Caribbean Islands
Start with the map: click or tap an island to open its CaribSurf destination guide. The Caribbean is not one type of holiday. Islands only a short flight apart can differ sharply in landscape, rainfall, language, culture, price level, tourism intensity and the kind of traveller they suit.
The 13 Independent Island States of the Caribbean
The Caribbean has 13 independent island states. Geographically they are usually associated with the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles and the Bahamas.
Greater Antilles and Bahamas
- Cuba – the largest island state in the Caribbean.
- Jamaica
- Dominican Republic – shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
- Haiti
- The Bahamas – geographically in the Atlantic, but historically and culturally part of the wider Caribbean region.
Lesser Antilles
- Trinidad and Tobago – just off the coast of Venezuela.
- Barbados
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Grenada
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Dominica – not to be confused with the Dominican Republic.
Important Dependent Territories in the Caribbean
Many well-known Caribbean islands are not independent states. They are politically linked to European countries or to the United States.
Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Aruba
- Curaçao
- Sint Maarten
- Bonaire
France
- Guadeloupe
- Martinique
- Saint-Barthélemy
United Kingdom
- Cayman Islands
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Anguilla
- British Virgin Islands
United States
- Puerto Rico
- U.S. Virgin Islands
The Mainland Caribbean
The Caribbean is not limited to islands. Several mainland countries have long coastlines on the Caribbean Sea and are geographically part of the wider Caribbean region.
Central America: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama all have coastlines on the Caribbean Sea. Other important mainland Caribbean areas include Mexico around Cancún and the Yucatán coast, Colombia around Cartagena and the northern coast, and Venezuela.