Search results for "blue"

Location: Crete, Greece What's Cool: Hiking the beach's rocky outcrops ----------------------------------------- With its cobalt blue waters, sun-bleached cottages, ancient ruins and red sandstone cliffs, Crete's Red Beach is picturesque to say the least. Made famous in 1968 when hippies from across Europe flocked to its shores, the resort at Red Beach has remained a naturist favorite for its rustic charm and its tolerance (nudity is allowed everywhere except the dining room). Visitors to Red Beach will find the area's ancient caves interesting, as well as sunken bits of his...

A nude beach in Santa Cruz seems fitting, given the area's tolerant, bohemian lifestyle. Just six miles north of the city, the private Red, White and Blue Beach has been the choice of Bay area naturists for more than 30 years. And, because the area is privately owned, visitors are welcome to cook, play and even park their cars in the buff. Recreation options at Red, White and Blue Beach include volleyball, whale watching (in the spring) and overnight camping.

An unspoiled corner of Fiji, Kadavu is a beautiful mountainous island with waterfalls, rounded hilltops, outstanding beaches and high rocky cliffs. It offers interesting bush walks, charming rockpools, luxuriant native trees and fascinating birdlife, particularly the famous red and green Kadavu parrots. Kadavu (pronounced Kahn-da-voo), has a population of approximately 8700 and lies only 88 kilometers south of Suva. Kadavu is approximately 48 kilometers in length and varies in width from 365 meters to 13 kilometers. Its area is 411 square kilometers, just a bit less than Taveuni. Kadavu ha...

Manuel Antonio National Park The three sweeping strands of pristine white beach that flow into the Pacific Ocean are only part of what makes this place paradise. Manuel Antonio National Park is where the jungle meets the sea. The beaches are long, wide and covered with beautiful soft sand, bordered by tall evergreen jungle on one side, and blue Pacific Ocean on the other. Cliffs overgrown by dense jungle vegetation surround the beaches and in spots the forest sweeps down to the edge of the water sheltering swimmers from the sun. In order to protect the parks eco-system, entrance to the park...

Look across the landscape – red dirt, green fields, blue ocean – and you could swear you're in Hawaii, not in eastern Canada. OK, so the field crop is potato, not sugar cane, and the water can freeze to the shoreline in winter, but Prince Edward Island has – hold onto your aloha shirt – fine beaches and nearly two dozen golf courses. P.E.I., as the island is often called, is a perfect playground for bicycling and hiking, and working up an appetite has its rewards – perhaps Canada’s finest cuisine, based not just on potatoes but lobster, the island’s renowned blue mussels, and Malpeque o...

Largest of the many Islands of The Bahamas (104 x 40 miles), mysterious, mangrove-choked Andros is also the least explored, which means that you'll be sharing space with more terns and whistling tree ducks than humans--and maybe even a chickcharnie or two, those mischievous mythical inhabitants that are exclusive to this island. Reputed to be elfin creatures with three fingers, three toes, and red eyes, chickcharnies bring lifelong good luck to anyone lucky enough to see one. Andros even has its own "Loch Ness Monster," a dragon-like sea monster called the Lusca. No wonder the island was c...

Several islands lay claim to their own “Bali Hai,” but it was on Vanuatu’s largest island, Espiritu Santo, that James Michener, gazing over the blue Pacific toward a nearby island during WWII, found his original South Pacific inspiration. Like Fiji, Vanuatu is not actually an island but rather a chain of islands. Once known as the New Hebrides, the archipelago is an endless chain of fine beaches, amazing diving, volcanoes, the scent of frangipani in the air…in other words, all the stage settings for a few classic tales of the South Pacific. On the main island, Efate, the capital of Port Vi...

Jamaica is greater than the sum of its parts. But for many visitors, the only part they see is one of four major resort areas. There's always-lively Montego Bay, with its beaches, golf, shopping, and nightlife and Ocho Rios, known for its beaches and upscale resorts, while Negril, aka Beach Party Central, pulls in the younger set, and Port Antonio is a lush, quiet getaway. Visitors who explore find a beautiful island, a vibrant culture that goes far beyond reggae, and endless opportunities to play under the sun. You can golf, horseback ride, or dive (on wrecks and among the ruins of a ...

At the very center of Polynesia, Upolu and Savaii are the twin islands that truly fulfill the South Seas vision of palm-lined, white-sand beaches and blue ocean beyond the reef. And in the capital of Apia, which has at least some of the trappings of a modern city, you’ll also find a slightly timeworn, sultry townscape out of the old South Pacific. Until 1997, the country was known as Western Samoa – long famous throughout the South Pacific for Fa’a Samoa, a way of life in which traditional customs (dance, a love of kava, and the art of tattooing among them) and strong community ties shape ...

Belize isn't an island – but it should be. When visitors first started coming in numbers to this country just south of Mexico on the Caribbean a decade or so ago, they usually made a quick bead to its offshore islands. The largest of them, Ambergris Caye (pronounce it KEY, as in Key West), has a scattering of mostly low-key resorts popular with divers and fishermen and a town (San Pedro) with sand streets and a lively nightlife of dance clubs. Sound a bit like Margaritaville? Well, Margaritaville should have diving this good. The barrier reef that stretches the length of Belize (and con...