We’ve been fortunate to visit most of the best kid-friendly Caribbean beaches. Despite the recent hurricanes, these silky beaches are still as beautiful and blue as ever. And of course, still warm.
The Caribbean Islands are loved and admired for the plethora of beaches it provides. With about 700 islands resting along the Caribbean Sea, families can find anything and everything they want. You can choose to rest along an idyllic ocean scene or enjoy a beach with hundreds of entertainments for you and your kids. Here are the best Caribbean beaches you can visit as a family. All of them are children-friendly, packed with entertainment, and are great spot to unhinge and relax!
1. Grace Bay, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos
Named after the wife of one of the commissioners of Turks and Caicos in 1933, Grace Bay Beach is an excellent place to relax for families. This particular beach is located in the area of Providenciales along the northeast coast and stretches for three miles beside the Caribbean Sea. It also lies alongside two other separate beaches.
Grace Bay Beach is an incredibly sandy expanse of land that sits adjacent to calm turquoise waters. Because of this, the beach is known as one of the best beaches in the Caribbean for kids. However, one of the things that visitors should be wary of are the large powerboats which continuously move about the waters, making it quite hard to get a proper swim.
While this may mean swimming can be potentially risky for families, the large amount of boats offers the chance for you and your kids to go out on a boat trip into the waters. The length of these boat rides as well as the activities you can do on the on and off the boat depending on both the ages of your kids as well as your personal preference. So, for instance, you either ride on a banana boat or take a joyride on a speedboat.
2. Eagle Beach, Aruba
Located in Aruba, one of the Caribbean’s most beautiful and scenic islands, Eagle Beach has hundreds of tourists flocking to its sandy beaches and green spaces. Eagle Beach is considered to be a trademark of Aruba due to it being the most visited locations in all of the island. With its picturesque landscape, Eagle Beach consists of many features which cater to the needs of families looking for a relaxing time.
Eagle Beach boasts itself as being the best white sand beach in the Caribbean since its long stretch of pristine white sand culminate into the most aesthetic and serene-looking places on earth. In Eagle Beach, you have the ability to spend quiet time with your family on rented beach chairs, or get more adventurous with many water sports.
If you have younger children, bringing them to visit the Eagle Beach is an absolute must if they wish to get close to and interact with turtles of different kinds. Eagle Beach also has a n number of inexpensive hotels that linger around the vicinity thus making it a budget-friendly location in the otherwise relatively-expensive island of Aruba.
3. Cable Beach, Nassau, Bahamas
As the capital of the famous island country, the Bahamas, Nassau is a tourist-favourite location. The city harbours hundreds of amenities that cater to the needs of most tourists, from luxury and cheap resorts to shops and aquariums. However, one of Nassau’s most fantastic destinations are its beaches which often have coral reefs fringing along its shores and are perfect for a snorkelling or diving trip with your family.
Nassau does have an array of different beaches but the one you must go to as a family is its Cable Beach. This beach is known to be one of the best beaches in the Caribbean with the picturesque large tropical trees that sway in the background over the soft sand. Cable Beach is also one of the best Caribbean beaches for swimming, especially for children who not yet old enough to snorkel, scuba-dive, or engage in other activities for older kids and adults.
4. Crane Beach, Barbados
Known to be one of the best beaches for swimming in the island of Barbados, Crane Beach lets you and your kids have a fun and undisturbed time on an island beach. With pink powdery sand and coconut trees encircling the area, Crane Beach forms a majestic view that will give you and your family the perfect photo opportunity as well as create a beautiful environment to relax in.
Crane Beach gets more exciting! If you wish to head down into the swimming area of Crane Beach, you will need to descend from a staircase or a beach elevator to the safe zone. This beach elevator on a Caribbean beach island is usually fascinating to kids and makes the ride to the safe zone incredibly exciting one for the family. You can also be assured of your family’s safety since lifeguards are present on the beach at all times.
There are also policemen patrolling the beach area, which even though might be unnerving, it’s just to make sure you’re safe at all times. This makes Crane Beach one of the safest beached to visit with your family. This added protection and the exciting features has earned Crane Beach as spot as one of the best beaches in the Caribbean for kids and for families.
5. Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman
Having recently been awarded the title of ‘The Caribbean’s Best Beach’, Seven Mile Beach is the most popularly visited area in the Grand Cayman as well as in the Caribbean. This beach is known widely to be the most family-friendly beach area in the Caribbean, specifically due to how clean and serene the entire environment is.
The Seven Mile beach runs for about 7.8 miles, hence the name; and is said to be one of the longer beach lands along the southern coast of the Grand Cayman.
Because of how long it runs, you can always find a spot for your family depending on whether you want to be amongst the general crowd of beach-goers or prefer a more isolated and quieter space. Additionally, you have the option of going surfing with the waves or swimming with your kids.
One interesting aspect about this beach is how the beach can only be found after a trip through the Beach Road Picnic Area where you and your family can certainly have a complete picnic by the beach before or after heading on swimming. In other words, Seven Mile Beach is sort of hidden but yet popular for families and beach lovers.
