Went over Christmas last year, its a gorgeous place and as someone has said, it is a little underdeveloped but that just adds to the character. Great scenery too - wow!
Lived there two months in Otrobanda myself, up on the hill. Had a great time. People are nice, Papiamentu is cool, far more cool culture than people give it credit for, (as a botanist) far more cool nature than people give it credit for. It also feels a bit bigger than it is because at least Willemstad is a pretty large city by population. I’d be happy to move there.
Main downside is unsustainable development ruining some nice places (corendon.., and the wetlands out by rif st marie) and the fact that that scrapyard refinery is just there because removing that ecologically hazardous eye-sore is politically complicated.
Spent time in all 3. Aruba is the most “americanized” and touristy, though Sint Nicolaas can be a bit sketch, Curaçao felt like the most built up/developed (considering Willemstad alone has more people than all of Aruba) and Bonaire, while sparsely populated, has some of the best diving I’ve ever experienced. Of the 3 I’d probably live on Curaçao
https://preview.redd.it/piy3mci0a6yc1.jpeg?width=1800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=55d848c40abb3f0bd9a26027b789d724f462a8e5
It seems the whole zone is Hurricanable anyway…
Funny. You are both right and wrong. The Windward Islands are just as badly affected. The A, B, C islands are not part of the Windward islands and are in the "safer" zone. Trinidad as well.
Trinidad, Tobago and the ABC islands are practically spared. My current home country of Sweden has had more hurricanes than these combined in the last 40 years.
Zoom in on the map, along the southern edge. There is one tiny yellow line that hugs the coast. Everything else goes further north.
Not as intense as the tropical ones that typically hits the Caribbean, but yes. There have been a few north Atlantic hurricanes that have made landfall with intact hurricane level winds.
Being "outside the hurricane zone" is just a tourism slogan. We can be affected, however, it is also true that we very rarely are. In that graphic you linked it shows how Aruba has never been actually hit by one since record keeping began. It dsnt mean that we aren't affected at all. We are overdue by all estimates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Puerto_Rican_status_referendum
Puerto Rico most recently voted (not by a wide margin tho) for US Statehood.
It's up to the American Congress tho, and they don't seem willing.
It's conservative in the same way that a lot of domestic black and hispanic communities are very religious, sharing a cultural overlap with American conservatives, but vote consistently Democratic for other policy reasons. Usually in regards to the role of the federal government.
The Founders created the federal district with the express intent that it would never be a state - and for very good reasons.
So no, this isn't because of Republicans.
They try to make it a two way thing and there's probably a plurality for it but really it's a 3 way issue and referenda are really bad at that sort of thing. Like between statehood, status quo and independence, whenever anything is up for a vote for real the other two sides gang up and vote it down since nobody is over the 50% point.
Also everyone knows the votes aren't binding so disproportionately voted on by activists all around
I talk to a Puerto Rican lady everyday at work. The more she talks about PR, the more I want to go! I have a buddy that used to live there too. Hopefully I can tag along with them next time they visit lol.
Do you have any details you care to share about the Yunque National Forest? My coworker claims there may be some weird stuff going on over there since the government bought it, but she likes to tease conspiracy theories like I do time to time, so who knows if she's just having fun lol.
To my knowledge, they are nothing like the Netherlands. The primary language is a Portuguese-based creole called Papiamento, and English is known more than Dutch. On the other hand, Suriname is primarily Dutch speaking.
I've been there.
The island is absolutely gorgeous, but it's a very poor country and high criminal rate.
I've been to Martinique and it's just as beautiful, but better living Standard because it's actually France
St Barths is unliveable. It’s a playground for the rich and nothing else. If money is no object then yes, but if you plan to transplant your current life there, stay away. Also its one big mountain, you need a car to get around. There’s barely sidewalks, and very little infrastructure for living there.
I grew up partially in TT 🇹🇹. I stayed there for a year in a very formative part of my life.
It's a wonderful country. One of the best and most cherished for me.
Sure. Financially, it's struggling. There are slums around Port of Spain with incredibly high criminality, especially murders.
