CaribbeanTravel.com Directory - (Page V) Among the countless variety of beach experiences available in the Caribbean are those found in (clockwise, from immediate right) Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Antigua, St. Martin, St. Lucia, and the British Virgin Islands. goers head to their favorite bar/restaurant to stake out a lounge chair, dine on fresh grilled lobster for lunch, go parasailing or jet-skiing, and hit happy hour with frozen drinks and live music at the beach bars. Advise clients that the southern end of this beach is a nude beach. On the Dutch side of the island, Philipsburg, St. Maarten offers shopping within steps of the beach. When visitors depart Great Bay Beach, they can head to the duty-free shops and art galleries on Front Street just a block from the water. The beach is over a mile long, and the fronting boardwalk is nice for an evening stroll. Dawn Beach is the spot for incredible sunrises, with St. Barths on the horizon and breakfast at Mr. Busby’s Beach Bar. Aviation buffs will flock to Maho Beach, located at the end of the airport runway. Planes soar right over the beach with wheels down on the landing route. The Sunset Beach Bar & Grill broadcasts radio communications between the planes and control tower for the full experience. Vacationers in Bonaire can snorkel and scuba dive right from the beach in many places, while uninhabited Klein Bonaire offers more up-close nature experiences and great snorkeling at No Name Beach. especially for children. It features clear water, a gently sloping white-sand bottom and constant calm conditions due to protection from high hills surrounding the harbor. From the lively, resort-lined beaches of Nassau, Paradise Island, Freeport and Lucaya, to the uncrowded white sands on hundreds of Out Islands, the Bahamas is ideal for beach-hopping. Likewise the 60plus isles and cays of the British Virgin Islands offer myriad beach experiences from lively resort enclaves to serene idylls. here are regularly three feet high, but can climb to five feet on a rough day. Visitors enjoy watching the surfers or hanging ten themselves at the surf break known as the Soup Bowl. A scenic rainforest drive leads beachgoers to the rolling waves and shaded STAYING HOT AT NIGHT Cancun Island’s 16-mile beach, lined with flashy hotels, bars and discos, is the place to go for non-stop nightlife; many nightclubs are still going strong at dawn. Down the coast on the Riviera Maya, visitors can sunbathe and swim on the beach at the foot of the impressive 1,000-year-old Mayan ruins of Tulum. Night beach action on St. Kitts can be found at Mr. X Shiggidy Shack on Frigate Bay. The nightly entertainment includes a roaring beach bonfire, live music or a fireeater show, depending on the night. By day, visitors like to feed bananas to the Green Vervet monkeys at Turtle Beach. There’s an open-air bar and grill on the beach, and kayaks and snorkel equipment for rent. Celebrity sightings are common on trendy St. Barthelemy. Saint Jean Beach is the most famous of the island’s 14 beaches, with an offshore reef protecting its golden sands. For dramatic wave action, Bathsheba on Barbados is the destination. The waves SHELLS, SUNSETS & SERENITY Beachcombers looking for exotic shells and pieces of coral will be thrilled at the prospects on Long Beach, South Caicos Island in Turks and Caicos. Nearby Dellis Cay is strewn with gorgeous shells too. Seven Mile Beach in laid-back Negril on the western tip of Jamaica is a key place to watch the sun set into the sea and watch for the rare Green Flash. The beach at the base of Dunn’s River Falls offers a unique swim sensation, with colder fresh water in layers over the salty Caribbean waters. Magens Bay on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, is an excellent swimming beach, white sands of Trinidad’s popular Maracas Bay, while those seeking seclusion can hop across to sister island Tobago’s leeward coast and have their pick of deserted stretches of shoreline Puerto Rico offers beaches in a wide range, from the pure white dunes of Isabela to the black sands near Punta Santiago. Isla Verde is the backdrop for San Juan and is lined with resorts, while Flamenco Beach on offshore Culebra was named Best Escape Beach by The Travel Channel. The beaches of St. Lucia’s coves, with the majestic twin Pitons as a backdrop, help make the island one of the most popular for destination weddings and honeymoons. I — Kathleen M. Mangan ONE BEACH PER DAY FOR A YEAR Antigua has a remarkable 365 beaches. Curved Galley Bay Beach features rocky outcrops on both ends, and the possibility of running into Giorgio Armani, who owns a home overlooking the beach. Fryes Beach offers views of Montserrat; Half Moon Bay is popular for families; and nearby Barbuda’s isolated beaches delight sun-seekers with their salmon-colored sands. PREFACE I V
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