Planning a caribbean island hopping trip takes a degree of patience. There are many islands, many airlines, many ferries and nothing lines up with your best intended plans.
That's assuming they run at all: bad weather, mechanical issues, adjusted planning and stop overs can all lead to cancellations and delays. Even if you make a flight its not to say that your baggage will
be joining you.
We took the time to research all flights from the UK to each island. We then made the decision to limit ourselves (due to risks) to three countries. Two which flew to / from the UK and one which we could island
hop to from both the other two. Our logic was we'd never be able to do the 3rd country direct from UK at any point in future and we still get to see three caribbean islands.
Eventually we decided with much planning and having to add in some additional days to visit Antigua, Dominica and Barbados. We felt this gave us a good mix of some of the best beaches in the caribbean, some
untouched jungle, geo-thermal activity and hiking to stop us getting bored and the typical caribbean / party package. We planned to spend 11 days in the caribbean with the majority of time spent on Antigua and
Dominca and the remainder on Barbados. This was because of flight days and also aligned more with our best plans.
This trip would also align itself to be one of ours 100th country visited and a birthday one too :)
NOTES: We rented a Suzuki Jimny to get around (from Chase Car Rental) as we'd heard a 4 x 4 is advised for the more remote beaches and there was going to be four of us travelling. It should be noted if renting a car that you will need to apply for a local license and a local driving permit. A good rental agency should sort both of these out.
NOTES: We rented a Suzuki Jimny to get around (from Happy Car Rentals) as we'd heard a 4 x 4 is advised for the more remote hikes and beaches also there was going to be four of us travelling. It should be noted if renting a car that you will need to apply for a local driving permit. A good rental agency should sort this out.
NOTES: We rented a Suzuki Jimny Soft top to get around (from Stoutes Car Rental Ltd.) as we'd heard a 4 x 4 is advised for the eastern side of the island and the steep passes there was going to be four of us travelling. It should be noted if renting a car that you will need to apply for a local driving permit. A good rental agency should sort this out.
It's the caribbean, you can mostly forget about budgets. Car Rentals cost between £50 to £75 per day for light 4 x 4. This might seem pricey but a single taxi ride in the caribbean could set you back similar. Accomodation is expensive. You can find simpler places but we kept a tight budget with double rooms being sea front or almost sea front and having A/C for about £140 to £175 per night. Food and drink from hotels will be moderately expensive. We buy snacks and drinks from local shops on route and this usually works out cheaper. If you are prepared to buy water, drinks and supplement your meals with snacks you'll likely be able to keep your food costs down somewhat.
You can see how our actual trip went along with photos here: Antigua 2024