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I tend to think that the real beauty of the Caribbean islands lie in the small islets, with beaches lined with palm trees, isolated from the human touch, displaying the glory of God’s creation. They are the real paradises on Earth, where you will not find the hustle bustle of the traffic, or a jumbo jet making ear braking noise as it lands on an airstrip. It is that pure nature that will provide you with serenity that you have never felt in your life, with the wind blowing softly through those palm trees making soft hissing noises, and the waves from the sea lapping against the shore, breaking up into silvery froth. It cannot be anything else but paradise on Earth.

If you want to go and feel nature in these islets of the Caribbean, the normal thing would be to take a yacht. The exception could be Martinique and Guadeloupe. There are over 30 of these islets that await your visits, where you can enjoy the presence of pure nature. You would need to hire a car when you reach to one of these places. You would drive to the coastal towns and villages, and be in the midst of those who have been loving nature generations after generations.

There are various types of boats and ships that would take you to the islets close-by, and would sail in the morning. After you have breathed the purest air on Earth, and have thoroughly enjoyed yourself with what nature can offer, you will return back in the afternoon, bringing with you the nostalgia of the wonderful places that you have ever seen. Most of these islets lie within a few miles of the coast of Guadeloupe and Martinique.

When you visit these islets, you will find nature at its best, preserved as it was before, beautiful as it is in God’s own land. You will find the rarest of rare birds in these islets, with the sea turtles breeding on the beaches. While you are there, you may have a glimpse on the most spectacular inhabitants of the islets - the giant iguanas. There are several kinds of reptiles that live there, within an area which is barely 2 km long and 850 meters wide.

The human inhabitants of the island follow the old customs and traditions, still sloughing the fields with ploughs, and using ox-drawn carts to go from one place to the other. These are still common today in those islets, and it takes you centuries back, when people used to work hard on their fields with the tools that they had. You can also find that the wife still baking “love cake” for her husband, when her man sets out to the sea to catch fish.

The very way that you travel to those islets is an experience by itself. You could take the express ferry to reach the islets, or you may want to experience the journey on one of the catamaran sailboats. If you are adventurous, you might find that an excursion on a sail boat to be thrilling, and for further excitement you could also take a canoe or a rubber boat to visit the islets.

Have you ever considered taking a vacation to Bonaire? If you have not, you are missing one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Bonaire is a small island situated just 50 miles from the northern part of Venezuela and east of Curacao. There are some who would have had their best vacation in the Caribbean in this island. Bonaire is a flat island of approximately 111 square miles, and has a highest point at Brandaris Hill, peaking at 780 feet. The island with an area of just 3 to 7 miles wide and 24 miles long, is known as the B of the ABC, the others being Aruba and Curacao. These two islands are known to be the sister islands of Bonaire in the Dutch Caribbean.

The colors and the movements beneath the water set your eye to dazzle. It amazes you with the flow of life that you find under the waters of Bonaire, with the bright corals, fish, crustaceans, nudibranchs, and occasional aquatic mammal living together around the fringes of the island’s d’s reefs and its marine environment.

On land, Bonaire has the most beautiful and picturesque landscape. For centuries the wind, water, and the moving Earth have curved out stimulating sceneries. You will find several species of Cactus growing across the island, with divi trees and variety of flowers making the nature look its best. The empty places in the landscape are filled by fossilized coral, natural caves, and volcanic rocks. Rare flamingos, local versions of squirrels, iguanas and other lizards live freely in the midst of the island’s natural habitat.

As you look up to sky, you find the soft white clouds floating about, having definite shape for you to figure out. It rarely rains in Bonaire, but the climate remains an attraction for those who live there and for the tourists like you. Bonaire has its own nightlife, and the obvious attraction for you would be diving and snorkeling. If you would want to dance away the night, Bonaire offers the most exclusive Ocean side bars and cafes. You will often find live music being played there by one of the local groups. If you want to test your luck, there is a casino in Bonaire, where you can find slots and table games to entertain yourself.

Bonaire offers you the most intimate tropical climate, a hideaway from the rest of the world, a romantic retreat which will remain in your mind for a long time to come. It is an island which is a paradise for scuba divers, and the beautiful beaches make you relax and enjoy your stay in Bonaire. You could be a birdwatcher, a surfer, an eco-tourist, or just a friendly person. No matter what you are, Bonaire provides you with the comfort of a dream vacation. In Bonaire you have found your ultimate destination for the vacation you always wanted.

