Group tours to the Caribbean

The dry season from December to April holds up broadly across the Caribbean, with small differences between islands. Havana is driest from December to April, Kingston from January to April, and Punta Cana from December to April. On Jamaica's north coast, around Montego Bay, March is the driest month, and in Nassau the winter months are dry while June and August are the rainiest. Martinique and Guadeloupe never get fully dry, with a dry season from December to May and a wetter one from June to November.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June to November and includes the Caribbean Sea, with the peak around late summer and early fall. That is one more reason to aim for December to April.

It depends on how many islands you want to see. A single destination, such as Jamaica, takes about 7-10 days, while a multi-country itinerary across several islands takes 2-3 weeks once you allow for ferries and flights. For Punta Cana, a stay of 4-7 days is a good fit. The Bahamas are not a single island but an archipelago of about 700 islands and cays, so choose your stops with care.

The time difference is small: Jamaica matches US Eastern Standard Time all year, and the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and the Virgin Islands are one hour ahead of it. Cuba and the Bahamas follow daylight saving time like the US.

Entry rules depend on the country and your citizenship, and each territory has its own forms, so before you book check the country page on travel.state.gov and the destination's official portal.

• Cuba: a tourist visa, with some exceptions, plus a passport, medical insurance, a return ticket, and the D'Viajeros digital form (dviajeros.mitrans.gob.cu). The online visa request is at evisacuba.cu.
• Dominican Republic: the E-Ticket entry and exit form for commercial flights, at eticket.migracion.gob.do.
• Jamaica: the electronic C5 immigration and customs form at enterjamaica.gov.jm.
• The Bahamas: immigration.gov.bs, in the "Before Your Arrival" section.
• British Virgin Islands: the visas and ports of entry pages at bvitourism.com.
• Martinique and Guadeloupe: they are French territory, so France's entry rules apply (france-visas.gouv.fr).

For yellow fever, the vaccine is not recommended for Jamaica, Cuba, or the Dominican Republic, though a certificate may be required depending on where you arrive from. Check the CDC Travelers' Health pages.

• Jamaica: the beaches, plus the Blue and John Crow Mountains, a UNESCO mixed site.
• The Bahamas: the swimming pigs at Big Major Cay in the Exumas, reachable only by boat.
• Cuba: Old Havana, a UNESCO site founded in 1519 that mixes Baroque and neoclassical architecture. The Viñales Valley, Trinidad, and Cienfuegos are listed too.
• Dominican Republic: Punta Cana has over 30 miles of white sand beaches, including Playa Bávaro and Macao, for a beach vacation, plus catamaran trips to Saona Island and Hoyo Azul. The colonial city of Santo Domingo, founded in 1498, is a UNESCO site.
• The Virgin Islands: a British group, a volcanic archipelago with Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, and Anegada, the only coral island in the chain, and an American one with St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix.
• Martinique and Guadeloupe: in Martinique, the volcanoes and forests of Mount Pelée and the Pitons of Northern Martinique are a UNESCO natural site.

Not every island has its own currency.

• Jamaica: Jamaican dollar
• Dominican Republic: Dominican peso. Businesses in tourist areas tend to accept dollars, but most prices are in pesos.
• The Bahamas: Bahamian dollar, at a fixed 1-to-1 parity with the US dollar, and both are accepted interchangeably on all islands.
• Cuba: Cuban peso
• Martinique and Guadeloupe: the euro
• The Virgin Islands: the US dollar, in both the American and British islands

Before you go, check your card's foreign transaction fees.

The budget varies greatly depending on the island and the type of stay. The flight from the US is a cost of its own, and lodging prices change with the season, for example in Martinique. In the Dominican Republic, the departure tax is already included in the airline ticket. Amounts change over time, so check the official pages.

The best way to get around depends on the archipelago.

• The Bahamas: scheduled and charter flights, ferries, and mail boats link the larger islands, with local ferries for areas like the Abacos. Cruise ships call at Nassau, Paradise Island, and Freeport.
• Guadeloupe: boats run from Basse-Terre to Les Saintes, Marie-Galante, and La Désirade.
• The Virgin Islands: passenger ferries link St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix, and routes connect Tortola and Virgin Gorda with the American islands. Since the crossing is international, bring your passport for the entry checks.

Schedules and operators change, so always check the current ones.

The Caribbean is tropical, but temperatures differ from island to island and through the year. In January, daytime highs run from the high 70s°F in Havana and Nassau to the mid-80s in Kingston, Santo Domingo, and Guadeloupe, and evenings can be cooler: in the Bahamas, a jacket is useful from December to February, with lows in the low 60s°F in Nassau and Freeport.

Summer is hotter, with highs of 88-91°F, reaching about 91°F in Kingston in July.

The region is multilingual. Spanish is spoken in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, where hotel and restaurant staff and guides in large cities and tourist destinations understand English. English is the language of Jamaica, where you'll also hear Jamaican patois, and of the US Virgin Islands, where Spanish is also widely spoken. In Martinique and Guadeloupe, French is the official language and Creole is the everyday one.