Question one

Dear James, I was in Barbados last year and enjoyed a lot of watersports and gentle hiking but I've heard that the Caribbean has some alternative activities such as tubing and zip-lining. Is this true? Where can I enjoy these sorts of sports? William Ellis, London, UK

James replies:

It is true, yes. As travellers have begun to look beyond the beaches and spas, the Caribbean islands have developed a whole lot of new sports in the interior, using the best of the rainforests and mountains. Of course there has always been rainforest hiking, mountain biking in the island. And oddly enough, in Dominica you have been able to do canyoning (scrambling down a riverbed, wading, swimming, jumping and occasionally abseiling) since before the sport had a name. Anyway, there are several of these new sports on offer nowadays.

If Barbados is the only island you have visited, then you might not know that the islands of the Eastern Caribbean and the Greater Antilles (Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico) are far more mountainous. And on the slopes there is superb forest, in which canopy tours have appeared over the past four or five years. These involve a series of ladder ascents, rope traverses, sometimes suspended wooden bridges in the tree tops and some superb zipwires. You are clipped in to a safety line at all times and in my experience, because they are always guided, they are extremely safe. The best moment is always throwing yourself off the platforms and flying through the fronds and leaves, momentarily finding yourself a hundred feet above a riverbed and then re-entering the canopy the other side. There are canopy tours in Antigua, Barbados, Guadeloupe, Jamaica and St Lucia. They are designed for all ages and so they are unlikely to scare an adult, but they are a lot of fun.

Tubing is another sport that has appeared in recent years. In Grenada you can descend the Balthazar River. It is a series of pools and flat sections with gentle rapids that you shoot in rubber tyres. It is a fun afternoon out. Tubing is also available on the White River in Jamaica, an island with plenty of soft adventure on offer. In fact they have been using the rivers there for pleasure for over fifty years, since Hollywood actor Errol Flynn took his friends down the Rio Grande river rafting. You descend the river on a long bamboo raft with a special seat at the rear, steered by a helmsman with a punting pole. The Rio Grande is the original river, but river rafting now takes place on others including the Martha Brae and the Great River outside Montego Bay. Rafting is not high octane adventure, but it is one of the most unforgettable experiences in Jamaica.

Another new experience in Jamaica, in true eccentric style, but a bit of fun nonetheless, is dog-sledding. Unfeasibly the Jamaicans have taken it up as a sport, saving dogs destined for the pound and training them to pull a three-wheeled buggy. It's hard to imagine what the poor dogs think of the snow when they run in it for the first time, which a few of them have, but if you want an amusing afternoon out then you can take a ride through the canefields at full tilt dragged by a team of dogs.

Question two

Where are most likely places for a normal middle-class romantic couple to go and find a slice of beach where they can enjoy each other alone? (Oh, we already know that Virgin Gorda is one of them.) John Mara, Ripley, NY, USA

James replies:

Many hotels in the Caribbean are designed specifically with couples in mind - such as Rendezvous in St Lucia and Hawksbill in Antigua - but I guess that the fact that you are fond of Virgin Gorda means that you prefer a smaller island without too much development on it - independent travel as well as romance. I'll assume that for you the extra flight, which after all adds to the difficulty of getting there, is a benefit because it keeps the crowds away.

Obviously the Grenadines have a similar geographical setting to the BVI, as a string of small islands and cays. You don't say whether you stay at Biras Creek or Guavaberry when you're in Virgin Gorda, or for that matter in a villa, but if you are happy to pay for private island seclusion, then there are few places more private and secluded than the cottages on Petit St Vincent. Or for somewhere offbeat and quiet there is the Saltwhistle Bay Club on tiny Mayreau. But if you'd like a bit of island character to go with the secluded beaches - like the south of Virgin Gorda around Spanish Town - then an island with plenty of small island charm (and some less expensive places to stay) is Bequia. Again it is not that easy to get to, but it has a magical feel. You could stay at Frangipani, or if you are happy to cater for yourselves then try Bequia Beachfront Cottages. There are also many villas too.

If the beaches are the key feature in your calculations then another area of islands with fantastic deserted sand is the Bahamas. Here, for islands with a sense of community you might try Harbour Island - Pink Sands Hotel is particularly nice - or Great Exuma. Or, for just a hotel with limitless sand and blue sea there is Cat Island (Fernandez Bay Village is quite simple but a long time favourite) and Eleuthera. Here you could try Coco di Mama, which is set on its own cove that stretches for miles.

But beaches are not all the Caribbean has. These islands are missing the rampant fertility of the larger Caribbean islands, where a backdrop of greenery and mountains can be equally as romantic in its way. Around the Pitons in the south of St Lucia, it is truly spectacular as the two peaks soar like spires above you. Perhaps try Stonefield, in which you can hide yourself away in a one-bedroom cottage with a superb view. And if you're up for Jamaica, then the eastern end of the island around Port Antonio is supremely beautiful and barely known at the moment. Norse Point is a delightful one-bedroom cottage set on the waterfront right opposite Pellew Island, which itself has a romantic story. The island was given away by the Aga Khan as a wedding present.

And if you are talking one-bedroom cottages, then one of the finest is back in the BVI. Seagrape Cottage on the tiny island of Little Thatch, just to the west of West End. There's nowhere more private and secluded than that.

Question three

Hi James, I can't decide where to go in the Caribbean and there's so much information on your website I'm a little lost as to where to start...HELP!? Chris Bull, Gloucester, UK

James replies:

It's a question I am asked quite often, where to go in the Caribbean. I don't exactly live in fear of it - unlike doctors, who find themselves button-holed, bombarded with a list of possible symptoms and then asked 'so, what's wrong with me?' - but it is a difficult one to answer without knowing a person well. So I start with a series of questions - big island or small, direct flight or getaway, strong local character or international, sophisticated or simple. And then I usually get an idea of what sort of hotel they would like, again large or small, hideaway or active, and actually whether they want a hotel at all - perhaps a villa would be better - and should it be catered or are they happy to look after themselves. And then I ask are there any things they are particularly interested in, perhaps a spa or some other special interest such as golf or gardens. Oh, and are they travelling with children? That changes everything.

It's true, the Caribbean is a huge area and it is hard to pin down, but in a way it was to help with this question that we set up Definitive Caribbean in the first place. Curiously my questions are reflected in the first few headings in our main navigation bar, which deal first with islands and then with the different sorts of accommodation. Interestingly these have interactive searches which enable you to select an island or a hotel by your favoured criteria - almost as though you were asking me the questions direct. Next is Special Interests, from which you are led to our various guides once you have an island in mind.

And it is the island guides that are the core of the information on Definitive Caribbean. You can follow up any interest that you have among the 75 headings that there are in the full guides. All the restaurants, sports and shops we mention are there because we have researched and selected them, because we feel they are the best in their category. You can also link to our recommended accommodation, again selected from years of travelling in the islands. The accommodation reviews are written in considerable detail because of the importance of choosing the right place to stay.

So, er sorry, but it is all there. It's just a matter of finding the right route through the site and the navigation is as good as any place to start. Actually, you can see a formal version of how to get the best out of a visit to the site, through our videos. There is a link to them at the foot of the left-hand navigation column. These cover the Home Page, Which Island and Where to Stay. They'll see you right.