider this to have been one of the best words of advice I ever had. Thank You again.

Very nice to see the follow-up. This is the only really good reason to resurrect a years-old thread. Thank you for doing so.