Best beaches in St. James & Holetown

Alleynes doesn’t tend to get as busy as Paynes Bay, but this tree lined beach with its silky sand and still waters is well worth a visit. Especially if you’re a snorkeler: tours from elsewhere on the island run turtle spotting trips to a point just off the shore here, and you can swim out from the beach for your very own encounter. Restaurants and bars lining the beachfront include the Santi, which serves everything from fishcakes to pizza. Check out Fairmont Royal Pavilion in Alleynes Bay.

Sometimes Heron Bay Beach, this pretty bit of coastline has golden sands, turquoise sea and lots of lush greenery. If you like your beach days busy, set off on jet skis or kayaks - or snorkel around the reefs at the north end to spot hawksbill and leatherback turtles, which can sometimes be seen hatching and scuttling across the shore. One of the nearest hotels is Colony Club by Elegant Hotels.

Based near the bigger Saint James hotels, Holetown Beach is a hive of activity – glide over the gin-clear water on kayak, jet ski or waterski, browse market stalls or wander along the boardwalk to the Folkestone Marine Park. Popular hotels on Holetown Beach are Coral Reef Club and The Sandpiper,

Backed by fine hotels, like Tamarind, The House and Treasure Beach, and gourmet restaurants, just below the Sandy Lane empire is lovely Paynes Bay. Here you’ll find sugary soft sand and some of the stillest water we’ve ever seen – just what you need for snorkelling on the colourful nearby reefs. Wander down to the southern end of the stretch where Mahogany Bay has picnic benches and hosts the lively fishing market. Fancy a feast? Try celebrity haunts Daphne’s and the Cliff.

Sneak off to this cove when no one’s looking and while you won’t find the biggest beach on the island, you will find a deliciously laid back atmosphere. Spend the day SUPing, kayaking, snorkelling with turtles or snoozing on the sandy shore… Just wake up in time for the sun set.

Reeds Bay is calm curve of Caribbean bliss - one of our favourites for swimming (usually there’s a marked area to show you where’s safest), and also for picnics thanks to the shade from the trees. Come here first thing in the morning or later in the afternoon if you want to avoid day trippers who drop in by boat.

Elsewhere in the Caribbean, hotels claim the best beaches as their own, shutting out the rest of the world from their picture perfect shores. Not so on Barbados, where even the poshest properties share their beaches with the rest of the island. Named after the iconic Sandy Lane empire that stretches along the beachfront, this section of shore has the dizzyingly bright sea, pale sand and lush trees that dreams are made of. We love the Sandy Lane Hotel. All within easy reach of Holetown’s famously fine restaurants. No wonder one of the best hotels in the world set up shop here.

Swim in the crazily calm water, snorkel around inshore reefs, sit and watch the fisherman come and go in their brightly painted boats… Weston Beach has enough to do without feeling busy, and is wide enough to let you bask in the sunshine or sleep in the shade as you wish.

Not that we’re saying it’s humanly possible to tire from the west coast’s gently lapping sea and perfect powdery shores – but if you fancy a chance of pace and scenery, Bathsheba on the east coast is worth crossing the island for. 30 minutes’ drive east and you find yourself facing another ocean, the wild Atlantic with its deep blue waters and wave battered rock formations (look out for the mushroom rock, which sits plonked in the sea like a giant’s golf ball). Watch surfers do their thing on one of the greatest wave breaks on the planet, and struggle to fathom that this is the same island you’ve come from.