In order to get to St. Bart’s, you have to take a ride in a tiny private airplane, probably pushing off from the nearby island St. Martin’s. This sets the mood for the entire trip: isolated, simple, thrilling, and enjoyable.

St Bart’s is the queer rich go, and while there is no venue which is targeted specifically to gay men or lesbians, there are many restaraunts, hotels, and beaches which are popular among other queer tourists. On top of that, you’re not going to have to hide who you are there. While St. Bart’s is certainly no bastion of acceptance or high mindedness, it is very live and let live.

Some beaches where you might want to head if you have enough money to vacation in St. Bart’s are Seline and Gouverneur, where you’ll see many gay couples and friends. There are many beachside houses and houses within town which can be rented by vacationers as well, offering the privacy and spaciousness which cannot be found in an hotel. If you’d rather not have a house all to yourself, you should check out such excellent hotels as Le Toiny, which is set on the beach and has luxurious quarters.

The gay friendly island of St. Martin is a place where you can enjoy two beautiful and exciting “destinations” in one. St. Martin is a pocket France, where you can delight in the cuisine, architecture, and culture of the French, while at the same time reveling in the breathtaking sights and cultures of the West Indies. It’s also pretty easy for a gay American to visit–no need to bother with exchanging money, English is spoken all over the place without losing French, and it’s very tolerant of gays and a popular tourist place for queer tourists.

St. Martin can be a great destination both for comfortable gay couples and singles just looking to have some fun. There’s a nightlife, and many gay travelers and natives end up on three different beaches–the Cupecoy, which is the most popular, or the Orient and the Baie Rouge beaches.

The gay friendly island of St. Martin offers two worlds–the world of the city slicker and the tourist, where you can find high and low end restaurants, bars, night clubs, casinos, and more, and the low key wilderness, populated by guavaberry trees and vibrant green hills.

The gay community on the U.S. Virgin Islands isn’t as big and pumping as it is in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but these lovely sun bathed beaches are still a perfect destination for gay couples looking for a laid back vacation environment. It’s definitely not the most ideal destination for singles, considering that there is no huge gay tourist community, and that the native gay community on the islands is so small that most know each other by name–in fact, on St. Thomas, there are only nine gay couples.

Stepping onto the Virgin Islands is like stepping into another century. On a quiet day, as in the picture above, you wonder if you’ve become stranded on a desert island in the far past, when water was still a shimmering blue–as you progress, you move forward in time, walking past butcher shops in 15th century buildings and boutiques in 19th century edifices.

If you’re a U.S. citizen, you might enjoy the shopping in the gay friendly Virgin Islands, as well. On St. Thomas, there is a market in a set of 300 year old warehouses, where you can buy all of your wares tax free up to $1,200.