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Subcategories |
 Anguilla (0 links)
Barely 35 square miles in size, and rising to a highest point of just over two hundred feet, Anguilla has an interior that is dry, dusty and covered in scrubby vegetation. However, this fact is largely ignored by an increasing stream of visitors who beat their way here for the glorious turquoise waters and truly stunning beaches.
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El Salvador (0 links)
The smallest and most densely populated country in Central America, El Salvador is chiefly remembered for the vicious civil war of the 1980s, when streams of harrowing news stories brought this tiny country to the attention of the world. For a decade, atrocity followed atrocity in a seemingly unstoppable sequence. Then in 1992, with both sides having fought each other to a standstill, Peace Accords were signed, and the attention of the world's press moved elsewhere, leaving behind a brutalized country faced with the immense task of rebuilding itself.
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Saba (0 links)
At the top of the Eastern Caribbean chain, and despite covering just thirteen square kilometres, SABA has plenty of small delights. Its quaint villages are neat and attractive places, its main road swept clean daily and largely free of the traffic that plagues nearby islands.
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Antigua (0 links)
Famous for its beaches and its cricket players, tiny Antigua is now one of the Caribbean's most popular destinations. The country has taken full advantage of the publicity gained from its independence in 1981 - and the remarkable success of its cricketers since then - to push its name into the big league of West Indian tourism alongside Barbados and Jamaica.
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Grenada (0 links)
The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is known as "The Isle of Spice", producing one third of the world's supply of nutmeg along with quantities of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, turmeric and mace. While largely dependent on agriculture, the tiny nation of Grenada - which includes neighbouring Carriacou and Petite Martinique as well as other smaller Grenadine islands - is steadily earning a reputation as a holiday destination, but it remains relatively unspoiled compared to other more popular Caribbean islands.
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St. Bathelemy (0 links)
The Caribbean playground of the rich and famous, the diminutive 25-square-kilometre ST BARTHÉLEMY (St Barts) looks like it's been plucked from the Côte d'Azur and dropped into the Antilles.
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Aruba (0 links)
With its seemingly endless supply of white sandy beaches and turquoise blue waters, ARUBA is one of the more popular Caribbean destinations for many sun-worshipers and cruise-ship passengers. The smallest of the ABC islands, Aruba is 25km north of Venezuela and only 30km wide. Over one million visitors a year come to this tiny island of 90,000 to indulge in the glitz associated with its luxurious beachside resorts, elegant restaurants, 24-hour casinos, shops and boutiques.
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Guadeloupe (0 links)
The largest French West Indian island, GUADELOUPE encompasses a massive 1704 square kilometres, the majority of which is taken up by its two adjoining mainland islands, Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre, whose outline resembles a greenbacked butterfly in flight.
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St. Eustatius (0 links)
Despite a fascinating colonial history, Statia, as everyone knows the little island of ST EUSTATIUS , is now a tropical but slightly forlorn outpost of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
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Belize (1 links)
Wedged into the northeastern corner of Central America between Mexico's Yucatán peninsula and the Petén forests of Guatemala, Belize offers some of the most breathtaking scenery anywhere in the Caribbean. The country actually consists of marginally more sea than land, with the dazzling turquoise shallows and cobalt depths of the longest barrier reef in the Americas just offshore.
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Guatemala (0 links)
Spread across a verdant and mountainous chunk of land, Guatemala is endowed with simply staggering natural, historical and cultural interest. Though the giant Maya temples and rainforest cities have been long abandoned, ancient traditions remain very much alive throughout the Guatemalan highlands.
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St. Kitts and Nevis (0 links)
The islands of St Kitts and Nevis , which together comprise the smallest nation in the western hemisphere, are unique in the Eastern Caribbean for their remarkable preservation of West Indian culture and attitudes. Nowhere else in the region will you find such pristine examples of colonial architecture, gorgeous plantation inns, ramshackle sugar mills and genuine hospitality.
