Island hopping in the Caribbean

Last updated on March 24th, 2025 at 05:21 am

Ever dreamt of island hopping in the Caribbean islands but thought it was impossible without a yacht? Well you can!

Nothing in the Caribbean is cheap, but you can hop your way through these gorgeous islands without the need to fly in and out from your home country. With one international flight from your home to the Caribbean, you can get to way more than just the one island you land on – and that’s without expensive internal flights in the islands.

If you are on a smaller budget, you can also check How to travel the Caribbean on a budget for some money saving tips!

Important note: Fares are valid at the time of writing and might have changed. Also some ferries may not be in service. At the time of this update the Montserrat ferry is not running. I am leaving this in with the hope that it will start running again soon!

The three key ways to go island hopping in the Caribbean….

These are the three key hopping trips I have detailed for you in this post:

• Ten really diverse Leeward Islands – all from Saint Martin
• The Windward Islands – Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, Desirade, Les Saintes, Dominica, Martinique and St Lucia
• In the southern Windward Islands: St Vincent, Bequia, Canouan, Mayreau, Union, Carriacou, Petite Martinique, and Grenada

As you can see, I have focussed on the Eastern Caribbean as this is the area where island hopping is the most possible, but include notes on other Caribbean islands like the Virgin Islands and The Bahamas where there is some limited island hopping as well.

I have sailed throughout these islands, but also done some island hopping via ferries. Now I’ve done all the hard work for you and worked out all the great options for island hopping in the Caribbean islands!

Starting off at the top – does hopping TEN islands after your international flight sound good to you? This first option gives you exactly that!

1. Ten really diverse Leeward Islands – all from Saint Martin

A loop of seven islands for $600 – or a one way trip through ten islands for $700!

Fly into Saint Martin and get the bonus of visiting nine other Leeward Islands without a flight!
Anguilla, (Sint Maarten), St Barts, Saba, Sint Eustatius (known as Statia), St Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Antigua and finally Barbuda.

So, here’s how to go island hopping in the Caribbean – get used to taking the ferry!

1. Fly to Sint Maarten Princess Juliana International airport (SXM) to start the hopping.
2. Take the ferry from Marigot Bay to Anguilla. There are eight services each day and it costs $30 each way.
   (You can also take a ferry from a Ferry Terminal located across from the Princess Juliana Airport, but this costs US$65 or more one-way.) Anguilla departure tax is US $36, making a return trip around $100.
3. When you’re back, cross ‘the border’ to Saint Martin – the French side of the island. (That’s a bonus extra territory right there!)
4. Now, head to St Barts….
   Great Bay Express has three return services a day to St Barts from Philipsburg. It takes 45 mins and a day return trip is $90. A return trip on a different day is $115.
   The Edge also runs a 45 min ferry from Simpson Bay on Mon, Wed, and Thurs leaving at 9.00am and returning at 4.00pm. You can day trip or stay a few nights. A day return trip is $100 and return on a different day is $150.
5. Next, visit Saba, Statia, and St Kitts!
   From Phillipsburg take the Makana Ferry to Saba, then St Kitts, and then Statia. Check the ferry schedule between these islands. They don’t run to every island every day.
   It will cost approx $200 to go to Saba, to Statia, and then on to St Kitts. From St Kitts back to Sant Maarten it is approximately $137.
   Note that there is a departure tax from each island: Sant Maarten, $10, Saba $10, Sint Eustatius $5.00, St Kitts $10. Total = $35.00.

6. Get your next ferry from St Kitts to Nevis.
   There are a lot of ferries between St Kitts and Nevis, but schedules change all the time depending on weather and what else is going on. However, your accommodation will know the latest schedules, and they are usually posted weekly here on Facebook.
   Ferries take 30-60 minutes and cost between $12-$20 one way.

If you stop here and return to Saint Martin, you have visited six islands in all for approximately $600 from Saint Martin. That’s pretty good when you consider the cost of international flights just to get to one island!

However, you can keep going and add on three more fabulous islands – two of them are real favorites of mine (Barbuda and Montserrat)!

