British Virgin Islands or Vieques?

Both are superb for swimming, but the beaches feel different. In the British Virgin Islands, many of the best ones are reached by boat. You wade ashore at White Bay on Jost Van Dyke or scramble through the granite boulders at The Baths on Virgin Gorda, and the long reef beaches of Anegada lie further out. A village or a beach bar is often close by.

Vieques has dozens of beaches on one island, many of them empty, with no lifeguards, cafés or sunbeds. Sun Bay and Media Luna near Esperanza are calm and easy to reach. The refuge beaches such as Caracas and La Chiva are at the end of bumpy tracks, so you bring your own water and shade.

Neither island is a reason to travel for food. Meals are casual, mostly by the sea, and supplies arrive by boat on both. The British Virgin Islands have a meal worth planning around, spiny lobster grilled on the beaches of Anegada, and the resort dining rooms on Virgin Gorda are more polished than anything on Vieques.

Vieques cooks in a Puerto Rican style, with mofongo, fish tacos in Esperanza and alcapurrias from roadside kiosks. Kitchens there keep short hours and many close for days out of season, so it helps to self-cater.

Either island's sights fill an afternoon, but they tell different stories. In the British Virgin Islands the remains are colonial and industrial: the Old Government House Museum in Road Town, a rum distillery still working at Cane Garden Bay and the roofless Copper Mine engine house above the sea on Virgin Gorda.

On Vieques the most interesting part is more recent history. The small museum in the Fortín Conde de Mirasol covers the decades when the island was a naval base and bombing range. The lighthouses and an old ceiba tree make good stops on a drive.

The British Virgin Islands have a real night scene, even without clubs. It follows the sailing crowd: rum punch and music at Great Harbour, White Bay and the Bight at Norman Island, full-moon parties with fire sculptures at Trellis Bay, and a famous New Year's Eve on Jost Van Dyke.

Vieques is far quieter. You get a few open-air bars on Esperanza's seafront and local bars in Isabel Segunda that fill up at weekends. For many visitors, the only reason to go out after dark is the kayak trip on the bioluminescent bay.

Both islands' outdoor life is mostly on the water, but each has its own highlight. The British Virgin Islands are built for sailing, with short passages across the sheltered Sir Francis Drake Channel. They also have the wreck of the RMS Rhone for divers and the wind at Trellis Bay for kitesurfers.

Vieques has Mosquito Bay, where every paddle stroke glows blue-green on a dark night. By day there is cycling and birding in the dry-forest refuge. Neither island has serious hiking, and the highest trail, on Sage Mountain on Tortola, is only about 520m.

The British Virgin Islands give you more places to go. Ferries reach Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda and Great Harbour on Jost Van Dyke. With a passport you can cross to St Thomas for the Danish warehouses and Fort Christian in Charlotte Amalie, or to St John for Cruz Bay and the Annaberg plantation ruins.

From Vieques the one outing that really pays off is Culebra and Flamenco Beach, and that means a chartered boat. Old San Juan is a long day once you add the ferry or flight and the drive, so most visitors stay on the island.

Both have calm, shallow, warm water and nothing built for children. The British Virgin Islands are slightly easier with them: the resort beaches on Virgin Gorda and the bay at Cane Garden Bay make simple bases, and a charter yacht gives older children a trip to remember.

Children love Vieques too, mainly for the horses on the roads and the night kayak. Rented houses with kitchens are easy to find. However, the beaches have no lifeguards or shade, serious medical care means going back to the main island, and you need a car.

Neither island is easy, but the British Virgin Islands give you more ways to get about. Regular ferries link Tortola with Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke, and a charter yacht makes the travel part of the vacation. Tortola's steep, narrow roads, driven on the left, call for a hire car or taxis.

Vieques is hard to reach. The ferries from Ceiba are known for selling out and changing schedules, and small planes are the reliable option. Once there you need a jeep for the rough refuge tracks, and there are not many, so book one well ahead.

There is very little to buy on either island. The British Virgin Islands have a bit more: small shops on Road Town's Main Street selling local rum, spices and paintings, and marinas stocked with sailing gear and swimwear. The duty-free streets of Charlotte Amalie on St Thomas are a short boat ride away. On Vieques, shopping means a few galleries in Esperanza and Isabel Segunda, then the grocery shelves.

Vieques is the cheaper of the two, though neither is cheap. On Vieques, prices are at US levels and jeep hire is a real expense. You can still cut costs with a simple guesthouse in Esperanza, your own cooking and the ferry instead of a flight, and the beaches cost nothing.

The British Virgin Islands are aimed at a well-off market. Resorts, villas, taxis and the classic yacht charter all cost a lot. Sharing a boat or staying in a Tortola guesthouse helps a little, but there is no budget way to do these islands.

There is no theatre or concert life on either island, but the British Virgin Islands have more local music. Scratch bands play fungi on washboards and gourds at beach bars, and the Emancipation Festival in Road Town and the beach music festival at Cane Garden Bay put on proper stage shows. On Vieques you may find a guitarist in an Esperanza bar, and the patron saint festivities bring bomba and plena to Isabel Segunda's square once a year.

Neither has thermal baths or a bathing tradition, but the British Virgin Islands are better for a restful, pampered stay. Secluded resorts on Virgin Gorda's North Sound and the private islands have open-air treatment rooms and yoga decks above the sea.

Vieques is restful in a simpler way: little traffic, no high-rise hotels and long, empty afternoons. A few guesthouses and small studios offer massages and yoga, but there is no real spa.