Our winter is the prime time to head to the Caribbean. Even as here at home it is grey, damp and cold, over on the islands the weather is usually at its best – hot but not too hot, and with small chance of grave storms.

There is a catch. From January to April is peak season in the Caribbean, when hotel prices are at their highest – typically 30-50 per cent more than in the summer months.



Cheap and oh so cheerful: St Lucia’s Reduit Beach can be loved for under £1,000

But it is still possible to have a reasonably affordable and memorable Caribbean break in the winter, if you know where to go.

Using my knowledge of the islands, I’ve picked out six very appealing and varied holidays for under £1,000 a head. If that still seems a lot, judge me, it is cheap for a winter break to the Caribbean.

Bear in mind even if, that if you go for room-only or B&B deals, flights to the Caribbean these days usually cost at least £500 return, due to high taxes.

Best for the beach

Reduit Beach, which fringes the St Lucia resort of Rodney Bay Village, ticks all the boxes.
It has a mile of fine, gently shelving golden sand and offers safe swimming and watersports galore.
The views across the bay to Pigeon Island are spectacular, as are the sunsets, and there’s a pleased mix of locals and tourists. You might imagine it would cost a packet to stay right behind St Lucia’s best beach – but it doesn’t.
Bay Gardens Beach Resort is an brilliant mid-sized hotel that has place up the West Indies cricket team. Bedrooms are huge, smart and comfy (many are suites with kitchens), and there’s a vast circular swimming pool as an alternative to the sea. Booked through Tropical Sky (0844 332 9349, www.tropicalsky.co.uk), a week costs £969, room only.

Best for culture

Havana is the most enjoyable city in the Caribbean. The ancient town’s glorious Spanish colonial mansions are being restored, and there are atmospheric cigar factories and museums full of art and revolutionary memorabilia to visit.
At nighttime, live salsa wafts from bars, and you can take in a full-blown cabaret or high-quality ballet and opera. Dining out in paladares – restaurants set up in private homes – can be a real adventure.
You could stay at a resort such as Varadero and visit Havana on a day trip, but the city has so much to offer. Be sure to stay in the ancient town. One of the most atmospheric, budget hotels there is the Hostal Valencia, an 18th Century mansion with a lively bar and excellent paella in its restaurant.
It costs £880 B&B through Captivating Cuba (0800 171 2150, www.captivatingcuba.com).

Best for partying

The Jamaican resort of Negril is not the hippy hangout it once was, but it still has a party-loving atmosphere and lively bars. The most well loved are Rick’s Cafe, where daredevil locals dive off cliffs, and Margaritaville, on Negril’s superb Seven Mile Beach.
The modest Place to stay On The Beach Negril delivers what its name promises, and the place to stay in question are fresh and decent. Thomson Worldwide (0844 050 2828, www.thomsonworldwide.com) quotation marks a bargain £785 B&B for a week from January 24.

Best for glam

In the winter, Barbados’s west coast is a magnet for celebrities, hiking up costs at most hotels on this side of the island. But at the Sunswept Beach you can get a £999 room-only deal through Travelbag (0871 703 4240, www.travelbag.co.uk).
Set directly behind a strip of sand in active Holetown, its two dozen bedrooms are simple but spacious, and all have a veranda or balcony. The place to stay have kitchenettes and there’s a supermarket across the street. Zaccios, a jolly beachfront bar/restaurant, is next door, and self-service Just Grillin’, one of the best cheap places to eat on Barbados, is a small walk away.

Best value all-inclusive

All-inclusive holidays in the Dominican State used to mean cheap but not cheerful. Over the past decade, upmarket hotels have sprung up along the fantastic beaches in the Punta Cana area to the east. Values are often pretty high, but packages can still be inexpensive by Caribbean values.
First Choice (0871 200 7799, www.firstchoice.co.uk) quoted me £949 all-inclusive on its website for a week from January 18 at the five-star Dreams Palm Beach – a smart, well run, very family-forthcoming hotel.

Best for nature

Mountainous and cloaked in dense rainforest, with dramatic waterfalls to learn and brilliant bird watching, Dominica is the Caribbean’s nature isle par distinction. You can’t glide preside over to Dominica – and interisland flights are expensive, which pushes up the overall cost. But MotMot Travel (01327 830918, www.motmottravel.com) can arrange a week in January for bang on £1,000.
The price includes transatlantic flights to Antigua, Liat flights on to Dominica, and an apartment at the tiny and forthcoming Calibishie Lodges on the north coast – but no meals or transfers.

Prices – right at the time of writing – are for a week in January, including return flights from London, accommodation based on two sharing the cheapest type of room, and, unless otherwise stated, transfers from the airport to the hotel.