Barbados has plenty to do and see, its easy to drive as they use the same side of the road as us and English is the main language. Many different nationalities of tourist there, it was great.

Not seen many Americans in the Dominican Republic although there have been a few over the years and plenty of Canadians, again, its nice to meet people from other countries on holiday.

Personally we always fly First Choice to the Caribbean mainly because they have more leg room without having to upgrade on the flight. I believe Thomsons do as well now.

Can't help much with Grenada but I did research it last year because there were some excellent prices, on talking to a few people I discovered that some of the cheaper hotels left a lot to be desired so I would advise careful research before you book.

I've not tried Grenada, but it's definitely one on my list, as a couple of friends have recommended it highly in the past. The capital (St Georges, I think) is meant to be one of the prettiest in the Carib.I'm not generally a fan of Rex Resorts, the one's I've visited all looked like they needed some serious investment, but the Rex Grenadian seems to be the exception and they both liked it. As to cost, I'd say most of the Eastern Caribbean is about the same (like for like) accommodation wise.

Barbados - you can't go far wrong as a first Caribbean destination. It has extremely friendly people, feels very safe, has some great hotels and several things to see and do. The airport is modern and you can even drink the water.

Antigua - lovely with fab beaches and one of the closest islands to the UK, but not a lot to see and do.

St Lucia - Pitons, volcano and jungle interior make it quite different, beaches not so great though and a long drive to most hotels from the airport.

Jamaica - lovely island and probably has the most to see and do in the Caribbean. It has some great hotels and is cheaper than the Eastern Carib. But it does have an "edge" to it and you do experience a lot more hassle. It was my first Carib island and nearly put me off the region.

Can't comment on the Hispanic islands as I've never been (though we're trying Mexico in a few weeks), but they have many fans on this forum and the DR in particular is very reasonably priced.

All the islands (except Cuba obviously and the DR, which apparently they find too down market !!) have lots of Americans, it's like their Mediterranean. I tend to read between the lines when viewing their hotel reviews as their expectations seem impossibly high, particularly regarding dining. But it's probably down to them that standards are as good as they are.

As Silverpixie says, I'd look at the charters over scheduled, as First Choice have 33" leg room vs 31" on BA/Virgin plus seat back TV etc. Thomson are following suit and also Thomas Cook I believe. XL are very good for Carib flights but I'd wait until they get their new aircraft later this year.

We visited Grenada whilst on a cruise and had a bad experience when we got off the ship. We were just stood waiting to decide what to do when this guy came over to us trying to be really friendly and said that he would show us where we could get a taxi. He took us round the corner into a market area where there was a woman selling spices on a stall. He told us this was his sister and then proceeded to try and force us to buy spices from them. We were quite anxious and my OH isn't usually afraid of saying what he thinks, but even he was a bit scared. We eventually walked away and jumped in a taxi to Grand Anse Beach but the vendors on the beach were very aggressive. I told one of them that I didn't want to buy a drink and then went into the sea for a swim. When I came back my OH had bought a drink from someone else but couldn't open the can. He then asked the first guy if he could borrow something to open the can but he started shouting at us and said that he wouldn't help us as I hadn't bought a drink from him. Also another guy on the beach started shouting at 2 young girls who had sat on a sun lounger to take a photograph but he wasn't happy because they hadn't paid him. We never had any of this hassle on any of the other islands that we visited and it really spoiled our day. Having said that we got a very nice taxi driver to take us back to the ship, but he told us that the first taxi driver had over-charged us by about 10 dollars! We were glad to get back on the ship that day. I'm sure there are nice places on the island to visit, but be prepared for the hassle.

Finally starting to narrow things down now. Tobago is looking like clear favourite.
Anybody been?

Many thanks to all who've replied so far!

Pippy