While you might have always dreamed of crossing the Caribbean on a Jimmy Buffett-style schooner, a diamond decked super-yacht or one of the those extreme sports catamarans that Pierce Bronson thrashed to smithereens in The Thomas Crown Affair, chances are if you want to make that holiday a reality, you will have to settle for booking ideally a cheap cruise.
No worries when you’re cruising into the Caribbean sunset with a tropical drink in one hand, a Cuban cigar in the other and your pink shirt blowing in wind, any mode of transportation will do, and a cruise is easy, efficient and affordable.
The Calypso Island
The first stop is Barbados. This is Rihanna’s neck of the woods. Even though the mega-pop star sang about umbrellas back in 2007, there is definitely not going to be any need for one on this island paradise. It is a far cry from the cloudy skies of London.
From diamond and talcum powder sands to rolling green countryside, this is no doubt what Ponce de Leon was looking for when he set sail to find the fountain of youth. The beaches in Barbados are ideal for limmin’, which is the island’s slang equivalent to Jamaica’s irie. Whatever you want to call it, chilling out is an art form in the Caribbean, and Carlisle Beach is by far the best place to do it.
Often called Little England, Barbados has a chic, cosmopolitan vibe, and the duty-free shopping in Bridgeport is like a walk down California’s Rodeo Drive, only more laid-back. While beaches, shopping and world-class golf courses might be enough activity for some people, for a small, 21 by 14 mile island, Barbados has some stellar attractions that should not be missed.
Harrison’s Cave and the Atlantis Submarine are two of the island’s most recognized tourist attractions. Harrison’s Cave is a warren of underground tunnels and caverns. When visitors take a tram into this underground labyrinth, they are greeted with streams and waterfalls. The Atlantis Submarine is ideal for that person whom wants to scuba dive, but does not like to swim. As the ship slowly descends into the water, the reefs, fish and underwater world is visible through the portholes.
One Love, One Heart
The next port of call is Montego Bay. Jamaica has long been the most visited island in the Caribbean. From world class beaches and tropical reefs to coffee plantations and Bob Marley, the relaxed, anything–goes attitude in Jamaica is legendry. If you’re interested in taking an excursion, you can visit the Bob Marley Museum and Tuff Gong Studios, explore the numerous coffee plantations in the Blue Mountains, do some diving at Seven Mile Beach or hire a guide and hike through Hagley Gap. Whatever you decide to do, you need to end the day eating some jerk chicken and sipping a Red Stripe; those two Jamaican specialties go together like one love, one heart.