 If you are looking for a vacation at cruise port in the Caribbean islands, Charlotte Amalie is amongst the most popular port that you can visit. As the capital of the US Virgin Islands, it is in this port where the ships come and dock, with the white and pastel houses strewn over the distant shore against a background of emerald hills. There are those colorful sailing boats docked along the waterfront, and as you take a few steps back, down the narrow streets lined with the old Danish warehouse building, you will find the world famous shopping center.

As you take a stroll in St. Thomas, you will listen to the bustle of the main street, and you look up to see the refreshing emerald hills. The view from the mountain top is breathtaking, and the winding streets spiraling up from the base of Savan is one of its kind in the world. On the far side of the island, you will feel the touch of the French countryside, with hotels offering accommodations suiting every level of the budget the tourists could afford.

A vacation in Charlotte Amalie brings you among the best of everything. There are mix of hotels offering you hospitality and accommodation at various price ranges, there are the hotel bars where you could relax with a typical Caribbean drink, enjoy the exciting dinner shows, and listen and dance to live music anywhere on the island. St. Thomas offers one of the best nightlife in the US Virgin Islands. As the Sun goes down and evening falls on St. Thomas, the enchanting nightlife provides you with options to choose your best night out. If you are looking for the best possible nightlife in St. Thomas, you should visit Red Hook and Frenchtown and entertain yourself to a romantic dinner, and have fun in a bar with live performances.

Charlotte Amalie offers you a wide choice in hotel accommodations. There are major hotel chains, and you can book at the one that you like, while you organize a vacation with your family, go for fun holiday with your friends, or take your business conference to one of these hotels. Before you go for a vacation, you should check the availability of hotel accommodation, and should also check on the check-in and check-out time in order to suit your requirement. You will find different grades of hotels when you browse the internet, and you can easily make online reservations to ensure the availability of accommodation when you arrive in Charlotte Amalie.

Pack your bags and throw in some books which you like, and take a vacation to St. Martin. The books will help you to pass your time, and as you take off your eyes from the book and gaze at the distant blue sky, an excitement runs through your body as you start to notice the beautiful foamy waves in the sea. You would lazily watch the sailboats passing by, and the sunbathing crabs running towards their holes. You suddenly notice a pelican diving in the sea, picking up a fish for lunch. This is what St. Martin does to you.

As you take a walk along the beach, unconsciously you will start collecting the beautiful seashells. You will casually reach your hotel and have your breakfast outdoors in the hotel’s ocean view cafe. You would take a dip in the blue ocean among the fishes, and an occasional snorkeling would give you an immense pleasure, while you have your vacation at St. Martin. It is almost lunch time but you are peckish, and you are glad to come back to your cool hotel room and order some snacks. You enjoy your snack served to you on conch salad with French bread and cheese, and wine go wash it down. The local establishments pull down their shutters and remain closed from 1 PM to 3 PM, because that is when it is the hottest part of a day, and Grand Case and Marigot looks deserted and become quiet.

Philipsburg lies on the Dutch side of the island, and you had spent a day there. Philipsburg is a port for the cruise lines. St. Martin is duty free, and tourists take advantage of this, buying clothing and jewelry, and gifts to be taken home for their near and dear ones. There are casinos in this part of the island, and the nightlife is simply out of this world, quite crowded with holiday makers.

You have heard of the Paradise Peak and you decide to hire a car to visit this highest peak that rises to 1,400 feet from the center of St. Martin. The journey to the top was eventful and full of fun, and the view from the peak was just stunning. You had not relaxed the way you did for a long time, and it is the most wonderful experience that you have had vacationing at St. Martin. You wish you could visit this place every summer, especially during the month of June when it is off season and prices of accommodations are cheap. Never-the-less, you get to enjoy the delicacies of this small island, and with less tourist crowding the place you could relax in the way you would like.

When you are in Antigua, you will find the island charmed with harbors and its beautiful protected bays. People in the island talk about the 365 beaches lined with palm trees, which provide you with a peaceful environment and endless choice of water based sports. When you had enough of relaxation at the beach, you may like to take a walk by the beautiful English Harbor filled to the capacity by the stylish yachts, with the colonial buildings at the Nelsons Dockyard restored beautifully. A vacation in Antigua would never be complete without a sunset trip to Shirley Heights. After a bit of a weary walk you reach the summit, and from there you will have the most thrilling view of the English Harbor, the south of the island, and the pink and orange hues of a grand Caribbean sunset.

Antigua offers one of the most enjoyable nightlife of exquisite romantic restaurants, live shows, wonderful bards, and ofcourse the night clubs. While Antigua is known to be a vacation island of serene star lit nights, the island also provides you with entertainment opportunities in its trendy nightclubs, where you may choose to dance away the wild nights with the live music. When you are on a vacation in Antigua, you may choose to relax on the pristine white and pink sand beaches, enjoy a typical Caribbean drink at a local bar, or even choose to dance away the night at one of the several nightclubs that Antigua has to offer.

