Smart Travel: Caribbean islands offer something for every taste

Linda and Dr. Don Overend are principals in The Travel Group, a full-service travel agency.

The Caribbean islands are favorite vacation spots for Americans, both winter and year-round. These pleasure spots have much in common beautiful sunny weather, wide expanses of beach and luxurious resorts.

But each island has special features that set it apart from the others and make it special for vacationers looking for particular ways to enjoy time off.

For a long weekend, choose a destination served by nonstop airline service and not at the far end of the Caribbean. Jamaica's Montego Bay and San Juan, Puerto Rico, would fit these requirements.

The Tryall Club in Jamaica is a historic plantation with an 18th century Great House, a superb golf course and distinctive villas with private pools and butlers. San Juan is home of the Wyndham El San Juan Hotel & Casino.

This resort does everything on a grand scale, including a 600-foot beach with a river pool and waterfalls, restaurants ranging from Japanese to Italian and a Manhattan steak house, and generously large guest rooms.

A romantic break requires seclusion as well as luxury and activities. For this we suggest the Hilton Tobago, surprisingly secluded with gardens, plantation-style design and facilities including a PGA championship golf course, an infinity pool and dive center, and even a bar resembling a wrecked ship.

Or you might try Terre de Haut Island, a tiny place located 45 minutes by ferry from Guadeloupe, Mexico. Here the natives live by fishing in boats of brightest colors. There are charming inns, boutiques and bistros at fair prices and tropical vegetation everywhere. Best is the Auberge Les Petits Saints aux Anacardiers, where the owners are fine chefs and art collectors, and the rates are particularly agreeable.

A family vacation requires resorts that are kid-friendly. The Hyatt chain, with hotels on Grand Cayman, Aruba and Puerto Rico, is well-known for its attention to the desires of families. So is the Wyndham Rose Hall Resort in Montego Bay. Children under 12 stay and eat free at St. Croix's Chenay Bay Beach Resort.

Well-equipped kitchenette cottages and a full range of water activities are part of the charm here, and arts and crafts vie with field trips to the rainforest and aquarium.

For sightseeing and history, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are dotted with cathedrals and forts. Bilingual Curacao provides Dutch history and architecture on one side, French on the other. So for a change of scenery, just walk across the island. Barbados offers 19th century great houses, churches and tropical gardens. There is also working plantations, Dover Fort and sugar-fine beaches.

We've just skimmed the surface of the variety offered by the Caribbean, but there is an island for almost any taste and desire.