It’s something you just don’t find that often at many resorts anymore: that intimacy with the ocean; the feeling of being right at the beach’s edge, or perched directly above the waves, of being able to take just a few steps (or a single one) and put your toes right in the sand. 

But they’re still out there, those resorts designed precisely around the beach, where many rooms open right out to the sand, or are perched right above it. 

There’s no barrier, no long walk to get to the ocean, no sprawling poolscape between you and the sea, where a five-minute stroll to the beach can feel like an hour. 

They’re the Caribbean’s toes-in-the-sand resorts. And here are our favorites.

Galley Bay, Antigua It’s the ultimate toes-in-the-sand resort, set on one of the most beautiful beaches in a destination home to 365 of them. And the beachfront, ground-floor rooms at Galley Bay are as good as it gets in the Caribbean, where you literally slide open your door and are immediately immersed in the beach. This is as beautiful a property as there is in all of the Caribbean — where it’s all about being in nature; that begins with your room.