Stocking Island water taxi

Five minutes across Elizabeth Harbour from George Town, and nobody drives there. Stocking Island is a narrow strip about three miles long that shelters the town's harbour, with only a handful of people living on it, and the water taxis leave from the Government Dock. Several run every day; if in doubt, ask anyone in town where the boat to Chat 'N' Chill goes from. Skiffs can also be rented in town to drive yourself.

Chat 'N' Chill started in 1998 as a beach hangout for people living on their boats in the harbour, and it is still a barefoot bar and grill on Volleyball Beach: conch burgers, a conch salad shack at the water, rum drinks, volleyball, and stingrays that come in to be fed right off the beach. Sundays bring a whole-pig roast from noon to 7pm, or until the pig runs out.

The rest of the island rewards a wander. A two-minute boat hop takes you to the Mystery Cave, an underwater cave Jacques Cousteau tried to trace with red dye, and its mouth is good snorkelling. At low tide you can walk round Gaviota Bay and wade a channel to the Atlantic side, where there are sand dunes and stromatolites. Marked nature trails cross the island; the free trail map is in the Chat 'N' Chill gift shop. Hurricane Hole, the anchorage where sailboats ride out storms, has a blue hole.