Low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines is launching a new nonstop route to Cancun in February, Caribbean Journal has learned.
Spirit will launch its first-ever flights from Cleveland to Cancun, Mexico beginning Feb. 14.
“We are proud to celebrate five years in Cleveland and grateful for all the support from our Guests here,” said John Kirby, Spirit Airline’s Vice President of Network Planning. “Cleveland travelers appreciate our value proposition, which has allowed Spirit to grow significantly from three to twelve destinations in five years. As we look to the future, we look forward to serving and expanding in the region for years to come.”
The new flights will operate four times each week, according to Spirit.
“Spirit Airlines is a great partner at CLE and has been for the last 5 years,” said Cleveland Airport Director Robert Kennedy. “We look forward to many more years of success and growth together. Spirit Airlines provides Clevelanders with new opportunities to travel to wonderful locations at competitive costs.”
The scuba diving circuit in the Caribbean has long been a rarefied one, with a small group of destinations like Bonaire and Cozumel drawing the world’s top divers and enthusiasts.
Now a new scuba diving player has emerged: Antigua.
The hottest diving destination in the Caribbean is Antigua, home to world-class dive sites across the island, particularly on its popular southern coast, and the added benefit of being largely undiscovered by much of the scuba diving community.
And the epicenter of this burgeoning dive destination is on the southeastern coast of the island at the island’s St James’s Club and Villas Resort.
It’s called Mamora Bay Divers, the on-site dive operation at the property, which has called St James’ Club home since 2011.
Mamora Bay, the island’s leading dive outfit, is led by dive master and instructor Linda Swann, who has more than 15,000 dives under her belt in destinations from the Caribbean to the Red Sea.
It means scuba divers have a new adventure to try in the Caribbean, a new way to experience some of the most beautiful. pristine reefs in the wider Caribbean – ones without the high-volume traffic of legacy diving destinations.
And Antigua’s got all of the elements in place: beautiful, healthy reefs; a diverse undersea ecosystem; copious ledges, swim-throughs and underwater chimneys and warm water coupled with great visibility (with the latter typically ranging from 40 to 130 feet).
And if you dive between January and April, you can even hear the sounds of humpback whales.
And if you’re a novice, this is the right place, with Mamora’s Bay PADI-based instruction courses from the very entry level to dive master training.
And if you’re at the St James’s Club, you can simply meander down the path from your room, hope on the dive boat and take off, in a short time exploring legendary Antigua sites like JC Canon, Stoney Cove and Eugene’s Arena.
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JetBlue Airways and Mexico-based InterJet Airlines have announced a new interline agreement.
The agreement means passengers can purchase one ticket for combined flights on both airlines, and check their bags through to their ultimate destination.
The move opens up many new gateways for travelers to Mexico, thanks to JetBlue’s broad national and regional presence and InterJet’s strength within the country.
“We are very excited to announce another very important bilateral interline agreement between Interjet and JetBlue,” said Julio Gamero, Interjet’s Chief Commercial Officer. This partnership will allow passengers from both airlines access to more amazing destinations across the U.S., and Mexico while JetBlue business and leisure travelers will be able to experience our unique brand of lower prices with free checked bags on select fares, business class legroom between every seat and great service.”
St Kitts has quietly been developing into one of the Caribbean’s hottest luxury destinations — and now it has another resort in its portfolio.
The KOI Resort St Kitts, which is part of Hilton’s Curio Collection, has officially opened its doors on the island’s Half Moon Bay.
It’s the first-ever Caribbean hotel by the KOI hospitality brand, which is best known for its restaurants in cities like New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
“We are thrilled to be home to the Hilton brand’s first property in St Kitts as well as the first KOI Hospitality hotel,” said Lindsay Grant, St Kitts’ Tourism Minister. “As we continue to build and develop our stayover tourism, the addition of select upscale properties balances the strategic growth of our airlift service from key non-stop gateways and flow markets.”
A room at the hotel.
“The opening of Koi Resort St Kitts not only adds room stock to our current hotel inventory, it provides further diversity in the accommodations options we can offer visitors,” he said.
The hotel adds to a pair of exclusive, luxe resorts in St Kitts: the celebrated Park Hyatt St Kitts in the island’s tony Christophe Harbour development and the eco-chic Belle Mont Farm resort on the north of St Kitts.
“The opening of KOI Resort St. Kitts as a Curio Collection by Hilton brand that appeals to the experiential destination travelers who comprise our primary target market is a benefit to our tourism sector,” said Racquel Brown, CEO of the St Kitts Tourism Authority.
“As more lifestyle travelers are choosing St. Kitts as their destination of choice, it will help us to remain ‘on the rise’ in what is one of the most competitive regions in the world for tourism.”
The 102-room hotel has a pool terrace in view of the sea, a gym, a spa called Kaya, and guestrooms with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking either the sea, mountains or the adjacent Royal St Kitts Golf Club, one of the region’s top courses.
A dish at Jaya.
There are three culinary concepts, led by the eponymous KOI Restaurant, a Japanese eatery, joined by a poolside bar called Jaya Kitchen and a lounge called Jaya Ultra Lounge.
There’s also a robust offering for events, with more than 6,000 square feet of space and capacity for up to 300 guests for meetings and other functions.