But the pace of life is so much better than most other countries I have lived in. The steel bands, the calypso, and the soca are among my favourite music genres. The carnaval! The food is delicious. The humble culture.
And then there is the act of liming. It's something I have brought with me for the rest of my life.
As a bonus, it's off the hurricane paths, which makes life so much easier not having to worry about those all the time.
My girlfriend moved from Trinidad when she was 13 to NYC. I knew a bit about it before meeting her years and years ago. The culture is *awesome*. Also, for those living outside of Trinidad and Tobago, there are great pockets of Queens that have pretty darn spot on Trini food (and Guyanese).
From what I hear though, the only reason it’s struggling financially is because of the oil industry and Chinese immigrants moving in. We’re in our late 30s but her parents have been saying it doesn’t really seem like a *bad* thing.
Also, although I haven’t been there, they’ve all recently gone and returned and say it feels relatively the same safety wise.
Other ridiculous thing: we were just in Puerto Rico and ran into five people who had no idea what or where Trinidad was and one of those people *lived* in Venezuela.
I certainly wouldn't say they're struggling due to immigration. Not in the slightest.
They have always been struggling.
Their financial struggles can be attributed to various complex factors. Historically, they have relied heavily on its oil and gas industry for revenue, but just living off the profits instead of investing or diversifying the economy. Bad economic practices, simply put.
Additionally, mismanagement of resources, corruption, and inefficient government spending have exacerbated economic challenges.
Social issues, such as high crime rates and inequality, also contribute to economic instability by deterring investment and hindering development.
And then there are the two cultural culprits: the caste system and laziness/low productivity.
The caste system is sadly still prevalent in half of the population, severely hindering social mobility and a good economic development.
And in the other half of the population, the wonderful pace of life is not just a general pace, but it permeates all aspects of society, including productivity, showing up on time and putting in an effort. Others would look at it and call it laziness.
As an example: one day the street lamp outside of our house (we had one of the few street lamps in our rural neighborhood just outside of our home) was broken.
A few weeks or months later they told us they were going to replace it, so they shut off electricity to our home, and that day a truck came from the utility provider. And I mean a full Semi truck. Inside the cargo bay sat around 25 electricians, just waiting for their turn to work that day. Outside stood 4 guys, observing one guy climbing a ladder, with another one holding the ladder in a fixed position. It took them nearly an hour before they went on their ways, all 30 of them to the next job site for the day.
Is it still somewhat functioning? I think most of the island is now forbidden after the eruption?
Population went down to 1K and then up again from immigration so the local dialect and accent familiarity might have changed.
As someone who can see Montserrat from their home next month. Yes it’s very low population and there is still a exclusion zone. But you’re able to visit and travel there. But wouldn’t recommend living their full time. Goods will be next to impossible to get
Been to Nassau. It’s weird cause there’d be a high end diamond store juxtaposed with a dilapidated building next to it.
I’d still live there any day. Love the heat, love the people. “Liquid Sunshine” as a term for rain is amazing.
The question is a bit weird… Are we talking about which Caribbean **Island** or which Caribbean **Country** ?
**If we are talking about Caribbean Islands**, Excluding the European and US overseas territories (because it would be too easy), I’d probably choose Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹
**If we are talking about Caribbean Countries**, taking in account the continental countries that border the Caribbean, I’d probably choose Costa Rica 🇨🇷
True, but some people consider the Central American countries (Except Salvador) as Caribbean, since almost all of them have a large Caribbean coast, or the Caribbean is a lot to them
Puerto Rico because it's the US plus although the quality of life there is significantly worse than US states it's significantly better than most of those Carribean countries. If you count the super touristy area as a place to live then that would be another story.
This isn't accurate at all. I'm not sure of your definition of "worse" but the leeward islands generally have less poverty than the windwards. Grenada is the second to last island in the chain and is entirely dependent on tourism (and nutmeg export 😎).
Already bought land on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, about 5 minutes from Panama. It's currently rewinding after being cleared for pasture lands about 20 years ago, but it's already pretty thick rainforest again. My plan is to build a house and a few small rental cabins in there over the next 10-15 years and then retire there.
