Standout beaches

Beaches are what the Caribbean is all about, and you can find good to great ones on the majority of the islands. It's easier to note the ones without a wealth of good beaches: Saba, Dominica, St. Eustatius and St. Vincent.

But even among the great, there are standouts. Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman is as long as its name indicates; just know that it is lined with hotels. When it comes to mileage, Negril Beach in Jamaica can match the longest one in Grand Cayman.

St. Martin's Baie Orientale gets rave reviews for its long stretch of white sand. Some argue that Eagle Beach in Aruba, with its powdery strand, is the best beach in the Caribbean, although if you visited years ago and loved it because there was little development, you're in for a big surprise.

Half Moon Beach and Grace Bay on the island Providenciales in Turks and Caicos also have been discovered; still, many of the hotels are low-rise, and other islands in the chain have beautiful, nearly deserted beaches.

If you're looking for something unusual, the Baths on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands has grottoes formed by boulders. Or look for pink sand beaches in Bermuda and on two of the outer islands of the Bahamas, Harbor Island and Eleuthera.

St. Barts is known for beaches covered with seashells, a rarity in the Caribbean.

If you like to mix it up and enjoy gentle beaches while still catching some waves, Barbados has a calm Caribbean side and crashing surf on the Atlantic side. For pristine little coves, check out St. John.

Antigua's boast of having a different beach for every day of the year is true only because it includes some pretty so-so beaches, but there is no question the island has a lot of beaches, many of them quite good.

Anguilla has miles of brilliant beaches that tend to remain uncrowded.

Other primary contenders in the race for best wide, white beaches: the Grenadines and two of the British Virgin Islands, Virgin Gorda and Anegada.