Affordable Caribbean: Barbados

New York Times: "American visitors to Barbados needn't worry about the weak dollar: the Barbadian dollar is pegged to it ($1 is worth two Barbadian dollars). Holding onto your cash, however, is another matter. The resort-packed Gold Coast — or, as some call it, the Platinum Coast — more than lives up to its name. But if you head off to the rugged, less-populated east coast of this pear-shaped island, and choose carefully in the overdeveloped south, you can see a more authentic side of Barbados and still have a few bucks left over for a bottle of rum. "