Isla de Providencia & Santa Catalina are two small mountainous outcrops of land less than 8 square miles both situated 400 miles southwest of Jamaica and a quarter of the way on an imaginary line traced across the Caribbean from Punta Gorda, Nicaragua to Cartagena, Colombia. And a few hours after arriving, there I was, sitting behind this large, black, simpatico and unmet women who decided to take me on her small motorcycle to meet my friend Rolando in order to hand him some pictures I had taken the last time I was here. That type of kindness struck me since it is not very usual in many other places. Clearly on the maps says Col. (Colombia) after the name of the islands. How far is reality from the assumptions this abbreviation brings to people’s minds.

The hurricane season has hit few but strong blows on the islands. One of them came about in 1510 when the expedition of Diego de Nicuenza separated from Alonso de Ojeda (Colon´s Second Voyage) and was caught in a storm and its ships blown to a small island which Nicuenza named Santa Catalina, because it was common in those days to name sites after the Saint of the Day. To the other larger island just 200 meters across a shallow sea he gave the name Providencia in honor to the God that had just saved him.  The beautiful Lover’s Floating Bridge now links the two islands.

A name and a position on a map brought settlers. As the Spanish colonies in Central and South America grew more and more, slaves tried to escape from imprisonment and reached the islands.

So it was for 150 years when the buccaneers, having been given the Elizabethan wink to raze the Spanish galleons that traversed the region hefty with the New World richness, looked for a good place to establish their operations and cure their illnesses. They found these mountainous islands, ungoverned, hills ready to be used as searching periscopes over the Caribbean. Who else could find safety there but the famous Welsh pirate Morgan with also famous Paco, the parrot that sat on his shoulder? Legend says he buried the treasures stolen in Panama in 1671 in these islands.

After Morgan’s escape to Jamaica the Spanish took control of the islands but only by word of mouth since English men with their slaves from Jamaica and the Cayman Islands tried to establish cotton farming here but instead ended up raising cattle. By this time the population was as diverse as the vessels that traversed the Caribbean. Nevertheless, lovers were not interested in racial aspects and African, Anglo, Dutch (who were also around) and Latin mixed, populating the island with that distinct clear eyes-dark skin look of many persons in Providencia. After much give-and-take among governments and several entangled political moves that passed through England, Spain, colonial Guatemala, Chile (the son of Admiral Louis Aury, a corsair, claimed the islands for Chile), Nueva Granada (which included actual Colombia and Panama) and Nicaragua, Colombia would stay with the islands although, as so many islands nowadays, looking at a map it would never occur to anyone that they belong to this country.

Providencians feel Colombian but most of all they feel Providencian, a pride openly demonstrated when they start so many phrases with the words “Our island” talking to outsiders or when they speak a distorted English among them with distinct accents and Spanish words intermixed but very different to the ‘Spanglish’ spoken by Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. They even distill their own Providencia Old Bushi Rum (a little too strong for me I have to say) using spring water outbursting from the mountains. As kind and joyful as they are to other people, they don’t want their island becoming another San Andres, a larger island of the same archipelago with duty-free commerce all around and overpopulation problems. Residence in the island is controlled by a government agency called OCCRE and for outsiders is very difficult to get permanent resident status as more and more tourists that visit Providencia want to stay and share the secret. As I casually heard a woman saying to another: “that seems to happen to everybody that comes to the island. They come for eight days, fall in love with it and then don’t want to leave”.

I remember one night in Providencia as one of the most pleasing I ever had in my life. I was staying at one of the two cabins that a middle-aged fisherman named Van Britton had on Black Bay. That night the waves crashed against the lower wall of the cabin and through a glassless window I could see myriad stars while I slowly fell asleep. At morning a temperate breeze swayed my mosquito net in harmony with the ebb tide. That morning I felt I had found what peace and harmony are about.

There are no big hotels in Providencia, instead there has been an initiative toward having the natives install small cabins in synchrony with the colorful wooden architecture of the islands. The ‘native dwellings’ program surely established the islands as the place for a tourism more willing for nature’s calm rhythms but not entirely disregarding human conveniences or night life for that matter: it is a pleasure to go dancing reggae on one of the open-air bars just by the sea as I did one night with some friends. We arrived a little early by Providencian standards, so we just waited there talking, drinking beer and enjoying the warm night air. By midnight the dance floor was filled with people moving softly to Lucky Dube’s songs.  A longhaired Rasta told me: “this is great, everybody is groovying now” giving me a big smile. I couldn’t have said it better.

