Ten thousand years ago, glaciers pushed their way down the East Coast and left behind the rocks and soil that was to form this little paradise that we call home. The result was a cozy community (only around 800 folks in the winter), a land of stunning vistas and a very fragile ecosystem that we have had the good fortune to preserve for all to share. Because of the particular forces of nature that went to work on Block Island, no other place on earth shares its geography, nor its balance of species. A rarity, indeed.
Block Island is a rarity in another sense; it's a place that moves at ...
Look around at the elegant resort hotels, golf courses, casino, marinas, and shopping malls of Freeport/Lucaya – and you may find it hard to believe that none of this existed when JFK was president. Faster-paced than Nassau, this cosmopolitan "second city" of the Bahamas is really only four decades old, a monument to modern tourism. But what makes Grand Bahama special is the fact that while you can play, shop, gamble, and boogie the night away to your heart's content in American-style comfort, much of the island remains as it was before the resort revolution.
That includes miles of uncr...
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 Cocolis...
You have to hand it to the Maldivians. Here, on a far-flung archipelago of low coral atolls in the Indian Ocean, they have raised the notion of the private island resort to a fine art. The conservative Islamic nation encompasses nearly 1,200 islands stretched over some 35,000 square miles, but the scantily clad, beach-going overseas visitors are steered (and pretty much restricted) to about 90 small resort islands. These cater to an upscale clientele looking for a tropical getaway where the thatched huts come with fine linens and haute cuisine.
So what's paradise like, Maldives-style? I...
In the days when visitors to Hawaii arrived only by ocean liner, Oahu was Hawaii, a sleepy tropical paradise centered around Honolulu, Waikiki, and the timeless landmark of Diamond Head. Today, cosmopolitan Honolulu is the cultural hub of the Pacific, with world-class hotels and fine dining. You can take a leisurely drive around Oahu in a day, but getting to know the island takes time.
Climb Diamond Head at daybreak to watch the city come to life, then head for Hanauma Bay to fin over the blue-green mosaic of reefs that make it the island's most popular snorkeling site. Travel the wave...
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 exper...
Koh Tao - Overview
A great getaway
In the Gulf of Thailand, just a couple of hours north of Koh Samui, lies the island of Ko Tao. Once the haunt of sea-turtles, this small island with its quiet beaches has become a favourite destination both of paradise seekers and divers who come for the best coral diving in the area.
"Discovered" by travellers in the 80's Ko Tao (literally translates as "Turtle Island.") has been gradually gaining popularity. In recent years word of Ko Tao's natural beauty, beaches, coral and marine life has spread with more and more visitors arriving each...
Ko Phangan - Overview
Easily visible from Ko Samui and about two-thirds its size, Ko Phangan has beautiful beaches and inexpensive, basic bungalows. It's the simple beach life which attracts many tourists each year, and the island's reputation for full moon parties and hedonistic culture. During the 90's Phangan became popular with backpackers, budget tourists and aging hippies seeking paradise complete with cheap accommodation, New Age therapies and good cheap food. The Full Moon party scene still exists but the original word-of-mouth happening with only a few hundred partici...
The legendary backpackers' paradise of Ko Phi Phi is certainly not the Thai backwater it was a decade or so ago. But progress (translation: hotels, dive centers, and beachfront bars) hasn't obliterated its essential allure.
Ko Phi Phi (pronounced ko-pee-pee) is actually two islands: Dramatically beautiful Phi Phi Don, with its long, soft-sand beaches and limestone cliffs rising from the sea, has grown into a resort offering both simple bungalows and larger hotels. Phi Phi Le, no less beautiful and only a short boat ride from its larger sister island, has no accommodations at all.
...
Tahiti, Otahiti for the first Europeans, the "Island of Love", the "New Cyther" for Bougainville, the myth of paradise, of Rousseau's good savage, all those names to describe the same beauty of this island, symbol just by itself of the entire French Polynesia.
Two volcanos emerged from the waters compose the island of Tahiti : 3-million year old for the Tahiti Nui (the Big Tahiti) volcano, and only 500,000 years for the one of Tahiti Iti (the Little Tahiti) also called the Peninsula (Presqu’ile)
U.S. Virgin Islands
