Listen, when one is prompted to think about a vacation in the true sense of the word, visions of white sandy beaches to go with the palm trees and azure waters of a tropical setting come to mind, don’t they? Which place on this earth represents that better than the Caribbean island nations? You can make it happen by way of hitting the Caribbean and it’s really not that expensive flying to places like Jamaica.
Dominica
Not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, Dominica offers the Caribbean tropical island paradise experience in its entirety. Away from the capital of Roseau, which is naturally a very short drive away, any which way you look at it, there’s a lot of natural beauty to not only admire, but to experience. For instance, you can take a hike to the Boiling Lake and enjoy some food prepared in the naturally boiling water that’s heated by some volcanic activity.
For reasons that are beyond me, Dominica remains a real hidden gem of the Caribbean.
Jamaica
With so many Jamaicans flocking to the USA and Canada one would think that they were trying to get away from someplace which doesn’t have all that much to offer. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Jamaicans usually just leave to seek greener pastures in the economic sense and not in the natural beauty sense. Take a holiday to what is perhaps the most famous of the Caribbean island nations and it’ll likely become a regular trip.
Bermuda
Since Bermuda is a little bit “higher up” on the globe, it does indeed offer a little bit of different twist on the quintessential Caribbean island experience. Here there are indeed summer and winter seasons, but that takes nothing away from the complete Caribbean island experience. Collect some beautiful sea glass from the aptly named Sea Glass Beach as one of many unique activities making up the Bermudan experience.
Curaçao
For some reason, the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao doesn’t readily come to mind as a Caribbean destination to explore, much in the like of Dominica. This effectively makes it a real hidden gem as well and anyone who makes the effort to visit will forever have some unique travel memories to reflect on. Explore the colorful colonial architecture in the Capital which rather beautifully complements the natural beauty of the beaches, some of which beaches are tucked into coastal caves, and bask in the haunting sights of some abandoned seaside buildings and shipwrecks.
Take a Caribbean Cruise
There are many other Caribbean nations which one can explore to be able to legitimately say that they’ve come away with the authentic Caribbean island experience, including the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis and even the likes of Cuba. How about taking a Caribbean cruise then if you perhaps want to fit in as many of these tropical island destinations as you can in one go, albeit you won’t really get to explore them much beyond the docking bay?
