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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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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7 cool things to see/do on Saba

  Richie Diesterheft Never heard of it? You´re far from alone – last year just 5,700 flights – by one of the Caribbean´s lowest arrivals figures – landed on its third smallest island (just five square miles/13 sq. kilometers sitting on an dormant volcano Mount Scenery, with a population of just under 2,000). But those in the know realize that the self-styled "unspoiled queen," part of the Caribbean Netherlands (along with Bonaire and Sint Eustatius, aka Statia) and first settled in the 1640s,…

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Started by David Paul Appell
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The top 8 musts in gracious, beautiful Bermuda

  Craig Stanfill A British Overseas Territory with a land area of just 21 square miles – the size of a middling city anywhere in the world – and a population of 73,000, Bermuda is named after its original discoverer, Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez. It has been settled for 412 years and has been a popular tourist destination – especially for those in the United States, for whom it´s a flight of just over two hours from the East Coast – since the 1880´s, when the Hamilton Hotel (now the…

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Started by David Paul Appell
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  • Cathy A. Preece October 7, 2009 at 6:06pm
    One of St. Kitts' newest attractions is Sky Safari's ziplining, which lets you soar above the rainforest canopy on a variety of lines at different speeds. I tried it on my most recent trip to the island and thoroughly enjoyed the experience!
  • Cathy A. Preece October 7, 2009 at 6:03pm
    Wendy, have you been to St. Kitts? It also fits the "all-around" bill, yet it has only recently been focusing on tourism so it's relatively uncrowded. Among the things to see and do are touring historic Brimstone Hill fortress, rainforest hikes, riding the Caribbean's only scenic passenger train, visiting charming plantation inns, enjoying authentic and cool beach bars, and more. Another plus is that Nevis (see Cheryl's comment) is the sister island to St. Kitts, separated by only a 2-mile channel, so you can do a day trip or even a twin-island getaway.
  • Chelle Koster Walton October 7, 2009 at 2:07am
    That said, Jamaica is my favorite island. SO much culture, SO much variety. And one of the Caribbean's most affordable.
  • Chelle Koster Walton October 7, 2009 at 2:05am
    Iguana Stew. What can I saw, it tastes like guess-what. Better - keshi yena. Stuffed baked gouda. A melding of its Dutch and West Indian culture.
  • Ruth Kuehn October 3, 2009 at 3:30am
    I have a Destination Specialist Certification in the Caribbean, Bahamas and Bermuda and have travelled extensively in those areas. Would be happy to help in any way I can.
  • Wendy Capra October 2, 2009 at 6:26pm
    Funny you should say Curacao, I was doing some reading online last night, and Curacao jumped out at me... Those pictures of the little dutch houses are sooo cute! read there's a place i can get iguana stew, too.......... um i'll get back 2 u on that one!
  • Cheryl Andrews September 29, 2009 at 11:53pm
    Culture and museums? Go to Curacao. curacao.com Lots of interesting museums, a downtown that looks European, terrific restaurants. Some good deals out there now too. If you can hold off till January, there's a cool new Hyatt resort opening....
  • Tony King September 29, 2009 at 11:00pm
    It's got a nice volcano - Soufriere, and quite a few eathquakes. Other than than that it's very green and almost reminds people of Ireland. Not much to do, but good for lazing about.
  • Wendy Capra September 29, 2009 at 5:53am
    Hey, thanks to both, those are great answers and certainly food for thought. Here's the thing: I want to get away from my rainy hometown and go somewhere tropical and I have 2 weeks off coming up, but I'm not the kind to lie on a beach for 2 weeks either............. so maybe I need to find an island with lots to do culture-wise. I mean I'd love to go to Paris or back to my good ol' Italy, but I need sun and warm weather and culture and great food......... What's unusual about Montserrat, anyway?
  • Tony King September 28, 2009 at 7:41pm
    Wendy, I agree 100% with Cheryl, but I think we're missing the yacht charter possibilities in the islands. It's possible to visit St. Thomas, St. John and the British Virgin Islands on a sailing or motor yacht, fully crewed with a chef and including all meals at a very reasonable price. You'd have to fly into St. Thomas though to pick it up.
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