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Bonaire (0 links)
Regarded as one of the world's premier sites for shore diving, the tiny boomerang-shaped island of BONAIRE , located 80km north of Venezuela, has much to offer those seeking an active tropical holiday. Beneath the clear blue waters, divers and snorkellers are treated to a stunning spectacle: schools of fish of every imaginable shape, size and colour swim with sea turtles and other marine creatures in and around the delicate coral and sponge gardens.
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Honduras (0 links)
The original Banana Republic, a byword for corruption and poverty, Honduras is all too often overlooked by foreign tourists. Many of those who do make it here head straight for the ruins of Copán , one of the finest Maya sites in the region. Some even miss that, in their rush to get to the palm-fringed beaches and clear Caribbean waters of the Bay Islands . Beyond these prime tourist sites, however, is a land of inspiring, often untouched natural beauty.
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St. Lucia (0 links)
St Lucia more than lives up to the paradisal Caribbean stereotype: a glorious mix of honey sand beaches, translucent waters sheltering reefs swarming with tropical fish, lush interior rainforests, and a thriving culture that encompasses literature and theatre as well as music and dance. However, in contrast to other islands in the region, where the tourism infrastructure has been steadily expanding since the 1960s, St Lucia has only recently begun to attract visitors in any number. As a result, tourism has a much lower profile here, and this low-key feel is one of the island's biggest assets.
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British Virgin Island (0 links)
Forming roughly two chains separated by the Sir Francis Drake Channel, the BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS are a haven for snorkelling, fishing and diving enthusiasts. The BVI also offers some of the best sailing in the world and the towns and bays bustle with the constant comings and goings of yachts and cruise ships mooring up at the many marinas and anchorages. Less developed than the USVI, the islands maintain their identity - Caribbean influences still dominate in food, music and culture, the English connection is only really evident in the language, and the resorts are modest and in keeping with their surroundings.
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Jamaica (7 links)
Rightly famous for its beaches and music, beautiful, brash Jamaica is much more besides. There's certainly plenty of white sand, turquoise sea and swaying palm trees, but there are also spectacular mountains and rivers, tumbling waterfalls and cactus-strewn savannah plains. Far more than just a resort, the island also boasts vibrant towns and cities such as sprawling Kingston , which inspired the music of Bob Marley and countless other home-grown reggae superstars.
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St. Martin / St Maarten (0 links)
Shared between the French and the Dutch since the mid-seventeenth century, the tiny island of St Martin/St Maarten is one of the most touristed islands in this part of the Caribbean and a huge duty-free shopping area.
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Cayman Islands (0 links)
Just south of Jamaica, the Cayman Islands have truly grown up the past thirty years, driven by tourism and banking. The Cayman Islands rank as the world's fifth largest offshore financial centre. Bank secrecy laws make it illegal to reveal the identities of accounts owners - unless of course, shady dealings are suspected. Through the years, regulations have been severely tightened making it nearly impossible to launder cash here.
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Martinique (0 links)
Visitors to MARTINIQUE will have to do some legwork to discover the island Columbus once lauded as the "&most charming country there is in the world". Aggressive development has resulted in resort towns complete with artificial beaches and pastel-hued cement hotels more appropriate to a Florida landscape than the French West Indies. That said, Martinique's resort emphasis makes the island ideal for all-inclusive travel, and most resorts organize optional day trips to the spots that give an idea of what brought the developers here in the first place.
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St. Vincent and the Grenadines (0 links)
Situated about one hundred miles west of Barbados, and nestled between St Lucia to the north and Grenada to the south, the string of islands known collectively as St Vincent and the Grenadines may be physically close together, but vary enormously in character, terrain and appeal.
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Costa Rica (0 links)
In sharp contrast to the brutal internal conflicts in Guatemala or the grinding poverty of Nicaragua, Costa Rica has become synonymous with stability and prosperity - Costa Ricans enjoy the highest rate of literacy, health care, education and life expectancy in the isthmus.
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Mexico (12 links)
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The Bahamas (0 links)
Graced with beautiful beaches of pink sand, evocative windswept panoramas and countless opportunities for diving, snorkelling and fishing, the islands of the Bahamas are well established as one of the world's top draws for both intrepid explorers and casual vacationers. An island chain beginning a mere 55 miles east of Miami, Florida, the Bahamas offer an array of tourist hotels, all-inclusive resorts, and even rustic lodges, making staying there a relatively simple endeavour.
