What kind of sailboat would be best for cruising around the Caribbean?

Question

would a catamaran be good or regular style better

Answer 1

Since you are obviously NOT a sailor... no knowledgable sailboat skipper would call a mononhull a "regular style" boat... I'll give you a bit of head's up.

You need a SHOAL DRAFT boat... something 3 feet draft or less... maybe something with a swing keel.

Something around 30 to 34 feet works quite nicely.  I live on a 38 footer in Antigua for 7 months each year and that works for me.

You need a GOOD LIGHT AIR PERFORMER... in the Caribbean you either have light breezes or you are holding on for everything you have... but there is more light air than heavy air.

There are 2 GOOD things about a Cat... the deck is wider so there is more room to lay around.  You can also run a cat up on a shore safely, so you always have that option.

The down side is, trying to find a place on a dock or in a slip that will take the extra width of the Catamarand.  You may even have to pay more for a slip than would a monohull.