CaribbeanTravel.com Directory - (Page 23) AirJamaica.com Bahamas THE ISLANDS OF THE BAHAMAS trained dolphins. Shopping is entertainment at the Port Lucaya Marketplace, with its a wide array of bars, eateries and, often, live performances in Count Basie Square. Grand Bahama also has long stretches of deserted beaches, fishing villages, and West End, the island’s quaint historic capital. Lucayan National Park shelters an underwater cave system accessible by land and sea as well as upland forests and mangrove creeks. West Indian flamingos are the draw at the Rand Nature Center, but endangered Bahama Parrots and other birds also call this home, along with plants such as “love vine,” said to be a powerful aphrodisiac. BIMINI, BERRY AND BEYOND World-class fishing and yachting await throughout the Out Islands, but the best known are the Bimini Islands, just 30 miles east of Miami. Ernest Hemingway came here to battle marlin and other big game fish and competitors now travel from around the world for game fishing tournaments here. Divers enjoy the Bimini Barge wreck and the Road to Atlantis, once thought to lead to the mythical city; organized tours can include the chance to swim with the island’s wild dolphins. Also alluring to divers and anglers are the Berry Islands north of Andros and The Exumas to the southeast. Both island chains delight yachters with hidden coves, calm harbors and swim-ashore beaches. The most developed of these islands, Great Exuma and Little Exuma, offer inns, small hotels and several luxurious resorts. A Four Seasons Greg Norman-designed championship golf course is scheduled to open in late 2008. Spectacular diving — including a Blue Hole, where divers often encounter Caribbean reef sharks — as well as fishing, miles of nature trails and an eight-mile, pink-sand beach make Cat Island a great spot for eco-tourists. Divers are also drawn to Long Island to explore the world’s deepest known blue hole, the Conception Island Wall, several wrecks and the Stella Maris Shark Reef. San Salvador, home to a popular all-inclusive resort and a small hotel, offers reefs and wrecks for divers, game fishing flats and the ruins of former plantations and historical Lucayan Indian sites to explore. TRUE HIDEAWAYS The Abacos, a 120-mile string of isles, are a sailing and boating haven, with a handful of hideaway resorts, an 18-hole Dick Wilsondesigned golf course, and quaint villages. Settled by immigrants from Great Britain and Loyalists fleeing after the American Revolution, these isles feel like a piece of New England in the Caribbean. The Wyannie Malone Museum in Hope Town and Albert Lowe Museum on Green Turtle Cay offer fascinating glimpses into the past. On Andros, the The Bahamas’ largest island, fishing and diving lodges and small hotels share the island with about 8,000 residents, and flora and fauna found only there. The island is also said to hide pirate Henry Morgan’s buried treasure and the mythical half-human, half-bird chickcharnie. Visitors here enjoy guided nature walks, kayak and birding tours and shopping for batiks, wood carvings, baskets and other local crafts. Eleuthera, also settled by 18th century Loyalists, is a narrow, 110-mile-long island of sleepy colonial villages, pineapple plantations and pink-sand beaches. Visitors can settle in at one of the small friendly inns or an intimate, upscale resort. Neighboring Harbour Island, just three miles long and fringed with a stunning, powdery pinksand beach, is a quirky combination of New England charm and Caribbean chic. Restaurants such as The Rock House and The Landing offer fine dining; boutique hotels house celebrity visitors; and shops showcase the works of local artists. Adding to the charm, golf carts provide leisurely transportation for visitors. SOUTHERNMOST ESCAPES On less-developed islands such as Acklins and Crooked Island, a handful of small guest houses serve as home base for diving, fishing and exploring miles of secluded beaches. Great Inagua, near the southern tip of the Bahamas, has fewer than 1,000 residents and more than 80,000 West Indian flamingos, who share Inagua National Park with Bahama parrots, Bahama pintail ducks and other exotic species. The largest industry is the Morton Salt Company, which produces about a million pounds of salt a year there. With just 400 residents and one 16-room hotel, Mayaguana is one of the most remote of the Out Islands. Here, as on many of the Out Islands, dinner could be fresh fish caught by the guests themselves, and snorkeling, boating and just relaxing are the activities of choice. 23 http://AirJamaica.com
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