WINNING TIP: Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

If you're looking for an island paradise but don't have a huge budget, Little Corn is your answer. The island has no cars, no chain hotels and no swimming pools. Accommodation consists of ecolodges (£12-32) and beachside cabanas (£10-32). The island is a haven for divers and snorkellers, with more than 20 dive sites within 15 minutes' boat ride. The diving is among the most affordable in the Caribbean, with 'fun dives' costing £22.

For information on getting there and accommodation visit bigcornisland.com.

Mamachula

Cuba

Hostal Elida, Santa Clara

This beautiful urban casa particular (a private house where rooms are rented to tourists) is situated in the centre of Santa Clara – serious Che country, right in the heart of Cuba. Carlos and his family will look after you superbly and he enjoys speaking English. A little over £17 will buy you a fabulous room and great facilities and food. By coach you're within easy, cheap and fast reach of the beaches on both the north and south coasts.

+53 42 215914, hostalelida@gmail.com

annietraveller

Colombia



Photograph: Alamy

Parque Tayrona national park

This is one of the most beautiful national parks in the Caribbean, with rainforest running down to untouched white beaches and a warm sea. Walk, thumb a lift, or wait for a local bus at the park entrance to take you to the sea. Once there, walk for 45 minutes along the most wonderful forest and coastal path, where you can hear howler monkeys, see bright blue morpho butterflies, and maybe even encounter an agouti.

As you emerge on the beach at San Juan del Cabo, you will find a simple restaurant and some huts renting hammocks for a pound a night. You can also hire tents, and lockers for your valuables. You can spend days and days here, lying on the beach, snorkelling, hiking into the forest to visit indigenous communities, watching the squadrons of pelicans fly past, talking to fishermen who will cook a delicious fish and potato soup on the beach and perhaps offer you a bowl, and, most importantly, walking along the beach in the morning to the local bakery serving cheese and chocolate bread. Stand with your back to the sea, and you can look up into the Sierra de Nevada Santa Marta mountains and see the snow-topped peaks.

parquesnacionales.gov.co

earthakitt

Martinique

Résidence Bellevue, Sainte-Luce

Nice accommodation in this fishing village in the south of the island. It is 15 minutes from the beach, has a swimming pool, air conditioning and a wonderful view over to St Lucia.

+596 5 9650 7840, caribellevue.pagesperso-orange.fr. Apartments sleeping up to four from £280 per week

Sandy972

Grenada

Bayaleau Point Cottages, Carricou

This place is a welcome break from cliched Caribbean resorts. I stayed in a little blue cottage – a traditional Caribbean house of wood and ornate carvings and pictures by local artists. It was the ultimate chill-out, away from it all. Take a dip in the sea (about 30 seconds' walk). Maybe a bit of diving, sailing, a boat trip with the proprietor and then back to drinking rum and swinging in a hammock.

+473 443 7984, carriacoucottages.com. Cabins from £40-90 per day

projectjay

Barbados



On the south coast of Barbados is a lovely little guesthouse called Dolphin Inn, run by a helpful Austrian woman called Iris. It is light, welcoming, roomy and, best of all, great value for money on an expensive island. An en suite double costs between £28 and £35 per night, and there's also a kitchen, dining area, living room with TV and verandah. It is just a stroll away from beautiful, secluded beaches and the bars and restaurants of St Lawrence Gap. Using the kitchen and taking the local "reggae" buses helps to reduce the costs further. Make sure you visit the small beach near the Graeme Hall nature sanctuary; we watched two turtles swimming in the sea there.

barbados.org/hotels/h119.htm#Contacts

rebecca