The Best Caribbean Islands to Welcome 2023

Many Caribbean islands offer unparalleled experiences to celebrate the countdown and welcome 2023 amidst extraordinary natural beauty and first-class gastronomy. Here are some Caribbean islands where the New Year is welcomed with activities and experiences to remember.

Bermuda

This fabulous island will celebrate the traditional Onion Drop in King's Square (Saint George) during a free event for visitors.

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The celebration is in tribute to the onion, Bermuda's national pride since its founding. So far, many local people still grow and are so proud that the Carter House historic museum hosts the annual Onion Day Festival.

From Christmas to New Year's Eve, Bermuda celebrates with fireworks (mainly on New Year's Eve), street entertainment, and a great variety of food and drinks in bars and restaurants offering rum, mulled wine, black rum cake, lobster, turkey, rum glazed ham, papaya casserole, and cassava-chicken layered pie, among other dishes.

British Virgin Islands

Known as the Caribbean's New Year's Capital, the Virgin Islands is set to celebrate the start of 2023 with a host of activities, such as the famous boat-hopping parties that include beach bar visits across the region's various islands, mainly Jost Van Dyke. The bars and restaurants offer endless entertainment for visitors to the islands with live music, dances, boat-hopping, dinners with lobster barbecue, and fireworks.

To celebrate the New Year in the British Virgin Islands in an exclusive and personalized way, tourists can hire private yacht services and request experiences such as snorkeling, diving and paddle boarding. In addition to these experiences, visitors can book a three-story yacht with dining areas, bars, and even jacuzzis to spend the last night of the year.

Barbados

This beautiful Caribbean island celebrates with a host of events for the whole family, including enjoying the year's final sunset, dining in the restaurants on the island with special menus for the evening, and admiring the fireworks that light up along the beach until the first sunrise arrives.

To admire the last sunset of the year, Barbados has countless beach bar options to celebrate with refreshing cocktails, such as the traditional local drink Bajan Rum Punch. In addition, the restaurants on this island, known as the Culinary Capital of the Caribbean, offer special dinners to welcome 2023 with exceptional sea views.

Also, one of the most extraordinary experiences is renting a catamaran to enjoy the fireworks show from the ocean. On land, Hilton beach is the most spectacular place to watch the fireworks display. Families can even spend the night camping. Still, there are more secluded and cozy sites like the West Coast beaches where people enjoy this colorful spectacle. To enjoy the first sunrise of 2023, the East Coast is a highly recommended spot in areas such as Bathsheba, Bath, or Cattlewash.

Turks & Caicos

During the last day of the year, residents and tourists celebrate in Providenciales, better known as Provo, strolling the streets with costumes and masks of all colors. One of the oldest traditions (since the 16th century) of the twin islands of Turks & Caicos is Junkanoo Jump Up, where villagers welcome the New Year with a massive parade celebrating with music and dancing throughout the territory.

In addition, visitors enjoy outstanding fresh seafood cuisine in several seafront restaurants on famous beaches such as Grace Bay, one of the most spectacular in the Caribbean, where locals and tourists enjoy stunning fireworks over the ocean. In addition, many of the major resorts in the Providenciales area make their fireworks and beach bonfire shows, joining the entire archipelago at midnight to welcome the New Year.

In the last days of 2022, the streets of Turks & Caicos are filled with people to celebrate with local bands, dancing and music, gastronomy with menus highlighting native foods, sailboat and kayak racing contests, as well as the sale of crafts made by the local population. Visitors can also attend services that are held in the different parishes of the area that stay open all night to celebrate the New Year.