By Guy Britton

Even before you get off the plane you can feel it.  

This is not like any other place you’ve visited in the Caribbean.

It’s just 10 square miles here, a beach-filled corner of sand 80 miles northeast of Grand Cayman, a place so small the island’s main road actually cross the runway at Edward Bodden Airfield.

Less than 200 people live here and it’s clear the minute you arrive that mother nature is in charge.

The smaller the island, the more this is true. 

What’s also true is that it’s hard to find an island anywhere in this hemisphere more pristine or untouched than Little Cayman.

Nature and the environment are cherished and vehemently protected by the locals.  

What that means is you have a beachy paradise above the water, and a submarine heaven beneath it.

Indeed, the quality of scuba diving on Little Cayman is unsurpassed around the world.

There are hundreds of dive and snorkel spots, led by Bloody Bay on the island’s north side, world-famous for its wall diving and a must-do for any serious diver. 

Owen Island.

But you don’t need to be a diver to enjoy this piece of paradise, where relaxation and adventure are in equally large supply.

At the Southern Cross Club, one of the island’s beautiful boutique hotels, there is a sliver of soft sand so sublime you could linger all day.

But adventure here is not optional.

You are called, beckoned, enlisted and employed by adventures here.

There is in-shore fishing, offshore fishing and flats fishing,

There is kayaking, biking, hiking, sailing, paddling and bird watching. 

For the latter, there’s Booby Pond, where you can visit the Caribbean’s largest population of red-footed boobies. 

Owen island sits just off shore from the hammock at the Southern Cross Club and you can hear it calling.

The beach at Point of Sand is one of the prettiest you’ll find anywhere on earth and just off shore there are beautiful snorkeling reefs. 

The Southern Cross Club.

Quite often you can have Point of Sand all to yourself, just you the breeze and the birds, a place where you can spend a single day and never see another soul.

It’s an island where you’ll often feel as if you have the whole place to yourself.

Because it’s true.

See more in the latest CJ Video.

— CJ

Note: Little Cayman is also home to the  Central Caribbean Marine Institute. where they work on research, conservation and education.  At CCMI they are very progressive in reef restoration and propagation. CCMI hosts year-round programs for visiting students, researchers and groups. (Prince Charles visited CCMI when he was on Little Cayman last month during a wider visit to the Cayman Islands). CCMI encourages and coordinates volunteers, locals and guests who get involved with conservation and protecting the marine environment. 

The post VIDEO: Little Cayman, an Untouched Gem of the Caribbean appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor

We all talk about disconnecting on our vacations, about taking a break from work, from social media, from the hustle and bustle.

And while more hotels are starting to offer “digital detox” programs, one Aruba resort is actually rewarding travelers who do so.

The 414-room Aruba Marriott just launched a new option for guests to earn rewards by disconnecting from their phones during their vacations.

Guests can leave their phones at the oceanfront property’s front desk, where they will be held securely in a safety box.

In exchange, they will receive a disposable camera to use to capture memories from their trip.

And that’s when the challenge begins.

If guests are able to make it through the majority of their stay without retrieving their phone, they’re rewarded with 5,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to use for a future Marriott stay. 

Do you think you could do it?

For more, visit the Aruba Marriott.

— CJ

The post How to Take a Digital Detox on Your Aruba Vacation appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

Playa Hotel and Resorts has officially unveiled its newly-expanded adults-only Sanctuary Cap Cana resort, set in the tony enclave of Cap Cana in Punta Cana.

The property has completed a $35 million expansion project that saw the addition of two new buildings, each with six stories, with a total expansion of 140 new hotel rooms.

Sanctuary Cap Cana.

The Punta Cana luxury resort now has a total of 325 rooms, along with five restaurants, six bars, a fitness center, five pools, a private stretch of beach and amenities like 24-hour room service, free Wi-Fi and a mini-bar stocked daily.

The expansion is part of a complete “reimagining” of the hotel, covering everything from the lobby to the resort’s dining concepts to its signature spa.

Juanillo Beach.

It also comes as Playa is set to unveil a major new all-inclusive complex in Cap Cana: the Hyatt Ziva and Zilara resort complex, with a family-friendly and adults-only resort (modeled on a similar Playa pairing in Montego Bay).

That project is slated to debut Nov. 1, according to Playa’s Web site, and like Sanctuary will be set on the shimmering white sands of Juanillo Beach. (It should be noted that Playa does not own, but manages the Sanctuary resort).

A rendering of the all-inclusive Hyatt complex in Cap Cana.

It will include a total of 750 rooms across the two properties.

Punta Cana, the tourism hub of what remains the Caribbean’s biggest tourism destination, the Dominican Republic, continues to be a haven for hotel development.

That’s thanks to what is one of the Caribbean’s friendliest investment climates for hospitality companies.

— CJ

The post Playa’s Big Expansion in Punta Cana appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

Demand for travel to the US Virgin Islands continues to surge.

That was the takeaway from talks between the USVI’s Department of Tourism and several major airlines last week.

There has been strong demand for seats to both St Thomas and St Croix this past winter season, according to Tourism Commissioner Designee Joseph Boschulte.

And that is likely to result in additional capacity this winter and next summer, he said.

Indeed, United is set to launch daily nonstop flights from Houston to St Thomas this summer, and would “also consider plans for new additional flights to St Thomas and St Croix the following summer,” he said.

“We have had some very important discussions about the future of airlift to the Territory and look forward to following up with our airline partners to ensure that we have adequate flights into our islands, especially as more accommodations come on line in the months ahead,” said Boschulte, who noted that United had already loaded new Saturday flights from Chicago to St Thomas before the upcoming winter season.

Boschulte also met with American Airlines in Dallas, with increased capacity from Chicago, Dallas and Miami all under consideration.

That’s along with the potential for growth out of the Charlotte hub, he said.

“”These meetings matter as we embark on a managed growth strategy through the full return of land-based tourism following the storms of 2017,” he said. “The travel and tourism sector is changing to meet its growth and is becoming more electronic and internet-based, but ironically, the more virtual it gets, the more important it is to regularly meet face-to-face with our partners,” he said.

— CJ

The post USVI Travel Demand Keeps Rising appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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