Hi Everyone

Could anyone help with advice on how long you can stay on the Caribbean Islands for at any particular time? Would we need Visas? And any other legal issues there maybe

We are looking to retire in a few years and would like to buy a holiday home somewhere in the Caribbean (possibly Cayman or Barbados) where we can spend our winters then fly back to England for our summer here.

Preferably we would like to fly out in November time and come back in March

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance Gazz

Gazz. I think it's a month in Cayman, and once you buy property here it's six months. Google "New Resident Cayman", which is an online magazine that has all the answers. No visa required.

I guess you already know that Cayman is an expensive place to live, and I have an idea Barbados is too. There are cheaper islands. In your shoes I would spend a few weeks in each of Grenada, BVI, St Lucia, and Turks (Provo), or one of the Bahamian Out-islands. Or one of the cays of Belize. I remember Grenada with great fondness, but it's a personal thing. Martinique, maybe, if you speak French and don't mind living in France.

If you're ever serious about Cayman, some of my blog-posts will give you the flavour of life here.

Thanks Gordon i will take a look at that

Grand Cayman is not cheap. It is in some ways more expensive than Manhattan. Spend on winter renting before deciding to buy.

Nobody should ever, ever, EVER, buy without have spent some months in a place first. It's a buyers' market here at the moment, which means it's also a renters' market. As with most tourist resorts, Cayman is an expensive place to live if you spend a lot of time in bars and restaurants. For us, the most expensive item is health insurance (we're both over 70), which costs us US$10,000 a year.