The next day I snorkeled from Black Bay to South West Beach passing in front of small beaches with cerulean bays in whose depths hid octopuses, eels, sea snakes and all kinds of coral fish luminous under the sun. I lingered in the water while some horses, one of the foreign contributions to the islands, were readied for a race on the distant beach. It was another Saturday for the Providencia derby and kids around twelve years old jockeyed horses along the shore, riding without saddles and hoping for a moment of glory, the horses’ owners expecting big dividends.  If it’s not horses it’s sail boats or dominoes. “People just love to bet even if they have no money” a young woman named Luz Marina Livingston told me.  But more than that they love the sea. These people are fishermen, sailors and even the most office-secluded person has to take a glimpse at the Caribbean waters daily. They depend on the sea for food in many ways: the staples are fish, sea snail, lobster, and the black land crabs that have to reproduce in the sea but most of the supplies also come by sea on twice-a-week (when lucky) ships from the continent: gasoline, potatoes, rice, flour, drinking water, etc.  If a ship breaks as it happened when I was there, everybody tries to move around the least possible. There are two occasions when everybody stays at their home in Providencia, everyone coincided: when the ship with the gasoline for the hundreds of motorcycles doesn’t come and when it rains.  So from late April to July during the rain season the other ubiquitous inhabitants of the islands come out and take control.

The phenomenon of thousands of crabs that live in the mountains, following their ancestral instincts, coming down the hills to the coast where they reproduce is a truly remarkable natural event. I had specially come at this time of year to witness the march. Confusion, however, was what I found. If somebody told me the crabs had already come down this year just a week before my arrival, a few hours later another person, with the same ‘I know for sure’ look on his face said that they were still to come. 12 days went by and I had to resign myself to watch the crabs eating decaying matter at night. There are many sites where this same reproduction spree takes place. In Christmas Island on the Indian Ocean 120 million crabs (a different species) do the same process and though such numbers are not reported in Providencia, the pictures I had seen showed black crabs covering the only paved road in the island which could be closed at this time of year at Crab Peak Hour Traffic.

After a heavy nocturnal storm I rose early one clear morning day and headed for shore where I found tiny little spiders moving in the pockets of rain. What I took for spiders were actually newly transformed land crabs heading to the mountains. There weren’t a lot of them but it was wonderful to see a life cycle completion, how endurance had worked for these little crabs after being dropped as eggs in the ocean without any other maternal care.

I had yet to see the beginning of the cycle, and it occurred one night when I heard scratching noises on my room door. I knew burglary wasn’t one of Providencia’s problems so I figured it could only be that the crabs had started their 200 meters migration to the shore. The females’ underbodies were full with eggs that looked like Iranian caviar ready to be spread on a cracker. As I moved through the wave of crabs they clapped their claws fiercely. I saw some entering the hotel’s kitchen, climbing walls, crossing the road painfully slowly, descending staircases and some even plummeted from high cliffs to fall unharmed on the rocky shore. The ones that made it to shore settled a little bit and then came forward to reach the gentle surf. At the first contact with the water the females raised their claws like in ecstasy and danced a trembling tropical ‘cumbia’ letting go of their eggs.

The day before departure I grabbed my hammock and decided to tackle The Peak, the tallest mountain of the island. I had never been on that part of the island and, as I would learn later, should have. I passed the last settlements where a few undernourished cows grazed over the dry grass. Then I followed the spring the owner of the hotel told me to look for. The spring was a trickle at this time of year and the tall trees cast a green tinge down over the rocks that formed every now and then small cascades where I sat massaging my back with the falling water. Apparently the mango trees had adapted very well to the environment and some were so plush with fruit that the rocks below were stamped with their explosions. A small shack appeared near the end of the forest assuring me I was in the right direction since this should be the cabin of a hermit Rasta man that makes a living with what he can reap from nature. A little farther up, the forest was one of short palm trees and scrubby vegetation; the ground was rocky which reminded me that this archipelago had risen through volcanic activity millions of years ago. On the top the metallic plaque that stated the 370 meters (1220-ft.) of altitude of The Peak welcomed me mirroring the setting sun.

 Since its eruption from the depths through all the years of political moves of possessive governments the island and Providencians have managed to keep the same peace and tranquility of always and that is their best kept secret.

Day in the Life: Providencia

Providencia

Slavery and sugar were two of the most valuable commodities that Jamaica had for 150 years. Spanish Town was the former capital of Jamaica.The Spanish named the town Santiago de la Vega and remained the capital until 1872 when the city of Kingston was named the capital. Queen Elizabeth 11 is the head of state, the Jamaican have given her the title of Queen of Jamaica. The Queen is represented in Jamaica by a Governor General who is nominated by the Prime Minister and the cabinet.

Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean. The major towns are Spanish Town, Negril, Ocho Rios, Kingston, and Montego Bay.

