Guadeloupe or Sint Maarten?

Both islands have excellent beaches and warm water, but they offer different kinds of beach. Guadeloupe gives you two very different coasts: white sand and reef-sheltered lagoons from Le Gosier to Saint-François, and darker, wilder beaches on Basse-Terre, where Malendure has snorkelling right off the sand. The empty beaches of Marie-Galante and the bays of Les Saintes add even more, which helps when sargassum lands on one shore.

Sint Maarten offers more variety in less space. Mullet Bay, Orient Bay, Pinel Island and Baie Rouge are all within half an hour, across two countries. The trade-off is crowds on cruise days at Great Bay and Maho, where jets land low over the swimmers.

At the table the two islands come out about even, but they feed you in different ways. Guadeloupe's strength is Creole home cooking found all over the island: salt-cod accras, colombo curry and fish court-bouillon at simple beach shacks and modest places in the market towns. Rum is tasted where it is distilled, above all on Marie-Galante. Step outside that local repertoire, though, and there is little in the way of a smart dinner or a different cuisine.

On Sint Maarten the good eating is gathered in one place. Grand Case, on the French side, has French and Creole restaurants and smoky lolo grills along a single seafront. Around Simpson Bay on the Dutch side, the long restaurant row mostly serves steaks and grilled fish to visitors. So Guadeloupe rewards driving about and eating simply, while on Sint Maarten one evening out in Grand Case gives you the best of the island, with nearly everything on the plate shipped in.

Guadeloupe has noticeably more to see, mainly because of the Mémorial ACTe, a serious museum of slavery and Caribbean history on Pointe-à-Pitre's old sugar wharf. Around the island are forts, Amerindian rock carvings at Trois-Rivières, Hindu temples and the windmills and sugar estates of Marie-Galante, enough for several good half-days.

On Sint Maarten, a single morning covers the 1793 Courthouse on Front Street, a small museum and the forts above Great Bay and Marigot.

Sint Maarten is the island for going out. Simpson Bay and the Maho area have beach bars from sunset, late casinos and a few clubs that run into the small hours, and the French side offers slower evenings in Grand Case.

Outside carnival season, evenings on Guadeloupe mostly mean sundowners and long dinners. Le Gosier has the only real cluster of bars and clubs, and with everything spread out and reachable only by car, a night out needs planning.

This is where the two islands differ most. Guadeloupe's western wing is a volcanic rainforest protected as a national park, with the climb up La Soufrière, the Carbet falls and the Route de la Traversée under giant trees. Add mangroves to kayak in the Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin and diving with turtles in the Cousteau Reserve.

Sint Maarten is dry and hilly, and its outdoor life is mostly on the water: snorkelling at Creole Rock and Tintamarre, kitesurfing in Orient Bay and catamaran sailing. On land, Pic Paradis and Sentry Hill offer short walks rather than real expeditions.

Guadeloupe's ferries go to its own outer islands, while Sint Maarten's go to separate neighbouring islands. From Guadeloupe you can reach Terre-de-Haut, with its painted village and bay, and Marie-Galante, a slow sugar-cane island that is better done with a night's stay. La Désirade is the quietest of the three, and a longer crossing reaches Dominica.

From Sint Maarten, short hops take you to entirely different places: chic Gustavia on St Barths, the quiet beaches of Anguilla and the steep white villages of Saba, with Sint Eustatius a short flight away. Rough seas can make any of these crossings uncomfortable.

Guadeloupe is the easier island with young children. The lagoons at places such as Sainte-Anne stay knee-deep a long way out, there is an aquarium at Le Gosier, a zoo in Parc des Mamelles and a botanical garden at Deshaies, and French healthcare is reassuring. Expect a lot of time in the car.

Sint Maarten makes up for that with resorts that have pools and kids' clubs, calm water at Simpson Bay and Pinel Island, and zip lines on Sentry Hill. Beyond that, it has little to offer children on a rainy day.

Both islands really need a hire car, and Guadeloupe is the easier of the two to drive. Its French-style roads are good, and ferries and scooters make the small islands simple. The catch is distance and the slow bridges between the two wings, so many visitors stay on one side.

Sint Maarten is tiny, but its narrow, hilly roads clog around Simpson Bay, the causeway and Philipsburg on cruise days. Its minibuses run without real timetables.

Sint Maarten has more to shop for, because it is a duty-free port. Front Street in Philipsburg is lined with jewellers and watch, electronics and liquor sellers, and Marigot adds a few French perfume and fashion boutiques. It is worth it if you are after one particular watch or bottle.

On Guadeloupe, the main buys are spices, vanilla and madras cloth from the Pointe-à-Pitre market and rum straight from the distillery.

Neither island is cheap, but Guadeloupe costs less. Prices are similar to mainland France, and staying in villas and guesthouses with kitchens, buying from bokit vans and markets, and eating at lolos keeps costs down.

Sint Maarten is expensive in winter: beachfront resorts charge high rates, restaurant bills reflect imported produce, and taxis add up. Apartments around Simpson Bay and the summer and autumn rates soften it a little.

Music is part of everyday life on Guadeloupe. Gwoka drumming, recognised by UNESCO, fills léwòz evenings, zouk plays everywhere, L'Artchipel in Basse-Terre stages theatre and dance, and Marie-Galante holds the Terre de Blues festival around Pentecost.

Sint Maarten's high point is its spring Carnival, with calypso, soca and steel pan. Guadeloupe's carnival runs from January to Ash Wednesday. For most of Sint Maarten's year, live music means a band or DJ in a beach bar.

Guadeloupe has something Sint Maarten simply lacks: hot springs warmed by the volcano. There are forest pools at the Bains Jaunes, warm rock pools on the shore near Bouillante and a small spa at Ravine Chaude, and Les Saintes and Marie-Galante are made for doing very little.

On Sint Maarten, relaxing means a resort spa and yoga by the beach. For real quiet you need to stay near Dawn Beach or on the French side, away from the cruise crowds.