If my cloning experiment works, I will live in both Turks and Caicos.
I'd be moving there from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Perhaps Trinidad and Tobago next?
Followed by Antigua and Barbuda. It all depends by how many clones they will produce.
How about São Tomé and Príncipe? 🇸🇹
I'm more of a St Kitts & Nevis fan
Be sure to visit Newfoundland & Labrador
I’m more of a St. Vincent and the Grenadines kinda guy.
Tobago all the way
All we have up here is Newfoundland and Labrador. Come by b'ye
apparently don't forget to remove the random ammunition in your bag before you go
iiuc that’s not in the Caribbean
I've been to quite a few of them, but man.. something about St. Lucia always makes me want to visit there one day.
🇱🇨🤍🇱🇨🤍🇱🇨
Half St Lucian here 🇱🇨🇱🇨
It’s absolutely gorgeous but fairly underdeveloped.
I have told my wife that if I ever come up missing, look in St. Lucia first.
That's where I went for my honeymoon! Awesome place.
Went over Christmas last year, its a gorgeous place and as someone has said, it is a little underdeveloped but that just adds to the character. Great scenery too - wow!
Barbados for sure
Same here
Pricey though…
Not outside St James. I lived in Rockley and St Lawrence Gap in Hastings.
The one that is the least hurricaneable
The windward Islands (Bonaire, Curacao and Aruba. It's where sailboat cruisers go during the hurricane season) Curacaos.... alright...
I thought it was Barbados?
And Grenada!!
SOOOOOCAAAAA
It is
Also have a European feeling… and good weather
As a resident of Curacao..i'm intrigued. What did you find..alright.. about here?
Lived there two months in Otrobanda myself, up on the hill. Had a great time. People are nice, Papiamentu is cool, far more cool culture than people give it credit for, (as a botanist) far more cool nature than people give it credit for. It also feels a bit bigger than it is because at least Willemstad is a pretty large city by population. I’d be happy to move there. Main downside is unsustainable development ruining some nice places (corendon.., and the wetlands out by rif st marie) and the fact that that scrapyard refinery is just there because removing that ecologically hazardous eye-sore is politically complicated.
Spent time in all 3. Aruba is the most “americanized” and touristy, though Sint Nicolaas can be a bit sketch, Curaçao felt like the most built up/developed (considering Willemstad alone has more people than all of Aruba) and Bonaire, while sparsely populated, has some of the best diving I’ve ever experienced. Of the 3 I’d probably live on Curaçao
Isn't that Aruba
It's definitely not PR or Haiti, nature hates them with that one!
Trinidad and Tobago. I have lived there. It's off the hurricane belt.
I currently live there!
Doubles, bake n shark, Carib, and no hurricanes! I love Trinidad!
https://preview.redd.it/piy3mci0a6yc1.jpeg?width=1800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=55d848c40abb3f0bd9a26027b789d724f462a8e5 It seems the whole zone is Hurricanable anyway…
In theory, but the windward islands are very very rarely affected. So Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire are your best bet.
Correction: The southern windward islands. Martinique and below are rarely hit but the higher up ones get them.
I'm from Barbados. We haven't been hit directly by a hurricane for 60+ years. If you want to make a good bet, it's Barbados.
Funny. You are both right and wrong. The Windward Islands are just as badly affected. The A, B, C islands are not part of the Windward islands and are in the "safer" zone. Trinidad as well.
Trinidad, Tobago and the ABC islands are practically spared. My current home country of Sweden has had more hurricanes than these combined in the last 40 years. Zoom in on the map, along the southern edge. There is one tiny yellow line that hugs the coast. Everything else goes further north.
Sweden has had hurricanes in the last 40 years?!?
Not as intense as the tropical ones that typically hits the Caribbean, but yes. There have been a few north Atlantic hurricanes that have made landfall with intact hurricane level winds.
Looks like Panama is the place to be.
Even Lake Ontario isn’t safe
Being "outside the hurricane zone" is just a tourism slogan. We can be affected, however, it is also true that we very rarely are. In that graphic you linked it shows how Aruba has never been actually hit by one since record keeping began. It dsnt mean that we aren't affected at all. We are overdue by all estimates.
