Best Big Resorts

Dominican Republic
“You get the best bang for your buck in the Dominican Republic,” says Darwin Porter, a coauthor of Frommer’s Caribbean 2008 (Frommers, $23, www.amazon.com). A favorite resort is Club Med Punta Cana, where rooms have sleeping alcoves for kids (doubles from $197 a person, www.clubmed.us).

Jamaica
Head to Montego Bay, the major resort center on the island, or Ocho Rios, on the north shore. “It is a land of great beauty, but if it’s your first time, it’s good to be sheltered in a big hotel,” says Porter, noting that Kingston and Negril can get seedy. In Ocho Rios, try Beaches Boscobel Resort (doubles from $409, www.beaches.com). In Montego Bay, splurge on the Half Moon Resort (doubles from $250, www.halfmoon.com), one of the island’s best.

Best for Honeymooners

Nevis
Nevis and its sister island, St. Kitts, are still overlooked by many American tourists, so you won’t feel like a typical honeymooner. Nevis can be quieter and swanker, with cloud-covered Mount Nevis, a dormant volcano, rising up in the middle. Live it up at the Four Seasons Resort (doubles from $335, www.fourseasons.com/nevis).

Peter Island
Don’t be worried about cruise-goers — Peter Island has only one hotel (doubles from $575, www.peterisland.com). Beachfront rooms overlook Deadman’s Bay, which has one of the prettiest beaches on the island, and the resort claims to have more staff members than guests.

Virgin Gorda
If the idea of sailing into the sunset with your new spouse sounds romantic, Bitter End Yacht Club (doubles from $630, www.beyc.com) offers private lessons. Or book a stay at Rosewood Little Dix Bay (doubles from $395, www.littledixbay.com), which sits on a private beach and “has one of the most beautiful spas I’ve ever experienced,” says travel consultant Becky Veith of Becky Veith Travel, an affiliate of Travel Experts in Raleigh, North Carolina.