7. Next, with some planning, take the ferry from Nevis to Montserrat!
   The ferry is irregular, but the schedule is on the Montserrat Ferry website. (Look for origin Charlestown and destination Little Bay.)
   This is the bit of hopping that takes the most planning as you will need to book ahead and time things around the days the ferry does run. The one way fare is approximately $100 (XCD $37.00) and includes your departure tax.
8. And then jump on the regular Montserrat Ferry to Antigua – Heritage Quay. It runs almost every day and takes 90 mins. The cost is also approximately $100 (XCD $37.00).
9. Antigua is of course part of the country Antigua and Barbuda. So the final island on this island hopping extravaganza is Barbuda.
   There are two ferry services from Antigua to Barbuda – both take 90 minutes.
   The Barbuda Express runs every day for $100 return (you will need to return to Antigua) from either St John’s or Jolly Harbour. You can also do a day trip on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
   The Island Escape leaves from St John’s Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays for $95 return. You can day trip or stay a while. I absolutely love Barbuda and highly recommend staying!
10. Ferry back to Antigua to fly out.

That’s it! Ten islands – from St Martin to Antigua – all for around $700!

You could then head home from Antigua as it is another major airport hub – it does mean two one-way tickets from your home base – but what a great loop of island hopping!
Alternatively, you could fly back to Saint Martin starting from around $155 with WinAir.

A final note: If you want to keep going down the chain of islands there is no regular connecting ferry to Guadeloupe, but you could take a flight with WinAir – starting at around $175 to Dominica. It does mean backtracking to Guadeloupe before heading down the chain but that is currently the only regularly scheduled way to do it.

However, FRS EXPRESS do day return trips to Antigua, Montserrat and St Kitts from Guadeloupe. I haven’t contacted them but they do show the fares separately, so I am sure a phone call could sort you out with a ferry ticket from Antigua to Guadeloupe – even if you had to pay the two way fare.

Next let’s look at where you can easily get from Guadeloupe!

2. The Windward Islands – Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, Desirade, Les Saintes, Dominica, Martinique and St Lucia

A loop through seven islands for $375!

Your key to hopping and exploring these next seven islands is once again the ferries. There are three companies who run ferries through the islands of Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, Desirade, Les Saintes, Dominica, Martinique and St Lucia.

1. Fly into Guadeloupe (unless you managed to get the ferry from Antigua) – explore Guadeloupe!
   The main ferry companies running from Guadeloupe are: L’Express des Îles / Val Ferry / Comatrile / Comadile
2. Take a ferry from the ‘mainland’ to Desirade first as this has to be a return trip back to Guadeloupe. Comadile ferries run to Desirade. There are two trips a day and you can return on a different day. Currently it costs 19€ each way.
3. Take another ferry to Marie Galante. L’Express des Îles ferries run every day to Marie Galante from Pointe à Pitre.
   It takes an hour. If you travel on Tuesday or Thursday it is much cheaper at 29€ return (approximately $31). You can do a same day return or stay a few nights. On other days, fares to Marie Galante start at 44€ return (approximately $48). Val Ferry and Comatrile also run daily ferries to Marie Galante for a similar price.
4. Take the Val Ferry or Comatrile ferry to Les Saintes which only takes 20 mins each way. They depart twice a day and it costs 27€ ($25) return but they do have web sales at 22€ ($24) return.

From Guadeloupe or Les Saintes it is possible to go direct to Martinique, but then you will have to backtrack to Dominica!

5. Take the ferry to Dominica! L’Express des Îles go every day but Monday from Guadeloupe to Roseau in Dominica. One way fares start at 59€ ($64).
6. From Dominica you can get a ferry, again with L’Express des Îles, to pretty Martinique. Ferries leave every day except Monday and Wednesday and get off at either Saint Pierre or Fort de France. One way fares once again start at 59€ ($64). Departure tax is approximately $20.
7. The last island – St Lucia! L’Express des Îles, again, leaves every day except Monday and Wednesday with one way fares start at 59€ ($64).

That’s it – three countries (France, Dominica, and St Lucia) and seven beautiful islands all via ferry with an estimated approximate cost of 280€ or $300. Not bad!

There are plenty of flights from St Lucia, or you could reverse back up the chain. A one way ticket from St Lucia to Guadeloupe with L’Express des Îles is also only 59€. That would make the grand total around 340€ or $375!

Finally – once again you are stuck for ferries to go further south, but you can fly with Inter Caribbean Airways to St Vincent.

3. In the southern Windward Islands: St Vincent, Bequia, Canouan, Mayreau, Union, Carriacou, Petite Martinique, and Grenada

A loop of five islands for $60 – or a one way trip through eight islands for $150 ($280 for a return loop)!

From St Vincent you can make your way down the stunning Grenadine Islands to the country of Grenada.

1. First take a ferry to Bequia from Kingston. There are plenty of services each day on the Bequia Express or Admiral Ferries. The ferry takes one hour and cost $25 EC one-way $45 EC ($16 US) return.
   Note: Bequia is a very very popular island for yachties. You might be able to get a lift from there. Its worth trying!
2. From Kingston there are 3x weekly ferries to the southern Grenadine Islands – Canouan, Mayreau, and Union Islands. Return to Kingston to take the Bequia Express for about $9 each trip.
   However, some days you can go direct from Bequia to Canouan, and on to Mayreau, and Union with the fast ferry the  Jaden Sun.

