Why go now? TOP 10 REASONS TO VISIT THE CARIBBEAN


It could have been 100 but there’s only room for 10! There are countless reasons to visit the 30 plus countries of the Caribbean with more island-by-island distinctions than you might imagine.


1 HIGH-END LUXURY


J amaica boasts a string of atmospheric hideaways, from Strawberry Hill perched in the Blue Mountains to a clutch of sybaritic havens built into the rocky cliffs of Negril – Jakes, The Caves, Rockhouse and Tensing Pen. Step back to colonial times amid the romantic plantation house hotels of St. Kitts and Nevis such as Nisbet Plantation, Hermitage Plantation and Ottley’s Plantation. Sample the intimate inns of Cuba’s Old Havana, such as the Saratoga or Hotel Telegrafo, or the beautiful former convent El Convento in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.


2 LOCAL PEOPLE


The mix of cultures and nationalities which make up today’s West Indians has blessed the Caribbean with a unique flavour. Getting to know the locals and comparing notes on the ‘Windies’’ latest performance on the cricket pitch can be a holiday highlight. Jamaica runs a ‘Meet the People’ programme that puts like-minded locals and visitors in touch with each other for outings, church visits or meals in their homes, and the Bahamas runs a similar ‘People to People’ scheme. Grenada runs a Homestay programme while Tobago’s Bed and Breakfast Association consists of properties owned and run by local families.


3 CULTURE The Caribbean’s dynamic history has left a legacy of languages, people, food and traditions. The traditional Spanish buildings and Latin tempo of the Spanish Caribbean countries, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico, contrast with the café culture and gourmet cuisine of the French islands, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Martin and St Barths. Dutch Suriname, St. Maarten,


Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao and St. Eustatius boast gingerbread-style houses but it’s the English-speaking Caribbean where visitors will find traditional stone churches, Georgian architecture and red phone boxes along with familiar place names, the fact that everyone speaks English and drives on the left!


4 FOOD


The Caribbean has plenty to whet hungry visitors’ appetites. It could mean dining in style at the most fashionable high-class restaurants in Barbados, Anguilla, St. Martin or St. Barths, or joining the locals in a fun atmosphere at local fish-frys or party evenings on islands like Nassau, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Antigua or Tobago. There’s an enviable choice of seafood with fruits - bananas, papaya or mango - growing in abundance. Grenada has a wide selection of herbs and spices.


5 BEACHES These have to be the West Indies’ finest asset


08 www.caribbean.co.uk


The beaches have to be the West Indies’ finest asset – long stretches of the finest powder sand or pretty deserted coves.


– long stretches of the finest powder sand or pretty deserted coves. Harbour Island in the Bahamas is famous for its beautiful pink sand beaches, while Antigua boasts that it has one beach for every day of the year and sister island Barbuda has so much sand, it exports it! Bermuda has picture-perfect pink sandy coves, while Anguilla is renowned for its long stretches of dazzling white powder and Grand Cayman boasts its famous Seven Mile Beach.


6 WATER SPORTS The Caribbean Sea offers the perfect playground for a host of watersports with gentle warm currents and trade winds making areas such as the British Virgin Islands – with its claim to be the sailing capital of the world – the Grenadines, Antigua, and the Bahamas


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