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Curacao (0 links)
CURAÇAO (population 170,000), the largest of the ABC islands, and the administrative centre of the Netherlands Antilles, remains relatively unknown outside of Holland and the Caribbean. Originally discovered by the Spaniards in 1499 and taken over by the Dutch in 1634, Curaçao has been slower to develop the kind of tourist industry its neighbours are famed for, though its capital city - and recently designated UNESCO World Heritage Site - Willemstad , rivals any in the Caribbean for picturesque charm.
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Nicaragua (0 links)
Wedge-shaped Nicaragua may be the largest country in Central America, but it is also one of the least visited.
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Trinadad and Tobago (0 links)
Just off the coast of the South American mainland they were once part of, Trinidad and Tobago (usually shortened to T&T) form the southernmost islands of the Lesser Antilles chain and the most influential republic in the Eastern Caribbean. They are the most exciting, underexplored and un-contrived of the Caribbean islands, rich in indigenous culture.
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Dominca (0 links)
The first thing you'll notice about Dominica (pronounced Dah-min-EE-ka) is how intensely green the island is. Lush, steep-sided peaks rear up 4700 feet to meet cloud-capped summits that receive enough heavy rainfall to feed hundreds of mountain streams. These in turn nourish the majestic rainforest vegetation that covers over sixty percent of Dominica's centre.
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Panama (0 links)
Even before the construction of its famous canal, Panamá 's strategic location at the wasp waist of the Americas and at the meeting place of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans made it one of the great crossroads of the world. A narrow, S-shaped isthmus that stretches some 750km between Costa Rica and Colombia, Panamá remains a vital thoroughfare of international commerce, but is rarely visited by travellers.
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Turks and Caicos (0 links)
Just twenty years ago, the Turks and Caicos Islands were one of the quietest and least-known destinations in the West Indies. Today, on the back of classy development on Providenciales, and great beaches and diving on all of the islands, they have become one of the most fashionable places to visit in the region.
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Dominican Republic (0 links)
Occupying the eastern half of the island of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic (or the DR, as it's often known) is a hugely popular destination, thanks to the portion of the country that most resembles the image of a Caribbean playland: the crystal-clear waters and sandy beaches lined with palm trees, of which the DR has plenty.
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Puerto Rico (0 links)
Geographically, Puerto Rico is a Caribbean hub, presiding squarely over the waters between Hispaniola and the Virgin Islands. As a commonwealth of the US, however, it remains a world apart from its island neighbours, over a distance that can be measured not just in kilometres, but in dollars
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US Virgin Islands (0 links)
With its sea-swept landscapes, historic towns, duty-free shopping and luxurious resorts, the UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS bask in the combination of familiar yet exotic that makes them one of the most popular cruise-ship destinations in the Caribbean. America aside, it's the Danes who have had the most influence on the islands. Successful sugarcane exporters and slave dealers, they built most of the major towns, and there are plentiful reminders of their presence in the colonial architecture of the historic cities of Charlotte Amalie and Christiansted and in the ruins of sugar plantations scattered across the green mountainous slopes.
Of the sixty islands, islets and cays (most of which are uninhabited) that make up the USVI, the biggest and busiest are St Thomas, St Croix and St John. Each has a distinctive mood and culture, and you haven't really seen the USVI until you've checked out all three. St Thomas , with its picturesque capital, Charlotte Amalie, is the most American of the islands - hip and stylish (at least compared to the rest of the Caribbean) with upmarket shops and restaurants and a history born of trade rather than sugar. St Croix , the largest of the islands, is the most distant so sees little of the hordes that flock to St Thomas and St John, though the cruise-ship ports of Christiansted and Frederiksted still attract visitors with their mix of historic sights and good shopping and restaurants. St John , the smallest of the islands is virtually all wilderness, its National Park, part on land, part underwater, the major attraction for its miles of hiking trails and quiet beaches.
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