… tourists.
Nestled in the hilly Puerto Rican interior, Arecibo is reachable … Cleveland. As a child in Puerto Rico, he visited the observatory. … a large solar farm in Puerto Rico‘s interior, which … It was built in Puerto Rico because scientists in the 1950s …
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The latest Caribbean Photo comes from Caribbean Journal reader Samantha Illiffe, who sent in this stunning photograph of a purple sky at the Holiday Inn in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Have you taken a great photo of the Caribbean?
Send it to news@caribjournal.com with CPOTW in the subject line, including your first and last name and the location of the photo.
It could be the next Caribbean Photo of the Week!
— CJ
The post Caribbean Photo of the Week: A Purple Sky in Jamaica appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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“If you want to run away from the world, you just come here,” Loretta tells us.
And as soon as you walk past the koi pond down to the pool and look out, you agree.
Because while staggering beauty abounds in the Caribbean. there’s a particular surfeit of it in the British Virgin Islands, that sought-after archipelago that draws boats and travelers and dreamers from around the world to gaze at its gorgeous green-hilled vistas.
And yet, even in a chain of islands this dazzlingly beautiful, there is something extra on the island of Virgin Gorda.
It’s here where the beauty marries a kind of mystical energy.
Maybe it’s the boulders; maybe it’s the sand, but there’s something very special in Virgin Gorda, a primordial current that seems to run through the place.
And there is no more spectacular spot to look out at Virgin Gorda’s wonders than here, up on the Princess Quarters, high above The Baths.
This is the Red Rock Villa, where Loretta Plummer, along with colleague Kellon Cuffie (above) ensure that those who check in, well, never want to leave.
Designed by German architect Hubert Horbach, it’s one of the leading villas in the BVI, a complex that include a two-story main house, a three-bedroom suite house and, most notably, a full-fledged, on-site spa.
It’s the latter that has helped turn the villa into a wellness destination in its own right; but it’s the pool and the views that take a beautiful villa to the next level.
Red Rocks, which looks out directly at The Baths and its sea of granite boulders
And then there are the amenities: the daily housekeeping, the Nespresso, the Clairins toiletries, the concierge services, all wonderful touches, all of which turn help to turn a villa into a destination.
But when you get in the cliffside pool and look out, the only things you can think about are the shades of blue, those mysterious rocks, the islands across from you.
The sort of place to come if you want to run away from the world. And never leave.
For more, visit the Red Rock Villa.
The post In Virgin Gorda, a Stunning Caribbean Villa appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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JUNCOS, Puerto Rico – Four Puerto Rican inmates whose basketball dreams were … launched Liga de Baloncesto Puertorriqueña (Puerto Rican Basketball League, or LBP).
For … , a joint program of the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation …
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It’s not Isla Mujeres. Nor Playa del Carmen. The hottest destination on Mexico’s Caribbean Coast is Playa Mujeres — a.k.a. Costa Mujeres — a booming new resort area about a half-hour north of Cancun’s Hotel Zone and 45 minutes from Cancun International Airport.
Until fairly recently, this area near Puerto Juarez was known primarily as the base for the ferry to Isla Mujeres, a laid-back island about eight miles offshore where the prime attractions include quiet beaches, an underwater sculpture park, and — seasonally — the opportunity to swim with migrating whale sharks.
Now, the area is being hailed as the ‘New Cancun.’
In a span of little more than a decade, 10 luxury, mostly all-inclusive resorts have opened on Playa Mujeres, beginning with the Excellence Playa Mujeres, which opened in November 2007, and the most recent being the Aterlier Estudio Playa Mujeres, a 593-unit all-suites resort that debuted in October 2019.
Other Playa Mujeres properties include the Dreams Playa Mujeres Spa and Golf Resort, the sister property Secrets Playa Mujeres Spa and Golf Resort, the Finest Playa Mujeres, the Beloved Playa Mujeres, the Grand Palladium Costa Mujeres Resort, the TRS Coral Hotel, and the Paradisus Playa Mujeres.
Yet it was only at the 2019 Cancun Travel Mart that local tourism officials settled on a brand name for the district, choosing “Costa Mujeres” over the more frequently used Playa Mujeres.
It’s a name travelers will be hearing a lot more of.
A total of 15,000 new hotel rooms will be added at Costa Mujeres in the next five years, including new properties from Hilton, Riu, Planet Hollywood, and Mexican hotel company Posadas, which operates resorts under the Live Aqua, Grand Fiesta, and Fiesta Americana brands.
Officials expect that Costa Mujeres will have about 35,000 hotel rooms in the next decade.
Compare that to the 30,000 hotel rooms that have been built during the entire 50-year history of the Cancun Hotel Zone.
Like Cancun’s Hotel Zone, Costa Mujeres is close to the city of Cancun. Unlike Cancun, however, the new hotel district lacks easy access from the airport, with taxis and shuttles required to drive through the city to reach the still-rough roads leading to the beaches. Tourism officials acknowledge that there is still work to be done with infrastructure, transportation, and balancing development with environmental preservation.
Once you arrive, however, the resorts live up to Costa Mujeres’ billing as the “modern luxury” destination in the Mexican Caribbean.
The Atelier Estudio, for example, had a spectacular grand opening, with buildings bathed in multicolored lights, a sprawling pool area spanned by an arched bridge, elevated guest rooms with private pools, open-concept dining areas, and an eye-catching contemporary Mexican design, and a beach with private cabanas and hammocks hung over the gentle surf.
It’s a sign of many things to come in a resort community that will soon be featured just as prominently on the Mexican Caribbean map as Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum.
The post A “New” Cancun Rises in the Mexican Caribbean appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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