North America
Rum shops, cricket, calm western bays and a wild Atlantic shore.
Barbados combines a sheltered west coast of calm turquoise bays with the wave-battered east around Bathsheba, where huge rocks sit in the surf. Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and inland you can descend into the limestone chambers of Harrison's Cave or tour plantation houses and rum distilleries. The island is also home to Mount Gay, one of the world's oldest rum brands.
Life here is sociable: Friday night fish fry at Oistins, flying fish and cou-cou, cricket talk in rum shops and the summer Crop Over festival. Blue government buses and privately run minibuses cover the island cheaply. December to April is dry and pleasant; hurricanes rarely strike directly, but August to October is the wettest, stickiest stretch.
January, February, March, April, December.