Find Your Perfect Beach Getaway

The best beaches from Cancun to Tulum, north to south: Playa Delfines, Puerto Morelos, Maroma, Punta Esmeralda, Xpu-Ha, Akumal, Xcacel and Tulum’s free Parque del Jaguar beaches.

The Caribbean's most secluded beaches are the ones no road reaches: Colombier, Happy Bay, Jack Bay, Batibou, Playa Fronton, Playa Tortuga and Barbuda's 17-Mile Beach.

Solo travel in the Caribbean works best on Puerto Rico, Barbados, Curacao, Aruba, the USVI and Cayman — walkable, bus-linked, Level 1 advisories. The real cost is the single supplement.

Tropical golden hour runs 30-45 minutes, not an hour. Shoot Eagle Beach, Grote Knip, The Baths, Pink Sands and Trunk Bay at dawn — and check drone rules island by island.

The Caribbean's best beach hikes: Dominica's 115-mile Waitukubuli Trail, St. John's Reef Bay and Ram Head, Martinique's Trace des Caps and Middle Caicos' Crossing Place Trail.

The best Caribbean markets: Castries (St Lucia), Marigot (St Martin), St George’s spice market (Grenada) and Willemstad’s Floating Market. Go before 9am, bring cash, skip conch and coral.

Packing for the Caribbean: reef-safe sunscreen (required in the USVI, Bonaire and Aruba), no camouflage clothing, a universal plug adapter for 110V-240V, and DEET repellent.

The Caribbean beaches that actually face the sunset: Seven Mile Beach (Grand Cayman), Eagle Beach (Aruba), Negril’s West End, Ffryes, Playa Kalki, Sugar Beach and Paynes Bay.

The Caribbean beach bars worth the trip: Soggy Dollar on Jost Van Dyke, Floyd's Pelican Bar off Jamaica, Sunshine's on Nevis, Nippers, Sunset Bar and Foxy's. Bring cash.

Four Caribbean ferry chains work without a plane: the Virgin Islands from $25, Guadeloupe to St. Lucia on L’Express des Îles, the Grenadines, and St. Maarten to Anguilla in 20 minutes.

Caribbean wellness retreats ranked: BodyHoliday St. Lucia includes a daily treatment, COMO Parrot Cay and Six Senses La Sagesse run the deepest programmes, Sivananda Bahamas is the budget pick.

The Caribbean's historical beaches worth a detour: Salt River Bay on St. Croix, Long Bay on San Salvador, Port Royal, Playa Girón, English Harbour, Pigeon Island and Holetown.