Anguilla or Sint Maarten?

Both islands are built around their beaches, but Anguilla's are the better reason to come. Shoal Bay East, Meads Bay, Rendezvous Bay and Maundays Bay give long stretches of powdery white sand that stay quiet even at their busiest, and the sandbars of Sandy Island and Prickly Pear Cays are close to empty.

Sint Maarten has more variety than crowd-free calm. There is Mullet Bay and Cupecoy on the Dutch west coast, Orient Bay and Pinel Island over the border, and the jets coming in low over Maho. On cruise days, though, Great Bay and Maho fill up, and the best of the quiet coves need an early start.

The two eat equally well, and they share a lot: lolo barbecue stalls, grilled lobster, johnny cakes and rice and peas, all costly because the ingredients are imported. On Anguilla the long beachfront dinner at the west end or in Sandy Ground is the main event of the day.

Sint Maarten offers more kinds of eating, from the steakhouses and seafood grills of Simpson Bay to the French and Creole dining of Grand Case and the bakeries of Marigot, as well as guavaberry liqueur, the island's own spirit.

Neither island is a place for sightseeing, and each has about a morning's worth. Anguilla's sights are low-key: the 18th-century Wallblake House, the Heritage Collection Museum and the Amerindian carvings in Fountain Cavern. Sint Maarten's are military and colonial: the 1793 Courthouse on Front Street, Fort Amsterdam above Great Bay and Fort Louis looking over Marigot.

Sint Maarten is the clear choice for going out. Simpson Bay and the Maho area have sunset beach bars, late casinos, cocktail lounges and a few clubs that run into the small hours, most of all in the winter season, and Orient Bay adds beach parties on the French side.

Anguilla's evenings are mostly long dinners. Sandy Ground's beach bars and Sunday afternoon sessions provide the only real late nights, and most of the island is asleep by midnight.

Sint Maarten has more for active travellers, mainly because it has hills. Walkers can climb Sentry Hill or Pic Paradis through dry forest, there are zip lines in the woods, and on the water there is diving at Man of War Shoal and kitesurfing in Orient Bay.

Anguilla is flat scrub and cactus, so nearly everything happens on the sea: reef and wreck diving around Prickly Pear Cays and Dog Island, snorkelling off Little Bay, and sailing among the island's wooden racing sloops. On land there is not much more than cliff walks and birdwatching at the salt ponds.

Sint Maarten is the better base for island-hopping. Without even taking a boat, the French side gives a full day in Marigot and Grand Case, and ferries reach St Barths, Saba and Anguilla, with a short flight out to Sint Eustatius.

From Anguilla, the main outing is the reverse journey, the short ferry from Blowing Point to Saint Martin. A chartered boat to Gustavia is an occasional extra, and the trips to the cays are beach days, not visits.

Sint Maarten gives children a bit more to do. Resort kids' clubs, self-catering apartments around Simpson Bay, zip lines and the chairlift on Sentry Hill, treetop courses near Pic Paradis and glass-bottom boats help when the beach starts to pall.

Anguilla is calmer and safer for very young children, with gently shelving water at Rendezvous Bay and Meads Bay and almost no traffic. Older children may be bored within days.

On both islands you will want a hire car, but driving on Anguilla is easier. Traffic is light, any beach is a short drive away, and the only hard part is getting there, which means flying into Sint Maarten and taking the ferry across.

Sint Maarten's narrow, hilly roads back up around Simpson Bay, the causeway and Philipsburg, especially on cruise days. Its informal minibuses are at least an option, which Anguilla's lack of buses does not give you.

For shopping, Sint Maarten is far ahead. Front Street in Philipsburg is a duty-free run of jewellers, watch and electronics dealers and liquor shops, and Marigot adds French perfume, fashion and a harbour market, although the range is narrow outside these.

On Anguilla, shopping stops at a few art galleries, resort wear, sea salt, hot sauce and rum. Anyone who wants more ends up on Saint Martin anyway.

Neither island is cheap, but Sint Maarten leaves more room to economise. Apartments around Simpson Bay, supermarket self-catering, minibuses and the Grand Case lolos all keep costs down, and summer and autumn rates fall further.

Anguilla is costly from top to bottom, with a handful of guesthouses and roadside barbecue shacks as the only real ways to save.

Neither island has theatre or concert halls, and on both, live music means bands in beach bars. They differ in their big festivals. Anguilla's draws are the reggae festival in March and the August Summer Festival with its boat racing, while Sint Maarten's spring Carnival is one of the larger in the Caribbean, with steel pan, calypso contests and late jump-ups.

Anguilla is the more restful of the two. Its luxury resorts have larger spas open to the sea breeze, and with no cruise pier or high-rise strip, nothing interrupts a slow day.

Sint Maarten also has resort spas and beach yoga, but it only becomes truly peaceful near Dawn Beach or on the French side. Traffic and cruise-day crowds on the Dutch side break into the calm.