The new resort, set on Cap Cana’s Juanillo Beach, has a total of 228 suites, along with 40 luxury villas, a pool and a spa.
That includes three different categories of swim up suites, including beachfront honeymoon swim-up suites; swim-up premium suites and swim-up junior luxury suites.
There’s also a signature Jimmy Buffett Suite, according to Karisma.
Allddddd
That’s along with six restaurants and five bars, all with the Buffett theme and one, of course, called Five O’Clock Somewhere (it’s one of two swim-up bars on property).
It’s the latest in what is a growing Caribbean resort portfolio for the Margaritaville brand. Another Margaritaville resort (not affiliated with Karisma), opened in Nassau over the summer.
It’s on a sign above the door at the Infinity Bar.
It’s that old French refrain, “Let the good times roll.”
And the moment you walk into the Oyster Bay Beach Resort, you understand.
The 180-room resort that straddles St Maarten’s Oyster Pond and the Caribbean Sea has long been one of those legendary places to stay in the Caribbean, the ones for Caribbean aficionados.
It’s the one that always seems to draw beach seekers who have fallen in love with the Caribbean, on an island that instantly makes you fall in love.
And it’s never been better, this place, perched above the ocean with a stunning view toward St Barth, at the edge of the comforting sands of Dawn Beach.
A Mainsail Penthouse unit.
Indeed, the rooms are bright and breezy, and the Mainsail Pentbouse units, all of which come with their own ocean-view hot tubs, just might be the most spectacular rooms on the whole island.
And the resort is making more new additions, from a recently-launched putting green to the new Veranda Market and Bistro.
And perhaps most notably, it’s the perfect location in St Maarten.
Oyster Pond is right at the edge of the Dutch-French border, meaning it’s an easy trip both to Philipsburg and to the sights and sounds of Orient Bay and, a little further on, the culinary wonders of Grand Case.
That’s a rather privileged perch on the island – a bit of the best of both worlds.
But when the guests aren’t out exploring, they’re likely to be found at the pool and the Infinity Bar, a town square of sorts, one of the fulcrums of the resort, expertly stewarded by the famous Wanda.
Wanda and her famous Guavaberry Colada.
Wanda has been here for 16 years; she’s in love with the place, too, serving up all manner of libation and the resort’s signature drink: the Guavaberry Colada.
It’s got St Maarten’s locally-made Guavaberry Liqueur, dark rum, pineapple and Coco Lopez, and it’s almost impossibly delicious.
As Wanda makes her way around the pool, she’s serenaded with salutes from guests — everybody knows her.
And that’s not a surprise at place that has developed one of the most impressively loyal followings in the Caribbean.
“Some guests come back two and three times a year,” Wanda tells me.
I ask her about the sign, and she says it’s a nod to the ongoing Owner’s Appreciation month, a celebration of the resort’s vacation club owners.
Trinidad-based Caribbean Airlines is restarting two of its most active nonstop routes, Caribbean Journal has learned.
Beginning in December, Caribbean Airlines will restart flights from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to both Kingston, Jamaica and Port of Spain, Trinidad.
On Dec. 7, Caribbean Airline will kick off twice-weekly service between Fort Lauderdale and Kingston on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The Strawberry Hill hotel outside of Kingston.
The Fort Lauderdale-Kingston flights will continue beyond the holiday peak period, Caribbean Airlines said in a statement.
On Dec. 12, the carrier will be running twice-weekly Fort Lauderdale-Trinidad flights on Thursdays and Sundays.
The latter will operate seasonally, running though Jan. 10, 2022.
Port of Spain, Trinidad.
It’s a big step for Caribbean Airlines, which operates a broad intra-regional network but has now begun to restart its international service from the United States.
That comes as both Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are open for tourism; the latter just reopened over the summer while Jamaica’s tourism industry has been open since June of 2020.
Dreams has opened its newest all-inclusive resort in the Mexican Caribbean, Caribbean Journal has confirmed.
It’s called Dreams Sapphire Resort and Spa, and it’s a rebranding of the former Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun.
The family-friendly resort, which is part of Apple Leisure Group’s new AMR Collection, is set in the increasingly popular beach town of Puerto Morelos in what’s commonly referred to as the “Riviera Cancun.”
It’s the second Dreams-branded resort in Puerto Morelos, joining the existing Dreams Jade Resort and Spa.
Tourism is surging to the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire, which has undertaken one of the region’s model tourism reopenings since its summer 2020 restart.
Bonaire reported nearly 75,000 visitor arrivals through the end of August, according to new data from Tourism Corporation Bonaire.
That’s along with what’s expected to be a very strong summer, according to Tourism Corporation Bonaire CEO Miles Mercera.
Mercera told Caribbean Journal that there was “strong additional demand” for the island for the next six months, who projected arrivals and airlift capacity both above pre-pandemic levels.
.A room at the Delfins Beach Resort
Indeed, the island is poised for a big winter with the return of a wave of airlift, kicking off with United Airlines’ Nov. 6 restart of service from Houston, along with the relaunch of the carrier’s Newark-Bonaire flights.
On Nov. 8, American Airlines will begin operating three daily flights from Miami, followed by daily flights from Miami to Bonaire during the holiday season.
And Delta will be increasing its Atlanta-Bonaire service to twice-weekly in late November and six times weekly through the holiday season.
For 2022, seats are up nearly 40 percent, Mercera said, with just under 240,000 seats coming into Bonaire across nine different airlines.
The tourism boom comes as the island’s hotel product continue to grow.
A rendering of the new Time to Smile Chogogo Beach Resort.
Two major resorts are set to open their doors soon in Bonaire, headlined by the expansion to Bonaire of the Curacao-based Chogogo brand.
The new Time to Smile Chogogo Beach Resort is slated to open before the end of the year, with total of 20- rooms.
That’s along with the relaunch Sunset Beach Bonaire, which will add 160 rooms.
And the island’s buzziest resort, the Delfins Beach Resort (home to the recently-crowned number one restaurant in the Caribbean, Brass Boer), is also expanding.
