Carribbean Travel recommendations please Rum / Reggae

[Slyjoe]

It's too cold. We can go to the Carribbean. We like Rum and music and experience destinations rather than tick a box having "been there"

We don't like walled resorts, but we would like a good hotel, with access to local bars and music. We love drinking with locals and decent travellers

Youtube research recommends St. Lucia, but PH recommends.......... ????

Many thanks in advance for any and all pointers.

Edited by Slyjoe on Friday 28th February 05:42

[havoc]

Tui were advertising ridiculously cheap flights to Barbados next week, if that helps?

[DeejRC]

St Luc and Barbados are the obvious places with wonderful rum
Can’t go too much wrong with Admiral Rodney and Mount Gay.

[Jurgen100]

If you actually want to see something different and interesting as well as having the amazing beaches etc. then I’d say Cuba.

[Soir]

We did a cruise around the Caribbean last Xmas.
My favourite island was Antigua, Dickinson bay - had a brilliant hut on the beach serving lobster and the best bar I’ve ever been to which was in the sea

[paddy1970]

I'd recommend Jamaica or Cuba as excellent Caribbean alternatives to St. Lucia. If you're set on the Eastern Caribbean, Dominica is worth considering...

[Slyjoe]

Jurgen100 said:

If you actually want to see something different and interesting as well as having the amazing beaches etc. then I’d say Cuba.

Thats an amazing recommendation - thank you. Intrepid Travel does a tour that looks more like our thing than a resort holiday.

[craig1912]

Jurgen100 said:

If you actually want to see something different and interesting as well as having the amazing beaches etc. then I’d say Cuba.

Just no direct flights

[craig1912]

Rodney Bay in St Lucia maybe. Hometown in Barbados.

Both have local bars and occasional live music

[abzmike]

craig1912 said:

Jurgen100 said:

If you actually want to see something different and interesting as well as having the amazing beaches etc. then I’d say Cuba.

Just no direct flights

And problems getting an ESTA if you want to visit the US.

[75Black]

Some might say it's too expensive (think prices as Switzerland but with palm trees and sun) and "Americanised", but I was in the Bahamas for 4 nights 13-17th Feb split over Nassau and then Bimini Island and had a great time. Plenty of rum and music, especially in Bimini which is the first time in my life I've really experienced that slow, tiny island lifestyle. Everyone was super friendly, I stayed in Airbnb's on both islands though.

[seefarr]

We've been to (in order of preference) Guadeloupe, Barbados, Antigua and Bahamas and I am a rum obsessive.

So Guadeloupe is part of France so has the best infrastructure of the islands we've been to. Carrefours are well stocked and better priced and the bread is great. Our accom from AirBNB was well priced and right on the beach. The people are friendly, the diving was great and rainforests and beaches beautiful. If you want to know how pretty, watch Death in Paradise (filmed in the town of Deshaies).

The food is a cool mix of French and Caribbean seafood and I think better priced on average.





And the rum! There are 13 distilleries across the islands doing Rhum Agricole. This is made from fresh cane juice rather than molasses so the white rum has wonderful grassy, lemongrass, spicy, tropical fruit things going on. The local way to drink it is Ti Punch - they bring some lime, some sugar and a glass with a bottle of 50%+ rhum to your table and you mix your own.



Rhum aisle at a standard Carrefour with 4 litre casks of 50%+ white rum in the bottom left.



Downsides are you have to fly via France / USA (we got Eurostar and stayed the night before in Paris) and English is not widely spoken outside of the fancier restaurants which can be tricky.