Category: Caribbean

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Activity Beach Caribbean Cayman Islands Diving Ecotourism Sun Walking

Cayman Islands

If you are heading for the Caribbean then you are almost certainly heading for a beach to relax on, and the Cayman Islands certainly have those. According to some, the beaches here are amongst the best in the world. With the average temperature in the Cayman Islands of 28°C, it’s perfect for all year-round destination. January is the coolest month with temperatures around 25°C. Still warm enough to sit outside.

Cayman Islands

With enough diving sites for each day of the year, there are diving experiences for all ages and abilities. The islands are widelayWidely recognised as the birthplace of recreational diving, exploring the underwater world around the Cayman Islands is not to be missed. There are diving experiences on offer for all ages and abilities with qualified instructors on hand for those wanting to learn. With crystal clear waters you can expect to see colourful, abundant marine life, trenches, chasms and wrecks. If you do not dive, there are schools offering tuition or you could try your hand at snorkelling just off shore.

Barracuda – Cayman Islands

Not keen on putting your head under the water. There is plenty to do on the surface of the water, sailing, paddleboarding, kayaking and kitesurfing are all available.

There are several land based activities to enjoy in the Cayman Islands. The main island of Grand Cayman is fairly flat and its possible to follow the Mastic Trail which is well signposted and guided tours are available. The Mastic Trail is based on a traditional footpath that had fallen into disuse. In 1994 and 1995 it was restored and reopened as a 4 km walking track that passes through the Mastic reserve (a mainly forested area), traversing the central part of Grand Cayman from south to north. The southern part includes a 170 m hand-built rock causeway, known as the “Mastic Bridge”, through black mangrove forest.

Blue Iguana -Cayman Islands

Other activities such as bird watching at the islands’ sanctuaries to kayaking through mangroves; learning about different flora and fauna. Naturalists will love the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park where the rare, indigenous, Blue Iguana roams and marvel at the spectacular stalagmites and stalactites of the Crystal Caves are all available.

The most popular acitivity for visitors to the islands is a trip to Stingray City where you can see, touch, and even hold a stingray! The “city” is a sandbar near a channel in Cayman’s barrier reef. Historically, fisherman used to come to the sandbar to clean the fish they had caught throughout the day. They threw the unwanted bits overboard, which started attracting stingrays. Eventually, this practice grew and became a tourist activity.

Stingray City – Cayman Islands
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Beach Caribbean St Lucia Sun

St Lucia

So this winter and spring why not head for the light and warmth of the Caribbean winter sun to the island of St Lucia, the only sovereign nation named after a woman. The average daily temperature even during the less warm months (there are no cold ones) is 26C.  The period from January to May is also the driest part of the year. There are numerous sandy beaches and all of them are public so you can take your pick.  The most popular is Reduit Beach where you will find lively beach bars, restaurants and a wide variety of water sports.  Alternatively at the opposite end of Rodney Bay you will find the quieter beaches of Pigeon Island beach, which are located with a National Park.

Rodney Beach - St Lucia
Rodney Beach – St Lucia

The attraction of St Lucia as a holiday destination is that it is not just about the beaches. Due to its size and varied landscape, it is so easy to connect with nature and the outdoors.  The island is home to the Piton mountains. They are a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, a trek up will take you around 4 hours with a local guide.  From a height over almost 800m there is surely not a comparable view in the Caribbean.

Piton Mountains - St Lucia
Piton Mountains – St Lucia

Before you departure from St Lucia, take some time to visit the “world’s only drive in volcano” located in the southwest of the island near the town of Soufriere which in French means “from which sulfur is produced”. Nearby you can also experience the sulphur springs where you can experience a mud bath. The baths are believed to have medicinal properties and helps heal sun burns, eczema, arthritis, sore joints, and more.

Sulphur Springs – St Lucia

The island offers a wide range of accommodation from guest houses, to villas to luxury resort hotels.  Contact Maggie today to bring warmth and light to your winter.  A chance to get away from it all and “Spend your winter in St Lucia, just to meditate”.

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Antigua Beach Caribbean Sun

Antigua

Do you like walking along a golden sandy beach. That is one thing that you can certainly do in Antigua, as there are 54 miles of coastline, to walk along. There are in fact 365 beaches along the coast, that’s one for every day of the year.

Of those beaches, amongst the most famous are Galley Bay Beach for surfing, Half Moon Bay for relaxing and Dickenson Bay which is the most popular, with a number of hotels and restaurants.  For example it is here that you can find the Sandals Grande Antigua Resort and the Siboney Beach Club.

Dickenson Bay - Antigua
Dickenson Bay – Antigua

Many of the hotels on the island are built along the beaches so that you can literally step out of your room straight on to the beach.  In fact you could be on the beach within 10 hours of taking off from London with flight times of around 8 and a half hours.

Should you want to tear yourself away from the beach, then head up to Shirley Heights from where you can obtain the best view on the island.  At a height of 490 feet, you get superb views of English and Falmouth Harbours and is best visited at sunset and the early evening.

