26–29 °C
The warmest sailing water in the world
The Caribbean Sea holds between 26 and 29 degrees year-round. Underwater visibility exceeds 30 metres at most coral reefs, and the water really is that colour — no filter involved. It is one of those places where reality consistently outdoes the photograph.
15–25 kt
The trade winds: a sailor's best friend
The north-easterly trade winds blow from December to May with near-clockwork regularity at 15 to 25 knots. Sailing island to island on a beam reach with a rolling swell is the sailing experience most people spend years imagining. The Eastern Caribbean is where those winds behave best.
700+
Islands and islets
From the British Virgin Islands to Trinidad and Tobago, the arc of the Antilles has over seven hundred islands, cays and islets. Each with its own character, its own language inherited from colonial history and its own food. In a week's sailing you can visit four different countries.
December – April
Perfect season
The Caribbean high season is the exact opposite of the Mediterranean: from December to April the weather is reliably glorious, the trade winds are dependable and the hurricane risk is negligible. It is the winter that most deserves the name: thirty degrees, turquoise water and a rum punch waiting in every port.
The Baths at Virgin Gorda: volcanic granite boulders and turquoise water — the most iconic anchorage in the Caribbean
The Pitons of Saint Lucia: twin volcanic peaks rising from the Caribbean Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
English Harbour in Antigua: the eighteenth-century dockyard where Nelson prepared the fleet that ruled the Caribbean
The Tobago Cays in the Grenadines: five uninhabited islets inside a horseshoe reef — the most beautiful anchorage in the Caribbean
The Caribbean combines extraordinary marine life, cultures that blend Africa, Europe and the Americas in ways found nowhere else, and a pace of life that gets under your skin from day one. These are the experiences that only make full sense when you arrive by boat.
The Eastern Caribbean has some of the healthiest coral reefs remaining in the world. The Tobago Cays in the Grenadines, the seabeds of the British Virgin Islands and the coral walls of Bonaire — designated a special-use marine reserve — are snorkelling and diving experiences that change the way you think about the ocean.
Reggae from Jamaica, calypso from Trinidad, zouk from Guadeloupe and Martinique, merengue from the Dominican Republic and steel band from the Virgin Islands: these are musics that were born in exactly these ports and on exactly these beaches. Every anchorage has a bar on the dock that turns the evening into something that was never on the chart.
Grace Bay in the Turks and Caicos, Magens Bay on Saint Thomas, Shoal Bay on Anguilla, Grande Anse Beach in Guadeloupe or Trunk Bay in the US Virgin Islands. Each one has the bluest water you have seen up to that point. And the next one is bluer still.
The Pitons of Saint Lucia — twin volcanic peaks rising from the sea like basalt needles, a UNESCO World Heritage Site — are best appreciated from the water. La Soufrière on Guadeloupe and on Saint Vincent are active volcanoes accessible by day excursion. Dominica, the most volcanic island in the Caribbean, has thermal springs that heat the sea directly from below.
Caribbean rum is the most varied and complex in the world: Appleton Estate from Jamaica, Mount Gay from Barbados — the oldest rum distillery in the world — Rhum Agricole from Martinique and Guadeloupe with a French appellation d'origine contrôlée, or Pusser's from the BVI. Creole cooking combines African techniques with American produce and Caribbean spices in dishes that exist nowhere else: Trinidadian roti, Jamaican jerk chicken, Martiniquais langouste à la créole.
English Harbour in Antigua — where Nelson maintained the fleet that dominated the Caribbean in the eighteenth century, and whose Georgian dockyard is perfectly preserved — the harbour at Gustavia in Saint-Barthélemy, the historic centre of Havana or the Spanish fortresses of Old San Juan in Puerto Rico, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Caribbean has a colonial history as layered as any coast in the Mediterranean.
From the British Virgin Islands to the Grenadines, via the French Antilles: three routes through the best of the Eastern Caribbean. Coral reefs, volcanoes, rum and trade winds astern for seven perfect days each.
The Caribbean is a very different sailing proposition from the Mediterranean — in terms of weather patterns, logistics, borders and culture. This guide covers the essentials for planning a trip without unwelcome surprises.
January and February are peak season and peak prices. For the best balance of conditions and cost, the second half of November and first half of December are the best-kept secret in Caribbean sailing.
In the Caribbean, you always sail north to south or north-east to south-west during trade wind season. Planning a route in the opposite direction — south to north — means sailing dead upwind into wind and sea, and roughly doubling the time of every passage.
Always carry local currency in cash for each island. Small villages and beach bars throughout the Caribbean don't always have card machines — and those that do sometimes add a surcharge for foreign credit cards.
Do not pack any clothing you'd be unhappy to see stained by sun cream. In the Caribbean, sun cream gets onto everything from day one — without exception.
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