Sint Maarten or US Virgin Islands?

Both are first-rate beach destinations with warm, clear water all year, and the US Virgin Islands have a small edge in quality. The difference lies mostly in the setting. Sint Maarten puts two countries' beaches within half an hour of each other: Mullet Bay and Cupecoy on the Dutch west, Orient Bay's busy sand and Pinel Island's calm water on the French side, and the jets roaring low over Maho.

The US Virgin Islands are quieter and closer to wild nature. St John's north-shore bays, Trunk, Cinnamon and Maho, lie inside the national park with reef just offshore. Magens Bay and Coki Point on St Thomas let you snorkel straight from the beach, and St Croix's Sandy Point is quieter again.

Sint Maarten eats noticeably better, thanks to its French half. Grand Case's seafront of French and Creole restaurants and its lolo barbecue stalls are worth the drive, and Marigot's bakeries sort out breakfast. The Dutch-side strip around Simpson Bay is more ordinary.

In the US Virgin Islands the best food is West Indian home cooking: kallaloo, fungi and pates from roadside stands and church food fairs, especially on St Croix, which also has the rum distilleries. Around the St Thomas resorts and Cruz Bay, menus lean American, and the range stays narrow.

The US Virgin Islands have clearly more history to see. Christiansted's arcaded streets and yellow fort survive almost whole from Danish rule. Charlotte Amalie adds Fort Christian, the 99 Steps and its sand-floored synagogue, and the ruins at Annaberg and the Whim estate tell the sugar and slavery story. That adds up to several good half-days.

Sint Maarten's heritage fits into a single morning: the 1793 Courthouse and small museum on Front Street, Fort Amsterdam above Great Bay and Fort Louis over Marigot.

Sint Maarten goes out harder and later. Simpson Bay and Maho combine sunset beach bars, late casinos and a few dance clubs that run into the small hours, above all at weekends in winter.

The US Virgin Islands are about open-air rum bars full of charter-boat sailors in Red Hook and Cruz Bay, and the boardwalk in Christiansted. Most nights end well before Sint Maarten's get going, except during carnival on St Thomas and the Crucian Christmas festival.

The US Virgin Islands offer much more outdoors. National park land covers most of St John, and the Reef Bay trail runs past petroglyphs and plantation ruins down to the sea. Around the islands are turtle bays, the snorkelling trail at Buck Island, bioluminescence in Salt River Bay and some of the calmest sailing water in the Caribbean.

Sint Maarten is pleasant rather than wild. You can climb Pic Paradis or Sentry Hill, snorkel at Creole Rock, dive in Man of War Shoal and kitesurf on Orient Bay's trade winds, but there is less of it.

Sint Maarten is the better hub. The French side is an outing in itself, and ferries reach St Barths and Gustavia, Anguilla's quiet beaches and steep, volcanic Saba, so each day out has a different character.

From St Thomas the obvious trip is St John's park, and the British Virgin Islands are an hour or so away for Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda, though you need a passport and have to work around ferry times. St Croix is too far for a day trip and is better treated as a separate stay.

The US Virgin Islands work somewhat better with children. At Maho Bay on St John, turtles feed in water shallow enough for young snorkellers, and Coki Point has touch pools and an underwater observatory. American families also need no passport and use their own currency.

Sint Maarten has calm water at Simpson Bay and Pinel Island and plenty of resorts with kids' clubs, plus zip lines and treetop courses on its hills. On both, there is little to do on a rainy day.

Neither is easy, and in much the same way: narrow, hilly roads and few pavements. On Sint Maarten it is one island, so a hire car takes you everywhere, including over the open border, but expect queues at Simpson Bay and the causeway on cruise days.

The US Virgin Islands add driving on the left, open-sided safari taxis and the frequent Red Hook to Cruz Bay ferry between St Thomas and St John. Reaching St Croix means a flight or a long crossing.

This is very much the same offer twice: a duty-free cruise-port street of jewellers, watch dealers and liquor shops, Front Street in Philipsburg and Main Street in Charlotte Amalie's old Danish warehouses. Where they differ is beyond that strip. Marigot adds a few French perfume and fashion boutiques and a harbour market, while the US Virgin Islands lean towards island-made craft, at Mongoose Junction on St John and in Christiansted's studios, where the St Croix hook bracelet is the souvenir.

Both are expensive, about equally so, with costly winter resorts and imported food on every bill. The ways to save differ. On Sint Maarten, rent an apartment around Simpson Bay, use the minibuses and eat at the Grand Case lolos. In the US Virgin Islands, St Croix and St John's campgrounds cost less, and the beaches and park trails are mostly free, though safari taxis charge per person.

Neither has a stage programme, but the US Virgin Islands have a little more of their own to hear. Quelbe scratch bands, steel pan and the mocko jumbie stilt dancers carry the islands' music, and the university amphitheatre on St Thomas hosts touring concerts. Sint Maarten's highlight is its spring Carnival, with calypso and soca contests. The rest of the year, live music means bands in beach bars.

Spas are resort spas in both places, so the difference is the pace. The US Virgin Islands are easier to slow down in. St John and St Croix's east end have little traffic noise and long, quiet afternoons. On Sint Maarten you have to look for calm, near Dawn Beach or on the French side, away from the cruise port and the Simpson Bay strip.