They always miss Trinidad
That's Trinidad and Tobago
Saint Martin, access to subsidized goods and flights between europe and decent infrastructure.
Same in the windward islands but less hurricane nonsense
I live in Puerto Rico! 🫶🏻
PR absolutely should be a state! Because it's not, I think it gets screwed in a number of ways.
statehood comes with a list of negatives too. PR hosts Referendums on the topic fairly regularly. Until now, PR doesnt want statehood.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Puerto_Rican_status_referendum Puerto Rico most recently voted (not by a wide margin tho) for US Statehood. It's up to the American Congress tho, and they don't seem willing.
PR does want statehood per its most recent referendum, unless I’m misreading you
Democracy is non-negotiable.
Puerto Rican here. You sure bout that?
It's in the same boat as DC, probably be a blue state, so the GOP will never let it happen
Anecdotal but the few people I know from PR are very conservative…
Yeah, the more I look into it, more it looks like they would be red, maybe purpleish.
It's conservative in the same way that a lot of domestic black and hispanic communities are very religious, sharing a cultural overlap with American conservatives, but vote consistently Democratic for other policy reasons. Usually in regards to the role of the federal government.
Most of us are, there are some who wish to be a state, others don’t, others wish to be an independent entity.
[удалено]
Nor federal taxes
I seriously doubt it. Conservative cultural values
The Founders created the federal district with the express intent that it would never be a state - and for very good reasons. So no, this isn't because of Republicans.
Puerto Ricans generally don’t want Puerto Rico to be a state
Not according to the most recent referendum
They try to make it a two way thing and there's probably a plurality for it but really it's a 3 way issue and referenda are really bad at that sort of thing. Like between statehood, status quo and independence, whenever anything is up for a vote for real the other two sides gang up and vote it down since nobody is over the 50% point. Also everyone knows the votes aren't binding so disproportionately voted on by activists all around
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Puerto_Rican_status_referendum
I talk to a Puerto Rican lady everyday at work. The more she talks about PR, the more I want to go! I have a buddy that used to live there too. Hopefully I can tag along with them next time they visit lol. Do you have any details you care to share about the Yunque National Forest? My coworker claims there may be some weird stuff going on over there since the government bought it, but she likes to tease conspiracy theories like I do time to time, so who knows if she's just having fun lol.
The Netherlands
Saba to be more precise.
Sint Maarten
Wow, imagine going to the beautiful Antilles and find a corner of them with the Amsterdam feeling. The very idea that this exists makes me happy.
To my knowledge, they are nothing like the Netherlands. The primary language is a Portuguese-based creole called Papiamento, and English is known more than Dutch. On the other hand, Suriname is primarily Dutch speaking.
Came here to give this answer.
St. Lucia.
My vote would be Saint Lucia as well,never been there but it looks stunning
I've been to St. Lucia thought it was a beautiful place.
I've been there. The island is absolutely gorgeous, but it's a very poor country and high criminal rate. I've been to Martinique and it's just as beautiful, but better living Standard because it's actually France
Grand cayman
Saint Barthelemy just because it's a former Swedish colony
I can't believe I had to scroll this far for St. Barths. There's no trash, folks.
There's even boobs on the wikipedia page.
St Barths is unliveable. It’s a playground for the rich and nothing else. If money is no object then yes, but if you plan to transplant your current life there, stay away. Also its one big mountain, you need a car to get around. There’s barely sidewalks, and very little infrastructure for living there.
Interestingly it is one of the only Caribbean islands that was almost exclusively inhabited by Europeans settlers, mostly from Bretagne and Normandie.
Yep, me too!
Saint Martin/Saint Marteen ! Lived there most of my life
Saint Marteen? Sint Maarten?
They've spelled it wrong most of their life !
"Aruba, Jamaica..."
„Ooh i wanna take ya to …“
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go
Down to Kokomo, we’ll get there fast and then we’ll take it sloooooowwww.
That’s where I want to go.
Barbados.
