It’s all about sunshine, beautiful beaches, and relaxing with cocktails, but it’s about so much more as well. Sea turtles, tropical birds, lush forests, pink sand, sleeping in hammocks.

Solo Travel in the Caribbean

Built out of a mixture of piracy, slavery and sea trade, the people are diverse but all ready to have fun.

Traditionally the Caribbean has not been a major solo independent destination but there are lots of places to travel to on any budget. As Asia and South America becomes a little more expensive it’s a great time to discover the Caribbean!

Traveling to the Caribbean from the USA and Europe

The Caribbean is easily reached from North America and Europe. Charter flights tend to be very popular for Europeans, whereas Americans have more scheduled flights. Dominican Republic, Barbados and Jamaica tend to be popular entry points to the region.

When to go to the Caribbean?

You can in theory go anytime to the region but November through to May is the most popular time due to stable weather. September is probably the worst month due to the threat of storms and hurricanes. Always ensure you have good travel insurance for 90 days if you head away for three months or more.

Costs of travel around the Caribbean for solos

The region has never been that cheap for independent travelers so it’s no Southeast Asia. Of course you can make it as expensive or cheap as you like, but you will be paying a lot more if you require comfort. Single rooms are not that common so you may end up paying the same a a couple if you require private rooms.

There are hostels on the main islands of the Caribbean, particularly in the main tourist centers. This mean you can eat your own food rather than dining out.

Air travel around the Caribbean can be a little pricey too so plan your flights a good time in advance.

Safety for solo and female travelers in the Caribbean

It’s hard to generalize about the whole region of course, but we’d say it’s probably safer than Latin America and less so that Europe and North America. Some Caribbean countries in particular have a fearsome reputation away from the main tourist spots e.g. Jamaica.

Don’t be put of visiting though! If you are going to travel to the region then take the usual solo traveler safety precautions and enjoy the unique Caribbean vibe!

Solo Travel Budget Guide to Anguilla

Anguilla is on first appearance a little prohibitively expensive but if you come off season, around the end of October when everything has opened but the crowds haven’t arrived, and you spend more chillin rather than partaking in relatively expensive stuff like diving, then there’s no reason not to enjoy this place.

Budget Accommodation on Anguilla

There’s not much, but look hard enough and you’ll find a couple of reasonable guest houses at the lower end of the pricing spectrum. Otherwise you’re kipping on the beach, which could be worse.

A Solo Traveller’s Budget for Anguilla

There are few inexpensive places which are obvious in Anguilla but there’s often a barbecue going down, there are some seaside snack bars and there’s a fresh fruit market in Valley. One of the reasons that the accommodation is a little more expensive than you might like is that it often provides cooking facilities so you can always self cater.

Helpfully there is no form of public transport on the island so you’ll have to try and organize lifts which obviously carries some element of danger with it. Probably best to bring a bike. Or just go somewhere a bit cheaper. If there’s a group of you then car rental is available, splitting the cost might make it affordable.

Activities for the Budget Traveller

Snorkeling, which is stunning and cheaper than diving, which is readily available also.

Horse riding on a pristine white beach

Swimming in the crystal clear blue sea

Eating freshly caught crayfish from a beach barbecue

Budget Guide to the British Virgin Islands

Despite the comedy name for those with a slightly juvenile sense of humour, this is a stunning location. It’s hugely attractive for yachts to stop by due to it’s many harbours and inlets (there are more than 60 islands making up the nation) and as such you might think it’s an expensive place to visit, but it has a lot to offer those with barely two pennies to rub together. And you can always offer to crew a boat if you get stuck.

Budget Accommodation on the British Virgin Islands

It’s no budget backpackers paradise in terms of finding a cheap bed, there are some fairly reasonably priced guesthouses but it might be worth bringing a tent, there’s a couple of camp sites, or just kipping on the beach with your sleeping bag if it’s dry. Imagine waking to that sunrise!

A Traveller’s Budget for the BVI

Soup and stew are the staple diet here and by their nature they’re not expensive, just choose where you eat them and you’ll not go far wrong price wise. To get around the islands there are series of ferries whose timetables don’t necessarily tie in conveniently with each other.

Activities for those on a budget

Sailing, if you can be part of a crew they might even pay you!

Diving and Snorkeling, the islands are all connected not too far down, they’re the high points on a volcanic plateau. Cool!

Sitting chilling with a beer on the beach

Try out some mushroom tea if that’s your thing, they’re legal to posses and consume here.