Even if you just go to these five islands as a loop, the cost is so minimal – around $60 – that’s fantastic value!

One additional cost you might want to add to this trip is taking a water taxi from Union Island or Mayreau to the stunning Tobago Cays (below). Tip – Make sure its not a windy day!

3. From Union Island, get a boat to Carriacou – the northern island of Grenada. You can do this on Monday and Friday, with Mario Grand on his boat MV Pride.
   Mario will help you with immigration in both places. Check his Facebook page for up to date info. With all taxes included it will cost around $150 EC ($55 USD).

4. From Carriacou take the Osprey Lines ferry to Petite Martinique. Yes another beautiful island and the most northern of Grenada. Ferries run every week day, and cost $40 EC ($16 US) return.
5. Finally head from Carriacou to Grenada! Osprey Lines has ferries 3X a week. It costs $80 EC ($31 US) for a one-way ticket.

That is the end of the line – eight islands for approximately $150 US – fantastic value given how beautiful these islands are.

Of course you can do this in reverse order, and, for another $130 you can return the same way you came to St Vincent. Alternatively, you could fly out of Grenada.

4. The Virgin Islands – British and American

You can do a lot of island hopping by ferry in the Virgin Islands – but not to any neighboring countries or islands. However, there are plenty of hops you can make within both the British and US Virgin Islands. Prices for each lega vary from $30-$60 or more.

From St Thomas (the main island in terms of the capital and administration) you can ferry to the other two main US Virgin Islands, St John and St Croix. There are three (return) ferries a week to St Croix, and 2-3 daily ferries to St John. Operators vary and so do prices.

From St Thomas you can also get ferries to the British Virgin Islands. The ferry runs to Jost Van Dyke on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. And, to Virgin Gorda on Thursdays. You will need to go through immigration and pay a border tax.

With Speedys Ferry you can also run between St Thomas and Virgin Gorda. Once in Virgin Gordo they run a ferry to both Tortola, and Beef Island daily.

With a few days spread around the island, and some day trips to outer islands if you feel you need it, you have a whole lot of islands all in one for a few hundred dollars!

5. The Bahamas

If you want to do some island hopping in the Caribbean Bahamas, there is a national ferry service, Bahamas Ferries. You need to connect through Nassau in most cases with the exception being that you can travel from Nassau to Freeport to the Abacos.

Bahamas Ferries runs ferries between the following islands:
Nassau to: The Abacos, Andros, Cat Island, The Exumas, Eleuthera & Harbour Island, Freeport.
Freeport to: The Abacos.

Within some of the island chains, you can then catch local ferry services between islands.
For example, in the Abacos, to get from Great Abaco to Hopetown, Great Guana Cay, and, Man-O-War Cay, take G & L’s Ferry Service (the cheapest at the time of writing at $25 return for each trip) from Marsh Harbour.
Then you can take the very cute Green Turtle Ferry from Treasure Cay to New Plymouth on Green Turtle Cay ($22 return), or Coco Bay, Bluff Cay, White Sound, Black Sound ($24 return).

From Eleuthera to Spanish Wells on St. George’s Cay you can take the government ferry or a water taxi. Cross the bridge from Spanish Wells to Russell Island.

You can take a water taxi from Eleuthera to North Eleuthra (approximately $5.00)  

From Georgetown in Exuma, you can drive to Little Exuma via a bridge (and take organised boat trips to Stocking Island and some of the outlying islands).

Overall there are a lot of islands you can get to with local ferries and you could easily spend a month or more exploring the islands slow style. You can also get to the Bahamas via ferry from Florida – easy peasy island hopping in the Caribbean without a flight!

6. Haiti, The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico

These islands are connected with limited services but enough for some limited island hopping in the Caribbean.

Of course you can go overland across the border from Haiti to the Dominican Republic. And there is currently one ferry service between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic – Ferries del Caribe.

Islands with no outside connecting ferries

Barbados, Cuba, Jamaica, the Caymans, Trinidad and Tobago, and the ABC’s – Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao do not (at the time of writing) have external connecting ferries.

The Cayman Islands do have ferries within the islands. Trinidad and Tobago also have a ferry between the two islands.

Unfortunately the only way of including these islands in an island hopping trip is by flying – or sailing.

A quick guide with important links for your trip

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