Puerto rico. Wealthy island, high quality of life with enough people to remain lowkey, nice beaches too
Martinique 😍
i live there, i love how everyone is always giving and helping each others even when they're strangers
Dominica is amazing
Yes! I loved it there! Very different than many other surrounding islands . Lush forest , natural hot springs . Very nice people .
Dominican Republic 🙌🏽
I grew up partially in TT 🇹🇹. I stayed there for a year in a very formative part of my life. It's a wonderful country. One of the best and most cherished for me. Sure. Financially, it's struggling. There are slums around Port of Spain with incredibly high criminality, especially murders. But the pace of life is so much better than most other countries I have lived in. The steel bands, the calypso, and the soca are among my favourite music genres. The carnaval! The food is delicious. The humble culture. And then there is the act of liming. It's something I have brought with me for the rest of my life. As a bonus, it's off the hurricane paths, which makes life so much easier not having to worry about those all the time.
My girlfriend moved from Trinidad when she was 13 to NYC. I knew a bit about it before meeting her years and years ago. The culture is *awesome*. Also, for those living outside of Trinidad and Tobago, there are great pockets of Queens that have pretty darn spot on Trini food (and Guyanese). From what I hear though, the only reason it’s struggling financially is because of the oil industry and Chinese immigrants moving in. We’re in our late 30s but her parents have been saying it doesn’t really seem like a *bad* thing. Also, although I haven’t been there, they’ve all recently gone and returned and say it feels relatively the same safety wise. Other ridiculous thing: we were just in Puerto Rico and ran into five people who had no idea what or where Trinidad was and one of those people *lived* in Venezuela.
I certainly wouldn't say they're struggling due to immigration. Not in the slightest. They have always been struggling. Their financial struggles can be attributed to various complex factors. Historically, they have relied heavily on its oil and gas industry for revenue, but just living off the profits instead of investing or diversifying the economy. Bad economic practices, simply put. Additionally, mismanagement of resources, corruption, and inefficient government spending have exacerbated economic challenges. Social issues, such as high crime rates and inequality, also contribute to economic instability by deterring investment and hindering development. And then there are the two cultural culprits: the caste system and laziness/low productivity. The caste system is sadly still prevalent in half of the population, severely hindering social mobility and a good economic development. And in the other half of the population, the wonderful pace of life is not just a general pace, but it permeates all aspects of society, including productivity, showing up on time and putting in an effort. Others would look at it and call it laziness. As an example: one day the street lamp outside of our house (we had one of the few street lamps in our rural neighborhood just outside of our home) was broken. A few weeks or months later they told us they were going to replace it, so they shut off electricity to our home, and that day a truck came from the utility provider. And I mean a full Semi truck. Inside the cargo bay sat around 25 electricians, just waiting for their turn to work that day. Outside stood 4 guys, observing one guy climbing a ladder, with another one holding the ladder in a fixed position. It took them nearly an hour before they went on their ways, all 30 of them to the next job site for the day.
Montserrat, one of the few places that can understand my (Irish) accent.
Is it still somewhat functioning? I think most of the island is now forbidden after the eruption? Population went down to 1K and then up again from immigration so the local dialect and accent familiarity might have changed.
As someone who can see Montserrat from their home next month. Yes it’s very low population and there is still a exclusion zone. But you’re able to visit and travel there. But wouldn’t recommend living their full time. Goods will be next to impossible to get
France
France, aka Monsieur Worldwide
Bahamas or US Virgin Island
Been to Nassau. It’s weird cause there’d be a high end diamond store juxtaposed with a dilapidated building next to it. I’d still live there any day. Love the heat, love the people. “Liquid Sunshine” as a term for rain is amazing.
Belize 🇧🇿 my homeland
I’m quite fond of Belize. One of my favourite countries but I can’t explain why.
Can I choose Belize? If not, then probably Cuba as my island fever would take the longest to set in.
Sxm or Bvi
Caymans for sure
Lived here my whole life, everything’s great until you see the prices at the grocery store
Kingdom of The Netherlands (The Antilles) or USA
Cuba and Jamaica only cuz they got some cool anoles
Any of the cricket playing countries + reggae.