At the western tip of the island is Negril the most laid back resort with its 7 mile long beach. In the sixties the American flower children discovered Negril. The affluent landowners were worried about Negril becoming a Hippie Haven. This town is famous for is sunsets, cliff jumping water sports and Rastafarian culture.

Ocho Rios is well known for its nightlife, and has a laid back attitude. Ocho Rios is a popular tourist destination once a sleeply fishing village. Ocho Rios is also known as the home of Dunn s River Falls. It is a popular attraction that is visited by thousands of visitors each year. Dunn’s River Falls cascades down approximately 600 feet into the sea. Fed by springs located in the hills above, visitors take pleasure in climbing the falls as the water rushes around them.

The capital Kingston is the heart of the island and the largest English speaking city in the Caribbean. It has the seventh largest natural harbour in the world with the sea to the south and the St Andrew Mountain in the north.

Montego Bay is sheltered by Doctor s Cave Beach with clear turquoise waters and one of the most famous beaches on the island. It is best know for it duty free shopping and cruise line terminals at its Free Port.

Bob Marley the reggae musician was born here and was highly respected. The legend of Bob Marley comes alive as you walk through the village of Nine Miles, his birth and final resting place. Ian Fleming also lived in Jamaica.

The climate in Jamaica is tropical, with hot and humid weather, although higher inland regions have a more temperate climate. Some regions on the south coast, such as the Liguanea Plain and the Pedro Plains are relatively dry rain-shadow areas.

Your flight lands in Montego Bay and you are plunged into the hectic atmosphere of the airport crowded by the hordes of tourists: groups, couples and families. A jolly tune of a steel drum band welcomes you and so do hundreds of merchants trying to sell you almost everything: beer, cool drinks, newspapers, souvenirs. They greet you in the Jamaican manner: ‘Yah Mon’ (yeah man), ‘Y’allright?’ (are you all right?), ‘Whaapen’ (what’s happening?).

Finally you find the resort representative. ‘No worries mon,’ says he while helping you whith your luggage. Now brace yourself, the ride to your resort is about to star. The bus driver seems to have no regard to his, yours or pedestrians life and if you are motion sickness prone — you’d better get a paper bag ready. Oh no, he seems to be driving the wrong side of the street! ‘No worries mon’, it’s a tradition the Brits left here. By the way, this is a good reason not to rent a car in Jamaica.

Once you left the airport park you start noticing contrasts. The stunning Blue Mountains are surely a breathtaking view. But they are also a backdrop of the striking poverty reminding you that you are in a third world country. Shacks built of rusty metal and some unrecognizable materials occupy the sides of the road. They are homes for thousands of Jamaicans, and while you drive by you see some of them doing their daily business or simply sitting in the shade and relaxing.

You arrive to your resort which again is a striking contrast to what you have seen on your way there. Most Jamaican hotels are examples of luxury and comfort which are reflected in their far above average prices. You will find the resort staff friendly and welcoming. Let them care about your luggage and go to the nearby diner to enjoy some of the best food in Caribbean.

‘Nyam’ is Jamaican for ‘to eat’. Jamaicans are well known meat-eaters and their favorite dishes are jerk chicken and pulled pork. Patties are also delicious, filled with meat and vegetables, sometimes too hot and spicy. Be careful — most traditional dishes have bones in them, don’t be shy to pick them out of your mouth and place them on the side of your plate, everybody does so.

Be sure to try two famous brands of Jamaica: Blue Mountais Coffee and Red Stripe Beer. And don’t miss the awesome liquor they have there: Pimento Dram.

If you want to have some shopping fun, go to a local market, like the one in Ocho Rios. Enjoy the whirling atmosphere of a Jamaican marketplace where hundreds of merchants are desperately trying to sell you things you’d never need. Some will meet you before you get into their booth and take you inside constantly talking and piling one item on another into your face.

Jamaica’s gems are not just white beaches or glorious nature. Jamaican people, vibrant and friendly folk are the true treasure of the island. Good buy Jamaica, Jah Bless, Likkle more, I’ll be coming back soon!

Are you gearing up to plan your wedding? Although many couples opt for a traditional wedding back home, you may have another thought. You may want a picture perfect fairytale wedding in the Caribbean. If so, you want a destination wedding. Unfortunately, most couples mistakenly believe destination weddings are not only too costly, but too difficult to plan. Luckily, the entire process can be a lot easier and cheaper than you originally thought. How?

The first step is to decide on an area. The Caribbean includes many islands. Two popular choices include Jamaica and the Bahamas. If you are worried about costs, price compare. If you have a little bit of financial freedom, make your dreams come true. Opt for your first choice. Regardless, you will be presented with luxury hotels, tropical weather, and beautiful beaches!