View from Shirley Heights - Antigua
View from Shirley Heights – Antigua

Today, Nelson’s Dockyard provides many sites and activities for the modern day visitor to enjoy.  It was built back in the early eighteenth century, when the British realised the value of having a dockyard to harbour ships in bad weather and keeping an eye on the French. The dockyard is named after Lord Nelson, who as Captain of the HMS Boreas, was sent to Antigua to enforce British laws in the colonies.

Nelson's Dockyard, Antigua
Nelson’s Dockyard, Antigua
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Barbados Caribbean Heritage Sun

Barbados

This small beautiful Caribbean island is an average of 4 hours from East Coast departure points and when you step off the plane at Grantley Adams International Airport you will have been transported to a different world but some elements of familiarity.

The temperature rarely drops below 25°C, with daytime temperatures in August reaching around 30°C. The sea in Barbados is warm enough to swim all year round. The driest period is from December through to April. If soaking up the sun is for you then there are few prettier places in the world to do it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but it’s generally considered that Barbados has some of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean.

There is more to Barbados than just beaches and due to its size its relatively easy to travel around the island. Buses travel all over the island and are super cheap! They are a great way to experience Barbadian (aka Bajan) life. Meet some locals and see life outside your hotel or villa.

Since 2011 Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Of course there is modern Bridgetown where you can get your fix of shopping.

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Beach Caribbean Cuba Heritage Sun

Havana, Cuba

Cuba has to be close to the top of the list of places to visit once we can travel again.  Thanks to US sanctions it is caught in a partial time warp.  Cuba is one of the few places in the world that you still can’t buy a McDonalds, unless you are serving or detained at Guantanamo Bay!

So you need to visit before it all changes. Unlike former Communist Central and East European countries where almost all vestiges of socialist ideologies have disappeared there are plenty of reminders around.

Old Cars Cuba
Old Cars Cuba

Outside of Havana where you must visit UNESCO listed the Old town and its impressive colonial buildings, you can access some of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean, with crystal clear waters and fine sandy beaches that are not overrun with tourists. 

And if you need any more reasons to visit, did we mention the old cars, the cheap beer and rum and world renowned cigars.

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Beach Cancun Caribbean Mexico Sun

Cancun

Looking ahead to 2021, plenty of us will considering a trip south acroos the border to Cancun. Trips to Cancun have it all. On top of the 13+ miles of beaches, there is plenty of nightlife, modern shopping malls and Mayan ruins a short trip away.

The northern beaches are sheltered by a small island and have calmer waters whilst the eastern beaches have more waves. Take your pick depending on what you are looking for from a day at the beach. For sun lovers the sun shines for 250 days a year. The driest part of the year is from January to May and temperatures average between 28°C and 34°C depending on the season. Sea temperatures average 27°C.

Beach - Cancun - Mexico
Beach – Cancun – Mexico

Just a 90 minute drive away perched above 40 ft cliffs you will find one of Mexico’s best preserved Mayan costal sites. At Tulum you will find a walled city that was a bustling metropolis from the 13th to 15th centuries. Don’t miss out on the Temple of the Frescoes and its numerous murals, the Temple of the Descending God which is a single room accessed via a narrow staircase on top of another temple that served as its base, and finally the pyramid shaped El Castillo.

Tulum - Cancun - Mexico
Tulum – Cancun – Mexico

Back in Cancun there are a wide range of hotels to suit every pocket and in the evenings there is everything from sports bars to ballet and everything inbetween.

Sunset - Cancun - Mexico
Sunset – Cancun – Mexico
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Beach Caribbean Jamaica Sun

Aruba, Jamaica, oh I want to take you to Bermuda, Bahamas

Have you been windswept, battered and soaked by Storm Ciara? Then think back to September 2019, Hurricane Dorian hit the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama island causing $3.4bn worth of damage, 70 people lost their lives and as of November 2019 282 people were still listed as missing.

Bahamas

If you are thinking of a getaway, it’s easy to understand why the Beach Boys would have wanted to take you to the Caribbean.

A holiday in the Bahamas makes great sense at this time of year.  Average daytime temperatures range from 25C in February to 28C in April, and your tourism pounds will help the country rebuild.

The Bahamas has beautiful clear waters which are ideal for snorkelling and scuba diving. Explore some of the world’s largest underwater cave systems and one of the largest barrier reefs. The Bahamas consists of 700 islands of which 14 are tourist destinations.

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Beach Caribbean Jamaica Sun

What’s Up

Or as they say in Jamaica “Wah Gwaan”. Sitting as home whilst the days get shorter, colder and darker, not much is happening. Then again you can be sitting on an island in the Caribbean surrounded by beautiful scenery doing not much either, except chilling and having a good time away from the stresses and strains of every day life.

Ocho Rios Bay Beach
Ocho Rios Bay Beach

Jamaica has so much to offer it’s visitors and that’s why according to the Jamaican Ministry of Tourism 40% of tourists are repeat visitors. Over 4 million visitors a year can’t be wrong. The beaches are a magnet, the golden sand and the clear blue sea, but once there, there is so much more to do and see. Jamaica is the cultural capital of the Caribbean there’s never a dull moment.

In recent years Jamaica has become an increasingly popular destinations for weddings and honeymoons. The naturally heart-shaped ‘jacuzzi’ at Reach Falls and the sunsets in Negril are the perfect backdrop to your romantic getaway.