The seductive mix of hot beaches and cold mojitos and an infinite palette of ocean blues from pale aquamarine to midnight azure. Colors and contrasts. Lush fairways flanked by endless stretches of sugary white sand. The piquant juxtaposition of sweet tropical fruits and spicy local gumbos. Lazy afternoons that segue into passionate evenings stoked by the sultry rhythms of salsa, reggae and calypso. Pulsing with their own voodoo magic, blending European and African cultures into a dizzying, delightful blend of lilting accents and laid-back spirit, the islands cast a unique spell, a funky, friendly enchantment as beguiling as a soft sea breeze. Do you really have to ask Why We Love The Caribbean?
Hooking up
The challenge of going mano a mano with the game fish at Barreterre Bonefish Lodge in Great Exuma is the perfect way to unwind after being eaten alive by the Great White Shark on his punishing course at Sandals Emerald Bay.
Local knowledge
Indulge in the cool, crisp taste of a local beer savored at the turn. Red Stripe casts its spell at the White Witch in Jamaica, Kalik makes waves at the Ocean Club in the Bahamas, while Presidente reigns supreme at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic.
Shades of Blue
Celebrity chefs are cooking up a storm in signature restaurants at the top resorts throughout the islands. Hot spots like Blue, a collaboration between the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman and Eric Ripert, offer up gourmet dishes using local ingredients—his White Soy-Yuzu Marinated Raw Local Snapper is worth the trip from any corner of the globe.
Back to nature
The Hervé Brin scents and skin care products at La Ligne St. Barth are made with indigenous Caribbean plants according to generations-old recipes—balm for body and soul.
From here to infinity
The Infiniti Bar at the Grace Bay Club in Turks and Caicos, from the designer of Nobu London, features the longest bar in the Caribbean, a sleek stretch of black marble that extends from the hotel restaurant right down to the water.
Shacking up
Pete’s Pub, a barefoot island hangout for locals and cognoscenti on the beach in Abaco in The Bahamas sizzles with conch fritters, grilled langouste and spiced grouper. The fresh seafood and funky ambiance don’t get any better.
Taking it to the streets
There’s no better place to be during the week before Ash Wednesday than Trinidad, where the nonstop two day calypso-fueled Bacchanalia known as The Fest fills the streets with dancing locals in costumes as showy as they are scanty.
Willy T’s
On Norman Island, just south of Tortola, the schooner William T. Thornton is a floating bar/restaurant where you can set sail without raising anchor.
Drinking it in
The best place to nurse a rum punch while watching the sun go down is Al’s Mar Azul, a hole-in-the-wall bar in Vieques, Puerto Rico, whose cantilevered deck juts out over the waves like the prow of a sailing ship.
Swimming with the stars
Okay, the dinoflagellates. These tiny bioluminescent critters make the waters of Mosquito Bay in Vieques, Puerto Rico, light up with a nighttime glow rivaling the stars above. It’s your time to shine.
The grass is greener
The breakthrough of a new salt-tolerant hybrid grass called seashore paspalum has been the cornerstone of the golf boom in the Caribbean, bringing in dozens of developers and some of the best golf course designers in the game.
Table for two
A candlelight dinner of grilled local lobster on the bougainvillea and palm-fringed deck of Magnolia, overlooking Grace Bay on the island of Providenciales will light a new flame…or rekindle an old one.
Swing time
Find your inner Tarzan with a canopy tour near St. Ann’s Bay that explores Jamaican jungles on a web of cables and rope bridges strung hundreds of feet in the air. Not for the faint of heart!
The shell game
The Caicos Conch Farm in Providenciales is the only spot in the world where conch are commercially grown. Take a tour of the breeding ponds, where the sight of over two million conch is sure to stoke your appetite!
Cheeseburgers in Paradise
Le Select, the best of St. Barth’s dive bars, was the inspiration for Jimmy Buffet’s hit “Cheeseburger in Paradise.” Try one for yourself, with an ice-cold Caribe, and wait for inspiration to strike.
All the toppings
Yes, pizza. At Big Banana Pizza in Paradise, situated in a converted 18th century rum warehouse on St. John in Antigua, slices come loaded with fruit toppings, giving a zesty island twist to this mainland staple.
Highs and lows
The Dutch island of Saba is an undiscovered gem, a lush, five-square-mile dormant volcano that boasts abundant wildlife, soaring hiking trails that twist and turn through pristine rain forest and protected reefs which make for a diver’s delight.
Where the elite meet
Enjoy some of the finest seafood in the Caribbean at Basil’s Beach Bar on the small, exclusive island of Mustique, where locals are the likes of Mick Jagger and Tommy Hilfiger.
History by the glass
Among its many attractions, Barbados is the home of Mount Gay Rum, the oldest rum distillery in the world at three centuries and counting. Take a tour of the facilities for a history lesson with a rum chaser!
Rhyme and rhythm
Every night is a party at Foxy’s in Great Harbour, The Bahamas, a palm-fringed beach shack where calypso master and owner Foxy Callwood gets the crowd dancing to his irresistible rhythms and raunchy, improvised lyrics.
Bare essentials
The scenery at Gouverneur Beach in St. Barth’s is the best place for nude sunbathing and snorkeling on the island. It is one reason to leave the clubs at home…
The Dye is cast
The Caribbean laboratory for Pete Dye for nearly three decades, Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic is home to three championship courses by the master. His classic Teeth of the Dog is the only course in the Caribbean to rank in the Top 100 in the world.
