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, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saba, Statia (St. Eustatius), St. Barth, 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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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…

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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…

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Started by Helen Brown
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Chilling on Tortola and Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands

  Victor Block My husband Victor and I are travel writers. Which means when we get to a destination, we explore every aspect, constantly seeking out stories. Until we got to Tortola, capital of the British Virgin Islands, with a population around 15,000. That didn’t happen. And it was almost like — dare I say the word? — a vacation. But let’s back up a bit. We are a lot older than our last trip here 30 years ago when my husband had the temerity to actually hazard driving. To put the roads in…

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Started by Tripatini
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Rum and much more in Barbados

  Victor Block Most travelers know that most Caribbean islands are soaked in rum, but Barbados goes the rest one better because here, locals say, is where rum was discovered. In capital Bridgetown one early-17th-century day, the story goes, a tavern owner was searching for an empty shipping barrel when he inadvertently stumbled across one filled with a concoction worth selling -- a barrel of sugar cane fermented over time. Well, Mr. Rumball -- the tavern owner -- knew a good thing when he…

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Started by Tripatini
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  • Helen Brown May 9, 2023 at 12:33am
    You can pretty much not go wrong snorkeling anywhere in the Caribbean, but Lonely Planet recently pinpointed what its writer declares are the best of the best. If you've done the mask-and-fins thing down here, do you agree with her choices? https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/best-places-to-snorkel-in-car...
    The top 8 places to snorkel in the Caribbean
    Kaleidoscopic tropical fish, spectacular coral reefs and year-round warm waters make the Caribbean one of the best places for snorkeling.
  • Paul Varmuza March 8, 2023 at 10:39am
    Looks like the Caribbean - except for Haiti - has bounced back splendidly since the pandemic - in some cases even surpassing pre-COVID visitor numbers: https://news.yahoo.com/caribbean-sees-jump-visitors-since-191600843...
    Caribbean sees jump in visitors since pandemic began
    Tourists flocked to the Caribbean last year in numbers not seen since the pandemic began, with the Dutch Caribbean and U.S. territories like Puerto R…
    • Hal Peat > Paul Varmuza March 9, 2023 at 6:17pm
      This caught my eye, I guess because I've been dealing with Puerto Rico and the Dutch Caribbean a good deal in recent months. And my perspective and takeaway is entirely different from the CTO official (whose org closed down in NYC as an active organization sometime back in 2021?) Anyway - I think there's hope ahead for Puerto Rico/USVI and perhaps the Dutch Caribbean - but, that's because they're heavily subsidized by the U.S./Netherlands. The indie countries though, and to make that leap in the generalized statement about "Caribbean sees jump..."? Not so much. I suspect, again just from recent first-hand dealing elsewhere in the wider region, and which is my region going back over 20 plus years, that much has changed and in fact very much in a financial black hole given the double whammy of COVID plus rip-roaring inflation of the past 18 months plus - all of which directly affected that predominant travel component of the past half century - namely the middle classes with the budget to take leisure travel offshore. Bascially, I observe individual entrepreneurs in those individual destinations you mention still emerging and recovering. But not the massive quantity of travelers that the all-inclusive/package deal market relied on. And if they did start to travel again - it was probably very much a one-shot deal, the so-called "pent-up demand" which also by definition also means that it was a one-shot deal for that traveler. "Near travel" is the alternative for the North American ordinary person till things get much much better. Of course, "the rich are always with us" but hey, they rent luxe villas or suites at the Four Seasons, not week packages at Sandals.
  • Max Pesling February 3, 2023 at 9:27am
    The Caribbean Journal recently surveyed the this year's top hotel/resort openings: https://www.caribjournal.com/2023/01/01/caribbean-hotels-new-hot-co...
    15 Hot New Caribbean Hotels to Visit in 2023 - Caribbean Journal
    We’ve gathered a list of the new Caribbean hotels we’re excited about in 2023, with some that just opened their doors and others coming soon.
  • Jordan Simon January 8, 2023 at 12:05pm
    Carnival season is around the corner, and veteran Caribbean writer Bob Curley lists eight of the islands' top celebrations: https://www.10best.com/interests/festivals-events/eight-caribbean-c...
    The Caribbean's top carnivals you can't miss
    People flock to the Caribbean to swim among colorful marine life in crystal-blue water; yet, the most vibrant colors can be found on land during carn…
  • José Balido November 8, 2022 at 12:21pm
    Several months ago Le Monde's English-language edition ran a report detailing how the Dominican tourism industry is finally focusing on the dark side of mass tourism in the country, now seen as potentially strangling the goose that lays the golden egg with threats like sargassum brown algae; drinking water shortages; illegal garbage dumps; and seawater pollution/overwarming: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2022/07/27/dominican-...
    Dominican Republic awakens to mass tourism's environmental damage
    The nation's tourism industry is finally beginning to take responsibility for damage to its ecosystems, which are now also posing a threat to profits.
    • Hal Peat > José Balido November 8, 2022 at 8:04pm
      Jose, this was of great interest to me at the moment since I was in the D.R. just this August and still presently producing work from that trip. While I was only in the Santo Domingo area on this occasion, what's described in this link doesn't surprise me too much - I had a general impression in walking the streets that the urban infrastructure might be potentially fragile in the event of extreme weather or daily degradation, and as far as the offshore aquatic access, not very good even in good times. Sporadic electric outages also happened even in the short space of time I was on island. Hopefully, the private and public sectors involved in mass tourism have had enough wake-up calls at this point to take meaningful action on the human and natural environmental fronts. The sargassum challenge has become a wider issue within the region, and probably something which area governments need to collaborate meaningfully on short and long-term solutions.
  • Helen Brown October 5, 2022 at 10:52am
    Too many Caribbean islands succumb to the allure of cruise tourism, but Anguilla is a notable standout, citing its negative environmental impact. Of course, it's easier for them, since they make more from their exclusive, high-end brand of tourism. But commendable nonetheless! https://www.express.co.uk/travel/cruise/1669741/caribbean-cruise-sh...
    Stunning Caribbean island bans cruise ships - 'Not debatable'
    A CARIBBEAN island has said that cruise tourism is not worth the environmental impact. The Government has said it doesn't want to encourage cruise sh…
  • 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…
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