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Featured Drink - Wally Whacker at Island Blues, Coral Bay, St. John USVI
High season + low prices = good times! Pick your favorites from our value-packed roundup of the Caribbean's hottest deals.
Tis the season for saving on island vacations around the Caribbean
Editor's Pick: Ritz-Carlton Resorts Caribbean and Mexico
Whether you're craving the sand between your toes, a walk on the wild side, some serious pampering or a return to romance, these Caribbean retreats will satisfy your soul.
Photos and Postcards from Caribbean Travel + Life's Readers and Fans.
Featured Happy Hour Drink - The Tortuga Gorda from Fat Turtle, St. Thomas, USVI
A Mecca for expat creative types and earthy nonconformists, St. Croix is an island beauty with an American accent.
Essentials - Where to Go, Where to Stay and What to Do on St. Croix, USVI
Heads up - with winter just around the corner, its just about time for last call on low-season offers.
Editor's Pick: The Top 6 Deals for Caribbean Romance
The economy may be cloudy, but this is the best time in years to travel to the Caribbean.
Discovering the green side of St. Thomas by foot, fin and paddle.
From free nights and kids clubs to free adjoining rooms and excursions, family deals for every budget abound in the Caribbean this summer
On the course and off, these family-friendly golf resorts are at the top of their games.
Editor's Pick: Sizzlin' Sampler, US Virgin Islands (USVI)
Not only have low-season rates kicked in, but hoteliers are offering great incentives to woo guests in these tough times. So its a fine time to score a value-packed vacation at a sun-soaked Caribbean getaway.
The Best Beaches for Snorkeling: No boat? No problem. The snorkeling is primo at these picture-perfect Caribbean beaches.
Caribbean Life Profile: Educator, author, Grand Old Man: A beloved St. John sage has seen a lot of change over his 95 years.
Featured Drink - Mojito, Hull Bay, St. Thomas, USVI
Using his parents' honeymoon as a guide, David LaHuta and his wife, Joy, go in search of St. Thomas - then and now.
Using his parents' honeymoon diary as a guide, David LaHuta and his wife, Joy, go in search of St. Thomas - then and now.
St. Thomas Essentials
Call us biased, but we think this is the most seductively sensual, riotously romantic region on the planet. Let us count the ways.
Crewed boat charters offer a custom-tailored vacation and high-seas vacation, all in one package.
Ultimate Beaches: When a fantastic beach is exactly what you long for, you can't go wrong at these sandy Caribbean getaways - the very best of the very best.
Need to Know: A Breath of Fresh Air. The newest amenity in Caribbean hotels? An allergy-friendly room.
A toast to St. John: A great place to call home, whether for a week's vacation or a whole lot longer...
CT+L Editor's Picks: Hot Travel Deals in the Caribbean - Where to Go, Where to Stay and What to Do Now!
Smooth skies ahead: Smart and time-tested advice for flying with kids.
Caribbean Butterfly Farms
When the musician needs inspiration - and sanity - he aims for warm waters and tropical breezes.
Feeling chilly? We've scoured the Caribbean for new and improved getaways, bringing you the best restaurants, resorts and activities to heat things up this winter.
The tiny bohemian outpost of Vieques is the next big, budget-friendly thing.
We proudly present our Hall of Fame inductees - the island retreats that have set the standard for hospitality excellence for a generation.
snorkel
Packing and Traveling: How to Carry On Like a Pro.
Whether you prefer people-watching or lasting strolls in the sand, we reveal 20 of the Caribbean's supreme strands.
At these beachfront lodgings, sand is the only thing between your room and the water.
This drink comes to us from The Beach Bar in St. John, USVI.
Winter is here (shiver) and so are high-season prices (shudder). But we've found some thoughtful people who are offering heartwarming holiday incentives - enhanced amenities and activities, spa specials, dive discounts and exclusive upgrades only for CT&L readers. So pack your new swimsuit... the forecast calls for fun in the sun.
However you define a great snorkeling experience, we can help you find it. Here are 35 of the best places to get in over your head.
Searching for a moment to relax and rejuvenate your mind, body and soul? Enter the It's Just Easier to Vacation in the US Virgin Islands Spa Sweepstakes.
The sixth annual Taste of St. Croix culinary event is set for April 13, 2006 and Hotel Caravelle is offering a special package for the mouth-watering event. The hotel's Cooked to Perfection Package includes two tickets to the Taste of St. Croix culinary event, breakfast for two daily at the award-winning Rumrunners seaside restaurant, four-days, three-nights accommodations at Hotel Caravelle and taxes.
Caribbean tourism is hot-hot-hot. This means an unprecedented variety of choices for vacationers, so to help you choose your winter getaway, we've compiled the most noteworthy openings throughout the region.