6. Montego Bay, Jamaica
Montego Bay is notably the second largest city in Jamaica and lies on the northern coast of the island country. Despite being the second largest city in the country, Montego Bay topples out all of the other cities in Jamaica by being one of the most visited cities in Jamaica. This is largely because of the spectacular seaside beaches along Montego Bay as well as a lot of luxurious yet relatively affordable resorts in the area.
Families visiting Montego Bay will find a few different beaches stretched around the island, with names such as Doctor’s Cave, Cornwall Beach, Walter Fletcher Beach and more. All of these beaches maintain family-friendly environments and activities. Doctor’s Cave Beach is particularly awesome for toddlers in your family as the water is usually shallow yet it has schools of small local fishes for your child to enjoy.
Doctor’s Cave Beach also has numerous children-friendly restaurant nearby along the beach as well as a beach trampoline that is available for public use. Because of these kid-friendly facilities, Doctor’s Cave has been nominated as one of the best beaches in Jamaica and the Caribbean for kids.
7. Cahuita Beach, Costa Rica
While Costa Rica is not geographically included in the Caribbean territory, it is still considered to be a Caribbean beach due to it being adjacent to the Caribbean Sea. Thus, you can still relish the Caribbean air from the beaches of Costa Rica with your family, but particularly in Cahuita Beach as it is said to be one of the best Caribbean beaches in Costa Rica.
Hidden away in the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, Cahuita Beach shows off an exquisite black-sand beach area that is adorned with large palm trees. This beach also maintains warm and calm waters that is perfect for your children to swim in, ideally making it one of the best Caribbean beaches for swimming.
You’ll find Cahuita Beach remarkably quiet beach most time so it’s really easy for your family to be comfortable while visiting the beach. If you or your kids are into birdwatching, this is the perfect beach to visit as there are usually variety of birds circling the vicinity of Cahuita Beach – a perfect opportunity to get your binoculars out and play a game of “identify the bird” with your kids.
8. Shoal Bay, Anguilla
Anguilla has risen high on the list for the safest Caribbean island to visit with your family and kids. Because of this, many families do choose to visit this particular Caribbean island, specifically Shoal Bay. If you’re visiting Anguilla in the summer, you will find Shoal Bay complete with festivals, boat races and parades. If you prefer a more quiet and peaceful time, you can take your family out on a water excursion in Shoal Bay Beach.
With less than 3 km in length, Shoal Bay Beach resides in the southern part of the island. You’ll find a beach road – Shoal Bay Road – heading on to the sandy shores of the beach. Since this area has some shopping centres and other tourist facilities, it can be quite busy but that also means that everything you want is within arm’s reach.
Shoal Bay Beach is also safe for swimming since it has small waves and calmer tides. This should make it easier for your children to enjoy the waters and the beach. This southern shore is also a great fishing destination with so many boating services provided for tourist. So, as an added entertainment, you can take your kids out for fishing along the coast of Shoal Bay Beach in the day time, and enjoy relaxing in the beach in the evening time.
9. Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands is the most peaceful Caribbean destination, specifically because of how much it still retains its originality. Despite being recognised as a favourite tourist destination, the Virgin Gorda is not commercialised and thus, maintains an array of undisturbed natural elements.
This is why the beaches in Virgin Gorda is the most exquisite ones you’ll find in the British Virgin Islands. Virgin Gorda also serves as one of the best Caribbean beaches for families with its soft white sands and turquoise blue waters.
Geographically, Virgin Gorda beaches is a bit different from the other Caribbean beaches because of the large beachside boulders that fringe along its shores. These boulders are formed in a circular manner, with shallow water remaining in the middle, making it the most natural swimming pool that you can ever get.
If you ever visit Virgin Gorda, you’ll never forget how different and unique it looks compared to every other flat beach you’ll ever see. With its idyllic environment and these seawater pools, you can relax in knowing that your family and kids will have the most amazing time while also being safe while swimming.
10. Horseshoe Bay, Bermuda
Being the most well-known beach in Bermuda for its pink coloured sand, Horseshow Beach is popularly visited by families and solo tourists alike. This particular beach destination lies in the southern coast of the island of Bermuda in the parish of Southampton.
With its large stretch of land, Horseshoe Bay is great for families with different preferences and tastes. You can either stay within the crowd of tourists along its busier shores or walk up to a small cove of land that is encircled with enormous rocks and provides a rather private setting. These rocks are also great for climbing, something great for families with spirited teenagers and adventure enthusiasts.
You can also choose to participate in different water sporting activities and snorkelling if your children are at the appropriate age for it. For families with infants and toddlers, the changing facilities as well as the on-site lifeguards make this one of the best, safest and most convenient beaches for families with infants and toddlers.
And if you get hungry while on the beach, several restaurants and beach bars offer beach lounges, foods, and drinks and you and your family can eat and rest while listening to beach music peacefully playing in the background.
