What does your ideal island vacation look like? Part III - Beaches

June 17, 11:33 PMDallas Tropical Travel ExaminerDebbra Brouillette

Previous Next

3 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Dallas Tropical Travel Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Photo Credit: Debbra Brouillette (Barbados beach)

The ideal island vacation  – what does it look like for you?  For some travelers, “it’s all about the beach!” They may rarely touch their toe into the water, but they want to walk along a beautiful beach, or sunbathe on a pristine stretch of sand as they gaze at the multi-hued blues of the sea.

There are a plethora of “best beaches” lists, named by various guidebooks, magazines, and travel sites for multiple reasons…some more biased than others. I’ll share some of my personal favorites with you, and give you some things to consider if the beach setting is high on your priority list.

The Sand

White, off-white, light tan or pink sand is found on beaches in the “flat, desert-like” or “somewhere in between” categories I outlined in What does your ideal vacation look like? Part II. (These include Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Barbados, Cayman Islands, including Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac, Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos islands, and Anegada, BVI.) The sand itself ranges from fine to powdery and is created by parrotfish who use their beaks to scrape off coral rock. Amazing, isn’t it? They then digest algae and expel it as fine, white sand. White or light sand beaches are softer underfoot.

Pink sand beaches can be found in Bermuda, on Harbor Island, Eleuthera, and other locations in the Bahamas, and in Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. The crushed red shells of tiny sea creatures are broken up by waves into a pale, pink-colored sand.

Darker brown and even black sand is found on islands of volcanic origin (Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grenada). It was formed as a result of hot lava, which flowed into the sea, then was broken up into pieces and flowed back to shore. The texture of the sand is coarse, more so in some places than others. However, most volcanic islands, including St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Martinique, Grenada, and others also have white and lighter-colored sand beaches on other sides of the island not as affected by volcanic action.

The Ocean

The color of the ocean water will also change, according to several factors, including the sky conditions (a clear blue sky versus a cloudy day), water depth (light reflected from the sand in shallow water appears to be a lighter color than in deeper water),  substances in the water or at its bottom (sand, seaweed),  and the sun’s angle (ocean looks darker at noontime due to less light being reflected from the surface, bottom, and interior of the water).

The ocean water on white or light sand beaches will appear to be lighter, usually appearing as shades of aqua and turquoise; while on beaches with darker sand, the ocean water often appears to be darker shades of royal or sapphire blue.

Beach Terrain

Caribbean beaches can be almost devoid of vegetation (on the flat islands with white sand), or may be lined with palm trees, sea grape trees (Grenada’s Grand Anse Beach comes to mind), or even Australian pines (on Grand Cayman’s 7 Mile Beach).

Windward versus Leeward

All islands have a windward side (think more wind, more waves) and a leeward side (less wind, calmer waters). Make sure you know on which side of the island a resort you are considering is located. Unless you are a surfer, windsurfer, or don’t plan to swim or snorkel in the ocean, you may wish to choose accommodations on the leeward side. The majority of resorts seem to be located on the calmer side of the island.

My Personal Top Ten List of “Best Beaches”

I have only included beaches that I have personally visited. Beaches on islands like Antigua Aruba, and others are often on the “best” lists included in guidebooks and on travel sites, so this list is by no means, inclusive.  

1.    Grace Bay Beach, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands (white sand, calm waters)

2.    Grand Anse Beach, Grenada (white sand, lush setting with grapetrees and palms)

3.    Cane Bay, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (off-white/light brown sand, beautiful setting with palm trees overhanging beach)

4.    Anse Chastanet Beach, St. Lucia (light brown volcanic sand, palm trees overhanging beach, lush setting)

5.    Tobago Cays, Grenadines (white sand, palm trees, incredible, breath-taking shades of turquoise waters)

6.    Palm Island Beach, Grenadines (nearly white sand, palm trees, romantic setting

7.    Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands (white sand, palm trees)

8.    Oualie Beach, Nevis (brown volcanic sand, palm trees)

9.    7 Mile Beach, Grand Cayman (nearly white sand, palms, Australian pines in some areas, long stretches of beach – they say 7 miles of it!)

10.  Pink Beach, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles (pale pink sand, perfect place for shore diving, snorkeling, or just beachin’ it)

Note: A designation of “white” sand color is subjective. There are many shades of “white sand,” like the white paint colors you have to choose from for the walls in your home. Beaches are often referred to in information about islands as white, but don’t expect them to be as sugar-white as the beaches of Florida’s Panhandle, which stretch from Pensacola to Panama City. As I mentioned in Part II, those are the beaches I first experienced and have become my point of comparison for white sand beaches. Years ago, I began a “sand collection,” which I have placed in small, clear bottles, labeled on the bottom. Long after my return from an island, I can refresh my memory of the color and texture of the beaches on which I have left my footprints. Whether white, nearly white, light brown, or dark brown, when it comes to sandy beaches, there are things to love about them all.

Coming Next – Activities

In Part IV of What does your ideal island vacation look like? I’ll be delving into a very important consideration in choosing the right island – activities.

To go on to What does your ideal vacation look like? Part IV, click here.

If you’ve missed the other articles in this series, catch up now:

What does your ideal island vacation look like? Part I

What does your ideal island vacation look like? Part II