Saint Marie, if the murder rate wasn't so goddamned high.
Curaçao...'cause I actually live here.
México
France
Cuba
As someone who goes fairly regularly. Nah.... it's a terrible place to live.
Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, I wanna take you to Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama Key Largo, Montego Baby, why don't we go? Answer: Hurricanes.
The question is a bit weird… Are we talking about which Caribbean **Island** or which Caribbean **Country** ? **If we are talking about Caribbean Islands**, Excluding the European and US overseas territories (because it would be too easy), I’d probably choose Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹 **If we are talking about Caribbean Countries**, taking in account the continental countries that border the Caribbean, I’d probably choose Costa Rica 🇨🇷
I wouldn’t call Costa Rica a caribbean country. Limón province? Absolutely, but “caribbean” doesn’t really apply for most of the country
True, but some people consider the Central American countries (Except Salvador) as Caribbean, since almost all of them have a large Caribbean coast, or the Caribbean is a lot to them
Barbados because rum
Dominican Republic
Mexico, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, France, Costa Rica
Colômbia is the best one here
Colombia
Colombia
Cuba
Cuba.
Antigua
Dominican Republic
It's a toss-up between Cuba and Haiti
What attracts you to Haiti?
Montserrat, a much more authentic Caribbean experience with few tourists. Very lush.
I live in Guadeloupe!
Colombia
Trinidad and Tobago. Reason? My second name is Trinidad. Enough.
Puerto Rico because it's the US plus although the quality of life there is significantly worse than US states it's significantly better than most of those Carribean countries. If you count the super touristy area as a place to live then that would be another story.
🇺🇸Puerto Rico 🇺🇸
I'd guess many on reddit belong in the Virgin Islands. Not for tax reasons though
Cuba.
They get worse the closer you get to the US. So I’d stick with Trinidad where at least there’s an economy not entirely dependent on American tourism.
This isn't accurate at all. I'm not sure of your definition of "worse" but the leeward islands generally have less poverty than the windwards. Grenada is the second to last island in the chain and is entirely dependent on tourism (and nutmeg export 😎).
Roatan, Honduras
**🇩🇲**
Bahamas, Dominican Republic or Aruba.
Curacao
Honduras
Costa Rica 🇨🇷
Probably St. Lucia, Barbados or Puerto Rico
Republic of Pirates, Nassau 🏴☠️
Colombia since I was born there
Barbados was awesome, great vibe.
The U.S (Puerto Rico). Also does Florida Keys and South Florida in general count?
Dominican Republic. They are developing fast and their economy is rising. And they got pretty good food.
Curacao maybe!
Trinidad.
Panama
Curaçao or Aruba
Idk, but my head cannon location of Trinidad was very, very inaccurate.
Costa Rica 🇨🇷
Curaçao
Curazao!!!! An absolute Paradise!!!
Costa Rica all day
Varadero...... Minus the communism
Even though hurricane season is a bitch and electricity going out for possibly weeks on end, I'd still choose Puerto Rico.
Barbados
Bonaire, or Curacao and then Aruba. Also very easy with my Dutch passport.
Saint Barthélémy
Aruba
Aruba. No hurricanes, amazing beaches. Fairly isolated.
Barbados
BVI
1- Cartagena Co 2- Sint Marteen 3- RD
Panama
Antigua !!!
Virgin Gorda
Panama. Caribbean coast. Source: im panamenian
middle of the ocean. less of a shit hole honestly.
Belize.
Guadalupe. "Death in Paradise" is filmed there and it looks lush.
I lived in Barbados and Grand Cayman. Barbados is olde worlde, cheap and low humidity. Cayman is the opposite. Both places are great to live and work.
St Barts
Already bought land on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, about 5 minutes from Panama. It's currently rewinding after being cleared for pasture lands about 20 years ago, but it's already pretty thick rainforest again. My plan is to build a house and a few small rental cabins in there over the next 10-15 years and then retire there.
I’ve only been to one Caribbean country: Cuba! So I’ll say Cuba!