Next, you must decide on a date. When doing so, give yourself time. Although you will have a Caribbean destination wedding, you still likely want a few close friends and family members to attend. Not only do they get to attend your wedding, but they get their own tropical vacation too! Still, it likely wasn’t a vacation they anticipated on taking; give them a reasonable amount of time to save money. Also, you and your guests need passports. Give these time to arrive too.

Once you have an ideal destination and date in mind, you will start to examine wedding venues. Your first look should be at all-inclusive resorts that offer free weddings. Yes, really free weddings! Many resorts provide guests with a free standard wedding, provided they meet a minimum stay requirement. The stay requirement varies depending on resorts, but it is reasonable, such as a 3-day or 5-day stay.

What else should you look for in a Caribbean resort when planning a destination wedding? The ability to have your wedding onsite. Not only that, but a choice of places. A large resort may give you the option to use their wedding chapel, a banquet room, garden, or their beach. You also want the ability to upgrade your free wedding package. Right away, Caribbean resorts claim you get a “standard wedding.” Look at the inclusions and you will be surprised, because it is actually a lot. Still, have the ability to include a tux rental, in-room hair and make-up, professional photography, and more.

Have your destination wedding double as a Caribbean honeymoon too. As previously stated, many all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean give you a free wedding with a minimum 3, 5, or 7-night stay. It will not take that long to plan your wedding, so meet the minimum required stay by combining your wedding and honeymoon. Choose a luxury all-inclusive resort, one with great onsite activities, a mixture of restaurants, and upgrade to a suite. You won’t feel as if you are shortchanging yourself. You still get the honeymoon of your dreams!

Contact the resort in question. To prevent scheduling conflicts, you may want to do this before officially booking your travel arrangements. Let them know you not only want to stay onsite, but have a wedding too. In most cases, you will be put into contact with a wedding planner, even when making use of a Caribbean resort’s free wedding. This wedding planner makes it easier to plan a destination wedding when you are located hundreds or thousands of miles away.

Order destination wedding invitations for your guests. You may also want to include information on area hotels and resorts. As previously stated, your destination wedding guests are unlikely to attend your wedding and leave. Many will use the opportunity to have a tropical vacation. For that reason, it may be a good idea to point them in the direction of other hotels and resorts. Your honeymoon and their Caribbean vacation may overlap. You love your mother, but do you want her sitting next to you at the pool on your honeymoon? Luckily, most free weddings include a couple of guest passes for those staying offsite. Additional passes should be available for sale too.

Bequia is a tiny Caribbean Island, tucked away in the Grenadines, almost unknown, especially compared to one of its illustrious closest neighbors Mustique, and it likes it that way.

Not so many years ago it wasn’t uncommon to literally walk into a glamorous rock star in a bar on Bequia, who could walk unrecognized around the bars of this very laid back island. This was, and still remains one of the major attractions of Bequia.

Bequia has less than six thousand residents and it has a feel to it, that is at once both magical and enduring, in the sense that you feel from the moment you arrive, that somehow this is a different Caribbean destination. You seem to have a sense that Bequia is somewhere you just know you will want to return to.

It’s different, it’s friendly, it’s unspoilt, and it’s probably the Caribbean you thought some of the better known islands would be!!

Bequia doesn’t have five star resorts and Spas, covering half a hillside, but what it does have is luxury hill top villas, air conditioned apartments, and absolutely first class small privately owned hotels. You will find friendly beachfront guesthouses, and don’t ever forget a privately owned yacht as your home for a vacation, because the Grenadines are famed for sailing. In other words, don’t come here if the trappings of twenty first century resorts are an essential part of your vacation.

Bequia isn’t for the type of people who need waiters at their beck and call, with London chefs and signature restaurants a necessary part of their cocooned vacation.

Bequia is for the old fashioned sort of family, who appreciate natural welcoming smiles backed by honesty. Bequia is for people who might describe themselves as travelers in the old fashioned sense of the word, as opposed to modern tourists.

All of this makes Bequia the perfect destination for everything from the best Caribbean Family Vacation to the real good old fashioned Caribbean Honeymoon Vacation, always providing you have old fashioned principles, and you appreciate what is genuine, and understand that not everyone has the good fortune to live and work where you do.

The people of Bequia respond to people who respond to them, and they can and will give you the honeymoon experience of a lifetime, or the best family experience you will ever have.

One of the great things about a vacation on Bequia is your choices of what to do. Here is the center of the best sailing in the Grenadines, and the harbour is full of chartered yachts, the bars and restaurants packed with sailors, creating a unique atmosphere of excitement. If you don’t sail, then you can dive in some of the most beautiful waters in the world.
Enjoy beautiful beach relaxation, explore on foot, by car, or by bike. Travel to the many other islands of the Grenadines and stay overnight to experience the differences between the islands.

