The "Bucket List Caribbean Islands" Story

It was an ordinary day.  My wife forwarded me a link to the Huffington Post Travel Section which featured a story they just published titled "11 Caribbean Beaches you Should See Before You Die."  She included a small note telling me we need to get hopping in order to see the beaches we haven't seen already that are included on the list.  And, as we fight to keep our sanity in this ferocious winter of 2014, I'm ready for some travel.  Most every publication features travel rates or ranks beaches.  Some lists include beaches from all over the world while other lists stick to specific areas of the world such as the Pacific or the Caribbean.  A synopsis of their article goes like this:  The Caribbean might not be on the top of your bucket list, but that doesn't mean there aren't some heart-stopping pretty places you might want to see and if the idea of a beach makes you want to cry with happiness, here are 11 you'll do anything to get to soon.  I started to look at the accompanying photos and found that we had been on, or at least near, quite a few of the beaches and islands.  The photos weren't ranked or numbered, but just listed to suggest that all are equally impressive.  Here are the photos with a brief description and my impression of the beaches that we have visited in the past.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - click on any photo to enlarge.

Flamands, St. Barts - On one of our trips to St. Martin we took a day trip to the nearby island of French St. Barts (St. Barths).  We stopped a few times for snorkeling, but not on any of the beaches.  We never got to see Flamands which is a long, walkable beach with some shade and fine sand with crisp blue water.  The only beach we stepped onto was Shell Beach which was at the end of the harbor where we docked.

Carol and I, along with our friends Jerry and just Sue, visited this beach known as Trunk Bay Beach a couple of times.  It is on the island of St. John and is part of the Virgin Island National Park.  We explored their 225-yard-long snorkeling trail.  Was interesting, but certainly not the best snorkeling I have ever done.  The beach was beautiful and the water is crystal clear.  One of the few beaches we have ever been on where we had to pay to visit the beach.  As I was leaving this beach I attempted to take a fallen palm frond with me, but was warned I wasn't allowed to remove anything from a US National Park.  

Crane Beach is located on the island of Barbados.  It is located next to the world renouned Crane Resort on the Atlantic side of the island.  The water on the Atlantic side is more suitable for surfing than for swimming.  The beach was beautiful with a pinkish hue.  It is a rather large beach with chair and umbrella rentals.  It has been named as one of the best beaches in the world by many publications.  Carol and I made a visit a few years ago and weren't disappointed.  Only disappointment for us was the overcast skies the day we were there. 

This is The Baths located on the island of Virgin Gorda.  Just loved the place!  The huge granite boulders, that were said to have been unearthed by an earthquake years ago, are remarkable.  Some of the best snorkeling I have done.  We arrived at the island with our friends Jerry and Just Sue on an excursion boat, but many sailboats were moored directly off the rocks.  It was at this beach that we were walking throughout the boulders when Carol struck her head on one.  Everyone could hear the noise of her cracking her skull on the rock, since we were surrounded by the rocks and the crack reverberated off the rocks.

Been here twice.  Grace Bay has the softest, whitest and finest sand I have ever seen or walked on.  Just beautiful!  We made our second visit to the island a year ago with our friends and stayed at Ocean Club Resort.  It was close to the end of Grace Bay on the island of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos.  The beach is extremely long.  Even thought the sun was hot, the sand is cool to the touch.  I would rate this beach the best in the Caribbean, tied with Shoal Bay East in Anguilla.

Anguilla is the home to one of my favorite beaches, Shoal Bay East.  But, Huffington Post travel editor added Maundays Bay Beach as one of the 11 not to be missed.  We have never been to this beach which is a mile long with dazzling platinum-white sand.  The mile-long Maundays Beach is great for walking as well as swimming and lounging.  It is the home to Cap Jeluca, one of Anguilla's premier resorts.  

Lighthouse Bay Beach, Barbuda.  We have traveled to Antigua which is the sister island to Barbuda, but never to Barbuda proper.  It is a relatively undiscovered island, but has beaches with gorgeously smooth sand.  After this posting in the Huffington Post, it may no longer be undiscovered.  Will have to be put on our list.

Frenchman's Cove, Jamaica is considered to be a beach and a river all in one.  Jamaica is perhaps my least favorite island in the Caribbean.  I did have fun climbing the Dunn's River Falls and rafting down the Martha Brae River, but the armed guards standing on most street corners and at most tourist locations was a turn-off.  If you are ever on this island, make a visit to this beach for me, but remember, there is a charge to get on it.

Another beach we traveled to with our friends Jerry and Just Sue.  This is Long Bay Beach on the island of Tortola.  It is said to have good surf and good walking.  I remember it as being beautiful with soft white sand, but rather buggy.  It was also the beach where I forgot to set the car in park and it rolled forward into an embankment.  At least I think I remember it!

Playa Flamenco, Culebra is another must see beach I haven't seen.  This island is off the coast of Puerto Rico and was used as a gunnery island by the United States Navy until 1975.  Now it is home to this half-mile long beach great for swimmers and snorkelers.

We have never traveled to St. Lucia, since it better known for its foilage and hills rather than its beaches.  I was surprised to see any beach on this island listed as one of the top 11.  Anse Chastanet Beach has jade Mountain in the background of this beach.  It is said to have some of the best scuba diving in the Caribbean.  Since we don't scuba dive, at least yet, we have never considered this island for our list.