TOP 10 HIDDEN ISLANDS CARIBBEAN FULL

Lloyd's Guest House, Crocus Hill, AnguillaĪ West Indian home from home, this family business has been going for years, since before Anguilla's 'revolution' in 1967, and eventual secession from St Kitts. Virgin Gorda is reached from Antigua (served by British Airways, Virgin ) via Beef Island off Tortola (on local airline LIAT ), and a ferry Mongoose Apartments, Tortola, British Virgin Islands There are bars and restaurants within walking distance. But life centres on the delightful beach and its superb sand and sea, framed by the famous boulders, jumbled on one another to create nooks, sun traps and explorable caves. A small central area has shop, internet, laundry, books, snorkelling gear and regulars who gather to shoot the breeze. In among them stand 20 cottages, each with kitchen, living room, barbecue and lovely outside space, and one, two or three bedrooms. Great boulders, covered in bougainvillea and night-blooming sirius cactus, surge from the rising ground on both sides of the quiet road near the south of the island. The rocks that give so much character to the beaches of the Baths and Spring Bay on Virgin Gorda, the third-largest of the British Virgin Islands, run through the Guavaberry resort too.

Guavaberry Spring Bay, Virgin Gorda, Caribbean +1 2,, sleeps six from about £1,600 a week Guavaberry Spring Bay, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands Bring repellent because the sand flies can be aggressive, especially after a rain shower, although the cottage owners spray the area regularly. Barbuda currently has three beachfront resorts – Coco Point Lodge, Lighthouse Bay Resort and North Beach – but they cost at least £320 a night, making the cottage a relative bargain. Roddy's Barbuda Smash, with rum and coconut juice, manages to enhance the sunsets, and the restaurant's locally caught lobster or snapper are delicious options if you tire of the cottage's kitchen. There are only a few options for dining on this sleepy island, but one, Uncle Roddy's, is about 50m from the cottage – almost like having an in-house chef. The grocery stores in Codrington, Barbuda's quiet main village, are fairly limited, so guests often stock up on basics beforehand in Antigua, about 30 miles away (daily flights ferry five days a week). Three bedrooms and two bathrooms make it comfortable for families or couples. This cottage (the owner is planning to build more, hence the plural name) is a few steps from the beach, with a fantastic, sweeping view of the Caribbean from its elevated deck. The long, uninterrupted stretches of pink-tinged sand lining this island are among the most stunning on the planet, and much of the time there's not a soul on them. +1 2,, doubles from about £95 Barbuda Cottages, Barbuda The beach at the Catamaran is small, but a perfect spot to sit with a book and a cocktail.

TOP 10 HIDDEN ISLANDS CARIBBEAN FULL

The village of English Harbour, a magnet for the sailing set, is a few minutes' taxi ride away, and has a smattering of lively restaurants and bars, often full of festive crews from the mega-yachts nearby. The on-site restaurant is only open for special events and doesn't serve breakfast, but a short walk down the jetty is Cambusa, an Italian restaurant on the seafront serving freshly caught fish.

The upstairs rooms have especially nice views of the marina and boats in Falmouth Harbour. The 14 self-catering rooms are almost like studio apartments, with kitchens in the corners, and are simply and brightly furnished, with aircon, television and daily cleaning – even of your dirty dishes. This small, friendly hotel is smack on the beach, on the island's buzzing southern coast.

Top 10 hidden islands caribbean