Southwest Airlines is continuing its rapid expansion push in the Caribbean in 2017.

The carrier has announced that it will add a new nonstop route between Chicago Midway International Airport and San Juan’s Luis Munoz Marin International Airport.

Southwest is also increasing the frequency of its flights from Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Tampa and Orlando to Puerto Rico.

The new route and expansion will take effect June 4, according to the company.

Southwest will now have two routes to Puerto Rico, from both Newark and Chicago.

“The addition of flights and frequencies in the air routes offered by Southwest Airlines will facilitate the increase of visitors to the Island,” said Jose Izquierdo II, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. “This increase will result in a greater contribution of the tourism industry to the economic development of Puerto Rico.”

— Caribbean Journal Staff

The post Southwest Airlines Adds More Caribbean Nonstop Flights appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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Two Eastern Caribbean neighbors are getting even closer.

Guadeloupe-based air carrier Air Caraibes has added a new ATR 72 to its fleet to operate thrice-weekly flights between Martinique and St. Lucia.

The new 74-seat plane is the first ATR in the company’s fleet.

“We want to announce that we are going to operate flights from Martinique to Saint Lucia until April, three times a week on Friday Saturday and Sunday, and I think it’s good news because passengers from Martinique will spend weekends at the hotels [which] is a good thing for tourism in Saint Lucia,” said Air Caraibes CEO Olivier Bresnard.

The service also gives travelers additional options for island hopping vacations combining Martinique and St. Lucia.

— Caribbean Journal Staff

The post New Martinique-St. Lucia Flights appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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The island of St. Lucia is quietly seeing a hotel development boom.

On the heels of the announcement of the Pearl of the Caribbean resort project, St. Lucia is reporting a wave of development that will add more than 1,000 new hotel rooms to the country’s hotel stock in the next few years.

New hotels on the horizon include the Royalton Saint. Lucia, which is slated to debut in February with 352 rooms; the adjacent Hideaway at Royalton Saint Lucia, a boutique adults-only resort with 104 rooms; Serenity at Coconut Bay, slated to open this spring with 36 suites (each with plunge pools); and the Harbor Club, with 115 rooms in the heart of the Rodney Bay Marina.

A rendering of Royalton Saint Lucia.

Last month, Sandals announced it would be building the new Sandals LaSource Saint Lucia, which will break ground this spring on a 350-room project.

A look at the in-development Sandals LaSource in St. Lucia.

“This hotel boom adds much-needed inventory to meet the demands of our key source markets,” said St. Lucia Tourism Minister Dominic Fedee. “Tourism growth remains a priority in 2017 as well as developing new island experiences and events for travelers. We are optimistic that this will be a year of tourism expansion.”

Heading to St. Lucia? Check out our rankings of the Best St. Lucia hotels.

— CJ

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It’s one of the greatest races in the hemisphere: the RORC Caribbean 600.

It’s a 600-mile race that starts and finishes in Antigua and circles 11 Caribbean islands in between.

This year’s race, which is organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Antigua Yacht Club, will have a record entry of more than 70 boats.

“The support of the members of the Antigua Yacht Club plays a vital part in the success of the RORC Caribbean 600,” said RORC Racing Manager, Nick Elliott. “The fact that we see so many familiar faces helping us each year, with their vast experience of the local area and conditions, gives the RORC the confidence to be able to organize this demanding offshore race with a small RORC team from the UK.”

Yachts carrying a total of more than 800 crew members from around the world will meet in Antigua, culminating in the award of the RORC Caribbean 600 Trophy to the monohull with the best corrected time under the IRC rating room.

Yachts from the U.S. have won five out of eight editions of the race.

This year there are 16 entries from the U.S., and others from Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, B.V.I., Belize, Cayman, Spain, France, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and Russia.

— Dana Niland, CJ Contributor

The post This 600-Mile Offshore Race Circles 11 Islands in the Caribbean appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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There are so many different experiences available in the Caribbean: the classic beach getaway; the rainforest retreat; the urban adventure; the castaway island escape, and everything in between.

If you’re looking for something different, though, it’s time to think about a trip to one of the Caribbean’s small towns.

These places have a bit of everything – food, nightlife, culture and a unique portal to experience authentic island living.

Here are five wonderful Caribbean towns to think about.

St. Pierre, Martinique

Dubbed the “Caribbean Pompeii,” this was once the Paris of the Caribbean until a 1902 volcano utterly destroyed the area. Now, it’s a charming, classic French-Caribbean town, with great food, bakeries, hiking, historical ruins and even a rum distillery right on the volcano.

The post 5 Caribbean Towns to Visit Right Now appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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