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Mount Desert Island, off the coast of Maine, is widely known as the home of Acadia National Park and the town of Bar Harbor. If we viewed the island from the air (a look at the Acadia map will do), we would notice north and south aligned gouges scooped out of the land as if by a very large hand. Indeed, in this case, the hand was that of a huge, slow moving, continental glacier over a mile high,... 2 miles thick in some places. When this giant glacier finally melted and retreated, it left rounded mountain tops, long lakes, many boulders, and the 7 mile long Somes Sound - the only fjord on the...

Taken from http://www.barbudaful.net/ - the best site for information about barbuda island!!! You’ve probably know Antigua: resorts aplenty, more than 300 beaches, a favorite with sailors… But what about Barbuda? In the West Indian dual nation of Antigua and Barbuda, she is the forgotten stepchild – and for some sophisticated travelers, that’s all the more reason to count their blessings. Barbuda is actually about half the size of her glamorous sibling (and only a 20-minute flight away). However, as sister islands go, A & B are worlds apart. Barbuda has more than its share of glorious...

This is an Ile des Pins story: During the world windsurfing championships held in New Caledonia in 1999, board sailors suddenly stopped in the middle of the competition and dropped their sails to take in the sheer beauty of the Isle of Pines…Yes, another contender for the most-beautiful-island-on-the-planet title. Capt. James Cook named it in 1774 for the tree-rich landscape, but it’s the gloriously clear waters offshore, bordered by some of the most stunning beaches (Kuto and Kanumera are the best known) in the entire South Pacific, that enthrall travel-weary visitors. This is an island made...

Cat Island may have derived its name from Arthur Catt, the famous British sea captain or notorious pirate (depending on whose side you were on). A competing source for the name are the hordes of wild cats that the English encountered here on arrival in the 1600s. The cats were said to be descendants of their tamer cousins orphaned by the early Spanish colonists in their rush to find the gold of South America. This boot-shaped, untamed island is one of the most beautiful and fertile of The Bahamas. A lush sanctuary, it provides tranquillity for those seeking an escape from the pressures of...

The words on the license plates are a clue: "Diver's Paradise. " From fantastic snorkeling just off the beach (just imagine being dropped into a tropical fish tank) to deep wall dives, Bonaire offers what is arguably the best diving in the Caribbean. Much of the credit goes to its visionary Marine Park – the island waters have been protected since 1979. Yet Bonaire is no one-hit wonder. Sure, other watersports are popular (windsurfers find steady tradewinds and a conveniently shallow sandy bottom at Lac Bay) and it's not hard to find a secluded beach (the black sands of Boca Cocolishi...

Isla Margarita is a Caribbean island no one knows about – except Venezuelans, for whom this semi-desert island has long been a favorite getaway. Located just 25 miles off the South American coast and roughly halfway between Trinidad and Bonaire, Isla Margarita is anything but an undeveloped, back-of-beyond backwater – not with casinos, five-star hotels, a championship golf course, and a disco-rich nightlife in the main city, Porlamar. The resort-rich eastern part of the island has been called "Cancun South," but even that popular Mexican getaway must envy Margarita’s amazing collection of...

In 1940, author John Steinbeck and his marine biologist friend, Ed Ricketts, journeyed into the seldom-visited Gulf of California to begin a Baja collecting expedition that was later immortalized in the book The Log from the Sea of Cortez. And what makes Baja’s many islands magical is that now, six decades after Steinbeck’s visit, they remain virtually unchanged. Which is why these remote, mostly uninhabited islands have become a prime destination for adventurous travelers looking for that rare combination of desert and blue sea. Not all of isles bordering the 800-mile-long peninsula are...

At less than a million years old, the Big Island of Hawaii is, geologically speaking, a youngster. And with the help of lava flowing from Kilauea volcano, it's still growing. So, unlike the other islands in the Hawaiian chain, the Big Island hasn't had time to develop many sandy beaches along its shores. Although they are few in number, the beaches of the Kona and Kohala coasts (especially the bright white strand at Hapuna Beach State Parks) are beautiful, and the black-sand beach at Punaluu is otherworldly. What the Big Island does have in spades is big-game fishing (particularly...

If you are seeking a place that has buildings no taller than a coconut tree, a country which only received it's third ATM in 2004, a place that boasts beautiful, deserted white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters, and some of the friendliest people in the world, then Cook Islands is for you. Aitutaki is the second most visited of the Cook Islands, only a 50-minute scenic flight from Rarotonga and has charms all its own. This undiscovered paradise is a great location for destination weddings, honeymoons, or to relax and explore with family and friends. Aitutaki offers a unique experience...