 Costa Rica Off the coast of Costa Rica, some 300 miles out into the Pacific, Cocos Island is one of the last, best places in the diving world. Schools of hammerhead sharks beyond count (especially during the rainy season, June through October), manta rays, and even the occasional whale shark are prime attractions, but probably in the back of every diver's mind is that a gold doubloon might just be waiting around the next coral head.
For Cocos Island National Park, rich in natural history, is also steeped in legends of buried treasures. The names of ships carved into rocks at Chatham Bay date to t...
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 Like Seychelles, its neighbor to the northwest, Mauritius enters the 21st century as an exotic alternative to more traditional sun-and-fun beach destinations. This Indian Ocean crossroads has seen its share of cultural collisions – Dutch, French, British, Indian, and Creole – and today those influences flavor the island's colorful mix of religious festivals, as well as its spicy cuisine.
French colonial buildings line the streets of the capital, Port Louis (where the Natural History Museum exhibits include a replica of the ill-fated, extinct dodo bird), and hikers can explore a world o...
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