You could on the other hand do absolutely nothing but enjoy the weather, the atmosphere, the beaches, and then in the evenings enjoy a breadth of cuisine that is truly astonishing from gourmet international to quite superb local food. You can go to a lively jump up to a steel band.

There really is something for everyone in the family on Bequia in this quiet corner of the Caribbean.

For more information go to http://www.caribbean-vacationspots.com/pages/Site-Map.html

A fifteen minute flight from Antigua, island trekkers can be cruising on Barbuda’s Pink Sand Beach.

Barbuda Bike Tours offers bicycle, tent & canopy rentals on the gorgeous beaches of Barbuda. They also offer guided mountain bike tours.

Twenty-eight miles north of Antigua lies Barbuda, an island of sixty-two square miles of unexplored beaches and wilderness.

The terrain is completely flat and the elevation is close to or at sea level. This makes for easy yet exciting beach exploring and bird watching throughout the island. Barbuda is host to one of the largest frigate bird sanctuaries in the world. Barbuda is known for it’s lobster its number one export. Visitors to Barbuda can enjoy the biggest, freshest & lobster in the Caribbean.

Barbuda is a very dry island and presents an entirely opposite image of Antigua. You will find a more level landscape and shrubby vegetation. The population adds up to less than a couple thousand people and Barbuda’s main attraction are the wonderful sand beaches and the colorful underwater world. Around Barbuda you will find over 150 ship wrecks under water!

The island is best known for its seemingly endless beaches. Pink Sand Beach, so named for the powdery pink sand found on the beaches, is seventeen miles of still undeveloped beach front with crystal clear water. In one of Conde Nast Traveler issues, Pink Sand Beach, was named one of the ten best beaches in the Caribbean.

There is plenty to explore on a bike excursion; from the caves of Two Foot Bay, which provide shelter while wrapping around the north side of the island to exploring the interior finding the Coco Point Well to fill water bottles during a break.

Visitors can rent a Trek bike with or without suspension. There are also guided tours that can take you anywhere on the island. When you arrive at your secluded beach destination, sleep under the stars in a large or small Eastern Mountain tent. If camping is not your style, make a reservation with one of the hotels or villas on the island.

Tents and bikes can be rented at Barbuda Bike Tours between December 1st and March 1st. All prices include campsites and tent set up. For more general information on Barbuda Bike Tours drop in on them at – http://www.barbudabiketours.com.

Many people only consider a Caribbean vacation during the months of November to April. This period, known as the winter season, is traditionally the peak period for Caribbean vacations. For many individuals it is a chance to escape the snow and ice of the northern hemisphere with a holiday in sunny climates. The other months are often called the summer season or as known in Caribbean vacation circles, the low season because of the low occupancy at vacation properties. Yet the summer and fall months are a great time for a Caribbean vacation with several activities that are only available during the summer.

One of the reasons some persons do not consider a vacation in the Caribbean during the summer months is a fear of hurricanes. This concern over hurricanes is however somewhat misplaced. In fact only a few islands are ever affected by hurricanes in any one year. Some islands because of their geographic position, such as Trinidad, Aruba, Tobago, Curacao, are considered below the hurricane belt and so are not hit by any hurricanes.

The summer months in the Caribbean are filled with music festivals. You can listen to world renown international artists under sunny skies with an ocean view or against a backdrop of star filled skies with balmy breezes. Among the more popular music festivals are the St Lucia Jazz Festival, Barbados Gospelfest and the Aruba Music Festival in May, the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival, the Bonaire Jazz Festival, St Kitts Music Festival and Grenada’s Spice Jazz Festival in June. If you are looking for music a little later in the year, there is Reggae Sumfest in Jamaica in July and Dominica’s World Creole Music Festival in October.

Summer is also the time for the pulsating rhythms and colorful costumes of Carnival on many islands. In July, it is Carnival time on St Vincent, St Lucia and Barbados, while Antigua’s carnival is in August. A summer holiday on any of these Caribbean islands gives you the chance to experience the splendor of the carnival costumes with the relaxation of a beautiful Caribbean beach.

The summer months are also ideal for Caribbean outdoor recreation adventure and each island offers a range of outdoor vacation adventure. Hiking is one of those outdoor adventures and in the Caribbean you can on the same hike alternate from untouched beaches to unspoiled forest. Within those lush untouched natural forests are tall cascading waterfalls, hidden fern grottoes, mountain lakes, boiling lakes, hot springs and mysterious regions of volcanic activity.