There are several resorts to choose from when you are on a vacation in Antigua. The Grand Pineapple Beach Club provides you with elegant accommodations, along with several other activities. It is an all inclusive resort where you can dine on typical Caribbean cuisine right on the premises, or you may also opt for international cuisines which have been prepared with fresh ingredients from the local market. You will get a wide variety of dining options at the Jumby Bay Resort, which is one of the posh resorts in Antigua, and has two restaurants for you to choose from. The Verandah Restaurant amongst the two, serves you with dishes which mix the flavors of both east and west. The resort also has live entertainment for you every night, where you get to enjoy the calypso singers, limbo dancers, steel bands, and much more.

Antigua is famous among the other Caribbean islands for its steel drums and calypso. Never-the-less, it also offers other variety of music in the nightspots around the island. Popular locations, such as, Miller’s by the Sea and La Gallaria provide lively form of Antigua music, like, Soca, zouk and reggae. If you want to experience a true Caribbean nightlife, Miller’s by the Sea offers a true combination of what Antigua has, a beautiful beach, the Antigua music, and your favorite Caribbean cuisine.

 A vacation in Jamaica takes you to a different level of experience. Montego Bay is one of the world’s famous tourist destinations, and has been attracting the rich and the famous for years. The second major tourist town of Ocho Rios, a town situated on the north coast, offers you comfortable stay in a wide range of hotels, and has excellent white sand beaches, and modern cruise facilities. Just 64 miles from Kingston, you reach Mandeville, the main mountain resort of Jamaica, and it is the chief town of Manchester parish, having a charm of its own. This is the largest hill town in Jamaica, and has been so far protected from the development going on in the capital. The city of Kingston is the capital of this island country. It is the commercial center and the administrative and cultural center as well. Kingston is a vibrant city, with a museum, which has been created in the name of one and only Bob Marley, one of Jamaica’s greatest son.

Jamaica offers you typical Caribbean cuisine, nightlife, and especially the traditional Jamaican jerk huts on the island’s northern shores. In these jerk huts the most amazing creation of Jamaica’s signature dishes are prepared, with spice rubs and grills set over oil drums. Jamaica’s Rastafarian I-tal cuisine is for the people who are conscious about their health, and this preparation does not contain any salt, and follows strict dietary recipe guidelines of the Rastafarian sect. You would want to delight your taste buds with various vegetable and soy dishes, prepared for you in a typical Jamaican style. You could easily distinguish the restaurants which serve these dishes, and all you need to do is to look for the red, gold and green band, or a picture of a lion to identify one of those restaurants.

Jamaica has a mountainous terrain in some places, and if you are vacationing in the island and have an interest in nature, there are varieties of wildlife and plant species that may interest you. The beaches on the south coast of this island would fascinate you, and when you are thirsty, the typical Jamaican drinks would sooth your thirst.

Jamaica is full of music and dance. It is this atmosphere, which inspires most of the people going to the island for a vacation, and it is another big attraction for many of the visitors. The island has all year round sunshine, and a pleasant stroll along the beaches fringed with palm trees, makes a worthwhile experience. If you are looking for fun and entertainment, you may want to check-out Glistening Waters Marina Restaurant and Marina, situated just outside Montego Bay. Here you may dine, dance with live bands, and have the choicest Jamaican drinks, while you enjoy the scenic beauty of the glistening river.

Planning a Caribbean vacation without knowing where you want to go is an exciting venture. The Caribbean consists of dozens of islands, and each of them is different from the other, providing different experience in the beauty that each has. Some call these islands the paradise on this Earth, and with so much to do and see, they are often described as the “heaven on Earth”. When you think about holidaying in the Caribbean, the first thing that comes to the mind is the beautiful white sand beaches and the boats, and with it, the taste of the seafood barbecues, which provides you with that unforgettable taste of the Caribbean food. A Caribbean holiday is an experience of rich culture, quaint architecture, beaches to explore, snorkeling, and there are more which the Caribbean islands have to offer.

A small banana shaped island, only just 28 miles long, is the island of Bonaire. This island has all the natural diligent stewardship of its marine resources intact, and is supposed to be the best snorkeling and scuba diving destination amongst the other Caribbean islands. You will find the Bonaire National Marine Park, built by the people of Bonaire in order to protect the coastline from the high water mark to the 200 foot depth contour.

