We’ve always said that the best beach in the Caribbean is the one you’re on right now. But some beaches are that much more special — the ones that repay great journeys. But what makes a great beach? Is it the color of the sand? The relative lack of people? The size? It’s a daunting task, but we set out to create the most comprehensive list of great beaches in all of the Caribbean, looking at a series of factors: ease of access, sand quality, sand color, water quality, water tranquility, crowdedness, scenery, beach bars and, well, whether a beach has the “x-factor” that turns simple sand into something extra. Of course, there are more spectacular beaches in the Caribbean than one can count, so there are some superb beaches, big and small, that didn’t make this list. Ultimately, the test became simple: is this a beach we want to spend an entire day on? For our 50 favorites, the answer was a resounding yes. Here are the 50 Best Caribbean beaches.
Rendezvous Bay, Anguilla
Our number one beach in the Caribbean is the perfect Caribbean beach: it’s a wide stretch of soft, sugar-white sand with relaxing turquoise waves, one of the region’s best beach bars (Garvey’s SunShine Shack), all the privacy you need and spectacular views of neighboring St Martin. That’s what makes Rendezvous the best beach in the Caribbean – and it’s fitting, as Anguilla is the region’s beach capital.
Grace Bay, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Island
Providenciales’ claim to fame is this 12-mile-long north-coast beach and once you sink your toes into its sugar-fine white sands and swim in the bathtub-warm waters, you’ll understand why.
Maho Bay, St John, US Virgin Islands
White sand; coconut palms; calm waters and voluptuous green hills. No wonder this beach is a St John favorite.
Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman
This sugary strand on the west coast of Grand Cayman is a must for beach lovers. Because here, it’s all about some of the most incredible clearest water (and warmest sand) anywhere around.
Eagle Beach, Aruba
There’s white sand, and there’s the sand here. And its low-scale development makes this a wide, magnificent beach.
White Bay, Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands
On Jost Van Dyke, this idyllic Instagram-worthy strip is home to a string of beach bars, most notably the world-famous Soggy Dollar Bar.
Playa Flamenco, Culebra, Puerto Rico
One of the region’s legendary beaches, this is the pride of Culebra and an endless expanse of perfect white sand.
Valley Church Beach, Antigua
The color of the water here is one of the great marvels of the Caribbean. It’s not just turquoise – it’s how turquoise would describe itself.
Playa Bavaro, Dominican Republic
More than 40 luxurious all-inclusive resorts preside on the sands of the DR’s marquee strip, Playa Bávaro, so you’ll have plenty of places to relax sunny-side-up on its breezy and palm-fringed shore.
Maundays Bay, Anguilla
The Cap Juluca resort presides over this stunning sweep of bone-white sand, but you don’t have to be a guest here to enjoy its simple pleasures.
Palomino Island, Puerto Rico
Stay at El Conquistador, a Waldorf Astoria resort and you’ll have exclusive access to this private offshore isle that’s ringed by sugary sands studded with leaning palms.
Trunk Bay, St John, US Virgin Islands
Part of the US Virgin Islands National Park, this photogenic St John beach has graced many a magazine cover and is known for its snorkeling trail, marked with underwater signs.
Sandy Spit, British Virgin Islands
Accessible only by dinghy (or kayak or paddleboard), this is one of the most spectacular locations in the Caribbean, a tiny slice of sand surrounded by the sheer beauty of the BVI just south of Green Cay.
Lindquist Beach, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Now famous for Hannah Davis’ DirecTV ad, this is a scenic white-sand beach with some of the region’s best facilities.
Loblolly Bay, Anegada, British Virgin Islands
This under-the-radar island in the BVI is home to some miraculously beautiful beaches like Loblolly, home to impossibly white sand and, more importantly, very few people. Ever.
Magens Bay, one of the Best Caribbean Beaches.
Magens Bay, St Thomas
Make a beeline for the mile-long heart-shaped sweep at Magens Bay, a curved stretch of beach as beautiful from the hills as it is on the sand.
17-Mile Beach, Barbuda
The still-untouched island of Barbuda is the best-kept secret in the northeastern Caribbean, and this seemingly endless beach is the feather in its cap.
Tahiti Beach, Abaco, Bahamas
Near Elbow Cay in the Abacos archipelago, this sandbar seems cut and pasted from a Corona commercial, a finger of blinding white sand surrounded by impossibly blue water.
Gouverneur, St Barth
This crescent-shaped plage, backed by a tangle of sea grape trees, offers the quintessentially Caribbean beach experience distilled to its essentials: water, sand and sea breeze. With French flair, naturally.
Treasure Cay Beach, Abaco, Bahamas
One of the jewels of the Abacos, this crescent-shaped beach isn’t crowded and is very expansive. And oh yes, those turquoise Bahamian waters.
St Jean, St Barth
Looking for the beach where one can watch planes make the famously challenging landing onto a runway that stops mere feet short of the sand? This is it. And there’s people-watching, too. The best people watching in the region, in fact.
Stocking Island, Exumas, Bahamas
Come for Chat N’ Chill, the beach bar and restaurant on this island five minutes off the coast of George Town, Great Exuma, but stay for the silken sands of its white-sand beach.
Baie Longue, St Martin
The Belmond La Samanna resort presides over the silken sands of the French side’s most magnificent beach, which alone makes a room worth the price.
Cabbage Beach, Paradise Island, Bahamas
On Paradise Island, almost two miles of white sand bordered with sea grape and casuarina trees is paradise indeed.