Summer is also the time of turtle nesting with May to September being the prime months. During these months thousands of giant marine turtles heave themselves out of the ocean and on to the sandy beaches to lay their eggs. Giant Leatherback turtles, some weighing as much as 1,000 pounds, along with Hawksbill and Green turtles visit these sandy shores. Viewing this rite of nature while on a summer vacation is an experience of a lifetime.

The waters of the Caribbean Sea are wonderful all year round but the warmest water temperature is during the summer, making it ideal for snorkeling. The sparkling blue water provides a world of adventure below its surface. The Caribbean is one of the top regions for scuba diving and snorkeling with breathtaking marine life, shallow coral reefs, new and old wrecks.

Probably the best reason of all for visiting the Caribbean during the summer months is that this is the time of the lowest prices at hotels and airlines have special reduced airfares, so you can have a vacation on a budget.

So if you are thinking of where to go for your summer vacation, consider the Caribbean, it’s great in the summer.

Some people charter a yacht for personal use while other people opt for a corporate yacht charter to entertain their corporate guests. There are plenty of reasons why your company may want to make use of a yacht and one of the many reasons why many people choose to charter a yacht is to celebrate the anniversary of their company. Of course, there are also many companies who opt for corporate yacht charter for the purpose launching a new product. Chartering a boat for any of these purposes is considered to be a very stylish affair and if you want your company’s event to be stylish and one that your guests will remember for a long time, then may be you should consider chartering a yacht.

The Caribbean islands are popular destinations for yacht charters so you can consider going to any one or more of the islands in the Caribbean for any special corporate event.

Leeward Islands are some of the islands that you can visit when you choose to opt for a yacht charter to celebrate any corporate event. When you visit this region, you will be able to navigate your yacht to other Caribbean islands. The islands that you can consider going to are St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica and Antigua. When you decide to visit these island nations, you can visit the sugar plantations here. There are also many small hotels where you can stay in.

When you are on your corporate yacht charter in the Caribbean, do not forgot to visit Saba, which is a very tall rock that stands at three thousand feet. You will be happy to learn that the water in the surrounding areas is perfect for scuba diving. If you get hungry then you can take your guests to the cottages where you can treat them with the local cuisines before you leave these islands. You can also head to Anguilla and St. Bart’s. If you do decide to take the yacht here, be sure to check out the clear and pristine beaches.

When it comes to corporate yacht charter, you need to determine the number of guests that will be sailing with you before you book a yacht. It is only when you are sure about the number of guests, then only you will be able to have a clear idea about the size of the boat that you should book. You need to know that most of the yachts have limited capacity, even the bigger ones. So you should try to find out about the number of people that the different yacht sizes can accommodate. When it comes to paying for the yacht, the chartering company will generally charge you depending on the number of people that will be on board.

Of course, you will also need to have a budget in mind before you go to a corporate yacht charter company and book a yacht. See the options that are available to you and then make your decisions accordingly.

Nassau – Haven of the Caribbean Pirates

by Cherie Pugh

Cherie Pugh discovered the true story of the Nassau pirates when sailing through the Caribbean on a traditional wooden ship. She found the court records of their trial in London, and spent years researching and writing

â??Mary Read â?? Sailor, Soldier, Pirateâ?.

This ultimate pirate yarn is now available as an ebook or paperback from www.womanpirate.com

After Queen Anneâ??s war, European, and particularly British soldiers and sailors, were left to beg for their bread all over the far-flung European colonies. Many of those stranded in the Caribbean were forced to cut logwood in the jungles, the desperate life uniting them into tight-knit brotherhoods. When they took to the sea as pirates, they were united by the Welsh Captain Henry Jennings, who led them in an attack on a Spanish salvage camp, and made off with a fortune.

[For more information on the pirate life, see my article

â??The Real Pirates of the Caribbeanâ?]

But the war with Spain was over, and the pirates were now outlaws, with the Navies of all the European powers against them. So Jennings led them to Captain Mission’s old pirate base: the port of Nassau on the island of Providence in the Bahamas. This stood directly in the line of trade from Europe to the American colonies and Africa, the triangle of goods, sugar and slaves that made England rich, and built her western cities, such as Bristol and Liverpool. As every ship had to sail the ‘trade winds’ in this direction, every ship would have to run the pirate gauntlet. Those merchants rich enough paid heavily for Naval protection, and their ships sailed in convoys.

Jennings united the pirates under Captain Mission’s code. He insisted on the honour of the Brethren of the Sea, claiming they were the only true gentlemen, those well-born being but a pack of wolves that gorged on the helpless and weak. The pirates came from the 80% of Britain that lived in desperate poverty and lawlessness, and having suffered from terrible injustice, they chose not to tolerate it.

