Puerto Rico or St Croix?

The beaches on both islands are excellent, but they are different kinds of beach. Puerto Rico has far more coast. There are long city beaches at Condado and Isla Verde within walking distance of hotels, the calm palm-lined bay at Luquillo, and Flamenco Beach on Culebra, as fine a beach as any in the region. In winter, though, much of the north coast is too rough for casual swimming.

St Croix's beaches are smaller and fewer, but more of them have reef right off the shore. You can snorkel straight from the sand at Cane Bay, and there are sheltered coves near Christiansted and the quiet west-end beaches at Sandy Point and Rainbow Beach. Buck Island, a short boat ride away, adds a perfect white beach of its own.

Puerto Rico is clearly the better island for eating. Its creole cooking of mofongo, pasteles and roast pork has whole outings built around it, at the lechoneras of Guavate, the fritter stands at Piñones and the kiosks on the Luquillo shore. San Juan adds real variety, from the old dining rooms of the walled town to the newer cooking of Santurce, and there is mountain coffee to taste at the haciendas.

Crucian food is well worth trying: johnny cakes, kallaloo, goat stew and roti, best eaten at roadside stands. Beyond those, though, the restaurants are mostly in Christiansted, the choice is limited, and a lot of what is served is imported.

Both islands have colonial forts on the water, but Puerto Rico has far more. Old San Juan is a walled town that grew over five centuries, with El Morro and San Cristóbal on its walls, and Ponce and its art museum add a second strong day. Taíno ball courts at Caguana show the island's history before the Spanish.

St Croix's Danish past is smaller and sharply focused. Christiansted's ochre arcades and yellow fort, the Frederiksted fort where emancipation was declared in 1848, and the Whim plantation museum tell the story of sugar and slavery clearly. You can see it all in a couple of days.

If going out matters, choose Puerto Rico. In San Juan the night starts late and runs into the small hours, with street crowds around La Placita in Santurce, packed bars on Calle San Sebastián and dancing to salsa and reggaeton. Casino and club nights in the Condado are there for a dressier evening.

St Croix offers rum drinks in the open-air courtyard bars of Christiansted and sunset at a beach bar, and most places are quiet well before midnight. The exception is the Crucian Christmas Festival, when the island stays out late.

Puerto Rico has more kinds of landscape. There is rainforest with waterfalls at El Yunque, haystack hills and the Río Camuy caves in the karst country, coffee farms along the mountains, winter surf and passing whales at Rincón, and three glowing bays to paddle at night.

St Croix's best nature is underwater. The snorkelling trail at Buck Island Reef and the wall at Cane Bay, close enough to shore that divers swim out from the beach, are first rate. On land the island is drier and gentler, with grassy hills around Point Udall, a bioluminescent bay at Salt River and leatherback turtles nesting at Sandy Point.

A base in San Juan puts several good outings within a drive. Ponce, about an hour and a half away on the south coast, has its plaza and old mansions, the rum distilleries in Cataño make a half day, and Culebra and Vieques are worth a night or two on their own. The list still runs out after a while, because the island's appeal is mostly its landscape.

St Croix lies about 60km south of the other Virgin Islands, so day trips mostly mean going from one of its two towns to the other. The one real outing is St Thomas or St John, by seaplane or a longer boat crossing, and it takes a full, costly day.

Puerto Rico gives families more to fill the days. There is calm water at Luquillo and Seven Seas, short El Yunque trails to natural pools, a guided route underground at Camuy, and resorts at Río Grande and Fajardo with kids' clubs. The open lawns by the San Juan forts make an easy afternoon.

St Croix is mostly beach time: paddling at Rainbow Beach, a first snorkel in a sheltered cove or at Buck Island, and a fort to explore. Some of the best coves are reached on rough paths, so families tend to stay close to a villa pool.

On both islands you need a hire car, and the towns are the only places that are pleasant on foot. The difference is scale. Puerto Rico means heavy traffic around San Juan, slow mountain roads and a ferry to the outer islands that often sells out or runs late.

St Croix is about forty minutes from end to end, so the distances are easy. Visitors do have to get used to driving on the left, usually in American cars, and to the steep, winding climb to the north shore.

For things to take home, Puerto Rico offers the wider choice, though neither island is a real shopping destination. In Old San Juan the streets around Calle Fortaleza sell carved santos, vejigante masks, cigars and aged rum, and the large malls of Hato Rey cover everyday needs.

On St Croix, shopping means a few arcaded streets in Christiansted. The thing to bring home is a Crucian hook bracelet made by a local jeweller. Anyone after serious duty-free shopping has to make the trip to St Thomas.

Neither island is cheap, but money lasts longer in Puerto Rico. Lechoneras and beach kiosks are good value, rum costs little, and the guesthouses around Rincón cost much less than the hotels in the capital.

On St Croix almost everything is shipped in, so even a supermarket shop costs more than on the mainland. A hire car and winter rates for villas add up quickly. Roadside food stands and the guesthouses of Christiansted help a little.

Puerto Rico's live music is part of daily life. Salsa dance nights, bomba drumming in Loíza and Piñones, and plena around La Placita can be found in most weeks. For formal concerts there is the symphony orchestra at the Centro de Bellas Artes, plays at the Teatro Tapia and the Casals Festival.

St Croix's quelbe scratch bands and mocko jumbie stilt dancers are well worth seeing, but they mostly appear at festival time. For the rest of the year there are bar bands and the occasional touring show.

Neither island has much of a spa culture, and the calm they offer comes in different ways. On Puerto Rico you go looking for it: a full spa at a resort in Dorado or Fajardo, the old hot springs at Coamo, or a slower few days on Vieques. San Juan itself is loud.

On St Croix, quiet is simply how the island is, with unhurried days, early evenings and villas on the east-end hills. The spas and yoga classes, though, are few.