The charming, and very French, island of Martinique is a perfect haven of secluded beaches and uncrowded dive sights. The early Carib people called Martinique "the island of flowers" and indeed, it still is, with plenty of lush vegetation and fragrant flora. The port city of Fort-de-France, its capital, offers chic shopping and plenty of colonial history. Travel up the coast past quaint fishing villages including one where Columbus touched land. And be sure to visit St. Pierre and the ruins of the city that was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Pelee in 1906.

This 425-square-mile (1,101-sq-km) island, the largest of the Windwards, has landscapes as varied as its culture and history. In the south, which holds most of the development and the best beaches, there are rolling hills and sugarcane fields. In the north look for lush, tropical vegetation, fields of bananas and pineapples, deep gorges, towering cliffs, and one of the Caribbean's most impressive volcanoes, Mont Pelée. Fort-de-France is the island's capital city as well as its cultural and commercial hub. Most of the other towns -- such as Ste-Anne and Vauclin, to the south, and Carbet and Marigot, to the north -- are either small resorts or fishing villages. You'll need some French to feel truly at home, though the locals are more forthcoming with English here than in other places in the French-speaking world. This island is not like France -- it is France. Most everything shuts down at midday and reopens sometime after 2:30. Franglais is universal (les softs is what you should look for if you want a soda), topless bathing is almost de rigueur, the driving is frenetic, and poodles are everywhere.