Go Sailing to the Caribbean Islands!

Sailing is a fantastic way of spending your vacation amidst the clear blue ocean and getting involved in lots of sea faring activities. Whatever occasion it may be, a honeymoon, a wedding celebration or a family vacation you can make the most of your opportunity by snorkeling, scuba diving, hiking, playing golf, kayaking, swimming and sun bathing.

Apart from enjoying these several recreational programs, you can surely spend your time by observing sea birds, dolphins, sea turtles and whales. Sailing boats are available in a variety of forms and magnitudes depending upon the purpose for which it is going to be used. Some of the essential sailing gear comprise of gloves, short waterproof boots with a solid traction on the soles, wind shorts or pants and waterproof hooded windbreakers. Life jackets are also essential for sails boat. Caribbean islands is a very exotic sailing destination attracting large number of tourists each year.

Sailing School And Lessons

If boating, sailing and cruising are your passions then joining a Sailing School will prove to be of immense help. The sailing schools offer all-round sailing lessons basic sailing instructions, basic cruising instructions, bareboat charter lessons, navigational lessons, coastal cruising courses, etc. Lessons, that are beneficial for both the novice and the veteran. While the beginners learn the basics from these programs, the experienced lot get a chance to hone their skills.

Out Islands of the Bahamas are Popular Movie Filming Locations

The Out Islands have long been attracting producers to film their movies on these tropical island locations. Movie blockbusters such as Al Pacino's "The Insider" and Pirates of the Caribbean II & III shot part of their movies on The Out Islands.

“The Bahamas offers a variety of location options to satisfy the most challenging film projects, from steamy jungles, to mangrove swamps, to great gingerbread houses and tantalizing Victorian and Georgian Architecture.” said Craig Woods, Commissioner of the Bahamas Film and Television Commission. “The Bahamas is a film-friendly location with trained Bahamian crew who have worked on both large scale studio films as well as small independent productions. With the closest island, Bimini, only 50 miles from South Florida, or 2 hours by fast boat, The Bahamas provide the "HOT" look motion picture productions want."

Upcoming blockbusters that are using The Out Islands as their movie filming location are: “Matrimonio alle Bahamas" starring Massimo Boldi and "Fool's Gold" starring Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson and Donald Sutherland.

Making the Most of Your Caribbean Vacation: Sun Safety Tips

Make the most out of your Caribbean vacation by protecting your skin from the sun. Weather Channel featured this article on sun safety:

Sun Safety Tips
from the American Cancer Society

· When possible, avoid outdoor activities during the hours between 10 AM and 4 PM, when the sun's rays are the strongest.

· Always wear a broad-spectrum (protection against both UVA and UVB) sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 15 or higher.

· Be sure to reapply sunscreen frequently, especially after swimming, perspiring heavily or drying off with a towel.

· Wear a hat with a 4-inch brim all around because it protects areas often exposed to the sun, such as the neck, ears, eyes, forehead, nose and scalp.

· Wear clothing to protect as much skin as possible. Long-sleeved shirts, long pants, or long skirts are the most protective. Dark colors provide more protection than light colors by preventing more UV rays from reaching your skin. A tightly woven fabric provides greater protection than loosely woven fabric.

· To protect your eyes from sun damage, wear sunglasses that block 99 to 100 percent of UVA and UVB radiation.

· Consider wearing cosmetics and lip protectors with an SPF of at least 15 to protect your skin year-round.

· Swimmers should remember to regularly reapply sunscreen. UV rays reflect off water and sand, increasing the intensity of UV radiation and making sun protection especially important.

· Some medications, such as antibiotics, can increase your skin's sensitivity to the sun. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about the medicines you take and learn more about extra precautions.

· Children need extra protection from the sun. One or two blistering sunburns before the age of 18 dramatically increases the risk of skin cancer. Encourage children to play in the shade, wear protective clothing and apply sunscreen regularly.

Source: American Cancer Society

Bahama Bliss on The Abacos Islands

STEP BACK IN TIME -- AND ONTO A BREATHTAKING BEACH -- IN HOPE TOWN ON THE ABACOS ISLANDS OF THE BAHAMAS

With its candy-cane-striped lighthouse and pastel-colored clapboard houses, the boats floating in the serene harbor on one side and the Atlantic Ocean in that magical color of aqua on the other, Hope Town as a quiet beach destination is on a par with other places we have traveled much farther to get to.

Just an hour's flight from Florida and a 20-minute ferry ride from the town of Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco, Elbow Cay, the 4 ½-mile-long barrier island where Hope Town is situated is a water-lover's paradise where time seems to stand still. With its slow pace and relatively few tourists, Hope Town is the exact opposite of what many people think of as the Bahamas.

The Abacos -- and the other Out Islands of the Bahamas -- offer a laid-back getaway for people who want to spend their vacation far from the crowds of a cruise ship or 3,000-room resort.
The white-and-turquoise resort offers 12 hotel rooms, 12 cottages and cabanas and the two-story Butterfly House, all with picture-postcard views. A freshwater pool set in the colorful gardens between the lodge and the Atlantic invites swimmers to take a dip, and the oceanside Reef Bar & Grill serves lunch and tropical drinks throughout the day.

