Island hopping in the Caribbean

Recently I spent almost 2 months island hopping in the Caribbean, mostly in the smaller Leeward Antilles. My route was: Puerto Rico - Dominica - Guadeloupe - Curaçao - Trinidad & Tobago - Barbados - St. Vincent and the Grenadines - Grenada.

It wasn't my first time there. I visited almost all the Greater Antilles (Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica) plus some smaller islands: Aruba, Saint Lucia.

This year I wanted to see more of the Leeward Islands, but it wasn't the most efficient route. My initial plan was to go to Venezuela and from there I had a flight to Curaçao, continuing the trip up to Grenada. Then January came, my flight to Caracas was canceled and I decided to visit some more islands. Lessons:

• Connecting far-away islands like Guadeloupe and Curaçao can get expensive
• If you are doing island hopping there, go where the airlines fly directly to keep costs lower
• Expect flights that stop along the way - I had several flights that also stopped on another island to take more passengers; twice on Saint Lucia
• Even when you have a direct flight, you can have surprises; I had a direct flight St. Vincent - Grenada, it was canceled and I was rebooked on St. Vincent - Barbados - Grenada. I had just come from Barbados to St. Vincent and then I had to fly back there

Most of my flights were with Caribbean Airlines - not by choice, it was usually the cheapest option. San Juan → Roseau ($163) · Roseau → Pointe-à-Pitre ($92) · Pointe-à-Pitre → Willemstad ($316) · Willemstad → Port of Spain ($128) · Port of Spain → Bridgetown ($127) · Bridgetown → Kingstown ($140) · Kingstown → St. George's ($137). Not all are direct flights or the best options.

Accommodation: Airbnb, staying with locals. The most expensive accommodation was in Dominica, 1 week $244. In Puerto Rico I stayed at a hostel.

My favourite islands (well, all of them, but some were more of a surprise):

• Guadeloupe, the biggest surprise of the trip; less known outside France, it is actually very beautiful, and the Les Saintes archipelago is picture perfect
• Puerto Rico, the most beautiful beach was there - Flamenco Beach on Culebra Island. And San Juan Viejo is really pretty, I regret I underestimated it until now
• Curaçao has the most turquoise waters you can see and Willemstad looks like a Caribbean Amsterdam
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines: I stayed mostly on the big island and also visited beautiful Bequia. They have so many islands, including the private Mustique, but you need more time (and money) to visit them all
• Trinidad and Tobago was another surprise; I was expecting something less interesting and I discovered 2 beautiful islands; I liked even Port of Spain, with the old mansion the 7 Magnificent
• Barbados has white sand beaches all around it
• Grenada: spices, beaches and hills. The capital St. George's is pretty
• Dominica is more rugged, the mountains are serious there

Types of visitors there: most visitors arrive on cruise ships - they have a day on each island and you see them running to get a glimpse of it in a few hours. Cruisers - people who have a boat and stay on the islands for months; now it is basically the beginning of the high season for this kind of visit. Some islands like Barbados and Curaçao see a lot of resort tourists on vacation. A smaller number of people do island hopping independently, like I did. I met some French who were visiting Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Lucia; others explore more - I met the same faces on some flights, as the options between islands are not that many.

The trickier part is finding the best route for flights, as sometimes you have to backtrack because an island is like a dead end. Some islands have small airports, like Dominica, that closes in the evening. Port of Spain and Bridgetown are the airports where you can have layovers.

Other than that, you don't have to be rich to stay longer in the Caribbean, if you don't mind living like the locals and among them. They will definitely welcome you :)

France, Guadeloupe, Les Saintes:

France, Guadeloupe, Les Saintes

Kingdom of the Netherlands, Curaçao, island Klein Curaçao:

Kingdom of the Netherlands, Curaçao, island Klein Curaçao

United States, Puerto Rico, Culebra island:

United States, Puerto Rico, Culebra island