Beachfront Villas in Caribbean

Each of the Caribbean's great beaches has its own character. In Turks and Caicos, Grace Bay is a long, reef-sheltered arc of powder-white sand, while Long Bay, a few miles east, is shallow and breezy and much loved by kitesurfers. Barbados's Platinum Coast is as calm as a lagoon; its Atlantic side is wild and wave-lashed.

Our collection takes in the region's most coveted beaches. In Turks and Caicos: Grace Bay, Long Bay, Turtle Tail, Leeward and the private island of Parrot Cay. In St Barths, Flamands and Saint-Jean, with Le Toiny and the Eden Rock's Sand Bar for lunch. Anguilla's Meads Bay, Shoal Bay and Little Harbour. The three pink miles of Harbour Island in The Bahamas, Mustique and Bequia in the Grenadines, the west coast of Barbados near Sandy Lane, Jamaica's Discovery Bay and the Dominican Republic's Casa de Campo, plus private islands in the British Virgin Islands and The Bahamas.

The season runs from mid-December to April, when the trade winds settle and the water turns its clearest. The best houses for Christmas and New Year are committed early, often a year ahead.