Logistically, most of the Caribbean presents a daunting challenge to disabled travelers as well as those with injuries or age-related mobility problems.
But recent efforts to improve accessibility are opening up more of the Caribbean to travelers with disabilities.
It's time for a reunion. What happens when you put three generations of family, plus some innocent newcomers together in a villa on an island far from home? Will it be more sitcom or reality show? Docudrama or heartwarming special? Tune in to find out.
Family travel strengthens bonds, renews relationships and only sometimes tests patience. The Caribbean offers a whole host of destinations ideal for traditional mom-dad-and-the-kids trips and multigeneration reunions, as well as getaways where adult children can connect with their parents on a grown-up level.
There's never been a better time to take a family vacation in the Caribbean. Activity-packed resorts and cruise ships know how to entertain kids of all ages, villas are outfitted with families in mind, sailboats are bristling with toys, and eco-adventures like scuba diving await. Here are 21 tips for trips that -- dare we say it? -- are fun for the entire family.
We chose to visit St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands to give our kids -- and ourselves -- the opportunity to experience the untouched beauty of the Caribbean. The Virgin Islands National Park has kept the beaches here pristine, the reefs protected, the forests full of wildlife and exotic plants, and many vistas nearly as pure as when the first Amerindians lived here more than 3,000 years ago.
Deep Background Drinkers think theyre seeing double when identical-twin brothers Chad and Todd Beaty greet them at this bar/restaurant that theyve owned since 2000 (and describe as their hole in the wall). Named for original owner Woody Mann, Woodys is only a half-block from the ferry dock on St. Johns Cruz Bay disembark and follow the sound of beer bottles opening.
Sharks!" my son calls out as he spots a swarm of pint-sized Jaws darting around a shallow pool.
Standing across from the harbor in downtown Charlotte Amalie, watching throngs of people weave in and out of the dozens of stores, I start to feel the buzz -- and I'm not even an avid shopper.
"Right rigger, right rigger! Blue marlin!" yells Capt. Eddie Morrison of the Marlin Prince as a large dark shape materializes behind one of the baits splashing in the boats wake.
One of two restaurants at the family-owned Bolongo Bay Beach Club, Iggies - named for the iguanas crawling all over the property - opened in 1991 as a basic seaside grill serving hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken and fish.
In the deep blue sea off St. Thomas, the Atlantis Submarine XV puts passengers face to face with the coral reef's colorful creatures.
The U.S. Virgin Islands' cooks, artists and craftspeople produce a wide rage of distinctive souvenirs.
A week on St. Thomas is a frenzy of sunshine and sand, diving and dancing, shopping and sightseeing.
Seventh Heaven is a slice of heaven overlooking the harbour on St. Thomas.
It isn't the most remote, the most exotic or the most expensive retreat, so why are Hollywood's elite flocking to this wild little virgin?
Take a tasty trip back in time at St. John's Annaberg Plantation.
Once one of the largest sugar producers in the world, St. Croix has the best of the past and present with historic sites and beautiful beaches.
Hit the high seas with Captain Bob, a local fixture on St. John.
St. John may be small and secluded, but elite visitors still demand meals that are tasty and trendy.
There are no signs marking the dirt road that winds its way through a grove of coconut palms and thick seagrape trees to Lindquist Beach, one of St. Thomas' prettiest -- though least-known -- strands.
The Inn at Blackbeard's Castle is a historic and affordable retreat.
Craig & Sally's is a fixture in Frenchtown, Charlotte Amalie's waterfront hip strip.
A sizzling fish recipe from St. Thomas.
A walking tour of Christansted offers a history lesson on St. Croix. Almost the entire city is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The new Gibney Beach Cottages are named for the pristine strand that stretches along Hawksnest Bay in the Virgin Islands National Park.
The same family has run the Buccaneer Resort since the 17th century, and it's never gone out of style.
Our yacht, Arabella, is a virgin to the Virgin Islands cruise scene. Launched in February 2001, shes a 160-foot three-masted schooner built to carry just 44 passengers in luxurious style.
Popular St. Croix beaches.
popular St. John's beaches.
Nervous about leaving your offspring with strangers while you loll on a beach? Don't be. An explosion of kid-friendly resort programs has resulted in offerings that go way beyand sitting the kids in front of a VCR showing reruns of Dumbo. There is one thing to worry about: The kids may be having too much fun at camp to want to hang out with you.
Some of the more popular beaches on St. Thomas
Twila Wilson nearly traded her shot at paradise for a job in England. The interior designer spent two months on St. Croix before leaving to start a new full-time job. But by the time she reached Britannia, she knew shed made a mistake.