Each pirate company aboard each ship elected a captain, to lead them when ‘chasing or being chased’ and a quartermaster, who was to protect the rights of the men from the captain. When in Nassau, these captains and quartermasters formed the Nassau council, that heard complaints, and attempted to keep the peace, not just between the pirates, but between the pirates and islanders and the occasional Governor appointed by the British government.

Those pirates such as Edward Teach, or Blackbeard as he styled himself, who could not conform to humane standards, were not welcome in Nassau. Indeed, Blackbeard and his crew were based on Saint Thomas, and then the American mainland.

Some of the pirates, such as Captain Cockram of Harbour Island, married island women, founded families, and made significant contributions to their small settlements. Captain Cockram compiled an accurate chart of the Bahamas from notes and scraps of navigator’s maps, and presented his life’s work to the ungrateful Governor Woodes Rogers. He was also involved in building the small forts that saved the islanders when they were attacked, and in organising the islanders’ effective defense.

John Haman designed and built the pirate ships at Harbour Island in the Bahamas, and he based his designs on the sloops of the Malacca pirates, ‘fast to attack, faster to run’, which were themselves based on the Arab dhow. Shallow draughted and agile, the pirate sloops were much more suited to sailing the treacherous reefs and shallows of the Caribbean. Their fleets of small, quick sloops and schooners, all with the new bird-wing sails and longer prows, glided across the water under the lightest of breezes. Despite, or because of, their smaller size, they easily outran, out-sailed and out-fought the clumsy, square-rigged, massive Navy ships. The Dutch had provided an effective defense against Spanish invasion using small, lightly-armed fishing boats against huge Spanish galleons, and these lessons were not lost on the pirates. Thousands of them flourished in the Caribbean by 1715, in companies of hundreds of men, in fleets of fast ships.

The British Navy found itself totally at a loss, too far from home, with ill and dispirited crews, who were only kept in line with a discipline so harsh it caused mutinies. The poor, starving sailors, most shanghaied by their own governments, probably dreamed of being captured by pirates, and becoming rich and free, and they could certainly not be relied upon to fight with the desperation of the pirates. And as the navy commanders made fortunes from convoying merchant ships, sometimes demanding up to a quarter of the cargo, and further contributing to the demise of trade in the area, their commitment to the actual destruction of the pirates might be questioned.

When King George lost patience with his Navy’s inability to deal with the pirates, he cleverly offered an unconditional Pardon to the pirates first. Within a few months, half the Nassau pirates had gone home, glad to end a long exile away from their families. Governor Bennett of Bermuda sent his own son to sail straight into Nassau harbour, and invite the pirates to Bermuda to take the Pardon. Henry Jennings immediately set sail for Bermuda, hundreds of pirates with him.

Then the King sent Captain Woodes Rogers to take Nassau back from the pirates. During Queen Anne’s War, Rogers had captured enough Spanish gold to finance Englandâ??s entire campaign against French domination. When he sailed his fleet into Nassau, Captain Vane met him with fireships, and forced him out again. Yet that night, Vaneâ??s supporters melted away from him. Given their love of freedom, and Vaneâ??s reputation for arrogance, they chose to live as Englishmen, in an English colony, with a Governor, rather than as the subjects of a pirate King. When the Governor sailed in again the next morning, Vane only stayed long enough to fire a volley at him, and then fled through the impossibly narrow eastern channel. Anne Bonny and Jack Rackam sailed with him. The pirate Mary Read remained in Nassau, still dressed as a man, and sought the Pardon.

[For more information on pirate women, see my article

â??Mary Read and Anne Bonny - Pirate Women of the Caribbeanâ?]

Governor Woodes Rogers was an ambitious Puritan, with little time for women, and none for the Brethren. He didnâ??t understand the piratesâ?? readiness to surrender, and was sure they would mutiny against him. Rogers had brought hundreds of colonists with him from war-ravaged Europe, but the rains brought fever, and he buried most of them within weeks. The Brethren would not farm, and when he insisted that they slave to erect forts against an expected Spanish attack, many returned to the sea.

After a successful cruise, Vane’s arrogance and disdain for the pirate code saw him lose the leadership of his pirate fleet to the handsome and popular Jack Rackam. Under Rackam’s captaincy, the pirates prospered, and after a wild revel with Tom Moody on Tortuga at Christmas, during which Anne Bonny disclosed her true identity to Rackam, he proposed that they divide their plunder and ships, and seek the Pardon.

