Does winter have you dreaming of warmer places? Our travel writer ranks his top 10 Caribbean islands.

Here’s a couple gems that I’ve beloved.

1. ANGUILLA — Anguilla, with its beaches, beach front bars, and some of the most effective hen I’ve ever consumed, charmed the shorts off me. In Caribbean island hierarchy, it is not as glitzy as nearby St. Bart’s, it is more compact and considerably less populated than St. Martin, and it is a lot a lot less commercial than other British outposts, these types of as the Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos. There are no fast food stuff chains on the island. Also, no large rises, no cruise ships, and no casinos. What Anguilla lacks in tourist traps it makes up for in white sand seashores (there are extra than 30 of them), and hospitality.

2. PUERTO RICO — The island is the finest of all worlds in the Caribbean. There are lovely seashores, a vibrant capital metropolis, and a culture that brings together the comforts of residence (Puerto Rico is a US territory) and the balmy climes of the islands. The aged city in San Juan may perhaps be as touristy as heck when the cruise ships arrive (stay away from times and instances when the streets are clogged with cruise passengers), but you can always escape with a journey to El Yunque, Puerto Rico’s rain forest.

3. BEQUIA — Bequia (pronounced BECK-way) is the 2nd-greatest island in the string of 32 islands that make up St. Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population just above 5,000, it is an unpretentious put in which flights just can’t land at night due to the fact the small airport has no runway lights. There are no significant-chain inns or in excess of-the-major resorts to be observed. There isn’t even a Starbucks. There is a single ATM equipment on the complete island. In quick, Bequia is an real escape in an age where by it feels as if there are couple of accurate escapes remaining on the earth.

4 and 5. GUADELOUPE and MARTINIQUE — Guadeloupe and Martinique are two separate islands, but I’m pairing them right here since both are abroad departments of France, and both sense far more rustic than some of their neighboring French islands. On the 430-square-mile island of Martinique, which is sandwiched between Dominica and St. Lucia, rum production is monitored as closely as champagne production in France. Rum tastings at distilleries are just about as outstanding as the seashores. If you go to Guadeloupe, you need to be in a bathing go well with the majority of the time, slathered in fruit salad-scented sunscreen. You need to also be stretched out on a large towel gazing at the enticing pale blue ocean. My favored beach front here was Plage du Souffleur on the island of La Désirade, a shorter ferry ride from Grande-Terre. I have fond recollections of some of the bluest h2o I experienced ever had the pleasure of floating in. The sand was the color of Benjamin Moore’s Lancaster Whitewash paint. I marveled at how I almost experienced the beach to myself.

6. SOUTH CAICOS — South Caicos, which is section of the Turks and Caicos archipelago, is a sleepy island wherever you can escape the crowds of Providenciales, just like stars this sort of as Neil Patrick Harris and Justin Bieber. It’s distant enough (an additional flight from Providenciales is important to get in this article) that it helps to slender the crowds, so you will normally uncover oneself by itself at beaches. That’s a furthermore if you’re seeking to program your first pandemic-period Caribbean trip. The 8-square-mile island not only has superstars, it however has donkeys and horses roaming the streets, moreover pristine seashores and gorgeous snorkeling.

7. ST. LUCIA — The island might be identified as a desired destination for lovebirds and honeymooners, but there is lots of other wildlife to be discovered. It is a hiker’s delight. The island is dominated by the Pitons, and after spending a day photographing them for the duration of my take a look at, I determined I would hike them. There are two, Gros Piton (2,530 feet) and Petit Piton (2,438 ft). There are no path markers, so guides are required. It was an arduous and damp hike (it rained a number of times), but the look at was truly worth the effort and hard work.

8. BARBADOS — If it is very good sufficient for Rihanna, it’s very good adequate for you. Barbados is the wealthiest and most produced state in the Eastern Caribbean. Numerous of the Brits and moneyed Europeans with indeterminable accents who holiday break here are hunting to enable unfastened, not pinch their lbs . when they fall anchor in close proximity to a person of the very well-appointed seashore golf equipment for an afternoon of rum cocktails. I was drawn into the seashore club scene. During my stop by I spent a leisurely afternoon at the Cliff Beach Club. It was all sunshine-kissed pink cheeks and Gucci sandals under midcentury sputnik mild fixtures. From there I moved on to Mullins Seashore Bar and Grill, a humbler area with a not-so-humble group. Base line: This an island most effective frequented when you have just obtained a raise, or you have a hankering to view cricket or polo matches with a incredibly well-dressed group.

9. ST. BART’S — Like Barbados, a great time in St. Bart’s does not occur cheap, but it continues to be a posh paradise. The island, an overseas collectivity of France with a calendar year-spherical population of 10,000, is most effective recognised as an escape for daring names these as Leonardo DiCaprio, Gwen Stefani, and Beyoncé. Lots of other Caribbean islands depend on mass tourism from cruise ships, but St. Bart’s restrictions cruise ships to these with no additional than 300 passengers. Listed here, you can shop for products from best designers and dine in prime-notch French dining establishments, but you can also sample its 11 no cost public beaches.

10. CURACAO — The island, 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela, is aspect of the ABC islands with Aruba and Bonaire. Seized by the Dutch in 1634, it grew to become a self-governing nation in the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 2010. The most industrialized of the previous Netherland Antilles, Curaçao does not count on tourism as its sole market. It is a curious place wherever a single second you’re soaking in beautiful ocean sights, and the following you’re smelling oil from a nearby refinery servicing the Venezuelan oil fields. Regardless of the attract again of smelling oil refineries, its signature iguana soup, aloe vera plantations, and ostrich farms give it a distinctly unique really feel from its Caribbean neighbors.

Christopher Muther can be achieved at christopher.muther@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Chris_Muther and Instagram @chris_muther.