Budget Guide for Backpackers to Guadeloupe

On first appearance it’s like rural France in sightly the wrong place. There’s every part of French everyday life evident here from boulangeries to stripey shirted onion sellers then if you look just a little harder, banana plantations and coconuts to remind you tat you are, after all, in the Caribbean.

Budget Accommodation on Guadeloupe

There is one established campsite on the island, south of Pointe-Noire, but the best bet if you don’t fancy camping is to get in touch with the Gites de France Guadeloupe association, which run a network of apartments and rooms in family homes.

A Traveller’s Budget for Guadeloupe.

If you want to get around as cheaply as possible hire a bike or bring yours, there are excellent opportunities for cycling around the island. Otherwise, catch a bus, they generally depart when they’re full, usually start from Point à Pitre or at least include it in the route somewhere, and few run on a Sunday.

Cheap food can generally be found in beach huts, open air restaurants and the like, and there are some reasonably priced cafes with excellent food around.

Budget Activities

Diving at Pigeon Island

Horseriding at Domaine de Belle Plaine

Surfing – there are various locations around the island

Trek to La Soufriere, the island’s highest point

Budget Guide to St Kitts and Nevis

Another Caribbean paradise with coconuts holding cocktails, beachside open air bars, long stretches of white sand and a pace of life to match. Tourism is slowly making things a little more hectic which seems a little contradictory since it’s the slowness of everyday life that attracts people to come here, nevertheless, prepare to relax.

Budget Accommodation St Kitts and Nevis

There are some low priced guest houses available and apartment style accommodation which doesn’t cost the earth. There are no campsites on either island but it’s ok to wild camp if you’ve got the gear.

A Traveler’s Budget

Cheap freshly caught fish are available in abundance, whereas imported food such as meat tends to be more expensive. There are some fast food joints (not multinationals) serving things like fried chicken for next to nothing, and to offset the damage from that, fresh fruit and veg are available along with the local brew, Cane Spirit Rothschild, to wash it all down and get ready for the evening.

Budget Activities

Drinking local brew on the beach

Visiting the Brimstone Hill Fortress and it’s surrounding national park

Drinking cocktails on the beach

Take a trip on the St Kitts Scenic railway to see the whole island complete with choir.

Check out the botanical garden on Nevis.



Budget Guide to St Vincent and the Grenadines

St Vincent and the Grenadines are 32 incredibly beautiful islands, an absolute paradise for divers and snorkellers and anyone with a boat to park. The days are equally warm all the year round and even the rain can’t take much away from this perfection.

Budget Accommodation in St Vincent and the Grenadines

The vast majority of accommodation on the islands is in hotels and so it’s just a matter of finding a reasonably priced place. None of the hotels are especially large, some take the form of bungalows and some apartments. The price is usually higher at the end of the year when it’s winter for much of the world.

A Traveller’s Budget

Eating locally produced, caught or grown food is your best bet for a budget meal. Seafood is abundant as you’d probably expect, west indian soups feature strongly on any menu and there are plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables on offer.

To get around the islands boat is the only option unless you’re a particularly good swimmer, St Vincent has a bus service in the shape of minivans which hold about 20 prople and depart when full.

Budget Activities

Take in a perfect sunset on a perfect beach

Visit some of the uninhabited islands for complete solitude

Go diving off the island of Bequia, or clubbing on it.

Hike up volcanic La Soufrière, and have a look at the crater lake.



Budget Guide to Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad is unusual these days in that it doesn’t rely on tourism to get by, as a result the set up for tourists and travellers is a little haphazard at times. The best thing to do is to use it to your advantage, what you get is most certainly the real deal, jump in and make the most of it.

Budget Accommodation in Trinidad and Tobago

As long as you’re not going during the carnival the prices of accommodation are pretty reasonable. There isn’t much backpacker specific accommodation to speak of but there are some cheap guesthouses and hotels.

A Traveller’s Budget

Shark sandwiches and curried chickpeas in flatbread will set you back next to nothing at beach cafes and restaurants, not to mention the flying fish and chips. Otherwise look out for trucks piled high with coconuts for drinking and various snacks.

To get around Trinidad the cheapest option is the bus if you’re not in a hurry. Otherwise jump in a maxi-taxi, they’re colour coded for ease of identification, each colour servicing a different area. On Tobago take a bike or catch the bus which serves most villages on the island.

Budget Activities

Carnival is the biggest event of the year here and although the prices of accommodation rocket the carnival itself is something to behold.

Visit Fort King George for stunning views and some history

Go bird watching at the Caroni Bird Sanctuary

Snorkel at the Buccoo Reef

Check out the local music scene with steel drums and social.

