British Virgin Islands or Turks and Caicos?

Both have beaches good enough to build a trip around, and the sea is equally warm and clear. What differs is the shape of a beach day. Turks and Caicos centres on Grace Bay, one long, reef-sheltered sweep of fine sand on Providenciales where you can walk out of your resort and swim, with glassy shallows on the south side and quieter shores on Grand Turk and Salt Cay.

The British Virgin Islands spread their best sand across several islands: Cane Garden Bay on Tortola, the granite boulders and grottoes of The Baths on Virgin Gorda, White Bay on Jost Van Dyke and the empty reef beaches of Anegada. Many are best reached by boat, so the variety rewards anyone happy to keep moving.

Neither is a place to travel for food, and in both much of the produce is imported. The flavours differ a little: the British Virgin Islands have rotis and curried goat in Road Town, painkiller cocktails on Jost Van Dyke and spiny lobster grilled in oil drums on Anegada's beaches. In Turks and Caicos conch comes in every form, and the most local meal is a fish fry or conch shack near Blue Hills, while Grace Bay's resort restaurants serve international menus.

Sightseeing is thin in both, but Turks and Caicos has a little more to see. Grand Turk's Cockburn Town keeps Bermudian-style houses on Front Street, a National Museum with the Molasses Reef wreck, and the salt ponds that shaped the islands, with Salt Cay preserving that landscape almost untouched.

The British Virgin Islands offer an afternoon's worth: the Old Government House Museum in Road Town, a working rum distillery at Cane Garden Bay and the Cornish engine house of the Copper Mine on Virgin Gorda. The Turks and Caicos heritage needs a flight to Grand Turk, though, so it takes more effort to reach.

The British Virgin Islands have the better evenings. The yachting crowd turns Great Harbour and White Bay on Jost Van Dyke and the Bight at Norman Island into a round of music and dinghy rides between bars. Trellis Bay's full-moon parties and New Year's Eve on Jost Van Dyke give the calendar some big nights.

Turks and Caicos stays quieter, with sunset drinks at Grace Bay beach bars and resort lounges, now and then a local band, and things over well before the small hours. Neither has clubs.

Both are low, dry islands where the best of the outdoors is in the water, but each has its own highlights. The British Virgin Islands are made for sailing between closely packed islands, and below the surface there is the wreck of the RMS Rhone and the snorkelling at the Caves of Norman Island. On land there are short forest trails on Sage Mountain and a scramble through The Baths.

Turks and Caicos has the dramatic wall dive off Grand Turk and Salt Cay, humpback whales passing in winter, Chalk Sound's turquoise lagoon for paddling and bonefishing on the Caicos Bank flats. Inland it is flat, with flamingo ponds on North Caicos and caves on Middle Caicos.

Day trips are limited in both and mostly mean another island. From Tortola, ferries reach Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke, and the best outing crosses the border to Charlotte Amalie on St Thomas, with Danish warehouses and Fort Christian, so you need a passport. From Providenciales, the ferry and causeway lead to sleepy North and Middle Caicos, while a short flight reaches Grand Turk and Salt Cay for the old capital and the salt landscape.

Turks and Caicos makes the easier family trip. Grace Bay is calm and shelving, the lagoons at Taylor Bay and Sapodilla Bay suit toddlers, and several resorts are built around children with kids' clubs and pools, so everything is close to hand.

The British Virgin Islands work for water-loving families too, and a charter can thrill older children. However, steep roads, boat transfers and a lack of resorts designed for children make them more work with small ones. Neither has zoos or attractions aimed at children.

Neither has useful buses, and both drive on the left, but the British Virgin Islands are easier to explore. Regular ferries tie Tortola to Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke, and a charter yacht makes the travel part of the fun, though Tortola's own roads are steep and twisting.

In Turks and Caicos, roads are quiet and the centre of Grace Bay can be walked, but reaching the other islands means combining ferries, hire cars and small planes. Most visitors stay put on Providenciales.

Nobody goes to either to shop, though Turks and Caicos has a little more choice in the open-air plazas along Grace Bay, with duty-free watches, jewellery and galleries, plus palm-straw baskets and sea salt as local keepsakes. The British Virgin Islands offer a few shops on Road Town's Main Street and marina stores. Serious shoppers there take the ferry to Charlotte Amalie.

Both are among the most expensive places in the Caribbean, with imported food, dear taxis and a market of upmarket resorts. The ways to save differ. In the British Virgin Islands, sharing a charter boat spreads the cost of beds and transport, and Tortola's guesthouses and Road Town food stands help a little. In Turks and Caicos, the main savings come from a shared self-catering villa, conch shacks and avoiding the winter peak, though boat trips and island flights soon add up.

Neither has theatres or a concert life, but each has a folk sound of its own. The British Virgin Islands have fungi scratch bands playing washboards and gourds, along with the Emancipation Festival in Road Town and a beach music festival at Cane Garden Bay. Turks and Caicos has ripsaw music, played on a carpenter's saw, and the masked Maskanoo parade on Providenciales at Christmas.

Neither has hot springs or a spa tradition, so in both the treatments come from the resorts. The two are about level for rest, but the calm comes from different places. In the British Virgin Islands it comes from the setting. The resorts on Virgin Gorda's North Sound and the small private islands are often reached by boat and have almost no roads, so the quiet comes with the place. Morning yoga looks out over the water and a few good spas handle massages, though the area around Road Town on Tortola is less peaceful.

Turks and Caicos puts more into the spa itself. The large Grace Bay resorts on Providenciales run full treatment programmes, and on the cays to the north, Parrot Cay among them, the whole stay is planned around yoga, massage and healthy eating. It is the better choice for a structured retreat. If you simply want to switch off, Grand Turk, Salt Cay and the Caicos islands are slower still.