Have you vacationed on a Caribbean island?

OK, Im curious. Where did you stay in Mexico?

We went to an all-inclusive in Mexico back in March and absolutely loved it...but we also left the resort and didn't just lay around at the pool and beach.

We've been to:

St John (favorite)
St Thomas
St Maarten
Jamaica (our least favorite)
Bahamas
Haiti
Barbados
Mexico
Honduras

While this is from Sandals, not my cuppa, the photos and write-up gives a good general overview of Curaçao. Less busy/touristy than Aruba.
www.sandals.com/blog/things-curacao-is-known-for/

I've been to Bahamas, senior HS trip and Aruba on my honeymoon. So I was in the Caribbean a LONG, LONG, LONG time ago. I loved Aruba. I didn't want to go because I didn't think there was anything to do but there's plenty to do if you want to do it.

We really like Turks and Caicos and St. John - we’re trying different part of Bahamas in August - last time was way too touristy but this is supposed to be quieter. We’re big scuba divers - but the food was great on both

Have you ever considered taking a cruise? We’ve gone on a couple western Caribbean cruises through Disney Cruise Lines that we all really enjoyed. That way you can visit and explore several places all while having a single home base on the ship. You can do as much or as little as you want, and the food and service we experienced on Disney was exceptional as was the entertainment. There are also eastern and southern Caribbean itineraries if those areas would be more your thing. Then if you discover a place you would really love to explore more, you can always book a separate vacation later to go back to that specific place.

We’ve been to quite a few Caribbean countries.

Cuba
Bahamas (not technically Caribbean)
Dominican Republic
St. Lucia
Honduras
Mexico (much prefer Cozumel over Riviera)
Curaçao
Belize
Cayman Islands (prefer Little Cayman over Grand Cayman)
Antigua
Cost Rica (though we stayed on the Pacific side)
Nicaragua

Our favourites are Cuba, Belize, & St. Lucia (Soufriere, not Castries).

ETA * We’ve done some amazing tours in some of these countries (Nicaragua, Cuba, & Antigua particularly). The key for us is looking for more cultural and less touristy trips - they tend to be less crowded. Sometimes so ‘less crowded’ that we’ve been the only ones on the tour. Those are the best because the guide is often willing to skip the programmed stuff and take us off the beaten track. In Antigua, for example, we ended up forgoing the five-star restaurant with the white table cloths and boring-ass food, and going to a nameless road-side shack with the BEST fish and home-made sorrel.

We loved Curaçao. We did a great dive excursion to Klein Curaçao - there was no place to dock the dive boat so, during our surface interval, we just swam to shore to explore the light house. We bought lobsters from some guys in little boats (where they actually came from was beyond me because it’s hours from pretty much everything) and cooked it on the beach for lunch.

Barbados and Antigua are our favourites. Least favourite is definitely the Bahamas, and dh did not like St Lucia for some reason.

I agree with the recommendation to take a cruise - you can check out a bunch of different islands without making a huge commitment, to decide where you would like to go back

I've been to St Lucia, St Thomas, St John, the ABCs and I'm throwing in Puerto Rico.

I'd go back to any of them, but St John is my favorite with so much exploring to be had. It's small and easily navigable.

Not an island, but Costa Rica or Belize were amazing trips. One day when I magically obtain wealth, I'd like to buy a place in the Nicoya peninsula of Costa Rica and soak up the Blue Zone magic.

We've been to:

Bahamas (twice)
Costa Rica (three times) - Pacific side
St. Kitts
St. Thomas
St. John
St. Maarten
Puerto Rico
Barbados
Aruba
Antigua
Cancun (three times)
Cozumel
Dominican Republic

We've also done day trips or cruise days to:

Belize
Roatan
Jamaica
Grand Caymen
Freeport
St. Bart
Jost Van Dyke
British Virgin Gouda

We really prefer the all-inclusive. We're gong to St. Lucia in August and Cabo San Lucas in oct.

The thing with a cruise is that if you don’t know anything at all about a place it gives you a bit of the experience and it allows you to rule OUT places you wouldn’t want to go back to, if you KWIM. On our cruises we’ve seen enough of a place to say, “That was fun, wouldn’t mind going back there for a longer trip” and also “Uh, next time we don’t really need to get off the boat there again!”

Yes, I've been to:

St. John USVI (3 times, two weeks each for two times, 3 weeks this past December)
Jamaica (one week in Negril, Jamaica)
Bermuda (1 day stop on a cruise)

When we were in Jamaica 27 years ago we stayed at an all-inclusive resort, got married there and honeymooned. It was my first time at an all inclusive resort. I'd read about a craft market nearby and wanted to go to it-we got a taxi from our resort and went one afternoon. As soon as we got out of the taxi we were bombarded with locals trying to sell their wares-pressing in on us and not letting us move at all. Soon there was a big crowd and we decided to forget it-hopped back into the taxi and went back to the resort. Being at the resort-sometimes if felt so groomed and homogenized that it could have been anywhere-they even raked the sand on the beach every day!

I read about St. John in a "Family Fun" magazine in 1997 and it sounded so much more like what we were looking for. I don't like sitting on a beach with a drink in my hand all day-that's not me. I like to explore when I travel and take a ton of photos (that's my idea of fun). I also adore snorkeling and swimming. 2/3 of St. John is National Park which means it is protected. You won't find a lot of condos and buildings on St. John beaches-they are wild and beautiful. St. John has 39 beaches and almost all of those offer great snorkeling right off the beach (great not having to pay for a boat ride to get out to the reef). I also love history (there are several ruins to explore), and there are a ton of hiking trails. 

We had such a great time on our first visit that we've been back twice. St. John is my idea of heaven. I love it there and would move there if I could afford it.