Walk a few blocks from the lodge and you're in the heart of Hope Town, with its scattering of homes, restaurants and shops, white picket fences and brightly colored flowers. The town of about 500 people was settled in the 18th century by Loyalists, folks who fled the U.S. after the American Revolution. A coral reef -- the third-largest in the world -- runs along a good part of the island, including the white-sand beach outside the Hope Town Harbour Lodge.

What's there to do in Hope Town, besides sit on the balcony or lie on the beach or snorkel in the ocean?

You can take a boat trip with Froggies Out Island Adventures to dive or snorkel at reef sites like Fowl Cay Preserve and Sandy Cay, in the protected Pelican Cays Land and Sea Park. You can also cruise with Froggies to Man-O-War Cay, the boat-building capital of the Abacos, or to the anchorage of Little Harbour, home of the Bahamas' only bronze factory and the best cheeseburger in the Abacos, at Pete's Pub. You can charter a fishing boat and try your luck angling for wahoo or grouper in the deep sea or bonefish on the flats. You can rent a golf cart and travel to pristine Tahiti Beach on the other end of Elbow Cay, where you can walk the shallows in search of seashells, starfish and sand dollars. Or you can do as most Abaco aficionados advise and rent a boat to explore the seas and cays on your own.

Passport rules may be eased

The nation's new post-Sept. 11 requirements for traveling abroad continue to cause anxiety for travelers and wreak havoc with vacation plans, with the turn-around for passports now estimated at 15 weeks. But relief appears to be on the way, says an article highlighting the new US passport developments in the Cincinnati Post.

The Bush Administration is expected to announce a temporary suspension of some of the new rules, which required passports for air travel to and from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The proposal would allow travelers to present a government-issued identification card, such as a driver's license, and a receipt from the State Department showing that they had applied for a passport. Such travelers might then receive extra scrutiny at security checkpoints, such as questioning or bag checks, one official familiar with the proposal said.

The suspension would give the State Department a chance to reduce some of the backlog of applications while soothing angry travelers and some members of Congress - including some tri-state lawmakers - who have tried to intervene on behalf of their constituents. U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, has co-sponsored an amendment to the immigration bill that would allow travel across borders in the Western Hemisphere with an alternate ID, such as a birth certificate or valid driver's license, until the passport crisis passes. "The State Department has lost control of the situation. I do not believe the current implementation plan is realistic and I question how the department failed to anticipate and prepare for the increased demand. Summer travel is not a new phenomenon."

Prior to implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative in January, U.S. travelers to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean didn't need passports. State Department officials expected the change to increase the demand for the documents, but travelers, travel agents and federal lawmakers say the agency has severely underestimated the impact of the change. It's now taking up to 15 weeks to secure a passport, complicating the travel plans of millions of Americans.

To meet the rising demand for passports, the U.S. Department of State has increased its staff, added a new passport-processing center and has worked employees overtime. The production rate has increased 33 percent and is averaging about a million and a half passports each month, said department representative Janelle Hironimus.

But that doesn't seem to be enough. After receiving thousands of complaints from constituents, federal lawmakers from the tri-state say they are trying to head off even more headaches when the next phase of the initiative begins in January 2008. At that time, any travel - by air, land or sea - outside the United States will require a passport.

Bahamas Offer Something for Every Type of Diver

According to scuba diving site sportextreme.com, ‘from north to south, from beginner to super advanced - there is something for every type of diver” in the Bahamas.

Virtually all the islands are rimmed by coral reefs and sandbanks; nearly all are low lying, either flat like a pancake or gently undulating. Many islands are pockmarked by giant sinkholes called blue holes (water filled, circular pits that open to underground and submarine caves and in some places descend to as much as 600ft (180m).

Excellent visibility, diving all year around, warm waters, walls, wrecks, caverns and zillions of fish are other attributes to diving and pelagics and mammals are commonly encountered.

The Bimini Islands are notorious for their large schools of fish and pelagics and some islanders believe that part of the “Lost City of Atlantis” lies just off the islands. Eleuthera is known for turtles and drop offs while the Abacos are protected by a barrier reef and offers a myriad of caves and swim-throughs. Cat Island, Crooked Island and further south are the more undiscovered areas of the Bahamas and are known for their natural, simple beauty and solitude.

The possibility of diving with dolphins, shark and rays has made the Bahamas very famous. Humpback and blue whales are often sighted in the waters east of the islands. Moray eels, grunts, barracudas, stingrays, queen triggerfish, sand tigers, parrotfish and angelfish are animating the scenery on a typical dive in a scene set up with an impressive array of hard and soft coral. Wrecks are plentiful and ships, planes and even a train (off Eleuthera) make for excellent variety.

The Bahamas is a year-round destination with an incredible number of 320 average days with sunshine a year. Literally no runoff from the islands and minimal sedimentation is creating some of the clearest tropical waters in the world. Divers can expect visibility to run from 80 to 150 feet (25 - 45) year-round, with the very best visibility often found immediately after winter is over - around February or March.