Caribbean Holiday

The Caribbean is a region located southeast of Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north and west of South America. It is a region that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (most of which enclose the sea), and the surrounding coasts. The name "Caribbean" originates from one of the dominant Amerindian groups, the Caribs in the region at the time of European contact during the late 15th century. A person from the Caribbean is usually referred to as a "West Indian", although "Caribbean person" is sometimes used.

The climate and geography in the Caribbean region varies from one place to another. Some islands such as Aruba, Bonaire, Barbados, Anguilla or the Cayman Islands in the region are relatively flat terrains of non-volcanic in origins. Meanwhile others like the islands of Cuba, Dominica, Haiti, the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Montserrat, Saba, Saint Lucia or Trinidad may contain some rugged towering mountain-ranges. The climate of the region depends a great deal upon location in proximity to the tradewinds from the Atlantic and mainly ranges between sub-tropical to tropical. However, the region enjoys moderate temperatures and cool breezes all year round.

The Puerto Rico trench located just to the north of the island of Puerto Rico on the fringe of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea is said to be the deepest point in the entire Atlantic Ocean. The economy of the Caribbean is closely connected to that of the United States. Some of the islands' currencies are directly linked to the United States dollar (USD), keeping a fixed exchange rate at all times. U.S. currency is accepted nearly everywhere in the islands but for the most part, independent Caribbean nations are grouped together in economic unions that share a currency like the Eastern Caribbean Dollar or have their own forms of currency, such as the Barbadian Dollar. Some of the islands that are still territories or departments of other countries, use the currency of their sovereign nations such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands use the U.S. dollar, Guadeloupe, as a department of France, uses the Euro. The islands of the Caribbean all have unique charms.The two Leeward islands of Antigua and Barbuda form a single nation state but offer attractive contrasts. Antigua is the largest of the Leewards, with a population of 67,000 living on its 108 square miles (279 sq km).

The 700 beautiful islands and 2,000 chunks of coral and limestone outcrop that form The Bahamas are playgrounds for sailors, anglers, divers, nature lovers, eco-tourists – and those vacationers in search of the more glitzy pleasures. The islands are visited by more than three million people each year. You will find great enthusiasm for American culture, combined with a strong flavour of Britain. . . and a distinctly Caribbean beat. Just 30 of the islands are populated and, together, they are among the most favored destinations for cruise ship passengers every year. New Providence has almost 60 per cent of the population and in the capital, Nassau, you can go on a horse-drawn carriage tour of a vibrant city filled with history’s reminders in its Victorian buildings and fortresses -- and a library that used to be a prison.

Cross a bridge and you are in Paradise Island, a modern dream resort tailor-made for fun-seekers, featuring a 50,000 sq ft (4,650 sq m) casino, a marina for large yachts, the world’s biggest aquarium, and palatial hotels -- or you might prefer the casinos of Cable Beach. And that's just the beginning.

Every year over one million visitors come to Jamaica, the Caribbean’s third-largest island – and it’s not hard to see why. It's a self-contained holiday universe offering unsurpassed tropical beauty, excellent water sports, the most vibrant of music scenes, and a sophisticated tourism industry. There are many different images of Jamaica and, because the country is so diverse, visitors find that most of them are accurate. It’s an island where you can find peace and seclusion in relaxed coastal hideaways and cool mountain inns, or join the crowds in the big, popular resorts.

There’s Kingston – the Caribbean’s largest English-speaking city south of Miami; Montego Bay with its stretches of white sand and more hotels and holiday villas than anywhere else on the island; Negril with seven miles (11 km) of white beach and the famous Green Flash at sunset; and Ocho Rios, where the main beach is a spectacular band of gleaming sand right in the center of town. Metropolitan Kingston is on one of the world's largest natural harbors, but that’s not all. It’s also the centre of the island’s cultural and business life, where you’ll find markets, art galleries, museums, theatres, nightclubs and, of course, the Bob Marley Museum, the recording studio in which the reggae star worked and lived.

If you’re Marley mad, you might want to go inland to see the Bob Marley Mausoleum at Brown’s Town. The National Heroes Park on Duke Street in Kingston celebrates the lives of other notable Jamaicans. In nearby Port Royal – once the island’s capital – you can see where pirates such as Sir Henry Morgan and other buccaneers lurked when they weren’t carrying out raids across the Caribbean.