Stay at Cinnamon Bay for $27

Now that Club Med has gone upmarket, there's fewer and fewer places in the Caribbean where you go rough and cheap -- the classic backpacker's experience as opposed to a stay in a swanky hotel. Starting at $27 per person per night for a bare sight (bring your own tent), the Cinammon Bay Campground in St. John, U.S.V.I., is just steps from the beach and surrounded by the lush Virgin Islands National Park.

Operated by the Caneel Bay resort, the camground also offers tented sites for $80 per night, cottages for $110 per night, beach-view cottages for $125 per night, and beachfront cottages for $140 per night.

That's pretty cheap; as for rough, well, at least a hint of Caneel Bay's luxury spills over to Cinnamon Bay: cottages have electric lighting, outdoor terraces, grills and ice chests, and all campers have access to the campground's central bathhouse. The on-site Tree Lizard Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, and there's also a general store and beach shop. Cinnamon Bay Beach has great snorkeling and a watersports center.

Tours also are available to campground guests, including a Reef Bay Hike ($21 per person) and a trip to Herman Sparuve's Salt Pond ($15 per person).   

Cinnamon Bay can be reached from St. Thomas via ferries from Red Hook or Charlotte Amalie to Cruz Bay, St. John; it's then a 15-minute taxi ride to the campground. For more information or to make reservations at Cinnamon Bay on St. John, call 800-539-9998.