Caribbean holidays: cheap escapes that won’t break the bank

From low-cost flights to bargain hostels, there are plenty of ways to cut the cost of a trip to the Caribbean

Guadeloupe’s beaches are gloriously crowd-free (AFP/Getty)

Each week, The Independent’s travel team go head-to-head to see who can come up with the best version of a particular trip. Today we’re tackling a budget break to the Caribbean.

Simon’s choice: Puerto Rico
Price for two people, including airfare and seven nights’ accommodation: £949

The low-cost airline Norwegian chose shrewdly when it made San Juan, capital of Puerto Rico, its first destination in the Caribbean from Gatwick. You could already fly from the UK airport to Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Cuba — all of them lovely in their own way. But Puerto Rico is distinctive.

Its capital, San Juan, is elegant and friendly — like a cleaned-up version of Havana, which was founded around the same time, early in the 16th century. The varied coastline is studded with enticing beaches, while inland the space traveller will want to see the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope: the Arecibo Observatory — an amazing astronomical installation, as featured in the James Bond movie Goldeneye.

Flying out on 30 November, returning a week later, you will pay the ridiculously low fare of £289 return. Early December is a great time to be in Puerto Rico, with the storm season over but the Christmas rush yet to begin. A double room at the city-centre Posada San Francisco GuestHouse is around $70 (£53) per night, without breakfast, making the total for two £909 — though the wise traveller will spend a couple of nights in San Juan and then wander off to explore the rest of the island.

Simon Calder, Travel Correspondent

Old San Juan (Getty Images) (Getty)

Nicola’s choice: Jamaica
Price for two people, including airfare and two weeks’ accommodation: £1,322

Jamaica might seem like the archetypal fly-and-flop destination, but there’s plenty more to it than that, whether you want to lap up the lively music scene or explore the island’s natural wonders. Take a hike in the Blue Mountains, splash around in Dunn’s River Falls and lie back on any number of white-sand beaches.

Package holidays can often be the cheapest way of getting to far-flung destinations like Jamaica, but if you don’t fancy a stay in a faceless all-inclusive, just opt for the flights instead. Thomson Airways currently has return fares from Birmingham to Montego Bay for £395 return, departing 2 October. The catch is, this price is only available if you stay for two weeks.

Laid-back Jakes, at Treasure Beach on Jamaica’s south-west coast, is perhaps the island’s coolest hotel – its boho-chic rooms have attracted celebs including Kate Moss – and while it’s not incredibly expensive (doubles from $90/£69), there is an even cheaper option. In the grounds of Jakes you’ll find the 42-bunk Jack Sprat Shack hostel, which has dorm beds for $25 (£19) a night, plus private rooms for those happy to splash the cash. It’s linked to the seafront restaurant of the same name, just across the road, so you can pop over for seafood and sundowners.

Nicola Trup, Head of Travel

Treasure Beach in Jamaica

Laura’s choice: Guadeloupe with a bonus city break
Price for two people, including airfare and seven nights’ hotel accommodation in Guadeloupe: £1,581

I’m recommending a route that will give you a varied, affordable Caribbean experience and a bonus city break into the bargain. A flight with Air France to Guadeloupe, the French-Caribbean archipelago known for being gloriously uncrowded compared with neighbours like Antigua, costs around £577 return in November, with a 15-hour stopover in Paris. This is enough time to soak up a bit of the City of Light – and for cheaper than ever, as our expert Simon Calder recently demonstrated – as well as do some preliminary research on all those amazing cheeses and pastries awaiting you in Guadeloupe (it's a French territory after all).

Once in Guadeloupe, there’s a surprising variety of perfectly passable budget hotels. Hotels.com currently has a deal at Habitation Grande Anse, a three-star with apartment-style rooms and an outdoor pool that’s just 10 minutes’ walk from the sand at idyllic beach town Deshaies, for £61 per night (without breakfast). It’s located on Basse-Terre, the mountainous one of Guadeloupe’s two main islands, where you can explore the wonderfully jungly Guadeloupe National Park and even climb the volcano, La Grande Soufrière – once the subject of a documentary by the enduringly weird Werner Herzog. And it’s just a quick hop over a bridge to get to the other main island, Grande-Terre, with its stereotypically bleached-blonde, turquoise-lapped Caribbean beaches. November’s frequent showers subside towards the end of the month and dry up come December.

If you’re up for exploring rather than a simple “crash and burn” holiday, car hire wouldn’t be a terrible idea. Most big companies operate here, with the cheapest models available from around £130 for the week.

Laura Chubb, Deputy Head of Travel