There are 80 top rated diving sites in Bonaire, where scuba divers flock from all over the world. There are about 355 species of fish in waters of Bonaire, and the grooves of stony corals, such as Fire, Elkhorn, Massive Starlet, and Boulder Brain are the sights that you will enjoy when you take a journey to the see the wealth hiding under the waters around the island.

When you visit the Caribbean you will find that the way of life in the islands has been built around entertainment, and all the conveniences that you want are at your fingertips. The islands offer you vibrant nightlife, and the famous Caribbean cuisine, consisting of a fusion of African, Amerindian, French, Indian, and Spanish make your taste buds alive with excitement. Perhaps you like to enjoy the cuisine at the most elegant restaurants that the Caribbean has to offer.

The Caribbean islands offer wonderful hotel accommodations, and there are different classes of hotels to suit your budget. Some of these hotels offer huge savings, and also offers guided tours through the wonderful natural beauty of the island that you are visiting. To make a reservation, all you need to do is to choose the hotel and make a reservation online or on phone. A deposit is usually required to secure your booking, and many hotels have refundable policy if you cancel your reservation within a specified time.

Venice, Paris, Seville and Prague may have a reputation for making the best romantic breaks, but as love and romance are often supposed to be linked to the unexpected, how about choosing a more unconventional location for your Valentine’s Day break this year? I speak of course of Cuba – the Caribbean’s largest island. From the picturesque beaches, to the idyllic architecture and cosy restaurants, the island makes a memorable retreat sure to keep the flames of passion alive – at least until you return to rainy old England! A Valentines break, or even a honeymoon in Cuba, is something special which will stay with you for a long time.

So why Cuba? First of all, Valentine’s Day is a big deal on the island. While it’s easy to become jaded in a country where the celebration seems to be more about saccharine sweet greeting cards than about celebrating the love of your special one, Cubans make the day really special. To begin with, the buildings – public and private alike – are decked out with colourful lights, and some of the private homes have gifts attached to the walls too – inside and out! This combined with the usual local atmosphere of friendliness guarantees an atmosphere perfect for Valentines day holiday makers, and make the ideal setting for ‘popping the question’ should you feel so inclined. If you have just celebrated a February marriage, honeymoons in Cuba are especially romantic around Valentines Day, and you’ll be guaranteed a friendly welcome and an enjoyable stay which will ensure you never want to leave.

In terms of specific romantic places to visit on the island, there are just too many to mention, and part of the charm of a Cuba holiday is that there are thousands of undiscovered choice spots for couples to enjoy a picnic, watch the sunset or just recline under the stars. However, there are a few places which are undisputed romantic vacation highlights of the island – Old Havana itself is very much a focal point, and allows for all tastes amidst it’s 18th century colonial architecture from candlelit dinners to passionate salsa dance.

Another choice romantic vacation spot is El Salton – not a spot on the tourist trail, but wonderfully peaceful and charming. The waterfall is surrounded by vibrant cocoa plantations, cooling streams and mountain farms. If you prefer something a little more populated, then the city of Bayamo offers a cultural alternative. The city hosts the national monument, plenty of history and excellent food for that perfect candle lit dinner. Additionally, the troubadours stroll through the town, allowing the romance to overspill from the homes into the streets. Baracoa offers a romantic break somewhere between the peace of the countryside and the bustle of the city. Baracoa has historic links to Velasquez and Columbus, and is surrounded by the beauty of Cuban nature – 10 rivers, isolated beaches, small fishing settlements, UNESCO designated biospheres, mountains, and coconut plantations.

Everything is ready for the perfect romantic break in Cuba this Valentine’s Day. The hotels often have special Valentines Day break packages, and the restaurants usually offer special menus, to give you a memorable occasion. With some fine food and wine, how you spend the rest of the evening is up to you – fiery Latin dance or a night out on the isolated beaches under the stars – Cuba really has something for every couple with an imagination for the romantic. Whether you’re looking for a memorable Valentines Day break or to spend your honeymoon in Cuba, you’ll be spoilt for choice in the romance department.

A Bahamas Vacation has always sounded like paradise on earth, but did you know that when you travel to the Bahamas you aren’t just going to one island, but many.

Travelling from one end of the Bahamas to the other, not only are there the well known islands like Grand Bahama, The Abacos, Eleuthera, and Exuma, but the Bahamas is in fact a country of 700 islands, of which 23 are inhabited but there are many many unpopulated islets and cays.

The differences to be found between different islands is also extreme, when you take cosmopolitan Nassau and compare it to the desert like Inagua. As you can imagine being only fifty miles off the Florida Coast, the Bahamas are very much an American playground, indeed on a lot of the islands the tiny villages could almost be the same as ones found on the coast of Massachusetts, only the palms, and sands are different.

