The lesser-known Caribbean islands with secluded beaches, wild coves and tourist-free towns

Wildly beautiful coves, great swathes of unsullied rainforest and film set-worthy towns await those jetting to the Caribbean classics: Antigua, Barbados, St Lucia and the likes. And while you’re likely to enjoy being pulled into the resort rhythms of their established five star offerings, you’ll be hard pressed to find secluded beaches. But, contrary to popular belief, several Caribbean islands have escaped the deluge of visitors, protecting their identity and traditions along with their unfathomably beautiful landscapes from over-tourism.

Among these are lush, untamed Dominica with its exotic wildlife and unspoilt coral reefs; Grenada, the ‘spice isle’ whose dense, rainforest-carpeted landscape often surprises new visitors; and St Vincent and the Grenadines, a scatter of 32 islands between St Lucia and Grenada. Here Soho Beach House has recently landed in Canouan (off-grid in the exclusive, Mustique sense, whose tribes actually come here to switch off and explore the Mangroves and Salt Ponds), and where Bequia Beach Hotel has quietly peddled low-key luxury for several years.

Here are our top picks for escaping the beaten path and discovering the Caribbean anew.

Dominica

A wild tangle of ferns, fruit trees, orchids, bwa kwaibs, hibiscus and wild ginger, Dominica is skirted by unspoilt beaches and kaleidoscopic coral reefs speaks to those looking to slip off the radar and wrap themselves in untamed, far-flung island life.

Dominica lies in the middle of the Lesser Antilles and bursts with life and volcanic energy. Its dripping rainforests, scattered in butterflies and rushing waterfalls, stretch on to meet a rugged coastline, without a high rise or a sprawling resort in sight. Along with its lush scenery, the Caribbean’s ‘nature island’ is famous for its plant-led medicinal traditions and the world’s second-largest hot spring, Boiling Lake.

Wiggling through this dense, mountainous vegetation and tracing the island’s tropical edges is the Waitukubli National Trail – the best way to absorb the island’s beauty, as hummingbirds dart between bright flowers and the endemic Sisserou parrot swoops into the dappled light. Sperm whales feast on squid and rear their offspring on the Caribbean side of the island, offering spectacular whale watching trips for wildlife lovers, while divers are lured to Dominica’s cerulean-blue waters and coral reefs frequented by trumpetfish, seahorses, turtles and parrotfish.

At the end of the trail, weary hikers can slump onto the black sands of Wavine Cyrique, where behind them an 80 foot waterfall pounds the beach and a bath-warm sea rewards their efforts. Fiercely proud of its unsullied landscape, the island is dotted with light foot-print, eco-hotels, including Secret Bay – a lesson in low-key luxury which clings to a steep cliff above an aquamarine cove. Frazzled guests with little social ambitions drop their bags here to click into the island’s go-slow rhythms, to ride along its wild beaches at sunset, whale watch and inhale its hot, herb-infused air.

Grenada

North of Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada’s wild beaches, its tropical Grand Etang National Park and generous, warm people attract the gentle, nature-first traveller, with both culture and relaxation on the mind.

Ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon hang permanently in the air, bestowing Grenada its Spice Isle name, and visitors can flap their sun-baked books shut for a jaunt to its old plantations such as Mount Pernassus, or Belmont Estate, sampling chocolate and absorbing their bean-to-bar philosophy (as well as, often, the plantation’s tainted histories).

The island’s capital, Saint George, nestles along a horseshoe harbour with its old pastel-hued houses. Further inland, a heaving, vibrant green awaits travellers, with rainforests, waterfalls and the braided hills of plantations. Those in on the secret are rewarded with wildly delicious street food, superbly simple restaurants brimming with character, such as Dodgy Dock, and snaking rainforest trails that lead to bottomless lakes and empty beaches.

Rarely ones to miss out on an unsullied paradise, Six Senses have chosen Grenada for their first foray into the Caribbean, which will inevitably pull it out from behind the curtains, though (with its quiet luxury mantra, spa and knockout views over a protected cove on the southern coast). Not far from this new arrival is the family-owned La Sagesse in Corinth – a more affordable, go-slow cluster of 12 rooms peppered along the coast and around a gently renovated manor house.

Bequia

This beguiling seven-square-mile volcanic island – carpeted in lush rainforest and ringfenced by bone-white beaches – thrusts visitors back to the Caribbean of yore.

Those with nostalgia for it, having winced at the garish resorts hugging the coast of all the major islands, will find it in Bequia’s charming Port Elizabeth, its restaurants thrumming with local communites and easy-going, rum-drenched bars such as Jack’s Beach Bar on Princess Margaret Beach.

The tempo is invariably slow, the landscape uncommercialised and the crowd, unflashy. People come here for the Caribbean in its purest form, and to offset the pychological toll of urban life with hikes through the island’s lush forests and plunging into the sea to spot tropical fish and turtles. Or, simply, to wallow in the shallows of the island’s empty beaches (the floating bar Bar One is known for its excellent cocktails).

What’s more, despite its castaway air, Bequia can be reached via plane from Barbados or boat from St Vincent (the island is one of the 32-strong string comprising St Vincent and the Grenadines). Island-loyalists return year after year to Bequia Beach Hotel, owned by ‘the accidental hotelier’ Bengt Morstedt and his family (having fallen for the island, Morstedt set about building his own villa and ended up with a 58 key hotel).

Beguia Beach Hotel’s cluster of villas look onto Friendship Beach’s ivory sands, where local wildlife roams freely, including turtles and iguanas. It’s owner’s son, Philip Bengt, pins the hotel’s popularity and of Bequia itself on its ‘time travel’ aspect. “You can walk to a secluded beach… many of our guests are experienced Caribbean holiday-makers but prefer Bequia’s laidback charm, it’s iconic open-back taxis and authentic island life; t’s small size encourages community and the locals are very welcoming.”