Caribbean

TURKS AND CAICOS

Caribbean costars: Turks & Caicos

Celebs are splashing down at this archipelago, where high-end tourism is booming. Regular folks can look for stars -- or starfish -- at this tropical idyll.

Sleeping around Bermuda

Three of the four roofs above our heads were made of slate and painted white. My wife, Juju, and I ran around for a week, sampling places to stay, and most had in common those white slate roofs.

Finding the right Caribbean island for you

It's hard to go completely wrong in choosing a Caribbean island.

WEST INDIES: On Grand Turk, a grand new ship terminal

Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise conglomerate, and the Turks and Caicos Tourism Board have opened a new cruise terminal in the West Indies islands. The first ship called earlier this year, but the official opening is scheduled for May 12.

CARIBBEAN: Puerto Rico losing share of tourist market

More vacationers are choosing to wile away their Caribbean holidays in the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean destinations rather than Puerto Rico, an industry group in the U.S. territory says.

Grand Turk’s ships have come in

Adrift out here on the fringes of the Caribbean, the Turks and Caicos Islands sit at the bottom of the Bahamas chain, nature's afterthought 575 miles southeast of Miami.

CARIBBEAN: Hot places to stay and eat

Some tips on new or refurbished hotels and attractions on some Caribbean islands. Hotel rates are per night, double, for winter months, unless otherwise noted.

BARBADOS: Washington’s home in the Caribbean

The newly renovated Barbados home where George Washington lived as a young man in 1751 has attracted hundreds of visitors from the United States and Britain only weeks after opening, officials said.

CARIBBEAN: Windjammer Cruises sail to secluded islands

The sails flap weakly as they climb the four huge masts. "Ride of the Valkyrie" blares from the speakers as a cannon booms, then fires again.

CARIBBEAN FESTIVALS: Cayman allure, plus all that jazz

The Caribbean, faithful cure for the winter blues, has rarely looked more alluring than it does now. Who wouldn't rather be sprawled out on a sun-drenched beach, drink in hand?

CARIBBEAN: Islands gear up for the Cricket World Cup

Cranes pivot above the modest Bridgetown, Barbados, skyline as they transform one of the Caribbean's oldest cricket grounds into a sleek, modern stadium - the premier venue for the region's first Cricket World Cup, to be held there March 11-April 28.

THE ABC ISLANDS: Simple, but not always easy

I was taking what seemed like a country back road, dodging wide puddles left by the previous day's downpour. The scenery included barbed wire, prickly pears and darned if there wasn't a windmill rising above the scrub. It was the typical springtime drive in Central Texas - except that I was on Bonaire in the Dutch Antilles.

The other side of Jamaica

Within a mile of Montego Bay's International Airport, we've already passed a goat grazing on a soccer field and fishermen hawking freshly caught lobsters and stringers of fish by the side of the road. On the four-hour drive to Port Antonio, a sleepy resort town on the eastern end of Jamaica, you can tell in an instant this is a world away.

Unassuming ANGUILLA tops the A-list

My assignment: Go behind the scenes of a celebrity vacation. Test the waters, so to speak, of Anguilla, a 35-square-mile island in the eastern Caribbean that ranks high on the list of über-chic superstar hideaways.

St. Croix: everything but the crowds

Awinding drive lined with royal palms ends at a 19th century Danish sugar plantation. Giant pink, yellow and purple orchids dangle from kapok trees in the St. George Village Botanical Garden.

ST. THOMAS: mass appeal

Thirty feet below the surface, the color red disappears. Your lips look gray; peel them back, and your gums are blue.

ST. JOHN: eco chic

Here's the thing about St. John. When your ferry docks in the capital of Cruz Bay - there's no airport - the town seems deliciously quiet and slow-paced, a refuge. But spend some time in the interior and you'll discover the real meaning of slow: feral burros and goats wandering the roads, sugar-shack bars, eco camps with rainwater showers. Turns out that Cruz Bay, with its hip boutiques and upscale resorts, is actually quite the hot spot.

ANEGADA ISLAND: Sailing away to sample a simpler life

Vernon Soars didn't just fantasize about living his dream on a speck of an island. He did it, taking his wife and four young kids along for the ride.

SCUBA DIVING: Dolphin swim sealed with a kiss

In more than two decades of scuba diving, I've penetrated shipwrecks and hung in a cage while blue and mako sharks circled and grabbed chunks of bait. But none of that seemed as surreal as when I was kneeling on the sand in 35 feet of water off Grand Bahama Island earlier this winter, removed my regulator on cue and then watched as an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin closed in and planted a kiss on my lips.