In a potential game changer for tourism in the British Virgin Islands, American Airlines has announced plans to launch nonstop flights from Miami to Tortola. 

Next summer, American will kick off the first-ever nonstop flights from the United States to the British Virgin Islands, with service set to launch on June 1, 2023. 

The new route from Miami to Beef Island Airport will be operated on Embraer 175 aircraft, with daily flights. 

The flights will run through the summer and then again starting in November 2023. 

“We are proud to operate as the leading airline in South Florida, offering our customers an unrivaled network in the Caribbean and Latin America with service from the Miami hub to more than 70 destinations in the region,” said Juan Carlos Liscano, American Airlines’ Vice President for Miami. “This year demand has remained strong for Miami travel, and we’re looking forward to further growth in 2023 with a new and unique destination in the Caribbean that our customers love – the British Virgin Islands.”

It’s a significant boon for a beloved destination that has never been particularly easy to get to. Options have typically ranged from riding the ferry from St Thomas or connecting through either San Juan or St Thomas by air. 

“We are very happy to [welcome] American Airlines to the British Virgin Islands. This venture to have direct flights between Miami and the British Virgin Islands will make it significantly easier, faster and more affordable for persons from around the world to come to the British Virgin Islands, which is one of the must-visit tourist destinations in the world,” said the British Virgin Islands’ Minister of Communications and Works, Kye Rymer. “Our residents will also benefit from convenient connections for business and leisure travel to dozens of destinations across American’s route network.” 

The British Virgin Islands remains one of the Caribbean’s top sailing destinations (anchored by The Moorings) and a growing hotel and villa product concentrated on islands like Tortola, Virgin Gorda and Anegada and smaller private islands like Cooper Island and Guana Island, among others. 

It’s part of a new effort by American to connect Miami to some of the Caribbean’s harder-to-reach destinations. That includes new routes from Miami to both Dominica and Anguilla, both of which kicked off last year. 

Both of those routes represented the first-ever US flights for each destination. 

The post In First, American Airlines to Fly From Miami to British Virgin Islands appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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First there was Christopher Columbus, met by the waters of Guanahani in 1492. 

And then, 530 years later, there was SpongeBob. 

SpongeBob is a 25-pound Nassau Grouper that calls Long Bay home, the most famous current resident of a bay that was the first landfall of Columbus and his crew on Oct. 12, 1492. 

Today, tiny San Salvador, called Guanahani by the native Lucayans, is the frontier of The Bahamas, a far-off Out Island with sparkling beaches, blue holes and some of the best diving anywhere on earth. 

Captain Bruce Niro has been diving these waters and running a robust dive operation for four decades, an earnest steward of some of the most pristine coastline you’ll find in the hemisphere. 

It’s a place of pilgrimage for divers (and snorkelers) the world over, anchored by the reef at Long Bay that starts out at 40 feet offshore and a wall that begins less than 200 yards off the coast. 

What’s different here, Niro says, is the sheer size of the marine life. 

“Other places, you don’t see big fish, you see grunts and yellowtails, nothing big,” he says. “Here, your have reef sharks, Nassau groupers, rock groupers, mutton snappers.”

But the biggest draw is SpongeBob, the most popular – and certainly most friendly – resident of these waters. 

And then in the winter, the bay teems with hammerhead sharks. 

And it stays that way, thanks to San Salvador’s remoteness and fishermen who know better than to enter the coast’s protected areas. 

What makes it so special, Niro says, is the lack of crowds. 

“We don’t get 200 divers a week here, that’s what keeps our wall healthy.”

And while Long Bay, the place where Columbus arrived, is spectacular, this relatively tiny island is home to a whopping 50 dive sites, all within easy access of the shoreline up and down the western coast. 

And the best way to see it is with Captain Bruce (and colleague Captain Tony Mackey), whose Guanahani Divers operation is the island’s best. 

While San Salvador has an international airport, there’s just one nonstop flight per week from Miami. Otherwise you have to arrive on Bahamasair through Nassau. There is regular service on Air Caraibes from Paris, thanks to the island’s Club Med resort, and nonstop service from Montreal on Air Canada. 

The island’s best place to stay is the 18-room Sands Hotel, with a prime perch over a stunning San Salvador Beach, right next door to the larger Riding Rock Resort. 

Plainly, there are few islands like this anywhere in the region. And that’s what makes it perhaps the ultimate Caribbean diving destination. 

“I’ve got divers that come here there four times a year and don’t go anywhere else,” Niro says. 

For more, contact Captain Bruce at captainbruce56@hotmail.com or 242-468-6875. 

The post The Ultimate Caribbean Scuba Diving Destination appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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A new all-inclusive resort is opening on an island off the coast of the Dominican Republic next year, Caribbean Journal has learned. 

The new Cayo Levantado Resort, part of the Bahia Principe Hotels and Resorts portfolio, is opening its doors in June 2023, the property confirmed. 