A Bahamas Vacation has long been popular with sailors because the sea is calm, there are cooling tradewinds and this is the home of the Gulf Stream which makes the climate so pleasant. The Gulf Stream also is the reason that there are so many large fish, and a general abundance of marine life, so a lot of people travel to the Bahamas for a vacation just for the sport fishing.

No vacation in the Bahamas would be complete without spending time either snorkelling or scuba diving. The Gulf Stream is again responsible for the sheer underwater delights, the spectacular shoals of fish which congregate around the reefs, which are over 5% of the total number of coral reefs in the world. You will never tire of this underwater technicolour fantasy world in the Bahamas.

Probably more people take a Bahamas Vacation because of the beauty of the beaches than anything else and no Bahamas trip would be complete without a visit to the pink sands of Harbour Island and Eleuthera.

Having said that there are more beaches in the Bahamas than you could ever visit in your entire life, but you should take the time to go to the Exumas and San Salvador where you will almost be alone on their beautiful beaches.

After you are sated by the beautiful beaches and everything the sea has to offer you on your Bahamas Vacation, why not go ashore and just enjoy the sheer spellbinding beauty of the Bahamas Islands. You can fly from island to island or just take a flight to see the amazing sight of the white sand, green islands, coral keys, turquoise sea, lovely little villages, all totally unforgettable.

On the ground why not hire a bicycle and explore, then of course there are the masses of other things to do on dry land. Your vacation in the Bahamas could consist of staying in one of the many world class properties and hotels that dot the islands, playing tennis, golf on beautiful championship courses.

Shoppin g is another delight on your vacation to the Bahamas in one of the island’s shopping arcades. If you like to gamble then there are casinos, but then again there really is nothing like sitting on a pink sand beach with a good book, a cool drink, surrounded by your family.

A Bahamas Vacation can bring you close to paradise on earth.

A Caribbean Island Vacation to Bonaire is perhaps not something you have ever considered. For a start where is Bonaire? The answer is Bonaire Island is situated in the southern Caribbean being 50 miles north of Venezuela and east of Curacao. It is a small island covering approximately 111 square miles, being 3 to 7 miles wide and 24 miles long. Bonaire is known as the B of ABC the other two being Aruba and Curacao her sister islands in the Dutch Caribbean.

There are people who swear that they have had their best Caribbean Island Vacation here, and yet this is a flat island with its highest point being Brandaris Hill peaking at all of 780 feet!!

Perhaps the descriptions of Bonaire might give you an idea of why it is a Caribbean Island well worth a visit. It’s when you hear descriptions like ‘Best Kept Secret, or Unforgettable’, that might cause you to consider Bonaire. There is no doubt if you are looking for a Caribbean Island Vacation that is unhurried, unspoiled, and unforgettable then Bonaire could be the place for you. In addition if you like to scuba dive, you’ve probably heard already about the pristine reefs around Bonaire Island. There is another statistic which is pretty revealing, and that is the fact that over 30% of arrivals on Bonaire have been here before.

If that isn’t evidence enough to persuade you to consider Bonaire for your next Caribbean Island Vacation, then there is more.

The weather on Bonaire is another reason people like it here. You have to remember it is only 12 degrees north of the equator, so the average year round temperature is around 81 degrees Fahrenheit. There is about 20 inches of rain which falls between October and January, so this balmy climate explains why people like Bonaire as a Caribbean Island.

Travellers today like to see attempts made to preserve the environment, and Bonaire is certainly a Caribbean Island which is a pioneer in this area, and so that is one reason people come here for a Caribbean Island Vacation. They know the marine environment will be well protected which in turn gives excellent snorkelling and scuba diving experiences. This in turn makes Bonaire a popular, and for some divers the best Caribbean Island vacation possible.

Bonaire is also chosen by many as a repeat Caribbean Island vacation because of the warmth and friendliness of the local people. It also has the reputation of being a very laid back place, where everything is tranquil and the pace of life is almost slow to stop which many people really love as a complete change from the ever increasing pace of their lives.

Mind you there is a lively nightlife, many many places to visit that will give you the chance to do things and see things from picnicking on the deserted island of Little Bonaire, to windsurfing. From horseriding to strolling through Kralendijk the quaint capital of Bonaire. Then you can climb to the top of Brandaris Hill, visit Lourdes Grotto, gamble at the island’s only barefoot casino.

There is so much to do this article can only touch the surface but add to this the quality of the hotels and the world class restaurants and it’s easy to see why so many people think Bonaire gives them their best Caribbean Vacation of all.