Pain de Sucre, Terre de Haut, Guadeloupe
The Caribbean’s petite version of Sugarloaf, this is a beach accessible only by hike, but once you arrive, the green cliff and the sweeping vistas of the Les Saintes archipelago will overwhelm you.
Palm Beach, Aruba
Aruba’s flagship beach, this is where it all happens — where to stay, where to be, on a wide, white, palm-lined expanse.
Abaka Bay Beach, Ile a Vache, Haiti
This is the Haiti you don’t know, the one that’s remained a secret for so long. Pure white-sand beaches, gin-clear turquoise water. It’s the Haiti you need to know on the island of Ile a Vache.
Little Bay, Anguilla
This curvaceous cove is accessible only via rope ladder or boat but its fun-sized shore is so worth the effort.
Bambarra Beach, Middle Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands
A rippled ivory carpet of sand beneath water that’s crystal-clear and knee-deep for a quarter-mile out makes this Middle Caicos shore one of the Caribbean’s most stunning and least trafficked beaches.
Pigeon Point, Tobago
If you go to Tobago, this is where you go. Pigeon Point Heritage Park is a stunning place, and it’s an even better jumping off point for trips to Tobago’s Nylon Pool.
Pinel Island, St Martin
On this sandy spit five minutes boat ride from Cul-De-Sac you can skip the water sports that distract you on other beaches and simply sit and soak it all in.
Palm Island, St Vincent and the Grenadines
The Grenadines are full of great beaches, although many are hard to get to. Few are as beautiful as Palm Island, the private-island resort at the southern tip of St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Prickly Pear, British Virgin Islands
The North Sound of Virgin Gorda is a magical place, and this patch of earth home only to a beach bar is an intoxicating place. You’ll never want to leave.
Long Bay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands
This beach on the western end of Tortola has an enchanting, seductive quality, with its robust waves and lack of people. Here, there is the sea, and nothing else matters.
Shoal Bay, Anguilla
This popular two-mile-long strand is a must for any sand-seeker (and beach bar lover). The latter makes this a must-stop on any beach bar pilgrimage (or rum punch pilgrimage).
Darkwood Beach, Antigua
Facing Montserrat, this is one of the most spectacular scenes in the region, with an almost mystical environment rewarding travelers who make the extra journey here.
Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands
A favorite of cruisers, this is one of the Caribbean’s beach bar capitals and home to soft sand, lapping waves and beautiful green-hilled scenery in Tortola.
Emerald Bay, Exumas, Bahamas
It doesn’t get much better than this white-sand shore on Great Exuma, and if you stay at Sandals Emerald Bay or Grand Isle, yours will be the first footprints on the sand in the morning.
Ilet du Gosier, Guadeloupe
One of the French Caribbean’s best-kept secrets, this little islet is a two-minute boat ride from mainland Guadeloupe. When you get here, it’s all about channeling Robinson Crusoe at the island’s Ti’ Robinson beach bar.
Nettle Bay, St Martin
One of the most stunning beaches on an island full of them, Nettle Bay has that perfect cocktail of white sand, turquoise water and a great beach bar, called Le Sand.
Playa Juanillo, Dominican Republic
This is a beach for those in the know in the DR. Set in the exclusive enclave of Cap Cana (but open to all), it’s a wonderful, wide white-sand beach that’s also home to a world-class beach bar, Juanillo Food and Drinks, another great example of how a great beach bar can make a simple stretch of white sand one of the Best Caribbean Beaches.
Plage du Bourg, Anse d’Arlet, Martinique
It’s one of the most photographed beaches in Martinique in part to its iconic church, but Plage du Bourg, part of the Anses d’Arlet chain of beaches, truly is picture perfect. And perfect for a lazy afternoon.
Grand Anse Beach, Grenada
This is the jewel of Grenada, the sine-qua-non of any trip to the Spice Isle. A complete, well-rounded stretch of sand.
Sandy Island, Anguilla
Shell-studded sand, swaying palm trees, and inviting hammocks are the draws on this islet five minutes’ boat ride from the always-hopping Sandy Ground. It’s just sand and a beach bar. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
Seven Mile Beach, Negril, Jamaica
Relaxed indulgence is the order of the day on Jamaica’s largest and most famous beach, where you can relax with a Red Stripe as a colorful cast of characters strolls by.
Pinneys Beach, Nevis
The sand is golden, the water is warm and crystal clear, and after you’ve worked up a sweat you can cool off with a Killer Bee at Sunshine’s, the famous bar on this west-coast beach.
Maracas Beach, Trinidad
Grab a bake and shark (fish sandwich) from one of the many beachside restaurants, then savor it on the sands of this northern strand about an hour from Port of Spain.
Frenchman’s Cove, Jamaica
In Port Antonio, this small white-sand crescent set on lush acreage lapped by bathwater-warm sea is a favorite. Bonus: the river that runs through the 48-acre property down to the surf.
Crane Beach, Barbados
Barbados’ most famous beach has sweeping cliffs, wide sand and, most importantly, the Caribbean’s first resort, The Crane.
Simpson Bay, St Maarten
Savvy beach-lovers in search of white sand and a hip, laid-back beach bar (Karakter) as well as plane-spotting opportunities come to this strip, neighboring the runway at Princess Juliana International Airport.
These are the 50 Best Caribbean Beaches, a kind of Caribbean Bucket List. So what are you waiting for? Head to the Caribbean and explore them!