FEATURE CARIBBEAN ISLAND BY ISLAND
BARBADOS This largely flat isle has a distinctly British feel. It excels in sports tourism, both for visiting groups playing private tournaments and for spectators eager to enjoy world-class events such as the Sol Motorsport Rally and international cricket matches. The island also has the most highly
rated restaurants in the Caribbean, some listed in the prestigious Zagat guide. Special-interest festivals hosted throughout the year, many of which are free to attend, also add value to your clients’ holiday. These include the Crop Over Street Carnival in July and August and the Holders Season al-fresco music festival in the spring, featuring classical and jazz artists and held in the grounds of a plantation house. Perhaps best-known for its beaches, Barbados is blessed with dramatic bays on its Atlantic coast and calm waters on its Caribbean coast, where most of the island’s hotel stock is located. With low- coast, self-catering properties, all- inclusives and upscale resorts sitting side by side, Barbados can welcome visitors no matter what their budget. What’s New: Chelsea Football Club and the Barbados Tourism Authority recently signed a three-year tourism partnership deal
to explore rolling out community football coaching programmes on the island for locals and visitors.
THE CAYMAN ISLANDS A British Protectorate with a strong American influence, this island nation lies in the western Caribbean, neighbouring Cuba and Jamaica. It’s an ideal destination for divers and
nature lovers who also seek a high standard of accommodation and amenities. The diving is exceptional. The islands rise out of the water like mountain peaks creating walls with sheer vertical drops and caverns. Clients can hop between the islands by plane. Little Cayman and Cayman Brac have
a feel of the Galapagos about them. The former has just 150 residents and around 2000 iguanas, while Cayman Brac has huge bat caves and is home to hundreds of nesting brown boobies. On Grand Cayman, the largest and by
far the liveliest isle, you can swim with hundreds of stingrays in open water and see endangered Blue Iguana. The majority of its resort hotels line the glorious white sand of Seven Mile Beach, on the west coast. What’s New: The USS Kittiwake, a former US naval submarine, was sunk off the west coast of Grand Cayman at Seven Mile Beach in January 2011, to create an artificial reef and additional snorkeling and diving attraction.
THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 'Dom Rep' is probably best-known and best loved for its bargain sun, sea and sand breaks at the all-inclusive hotels around Puerto Plata on the island’s Atlantic north coast. However this is just the start of what this country, sharing a landmass with Haiti and lying between Jamaica and Puerto Rico, has to offer its visitors. The interior has Alpine mountain ranges and rainforest in abundance, and hiking and white- water rafting are two of the most popular activities for those who want to go beyond the beach. Another big draw is whale watching.
Between January and March you can see the giant mammals just off the north- east coast. Boat trips from Samana Bay take visitors to the edge of their mating and calving ground. The Dom Rep is also a fabulous destination for golf lovers. The country has 28 courses, including Pete Dye’s Teeth of the Dog Course, considered by many to be the best course in the Caribbean. Dom Rep has a Spanish feel, too, especially in the capital Santo Domingo’s old town, where some buildings date back to the 16th century. What’s New: One of the newest non- all-inclusive properties in Dom Rep is the Peninsula House, opened in 2010 in a restored Victorian plantation house on the Samaná peninsula. Its six suites all have terraces overlooking jungle.
GRENADA With an interior of dense rainforest edged by a shoreline of exotic beaches, Grenada is a good choice for clients who want to explore as well as suntan, or who are heading to the Caribbean for the first time. The most southerly of the Windward Islands and measuring just 21 miles by 12, it’s easy to get around and possible to get a taste of all the island has to offer during a week’s holiday. Grand Etang National Park has
numerous hiking trails that take you between crater lakes and waterfalls – and you may even encounter the resident Mona monkeys. Grand Anse is a quintessential Caribbean beach. With white sand and turquoise waters, it is dotted with low-rise accommodations set back from the shoreline. Grenada is also known as the Spice Isle
due to the abundance of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cocoa and other spices. Plantation tours make a popular excursion. At the Belmont Estate you can follow the process of chocolate-making from cocoa bean to bar. What’s New: La Source resort is offering a 'Sleep School' free of charge to guests in addition to its regular inclusions for selected dates from November 2011.
From left: Parrot Cay, Turks and Caicos; Street life in St Kitts
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