A beach is a beach is a beach.... Well, yes and no. Some run for miles along the coastline and are packed with resort vacationers trying their skill at parasailing (eg. Jamaica's Negril) while others are quiet, little half-moon slices of deserted islets accessible only by yacht (eg. Carriacou's Sandy Island). Both are beaches, but both are totally different.
For those who wish to delve into geological facts, let's consult a dictionary on some terms:
Sand: (noun) 1.a) loose, granular, gritty particles of worn or disintegrated rock, finer than gravel, coarser than dust. 1 b) sands. A tract or stretch of land, as a beach or desert, covered with this material.
Beach: (noun) 1) The shore of a body of water. 2) The sand or pebbles on a shore. 3) The accumulation of shingle, sand and rocks on the coast between the lowest level reached by the spring tides and the highest point attained by storm waves.
The sand on most island beaches is a mixture of coral rocks, shells, limestone and quartz. Depending on the quantities of each ingredient, the color and texture can range from fine, bone-white powder to a more coarse golden color. Many islands, (notably Monsterrat, Grenada, St, Lucia, St. Vincent) due to their volcanic origins, showcase striking black sand beach.
In the Caribbean, the quality of both sand and beach depends on wave action, storms, wind, tide and current; beaches form and recede, appear and disappear at the whim of the waters surrounding the islands. So it really isn't your memory playing tricks with you if that perfect beach you discovered on your last island visit isn't quite the same - it may be smaller in size, the sand could be coarser or perhaps it is simply gone.... only to reappear some years later.
