Anguilla or British Virgin Islands?

Both destinations have superb, warm and clear water, and the difference is in how you reach the sand. Anguilla's beaches are long, powdery strands on a single island, from Shoal Bay East to the resort-lined crescents of the west end, and you drive to them.

In the British Virgin Islands many of the best beaches are reached by boat, from White Bay on Jost Van Dyke to the reef-fringed sands of Anegada. They also have The Baths on Virgin Gorda, where granite boulders form pools and grottoes, a sort of beach Anguilla's flat coral shore cannot offer.

Anguilla takes eating out more seriously. Its west end beaches and Sandy Ground have a run of polished seaside restaurants, and the roadside lolos add smoky weekend barbecue, so a week of dinners has some range.

The British Virgin Islands eat more simply: rotis and conch fritters in Road Town, and a casual routine at beach bars. The standout is spiny lobster grilled on the beaches of Anegada, worth the trip out for a lobster lover, but outside Road Town and the resort dining rooms the choice thins quickly.

Neither is a place for sightseeing, and each has an afternoon or two of history at most. Anguilla's is about earlier people and the salt trade, with Amerindian carvings in Fountain Cavern, Wallblake House and the old salt ponds. The British Virgin Islands lean on sugar and industry instead, with a working rum distillery at Cane Garden Bay and the Copper Mine engine house standing over the sea on Virgin Gorda.

The British Virgin Islands have more going on after dark, though neither has clubs. Their nights follow the sailing crowd from boat to bar at Great Harbour, White Bay and Norman Island's Bight, with full-moon parties at Trellis Bay.

Anguilla's evenings are mostly long dinners, with Sandy Ground's few late beach bars and Sunday afternoon sessions as the exceptions. Most of the island is asleep by midnight.

For the outdoors, the British Virgin Islands win easily. Dozens of islands close together around a sheltered channel make sailing straightforward, and the wreck of the Rhone, the Caves at Norman Island and the reef around Anegada give divers and snorkellers plenty to explore. On land there are forest trails on Sage Mountain and Gorda Peak, and flamingos on Anegada's salt ponds.

Anguilla is low, dry scrub, so nearly everything happens on the water: reefs and wrecks around Prickly Pear Cays and Dog Island, kitesurfing in the trade winds and the island's own sloop racing. Cliff walks along the north and east are the only real hiking.

Anguilla has the easier day out. Saint Martin is a short ferry ride from Blowing Point, with Marigot and Grand Case on the French side and duty-free Philipsburg on the Dutch side, and St Barths makes an occasional chartered treat.

From the British Virgin Islands the most substantial trip crosses into the US Virgin Islands for Charlotte Amalie's Danish warehouses and Cruz Bay on St John, so a passport is needed. Closer to home, Spanish Town and Great Harbour are small settlements rather than places to explore.

Families will find the two much alike: calm, shallow water, a safe, slow pace and nothing built for children. Anguilla's flat island and quiet roads make life with toddlers simpler, as Rendezvous Bay and Meads Bay shelve gently and nothing is far. The British Virgin Islands give older children more, with reef snorkelling straight from the shore and the adventure of a charter yacht, but steep roads and boat transfers are harder with small ones.

Anguilla is the simpler island to get around. It is about 26km long and flat, with light traffic, so a hire car puts any beach within a short drive, although arriving means flying into Sint Maarten and taking the ferry.

The British Virgin Islands ask for more planning. Tortola's roads are steep and winding, and the other islands depend on ferries, with Anegada further out and less often served. Many visitors get round this by chartering a yacht or simply staying put at one resort.

There is very little shopping in either, and each sends serious shoppers to a duty-free neighbour: Saint Martin from Anguilla, Charlotte Amalie from the British Virgin Islands. At home, Anguilla's galleries of local painters and its sea salt and hot sauces are matched by Road Town's small shops and the marina stores selling sailing gear and woven baskets.

Both are expensive, and neither has a budget way to do it. Anguilla's stays are mostly high-end resorts and villas, and on a flat island with few buses the hire car is another cost. In the British Virgin Islands the yacht charter is the big outlay, but a group sharing a boat spreads the cost of beds and transport, and Tortola's guesthouses and Road Town food stands help a little more.

Neither has a theatre or concert scene, so music means beach bars and festivals. Anguilla's main draws are its reggae festival in March and the August Summer Festival of calypso, soca and boat racing. The British Virgin Islands have their own folk sound, fungi, played by scratch bands on washboards and gourds, which is worth hearing alongside the Emancipation Festival parades in Road Town.

The British Virgin Islands are a little better for a restful stay. The secluded resorts of Virgin Gorda's North Sound and the private islands add yoga decks and real isolation to their spas, though Road Town is busier.

Anguilla's calm comes from the whole island being quiet, with no high-rises or cruise ships, and from the open-air spas of its luxury resorts. Neither has any bathing tradition of its own.