Legendary beauties swimming in a sea of myths

The interior of Barbados and other Caribbean islands is awash in beauty, invites exploring, and is away from the congestion on beaches. (PATRICIA BORNS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

With sojourners blogging about the Caribbean since Columbus, is there anything about this perennial warm-weather destination we don't know?

MYTH: The best time to visit is winter.

REALITY: The best time to escape New England is winter, but the Caribbean is appealing practically year-round. Its thermometer from winter to summer fluctuates between 75 and 87 degrees, and the trade winds (a.k.a. the Caribbean air conditioner) do their magic except from about August to mid-fall. December to March is the Caribbean's dry season when the islands are their most pricey, crowded, and brown. In May, the start of rainy season when rates drop like an elevator express, the landscape is a Fauve palette of frangipani and royal poinciana, the beaches are flat out empty, and a rain shower typically lasting minutes is unlikely to ruin your day. Hurricane season, although technically June to November, is most concerning from August to mid-October, September being prime time. Then, choose islands outside the usual storm path, like Barbados, Aruba, Curaçao, and Turks and Caicos, and look for resorts and booking companies that offer trip cancellation insurance.

MYTH: If you've taken southern, eastern, and western Caribbean cruises, that about covers it.

REALITY: The Caribbean Sea touches more than 25 countries and 7,000-plus islands and cays. Cruise ships cover less than 1 percent of the region.

MYTH: It's only for beach bums.

REALITY: The Caribbean is full of health nuts and athletes. Wind drives the board sports action in and around Puerto Rico's Rincón, on Panama's Bocas Del Toro islands, on the east and south coasts of Barbados, and on the kite beaches of the Dominican Republic's Cabarete and Guadeloupe's Le Moule.

Flex your endurance roping down Martinique's rain-forested, river-gorged mountainsides. Join a Sunday workout with Hike Barbados or Puerto Rico's Panoramic Hike, a 165-mile east-west route covered over consecutive Sundays in February and March. Dominica is bush-whacking the Waitukubuli National Trail, linking waterfalls, lakes, Carib tracks, maroon hideouts, and interior villages in a 114-mile cross-island network. St. Lucia's Forest and Lands Department and local guides make anything possible, even scaling Mount Gimie, the island's highest peak.

MYTH: There's no mental stimulation.

REALITY: There are vibrant intelligentsia throughout the Caribbean; the image of partying parrotheads was cultivated for the tourist trade. As countries reinvest in their histories and cultures, fresh entertainments are everywhere. A sampling from tiny Tobago: the Itsy Bitsy Folk Theatre of tambourine music, jig, folk dance, and reel; Luise Kimme's castle studio of life-size sculptures; and Friday night "Conversations in de Yard," where local bands and artists gather in an informal salon in Alice Yard, the backyard space of architect Sean Leonard's house in Port of Spain.

MYTH: The food is one-dimensional - how many ways can you make rice and beans?

REALITY: The answer: in as many ways as there have been waves of Indian, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Chinese, Arawak, Taino, and African migration. While almost anything you care to eat is available (even corned beef), ethnic preparations of local ingredients are the foods of place. Try pelau, a French-inspired stew of chicken or beef with rice, pigeon peas, pumpkin, brown sugar, onions, and garlic; African callaloo, a spinach soup; Amerindian pepperpot, a meat stew spiced with cinnamon, hot pepper, and cassareep; and local beach treats like Trinidad's Bake 'n' Shark, a johnnycake filled with deep-fried shark meat dressed with tamarind or chadon bene chutney.

MYTH: Entertainment is mostly reggae and rap.

REALITY: Those have their roots in Jamaica, but pan, calypso, salsa, soca, merengue, zouk, and beguine are Caribbean, too. Walk through Trinidad's Port of Spain in the weeks leading up to Carnival and hear pan yards reverberate with practicing percussionists. Attend a jazz festival in the Dominican Republic, Barbados, St. Lucia, Puerto Rico, or Panama and catch artists like Chucho Valdés, whom you might otherwise miss. Outside the main events, there's usually a restaurant or bar - the jazz brunch in Barbados at Lobster Alive, the barbecue and steel band at Antigua's Shirley Heights - playing something to your taste.

MYTH: There's nothing to drink besides rum.

REALITY: How about Curaçao? The liqueur takes its name from the country where 15th-century Spaniards sowed Valencia oranges whose trees did poorly in the island's soil. Left to run amok, the wild Laraha rind was later found to produce a pleasing liqueur. The Senior family distillery in the Chobolobo Mansion produces Blue Curaçao, the only brand made from local oranges, and welcomes visitors.

But don't dismiss rum until you've tried rhum agricole. It's not the same drink. Unlike the elixir of ubiquitous Caribbean cocktails distilled from the molasses byproduct of sugar-making, this is a sipping rum distilled from raw sugar cane juice. Martinique's La Mauny, JM, and Neisson labels are the ones to try.

MYTH: It's crowded.

REALITY: The leeward beaches are crowded. In most cases, the body count drops on an island's windward coast, its interior, or its northernmost points. Fall asleep to tree frogs and crashing waves in a rain forest perch like Dominica's Beau Rive. For whole islands of quiet, rent a Loblolly Bay cottage and snorkel Horseshoe Reef on Anegada in the British Virgin Islands, population 200. Feel like one of the family on 5-square-mile Saba where there are no beaches, just spectacular cliff faces and reef diving. Still too crowded? Make the six-hour boat passage to Puerto Rico's Mona Island and pitch your tent in a Galapagos-like setting of utter desertion.

MYTH: It isn't chic.

REALITY: Maybe you belong at Cap Juluca on Anguilla with Beyoncé and Brad Pitt, at Goldeneye on Jamaica with Sting and Johnny Depp, on the golf course with Tiger Woods at Sandy Lane on Barbados, anchored in St. Bart's Gustavia Harbor with Denzel Washington, or shoreside at Chez Maya with Jimmy Buffett.

MYTH: It's expensive.

REALITY: December to February airfares are expensive. Otherwise, the Caribbean has always had a second, more affordable economy for locals and budget travelers.

Buses and minivans substitute for car rentals on many islands, offering a great cultural experience for those who don't mind close quarters and a little heat. Dominica leads the way in under $100-a-night stays, as do surfer accommodations with kitchen facilities to defray restaurant and bar costs. Rents are falling at self-catering cottages everywhere, and camping is an option at St. John's Maho and Cinnamon bays, White Bay Campground on Jost Van Dyke, and Flamenco Beach on Culebra.

Food can also be a bargain if shopped right. For example, on Barbados, a pound of fresh tuna at Oistins costs about $3.50 compared with a plate from a vendor's stall (about $15) or the ahi tuna dinner at the Fish Pot (about $50). When you do dine out, enjoy food vans, roti and rum shops, fish fries and barbecues. Even tony Anguilla has an under $100 a night bed at Lloyd's Guest House and an economical meal at Hungry's Food Van, operated by a former five-star chef.

Still too pricey? The Curaçao Tourist Board is giving away a trip for two per day through May 23, plus a chance to participate in its $500,000 island treasure hunt, to be held in August. Visit www.curacaotreasure.com.

Patricia Borns can be reached at patriciaborns @comcast.net.