Christmas in the Caribbean

December is when the Caribbean season properly gets going. The hurricane season has officially closed, the trade winds have settled into a steady, sail-friendly breeze, and the water is warm enough that nobody bothers with a wetsuit. Meanwhile, back home, it's dark at four o'clock.

Christmas on board is its own small tradition. Crews love a festive charter, and I've heard of everything from a tree lashed securely to the sundeck to Christmas lunch served at anchor off an empty beach, with the tender on standby for anyone who fancies a swim between courses. Then New Year arrives, and the islands really come into their own: Gustavia's harbour lined with superyachts for the fireworks, Old Year's Night at Foxy's on Jost Van Dyke, and the famous party at Basil's Bar on Mustique.

A practical word before the fun part. The festive weeks are the first to be spoken for each year, and many yachts set a minimum charter length over Christmas and New Year, so it pays to start the conversation early.

The BVIs are where I like guests to find their sea legs. In North Sound, Saba Rock and the Bitter End Yacht Club are the classic first-night stops, and over on Beef Island there's Scrub Island Resort and the Loose Mongoose, which is exactly as relaxed as the name suggests.

The water here does the heavy lifting. Snorkel The Indians and the caves at Norman Island, dive the wreck of the RMS Rhone, lost in a hurricane in 1867 and now wonderfully overgrown, and kitesurf or wing foil at Trellis Bay and Anegada. The Baths on Virgin Gorda, all giant granite boulders and hidden pools, are a must, and Anegada's flamingo ponds are the sort of detour guests don't expect to love as much as they do.

For a yacht-only moment, ask your captain to drop you at Sandy Spit off Jost Van Dyke: a sliver of sand, a handful of palms, and nothing else. For sunset, I'd choose White Bay on Jost Van Dyke or a quiet anchorage off Cow Wreck Beach on Anegada.

Anguilla is all about the beaches, and it takes them seriously. Start with the beach bars on Shoal Bay, take the tender out to Sandy Island for the day, and settle in for a long lunch at Belmond Cap Juluca or the Four Seasons. Little Bay, tucked beneath the cliffs and easiest to reach by boat, is made for snorkelling and turns quietly golden at sunset. Meads Bay, meanwhile, is calm enough for even the most hesitant paddleboarder.

If the BVI is the warm-up, St Barth is the main event, and at New Year it's the place to be. The island works as a sort of triangle: Saint-Jean with its three beach clubs, Gustavia with the two venues on Shell Beach, and Flamands with Cheval Blanc.

My favourites are Nikki Beach, Gyp Sea, La Guérite (no relation to the one off Cannes, though both are excellent reasons to arrive by tender), NAO and Shellona. For something quieter, the Eden Rock beach club is bookable by reservation and serves a Jean-Georges Vongerichten menu, while Le Toiny Beach Club sits between lush greenery and a turquoise lagoon. Gyp Sea's concierge can also arrange a day on the water, from electric surfboards to wakeboarding.

Now for the bit only a yacht can offer. Anse de Colombier can be reached only by sea or a steep footpath, which keeps the crowds away, and the uninhabited Île Fourchue, a horseshoe of an island just off the coast, makes for a snorkelling stop with nobody else around. Back in Gustavia, wander the boutiques and the harbour, then watch the sun go down from Shell Beach or the terrace at Fort Karl above it. On 31 December, you'll be watching the fireworks from the deck.

Antigua pairs sailing heritage with a good deal of style. Nelson's Dockyard in English Harbour is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a proper piece of maritime history, and lunch at Catherine's Café Plage is the natural follow-up. A day trip to Barbuda for its pink-sand beaches and lunch at Nobu is well worth the hop. On the water, kitesurf at Jabberwock Beach, swim with stingrays, or dive Cades Reef. And whatever else you do, be in English Harbour on a Sunday for the party at Shirley Heights: steel bands, rum punch, and the whole harbour laid out below you as the sun drops.

Mustique is private, relaxed, and quietly glamorous. Basil's Bar sits right over the water and rivals Foxy's for the Caribbean's most famous New Year's Eve party. It's also my favourite sunset spot on the island. If your dates allow, time a visit for a Wednesday and join the Jump Up at Basil's, the night out most people in the Grenadines plan their week around. For dinner, the Veranda at the Cotton House serves a refined menu of Caribbean and international flavours. By day, snorkel Macaroni Beach and Britannia Bay, and walk the island's nature trails to work up an appetite.

Canouan has a superyacht marina, a golf course, and beaches that look as if nobody has walked on them yet. Sheltered Godahl Bay is ideal for e-foiling and paddleboarding, and the reef diving is excellent.

Bequia is full of West Indian charm and a boatbuilding tradition that goes back generations. Rum cocktails at Jack's Beach Bar are compulsory. So is the solar-powered floating bar moored among the yachts in Port Elizabeth Harbour: give them a call and they'll send a tender to collect you, but arrive well before sunset if you want a seat. Snorkel at Princess Margaret Beach and Moonhole, and dive the Devil's Table.

For many of my guests, this is the highlight of the whole journey, and it's one you can only really do by boat. The buoyed turtle sanctuary off Baradal is the stop everyone talks about afterwards, and paddleboarding over Horseshoe Reef, with the water shifting through every shade of blue beneath you, is hard to beat. Take the tender to Petit Bateau for freshly grilled lobster at Romeo's, eaten more or less with your feet in the sand. Mayreau's Salt Whistle Bay, the beach between two seas, is a favourite sunset anchorage, and I couldn't agree more.

Petit St Vincent is barefoot island living in its most polished form. Nearby is Happy Island, a bar a local named Janti built on a reef from discarded conch shells, and one of the more memorable sundowners you'll have anywhere. Clifton on Union Island is one of the region's top kitesurfing spots, if anyone still has energy.

End the journey with a picnic on Sandy Island off Carriacou, then sail on to Grenada, the Spice Island. Spend an afternoon at Silversands or Spice Island Beach Resort on Grand Anse, which also delivers a spectacular final sunset. Dive the Underwater Sculpture Park in Molinière Bay and the wreck of the Bianca C, and make time for the island itself: the Grand Etang rainforest, the Annandale waterfalls, and a visit to a historic spice or The Chocolate Estate, where you'll leave smelling faintly of nutmeg.

Venue openings and seasonal schedules change, especially over the festive weeks, so always reconfirm with your captain before departure. Our crew will know exactly when to time each stop, whether that means the best table at Basil's on New Year's Eve or a quiet anchorage all to yourself on Christmas morning.

If you're dreaming of Christmas somewhere warmer this year and want a route built around any of the above, get in touch at hello@swisspath-yachting.com. I'm always happy to talk it through.