Sand from the Caribbean

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Anguilla
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Anguilla is a British territory just a short boat ride from St. Martin.  For the sand alone, it's worth the trip.  I spent the day here, just relaxing and doing NOTHING.  Very unusual for me.  LOVE THIS SAND!

Pink Beach, Bonaire
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Bonaire is Dutch and it's one of my favorite dive destinations.  I've been there several times and I keep going back...  topside there's not much to see, but the marine life is stunning, the diving is easy and everything is laid back.  Go there, rent a house, bring some friends and stay for a month.  Or two.  Trust me on this. 

Saba
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Saba is an amazing island for diving deep-water pinnacles and it remains one of my top 3 dive destinations in the Caribbean.  It has no beaches to speak of; it's just a volcanic mountain top thrusting up from the sea.  This is also a terrifyingly small piece of earth to land a plane.  The Juancho E. Yrausquin "Airport" has one side facing the mountainside and all the others drop into the sea. The runway length is a bone-chilling 396m (433 yards).  Even I was nervous landing here. 

Pigeon Point, Tobago
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Cozumel, Mexico
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Seven-mile Beach, Grand Cayman
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This is THE most famous beach on Grand Cayman and so we had to go.  It's lovely.  But crowded.  Go early, enjoy and then get on a dive boat and HAVE FUN!!! 

Sandals Beach, Jamaica
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In Jamaica it really is a party all the time.  Rum.  River tubes.  Beaches.  And jerk seasoning.  Go to The Pork Pit.  Seriously.  Go.  I'm not a big meat eater.  I was in Jamaica. 

Condado Beach, San Juan Puerto Rico
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Puerto Rico is an island I need to spend more quality time with.  What I've seen was pretty awesome - but the reefs are in awful shape and without diving it's not high on my list.  But we'll get back and definitely visit some more topside sights.  Great rum.  Cities never sleep.  Traffic jams at 3:00 a.m. 

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola
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St. Kitts

Saint Kitts (also known as Saint Christopher Island) is an island of tremendous interest from a sand perspective (and other perspectives too!)  The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. St. Kitts and the neighboring island of Nevis together constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.  The name is bigger than the country; the land area of St. Kitts is about 168 km2 (65 sq mi), being approximately 29 km (18 mi) long and on average about 8 km (5.0 mi) across.

In case you were curious, residents (about 35,000) call themselves Kittitians.

Friar's Beach South, St. Kitts (Caribbean Sea)
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Friar's Beach North, St. Kitts (Atlantic Ocean)
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Sandy Beach, St. Kitts (north shore)
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Black sand beach with high surf and black rocks named "Black Rocks." 

Orient Beach, St. Martin
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Orient Beach is on the French side of the island (the other side is Dutch).  Visit the French side for the best dining and scenery, hang out on the Dutch side for slightly less expensive accommodations.  The diving is GREAT on both sides!  Ask me about my shark story sometime. 

Soufriere, Dominica
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Dominica is a stunning volcanic island with almost no beaches, but plenty of rustic charm.  For me, this island ties for best diving in the Caribbean (along with Saba and Roatan). 

Brandon's Beach (Baptism Beach) Barbados
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Brick Bay, Roatan Honduras
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Roatan ties with Saba and Dominica for best diving in the Caribbean for me.  Really unspoiled Caribbean - great people and beautiful, tropical magic.  Did a one-of-a-kind dive here at a site called Mary's Place.   An earthquake during a volcanic eruption created a huge fissure in the reef, and now the steep walls create a coral and sponge-filled labyrinth to depths exceeding 100 feet.  An abundance of black corals and delicate sea-fans decorate the walls and it's so stunning you'll need to pinch yourself.  But it is narrow and requires experience to maneuver here (you'll dive in in single file).  It's amazing because most reef fissures have been created by tidal forces and you can only dive them during slack tide, making them extremely dangerous.  This site isn't tidal and so you don't have to watch your clock (or the tide tables).  Incredible! 

Taylor Bay, Providenciales (Turks and Caicos Islands)
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The sand in this magic bay wins my #1 White Caribbean Sand award!  Taylor Bay is enormous and shallow and warm... if you want a bathtub made by nature, this is it.  Bring whatever you need - there's nothing here but the glorious beach.  While you're here, visit Chalk Sound (on the other side of the street).  Not for swimming, but AMAZING for looking and dreaming...  The enormous expanse of shallow white sand makes the water unimaginably turquoise - in all honesty, for all of the years I've spent on tropical islands all over the world, I've never seen turquoise like this. 

Malcom's Beach, Providenciales (Turks and Caicos Islands)
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This is a very secluded beach which I reached by swimming out from our boat during a surface interval while diving along the stunning walls of Northwest Point.  The diving here is great with beautiful coral and sponge diversity, great fish variety and some wonderful sharks that visited every now and then.  Warm water too (85 at the surface and 82 at 80 feet in June). 

Half Moon Bay, Pine Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands (Atlantic Side)
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Find someone with a boat on Providenciales and ask them to take you to Pine Cay - bring whatever you need because there's nothing here except for one of the most stunning beaches I've ever seen.  Yes I know these pictures look the same.  But you just can't stop taking them.  It doesn't look real.  There is no shade here and the sun is killing, but you won't care.  The water was 85 degrees (June). 

Half Moon Bay, Pine Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands (Caribbean Side)
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Walk across the island (5 minutes) and you get to the other side, where the Caribbean Sea meets this tiny speck of land.  It's not as picturesque, but there are lots of iguanas to keep you company!

Grace Bay, Providenciales (Turks and Caicos Islands)
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Grace Bay is a 12-mile stretch of stunningly white sand on the island of Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands.  If you are looking to sit back and relax while staring into the most beautiful turquoise ocean you can imagine, well, this is the spot.  This sand ranks in my top 5 of Caribbean sands.  Oh and the restaurants on the island?  OUTSTANDING.  But no cheap eats here - bring your extra credit card!!!