They returned to Nassau, persuaded the Governor that they would defend his colony from any invasion by Spanish forces, and set up a trading company. As there was a new war with Spain looming, the Governor was rightfully terrified of a Spanish attack, and had to accept them. When the Spaniards finally did attack, the pardoned Brethren easily beat them off, but Governor Rogers still distrusted them.

Then the Governor heard that Jack Rackam intended to pay off Anne Bonnyâ??s first husband, as she was now the mother of Jack’s child, and he wanted to marry her. Rogers denounced Anne as a whore, threatened her with a whipping, and declared that Jack would wield the lash. Within days, Anne had tricked her way aboard the fastest ship in the harbour, one of John Haman’s own sloops, and Rackamâ??s old crew were back on the account.

When the Naval commanders based in the colonies appealed to the local Governors for money to equip small fleets of sloops, they were finally able to challenge the pirates. When Rogers sailed into Nassau, he had sloops with him, though they did not dare follow Vane through the narrow eastern channel out of Nassau harbour. Yet Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet were both captured by naval sloops that trapped them in the shallow mudflats of rivers on the American Main, and blasted them to pieces. Jack Rackam was also finally captured by a Jamaican Navy sloop, though the wild women in his crew almost fought off their attackers single handed.

[For more information on the British Government's slaughter of these pirates,

see my article â??The End of the Pirates of the Caribbeanâ?]

Any historian of the Caribbean pirates must wonder what would have happened if the pirates had refused to surrender Nassau. The ease with which half of them beat off the Spanish attack confirms that it would have been beyond the powers of the British Navy to take Nassau in their massive, square-rigged ships. If Charles Vane had not been so high-handed, and if Henry Jennings had not been so convinced that the Pardon was in the pirates best interest, they could have held the port indefinitely. That most of them chose to abandon this stronghold and return home proves that they were indeed exiles, forced into piracy to survive. That the rest found it hard to give up a life of freedom and riches is hardly surprising, in a time when to be rich and free was beyond the hope of a poor man, unless his dream came true, and he was captured by pirates.

This ultimate pirate yarn is now available as an ebook or paperback from www.womanpirate.com

When we think of the ideal holiday paradise, most often Caribbean holidays will spring to mind. With palm trees, empty sandy beaches and blue waters you will love luxury holidays in the Caribbean, where you have so many islands and quality resorts to choose from.

The Caribbean is made up of thousands of islands, and choosing which to visit on Caribbean holidays is a lovely problem to have. Because the Caribbean islands are spread over such a large area, there are regional differences in climate, but in general, the weather systems of the Caribbean Sea keep the area warm and welcoming. Taking Trinidad & Tobago as an example, the islands enjoy only a slight variation during the year, with an average annual temperature of 25°C with highs of 31°C: perfect for luxury holidays to the Caribbean.

Romance

The Caribbean is undoubtedly a romantic part of the world. Drawing partly on the desert island fantasy of being stranded in paradise, and partly from the innate beauty of the location, these islands are ideal for honeymoons and intimate Caribbean holidays for couples. There are many resorts perfect for romantic holidays where you can walk hand in hand on an empty beach and watch the sunset from the balcony of a luxury hotel.

The Cotton House in Mustique is one of several hotels that offer privacy and luxury on Caribbean holidays that couples will enjoy. You get your own private pool here and the chance to have a suite with its own lounge, so you can have your own space. You may even choose a cottage so you can feel really at home on the island.

For couples who like sailing, there are ‘Sail away’ packages and island hopping experiences. You might like to stop for a time on the tiny Young Island resort close St Vincent while exploring the Grenadines by yacht.

Family Fun

As well as being good for couples, the Caribbean is the perfect place to share with all your loved ones. There are many Caribbean holiday resorts where your children are welcome and can enjoy long days of play in the fine weather. Look out for the ‘family friendly’ resorts and hotels with Kids’ Clubs like the one at the Round Hill Hotel & Villas in Jamaica.

For some activity on your luxury holidays in the Caribbean there numerous opportunities to play golf or tennis, and you can take to the sea with a variety of water sports. You might like to try windsurfing in Barbados or Jamaica. The Round Hill Hotel & Villas in Jamaica have safe waters for learning to windsurf as well as snorkelling and diving. You can rely on sea temperatures in the Caribbean to be clement, and scuba divers will love the access to the colourful coral reefs vibrant with tropical fish.

Natural Beauty

The natural beauty you can see on luxury holidays in the Caribbean is not only found on the coast. You might like to stand underneath one of the waterfalls on of St Lucia, washing yourself with the waters of a Caribbean stream, or float in the fresh water pools in a woodland oasis. On the same island you can see the dormant volcanoes and explore the jungle environment. The Caribbean is an area of natural diversity where you might see wildlife on some islands that are rare and you can’t see anywhere else.