The 225-yard snorkel trail in the clear, calm, warm waters of St. John's Trunk Bay, works a 10- to 30-feet-deep course across the bay. A dozen blue-and-white underwater signs mark the trail and explain what there is to see. Parrotfish, blue tangs, sergeant majors and other fish dance around the coral while rays nestle on the sandy bottom.
Today's St. Thomas caters to fun-loving travelers with sophisticated tastes.
Dining and shopping are hugely entertaining holiday pastimes. But the real draw of St. Thomas is the gorgeous water that surrounds it.
St. Thomas
Join Jean-Michel Cousteau's Ocean Futures Society and St. John's Maho Bay Camps for a week-long adventure vacation.
Drink recipe by Duffy's Love Shack, USVI.
Duffys Love Shack, located in Red Hook a few steps from the ferry dock, has been a rocking watering hole since 16. In February 2000, Duffys opened another bar across Pillsbury Sound at Cruz Bay. Only a three-mile, 20-minute ferry ride separates the sister bars, making it easy and fun to turn your pub crawl into a maritime mission.
As soon as I enter Sand Dollars doors, I know I am going to love the island without ever leaving the property. Just a half-hour ride from the airport and 15 minutes from the capital of Charlotte Amalie, Sand Dollar is beachfront on Magens Bay. The villa, aesthetically framed with rich landscaping, lies at the end of a steep driveway that leads to the pink stone steps of the main entrance.
The work of more than 30 local vendors can be viewed at the La-Grange Marketplace, which opened on St. Croix last month.
While island-hopping in the Caribbean, I have often made a quick stop in St. Thomas to stock up on duty-free bargains. But on a recent visit, I decided to stay put on this bustling island. I took in its glistening beaches, enjoyed its wide array of activities and found secluded pleasures coexisting nicely with all the elements of contemporary chic.
St. Croix has long been overshadowed by hip, urban St. Thomas and eco-touristy St. John. But now, with its heritage trail a self-guided tour that links ecological sites, scenic views, places of cultural and historical significance and a swanky new casino (the only one in the USVI), St. Croix is coming into its own.
If you think a cow is just a cow, then youre in for a lesson at Castle Nugent Farms on St. Croix's south coast. The 1,00-acre farm, which also features a guesthouse by the same name, is home to 500 Senepol cattle, a breed unique to the island.
The Heritage Trail -- a self-guided tour that links ecological sites, scenic views, and places of cultural and historical significance.
Head out to St. Croixs east end for a taste of the islands flashiest new project, the Divi Carina Bay Resort & Casino the first and only casino in the USVI, offering everything from blackjack to Caribbean stud poker, craps and roulette, as well as video poker games and hundreds of slot machines.
White-tailed deer certainly aren't native to the area, but they are naturalized citizens of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Overlooking the U.S. Virgin Islands National Park and Pillsbury Sound, the villa is awash in pastel colors on the inside and out, as well as gingerbread trim and gardens overflowing with bird-of-paradise, heliconia, lobster claw and hundreds of orchids.
YOUR MISSION: Shop till you drop in the Caribbeans duty-free capital - and then reach for the beach. Shopaholics can cart home $1,200 in duty-free goods, including six bottles of liquor.
The typical standards from Denmark turn sassy when they meet island spices on St. Croix.
Recipe for Aebleskiver (Danish Donuts)
Recipe for Asparagas Pudding from the USVI.
Recipe for Herring Gundy.
Recipe for RODGROD...aka Red Grout.
Recipe for Danish Krustader & Local Crustades, a USVI specialty, from St. Croix's Top Hat Restaurant.
This recipe for Danish Beignets & Local Benye from St. Croix's Top Hat Restaurant.
There's good reason why so many people head to St. John for their baptism into the society of snorkelers -- it's just so darn easy to drop in here. The island's best beaches rim the north shore and, bay after bay, the waters are typically calm, warm and inviting
Have a masked ball exploring these top snorkeling sites in the USVI.
Enjoy the privacy of a villa and all the amenities you need at Villa Silk Cotton on St. Thomas.
It's been three hard years for St. Thomas. Is the island ready for prime time again?
If you're looking for a few nightspots on St. Thomas and St. John, there are plenty of local and well-known spots to wet your whistle for music and drinks.
The Reichold Center for the Performing Arts at the University of the Virgin Islands gives St. Thomas a cultural leg up on the rest of region.
An bird's-eye view of St. Thomas is now a breathtaking excursion in a seaplane.
The Buccaneer resort celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1998.
The small-inn alternative on St. Croix.
After some rough storms, two local islanders hope they have the solution to get this water-loving island sailing again and winning the next America's Cup.
It is possible to spend a week or two in St. Thomas and never once get on or in a boat of any kind.
Bareboating vs. Crewed Yachts. You decide.
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