7 More Great Caribbean Destinations!

Here are seven more places to check out as a solo traveler!

Do you dream of a vacation in the Caribbean? Then read on and discover the 7 best beaches in the Caribbean Sea, those in which you’ll want to get lost.

It is no accident that the Caribbean Sea is considered a paradigm of relaxing vacations, but with a touch of exoticism. Beaches of shining and golden sands, temperate and crystalline waters or seabed that treasure an excellent marine life are some of the characteristics that make the Caribbean one of the most desired tourist destinations in the world.

We present 7 Caribbean beaches that will delight dolce far niente lovers , but also those who love nature in its broadest sense or who like to be able to reconcile a few days of relaxation with associated cultural activities.

Punta Uva, Costa Rica

On the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and just twenty kilometers from the border with Panama , endless beaches are located. Crystal clear waters, coral bottoms and golden and kilometer sandy beaches are distributed between Cahuita National Park and Punta Uva . There are almost 10 kilometers of endless , often lonely, sandy beaches , where it is best to arrive by pedaling a rented bicycle in Puerto Viejo. The almost virgin Playa Punta Uva, at the end of the journey, is an excellent place to enjoy a relaxing snorkel in a heavenly environment where palm trees reach the very shore.

Pilar beach in Cayo Guillermo, Cuba

Cuba is another of the most recognized destinations for beach lovers. Among the hundreds of paradisiacal Cuban beaches, Playa Pilar in Cayo Guillermo has been distinguished on several occasions as the most beautiful of the country’s beaches .

An ideal place to rest a couple of days after a trip through Cuba, away from the hustle and bustle of beautiful beaches but much more crowded like those of Varadero. It is no accident that the famous novelist and traveler Ernest Hemingway ended up falling in love with such a sand and even here he was inspired to write The Old Man and the Sea , one of his most famous works.

Cayo Levantado Beach, Samana, Dominican Republic

On a lonely island off the coast of the Samana Peninsula is located one of the most exclusive locations of Caribbean Dominican . This is Cayo Levantado. An ideal place to forget your mobile and just relax, sunbathe, dive with glasses or enjoy the trails that cross the brief tropical forest. To get to Cayo Levantado you have to take a boat from the Samana pier.

Cayo Levantado Beach, Dominican Republic

Goff Cay, Belize

The characteristic islets of shipwrecked , with a maximum altitude of one meter above sea level, an area less than 500 square meters and only a handful of numbed palm trees on its surface, exist and are in the Caribbean Sea. In this sense, one of the most beautiful islets is that of Cayo Goff, in Belize , a place that can be accessed with a half-day excursion from the Belizean capital or from the less quiet Caye Caulker.

Little more than enjoying a Rum Punch , a characteristic Belizean combination based on rum, Malibu and different fruits, the sand that completely surrounds the insula or the fertile seabed is what will fill our time in this unforgettable place.

Dog Chico Beach, San Blas, Panama

San Blas is, perhaps, the most beautiful of the Caribbean archipelagos . It is a myriad of small islets off the Panamanian coast administered by the Gunas Indians, ancestral owners of these beautiful lands.

The different islands are counted by tens, to which more beautiful and always following the same pattern: golden sands on the periphery and a set of beautiful palm trees inside that give it the touch of exoticism. Perhaps Playa Chico Chico is one of the most interesting, with the frame of a sunken ship next to its shores and with an abundant coral collar that almost completely surrounds the island and makes its seabed one of the most lush in the Caribbean . Faced with such abundance, sea stars seem to be the main protagonists.

Island in san blas panama Tulum, Mexico

Somewhat quieter than the beaches of the busiest Cancun, the beaches that surround the beautiful Mayan ruins of Tulum , in Mexico, allow you to enjoy an excellent day at the beach while you can enjoy one of the most wonderful Mayan ruins of Mesoamerica No longer by extension or magnificence. It is the environment itself, with the golden sands of the Caribbean in the first place and the venerable archaeological site of Tulum in the background that makes this place the paradigm that culture and art are perfectly combinable in these beautiful Mexican lands.

Tulum Beach in Mexico

Chepes Beach, Utila, Honduras

The Honduran Caribbean is one of the most rude pearls in Central America . The small Island of Utila brings together a set of beaches of unique beauty, among which Playa Chepes stands out. Temperate and crystalline waters in one of the best places to enjoy the incredible experience of swimming with the whale shark , one of the most extraordinary marine animals that cross the Caribbean waters, but also with manatees and dolphins.