The resort, which is now taking reservations for stays beginning June 1, 2023, is the product of an extensive transformation of the former Bahia Principe Luxury Cayo Levantado. 

“We are thrilled to announce the launch of this very unique nature’s enclave,” said Lluisa Salord, VP of Sales, Contracting and Distribution. “Cayo Levantado Resort is certainly an important benchmark in the Dominican Republic, a major sustainable innovation project taking shape with the help of local companies and talent in Samaná. This project not only adds value to the tourism sector, but also contributes to the development of the country and the local community.”  

The resort will have a total of 219 rooms, along with two swimming pools, a pair of spas – including a “jungle spa” – and a beach club. 

That’s along with other more unique amenities, from an outdoor CrossFit area to a personal training studio, a botanical garden and a beauty salon. 

The all-inclusive resort will have three a la carte eateries, including one buffet; beverage outlets will feature four bars and a coffee shop. 

The all-inclusive program will additionally include themed events and activities and one hour per day of watersports.

The wellness center, called Yubarta, will feature a meditation room, a cent, a nutrition studio and lush tropical gardens. 

Bahia Principe says the resort will have two additional “specialty restaurants” to “give visitors exciting dining options outside the all-inclusive offerings.” Those will likely involve a surcharge. 

It’s the only resort on the tiny island in the bay of Samana, home to three beaches, two of which are exclusively for guests at the Cayo Levantado Resort. 

For more, visit Cayo Levantado Resort.

The post A New All-Inclusive Resort Is Opening on a Dominican Republic Island  appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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The Mexican Caribbean hotspot of Tulum has been one of the most active hotel markets in the wider region in the last few years. 

What began as a small destination with mostly boutique hotels has become a magnet for larger brands, including Hilton, which made its high-profile debut in Tulum last year with both an all-inclusive Hilton Tulum and a Conrad resort (the first in Mexico). 

Now Hilton has added another one, and it is rather different than any other Hilton in the region.

It’s called Motto by Hilton Tulum, and it is the first-ever Caribbean destination for the company’s “urban, lifestyle” Motto brand. 

The new hotel has 115 rooms, all on the smaller side, or, as Hilton calls them, “travel-sized,” with a unique flexible setup. 

That means guests can pick standard rooms, rooms with bunk beds or even those with Murphy-style stowaway beds. Motto also offers connecting room configurations, with the option to connect up to five different rooms. 

The hotel is centered around what Hilton calls Motto Commons, a “neighborhood gathering space” that lets guests order coffee, work in a co-working style space or have a drink at the bar. 

In another nod to growing travel trends, Motto has on-site “Motto Hosts” that can curate various experiences for guests, from mezcal tastings to e-bike tours of Tulum. 

The design-focused hotel has a pair of rooftop infinity pools, complete with private cabanas and views of the surrounding jungle. Dining concepts include a rooftop pool bar, a bistro and a casual bar. (There is also a fitness center and an outdoor workout area.)

While it’s not on the beach, Motto has partnered with Tulum’s Bagatelle and Vagalume to provide guaranteed chairs and subbed service for guests at the hotel. 

It is a very different kind of hotel for both the Caribbean and Tulum, and a concept that could find its way to other Caribbean destinations in the coming years. 

For more, visit Motto by Hilton Tulum. 

The post Hilton Just Opened a New “Lifestyle” Hotel in Tulum, Mexico  appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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Margaritaville continues to add new resorts in the Caribbean, with the newest set for the Caribbean coast of Belize. 

The new Margaritaville Beach Villa Resort had been set to open “early 2023” in the increasingly popular Ambergris Caye in Belize. 

And now it has an official opening date. 

The resort is opening its doors in March 2023, the company confirmed this week. 

The new resort will be far more boutique-style than recent Margaritaville openings in the Caribbean, which have tended toward larger, all-inclusive resorts. 

The Belize version will have just 55 suites, along with a trio of food and beverage concepts, a pair of pools and a wellness center. 

The company says the resort, set on a “secluded beach in Ambergris Caye,” will focus on locally-grown and sourced cuisine, fishing and diving and a mix of one, two and three-bedroom units. 

Other amenities will include a pickleball court, an adventure center, a convenience center and a gym. 

Unlike other Caribbean Margaritavilles, the resort will be a residential resort, meaning it has real estate component that has already launched sales. 

The resort is reached by boat, with a short ferry from San Pedro in Ambergris Caye. 

It’s set 600 yards away from what is the world’s second-largest barrier reef. 

When it opens in March, it will join an ever-expanding portfolio of Margaritaville resorts that now has locations everywhere from Nassau in The Bahamas to the Caribbean coast of Mexico.

For more, visit Margaritaville Beach Villa Resort.

The post Jimmy Buffett’s New Margaritaville Belize Resort Opening in March appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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