Skin diving
The Amrita Spa at Raffles Canouan in the Grenadines offers its signature massage, combining Eastern and Western techniques, in a thatched roof suite over water with a glass bottom.
Going nuts
On the first Saturday in May, the Cashew Festival at Crooked Tee village on the island of Belize showcases creative cashew recipes featuring ingredients ranging from ice cream to wine, all to the accompaniment of live music.
Doing the Ritz
The caddies at the White Witch in Jamaica are so attentive that they have earned the moniker “Golf Concierges”. But then again, impeccable service is par for the course at the Ritz-Carlton Rose Hall…
The city that never sleeps
No, the other one—St. James in Trinidad and Tobago, where you can indulge in savory roti bread infused with fresh local vegetables throughout the night from street vendors or relax outside More Vino and sip a glass of fine wine while watching the world dance by.
High rollers
At the Graycliff Cigar Company in Nassau, Bahamas, you can hang out with Avelino Lara, once Fidel Castro’s torcedore (cigar roller), and try one of his deeply flavored, seductive cigars made from precise selections of aged tobacco from Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras.
Mamajuana
Wait, what did you think we said? This Dominican Republic concoction of herbs, roots and spices is mixed with honey, red wine and rum. The result is a potent brew that locals refer to as an aphrodisiac.
Bon Appetit
The best of French culture and food abounds in Martinique, home of Le Table de Mamy Nounou in La Trinite, where you can feast on homemade foie gras and a signature dish of fish, shrimp and scallops.
Howling with Bankie Banx
No visit to Anguilla is complete without a visit to The Dune Preserve in aptly named Rendezvous Bay, where reggae master Bankie Banx plays weekends and during the full moon.
The peanut gallery
If you are willing to pay the price, the gallery of simians at The Green Monkey course in Barbados gives you a chance to swing through lush tropical foliage with exotic wildlife at Sandy Lane Resort, which adds an extra dimension to playing the back nine.
Breaking the code
The origin and meaning of the mysterious 3,000-year-old petroglyphs carved into the stone along St. John’s Reef Bay Trail have baffled anthropologists for years. Maybe you can break the code.
Melting pot
Step through strikingly carved Indonesian doors and enter East at Carlisle Bay Resort for an eclectic mix of Japanese, Thai, Indian and Vietnamese food served in a setting as exotic as it is dramatic.
British accent
Foodies flock to Rhodes Restaurant in Grenada’s Calabash Hotel, where famed chef Gary Rhodes fuses London urban flair with local island favorites such as eggs Benedict with seared tuna or roasted pork with spare ribs over pineapple.
Pirates of the Caribbean
Over 200 shipwrecks dot the waters off Barbuda, a small, super-secluded island near Nevis and Antigua. A dive here might yield you a fistful of dubloons!
Royal treatment
The curative waters of the Diamond Mineral Falls and Mineral Baths in St. Lucia were once favored by Louis XIV. A bracing follow-up to a day of hiking…or of doing nothing at all!
Souped up
After a wind-washed day, nothing beats a bowl of Peanut Pumpkin Soup in the cozy confines of the 370-year-old stone-walled mill that is home to The Sugar Mill Restaurant in Tortola.
Spelunking
Or caving, if you prefer. But whatever you call it, the 40-foot waterfall and crystal-clear pools and streams of Harrison’s Cave, Barbados, the largest of its kind in the Caribbean, just might leave you speechless.
Par de deux
Hang out with Mikhail Baryshnikov, a resident of Punta Cana Resort in the Dominican Republic. He is an avid golfer and often stops by the 19th hole at the La Cana course.
TGIF
The fishing village of Gros Islet in St. Lucia transforms into a lively and colorful street party every Friday night. Grab a cold beer, some barbecue chicken, and join the locals in celebrating…everything!
Room with a view
That’s what it’s all about at the Cliff Spa Suite at Little Dix Resort on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, a breathtaking private setting that overlooks the bay and offers individual or couples massage.
Rich traditions
Every October at the Nevis International Culinary Heritage Exposition, top Caribbean and international chefs offer hands-on lessons in the rich traditions of Caribbean cooking at resorts around the island. Gourmet lunches and dinners, cheese and wine tastings and beach parties round out the weekend program.
Hot enough to fry an egg
This is literally true at the “Drive-In Volcano” in La Soufriere, St. Lucia, where sulfuric rocks along the 5-acre volcanic crater get hot enough to…well, you get the picture.
Making waves
Everyone will enjoy the Coqui Water Park at the El Conquistador in Las Croabas, Puerto Rico offering a 25,554-square-foot sunbathing deck and 9,000 square foot infinity edge pool with mind-blowing vertical drops, high speed flume slides and wild river rapids.
All that Junkanoo jazz
Don’t miss Christmas and New Year’s in Nassau, The Bahamas, when Bay Street parties into the wee hours as local junkanoo ring cowbells, blow horns and beat Goombay drums. They wear color-drenched costumes and compete in free-spirited dance routines that may just have you joining in.
Incoming!
Try not to drop your jaw or mango martini at St. Martin’s Sunset Beach Bar as 747s pass just yards above your head and tourists and locals compete in bikini contests each Tuesday.