The Caribbean is a series of more than 700 islands. They are mainly situated on the Caribbean Plate, southeast of the United States. While many consider The Bahamas part of the region, the islands are not in the Caribbean Sea or inside its borders. Visitors know the area for its ideal weather and beautiful waters. If you are a first-time traveler or a frequent flyer, we suggest connecting to a VPN while there. Why does it matter? We’ll be glad to tell you after you look at our list of the best VPNs for Caribbean travel.
| Rank | VPN Service | Our Score | Server Locations | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 9.8 | 160 |  |
| 2 |  | 9.4 | 87 | |
| 3 |  | 9.2 | 95 | |
| 4 |  | 9.0 | 110 | |
| 5 |  | 8.8 | 73 | |
With so many different islands and countries in the area, you’ll find a variety of rules and even governments. You’ll also see a full range of internet censorship from Barbados, which scored a 95 out of 100 on the freedom scale, to Cuba, which scored a 12 on the same scale. That means you need to be aware of where you are. Although you won’t have issues with monitoring in many countries, you certainly will in ones like Cuba. The solution to that is to connect to VPN. As long as you make sure to take advantage of features like the kill switch, a VPN will help protect you from government monitoring.
Along those lines, government monitoring may not be all of your worries. Countries that aren’t free usually censor their internet as well. Of course, that means you may not be able to access your favorite sites when there. Just as connecting to a VPN to get past monitoring, you’ll want to connect to a VPN server in a more free country. Usually, that means connecting to a server in the US. Luckily, quite a few providers offer locations in Miami, Florida. That would be the closest location to the Caribbean. They can provide you with great speeds and ensure you can access your favorite sites while traveling in the Caribbean.
The Caribbean is a popular location for people from all over the world. You can find all different types of religions and hear many languages. Even with the great weather, you may have seen a growing trend in beach-going. Whether you are in your hotel room or hanging out at the beach, you can stream content from home by connecting to a VPN. What better way to work on your tan than watching a show or two while you bake? All you have to do is select a server from home to enjoy your favorites or choose another one to explore a new area. The question is, which one?
VPN features to look for with Caribbean travel
These days, many trustworthy VPNs have great offerings. However, you need to look for a few different items when making a decision. These include:
- The ability to get around censorship and geo-blocks – Whether the government in the Caribbean censors the internet or you just want to watch content from other areas, getting around these geo-blocks is essential. You want to pick a provider that gives you a wide range of countries to choose from, including your own.
- High-speed encryption protocols – As you may find out, not all of the internet in the Caribbean is consistently fast. That can pose an issue, especially if you are watching a show, movie, or even gaming. That’s why you’ll want to choose a provider with next-generation protocols. Although these include IKEv2, OpenVPN, WireGuard, and ExpressVPN’s Lightway, the fastest options are usually Lightway and WireGuard.
- An advanced features list – Every trustworthy provider has advanced features, but you may not find some of them helpful in the islands. The most important of those, though, is a kill switch feature. When using one, the service will kill your internet if your connection drops unexpectedly. That will help protect you from transmitting unencrypted data should something happen.
- A provider with high network stability – Luckily, high network stability means you shouldn’t have to worry about the kill switch much. Often, VPN servers will disconnect if it becomes overwhelmed. If your provider has multiple servers in a location, there are two advantages. Your connection is less likely to drop because of the redundancy, and your connection is more likely to be fast for the same reason.
Here is a more in-depth look at our choices.
1. Best VPN for Caribbean Travel: ExpressVPN
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With servers on every continent except Antarctica, ExpressVPN operates 160 server locations in 94 countries. That means they have one of the largest VPN networks, and they have a presence in almost half the counties in the world. While the service may be more expensive than some of its competitors, you get a premium VPN dedicated to privacy (ExpressVPN keeps no activity logs, so your browsing is kept private) with some of the fastest speeds, apps for every device, and 24/7 customer support to help troubleshoot any issues.
The ExpressVPN team goes the extra mile to provide a feature rich service. They are also strong privacy advocates. They offer a $5,000 Future of Privacy scholarship every year to help promote privacy among college students. Just a quick example of their dedication to spreading the message of privacy around the world. Just as important, they offer a premium network to allow for fast connections. This makes the service an excellent choice for downloading and streaming. Test their network for yourself with their 30-day money-back guarantee. Sign up for 12 months and get 3 months free with our ExpressVPN deal.
Want to learn more? Read our full ExpressVPN review.
2. Best VPN for Caribbean Travel: NordVPN
While all providers promise security, some may not be protecting your privacy when using their service. However, NordVPN does an excellent job of doing that. You can quickly test their DNS security by using the leak test on their website or checking an independent site. By doing so, you will see if others can detect your location. If they can’t, though, you won’t have to worry about groups or organizations tracking you if you are connecting to a VPN. DNS leak protection is a must-have for VPN users.
Want to learn more? Read our full NordVPN review.
3. Best VPN for Caribbean Travel: PIA
Private Internet Access offers apps for a whole host of custom apps that you can install, depending on which device or operating system you have. Those include Windows 32 and 64 bit, macOS (64-bit), Linux (64-bit), Android, and iOS. Additionally, they have extensions for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and the Opera browser. If there is not an app for it, they have quite a few setup guides to help you configure several different types of routers like PfSense, Tomato, DD-WRT, and more.
Want to learn more? Read our full Private Internet Access review.
4. Best VPN for Caribbean Travel: CyberGhost
Some sports have international followings. However, countries have different levels of coverage. If you follow a sport that does not have the coverage you want, connecting to CyberGhost VPN is a good idea. When you do, you can access the coverage you want to see by connecting to a server in another region. Whether there is no easy way to watch the sport where you are, or you are looking for specific coverage, you can easily do that with a VPN.
Want to learn more? Read our full CyberGhost review.
5. Best VPN for Caribbean Travel: IPVanish
If you are like most gamers, you are aware that lag can cause big problems. Sometimes, that can be a result of a busy game server or a congested network. By connecting to a VPN like IPVanish, you can help stop that from happening. What that will do is re-route your gaming traffic to a less populated server. Doing so may help you get a better experience so that you can enjoy your favorite games. That could make the difference between winning the match, or losing it.
Want to learn more? Read our full IPVanish review.
