Caribbean (Plus) Corner

This fabled sea, covering more than a million square miles and 7,000 islands with diverse languages, cultures, and ecosystems, has become probably the planet's premier vacation playground. Here it's all about its regional issues and allures. And yes, the (Plus) means we're including the Bahamas and Bermuda along with the Caribbean coasts of Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guayana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Suriname, and Panama.

For other individual island forums, check out Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curaçao, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saba, Statia (St. Eustatius), St. Barts, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Maarten/Martin, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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The French-flavored icon of low-key luxury that Is St. Barts, and its top highlights

David Stanley The small French Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy has with a population of roughly 11,000 people, yet it has developed an outsized reputation as one of the world’s most exclusive destinations. Located in the northeastern Caribbean near St. Martin, it´s just ten square miles in size—small enough to cross in about twenty minutes—yet rich in atmosphere and variety.Its history reflects a mix of influences. Originally inhabited by Arawak and Carib peoples, in 1648 it became a…

Started by Jordan Simon

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What definitely not to miss in Havana

Eric Marshall Deteriorated though much of it is, what might be the most surprising thing to travelers about Cuba´s capital - still the most beautiful in the Caribbean - is how well-rounded it also is. Especially culturally, with restaurants, cafés, shops and ubiquitous music joined by high-quality museums such as the Museum of Fine Arts, with international as well as Cuban works, divided between a modern facility and the magnificent late-19th-century Centro Asturiano (Asturian social club);…

Started by Tripatini

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Visiting Atlantis Paradise Island, Bahamas: experiences, tips, and essentials

Don Ramey Logan First opened in 1968 just offshore from Nassau, Atlantis Paradise Island is one of the Caribbean's most iconic resort destinations, which with its world-famous water park, marine habitats, luxury towers, and stunning beaches spread out over 154 acres attracts millions of visitors every year. Whether you're planning a family vacation, a honeymoon, or simply a subtropical getaway, this guide will help you plan the perfect trip—covering the best time to visit, must-do…

Started by Tripatini

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5 highlights of Dutch Sint Maarten

Dave Senior Taking up 40 percent of the island of St. Martin and with a population of around 58,000, this territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands packs a whole lot of fun, flavor, and personality into a petite package. Whereas French St. Martin leans elegant and relaxed, the multicultural, largely English-speaking Dutch side offers its share of quiet corners, but also a livelier menu of casinos, nightlife, beach bars, waterfront dining – along some of the most photographed aircraft landings…

Started by Helen Brown

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John Kipper September 16, 2022 at 11:35am

Several months ago, Porthole, a magazine devoted to cruising, ran a piece about what makes St. Kitts particularly special - worth a read! https://porthole.com/what-makes-st-kitts-so-unique/

What Makes St. Kitts So Unique? | Porthole Cruise and Travel News

Cruise guests have looked to St. Kitts as one of their favorite destinations to step ashore for an all-inclusive experience.
David Paul Appell August 16, 2022 at 12:53pm

Of course the Caribbean's number-one draw is its beaches and limpid waters, but currently those throughout the region are enduring a rise in a smothering golden algae called sargassum, and it's affecting both health and tourism in various countries: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/11/2115737/-Caribbean-Matte...

Caribbean Matters: A stinky 'golden tide' of Sargassum seaweed strangles the Caribbean

The environmental threats faced by both island nations in the Caribbean Sea and the mainland Caribbean basin are not limited to just hurricanes. Curr…
Jeffrey Kunst August 7, 2022 at 9:26am

The Miami-based website Caribbean Journal recently featured a cool tiki bar in Kralendijk, opened at the end of 2020 and called Tiki & Co. (https://tikiandco.nl/), which it says is a great example of how Bonaire is expanding beyond diving and snorkeling to also become increasingly known for its hot dining and mixology scene: https://www.caribjournal.com/2022/02/18/caribbean-bonaire-tiki-bar-...

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Helen Brown July 19, 2022 at 8:45pm

A good look at St. Barth in the off season, from TheObserver.com: https://observer.com/2022/07/st-barthelemy-travel-guide-le-toiny-ho...
Max Pesling June 5, 2022 at 9:26am

This past February, the British travel site Wanderlust.co.uk ran a piece called "Discovering the Real Haiti" in which it claims "It seems that, from the (now mostly cleared) rubble, a new Haiti is emerging." Well, we've heard this kind of thing before, but writer Phoebe Smith says that this time evidence includes: "chain hotels are springing up; flights from Latin America are launching, making Haiti a viable add-on to a South or Central American adventure; the diaspora in the USA are beginning to take vacations in the coastal resorts of Côte des Arcadins; and whispers abound of more cruise-ship visits – currently only one boat docks here, and that’s on a local-free private beach." Read about it for yourself: https://www.wanderlust.co.uk/content/discovering-the-real-haiti/
María José May 18, 2022 at 11:10am

St Lucia is an irresistible draw for travel writers for a good reason - here's the latest example, by a freelancer for Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adammorganstern/2022/02/25/10-amazing-...
José Balido April 9, 2022 at 11:34am

At the end of this past year, Lonely Planet came out with this article from its Cuba guide writer about pandemic-era travel to the island, which has had a low number of COVID cases and the world's second highest vaccination rate. Interesting reading; check it out: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/what-its-like-to-travel-to-cu...

Cuba reopens to tourists: what you need to know before you go - Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet's Cuba travel expert visited the country in December as it reopened to visitors. So how did he find restrictions, or was it business as…
- Hal Peat > José Balido April 9, 2022 at 11:14pm
  
  Heavily focused on the logistics of the COVID issue ins/outs, and skirts the issues of cost effectiveness. Whether you're going for leisure or work purposes - the latter being people like me - the air cost has skyrocketed since I went there for the first time in 2017. $400 R/T for a 40 min. flight between MIA/FLL - Havana? You can almost get to Europe from here for that. Biden hasn't solved any of that huge upsurge in air cost since he came in. Very disappointing. Glad I went when I did, was in love with Havana and want to see more, but until the logistics and price points in air and accommodation all change radically back to at least near where they were, it's not for me again.
- José Balido > Hal Peat April 10, 2022 at 2:39pm
  
  Thanks for your observation, Hal. For most of the history of charter and commercial flights between the US and Cuba in the past decades, unreasonably high fares have been more the rule than the exception. I guess like everything else, we'll have to see how this plays out the rest of this year and beyond. But I have a feeling that for the foreseeable future, Cuba is going to take a back seat to more pressing issues in the US, including inflation and other aspects of the economy; the fallout from Russia's invasion of the Ukraine as well as legal/political trauma around Jan. 6 insurrection; the upcoming midterm elections, and more. I hope I'm wrong, but...
Jeffrey Kunst March 4, 2022 at 12:23pm

What's new in the Caribbean for 2022: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/travel/caribbean-new-development...