Caribbean

Jamaica is a stunning island, from its sandy tropical beaches to the distinctive Blue Mountains. Explore a little further and you will find rugged coastlines, lush tropical rainforests, flowing rivers and cascading waterfalls. Kingston is the nation’s capital, and Montego Bay a favourite destination amongst tourists, but there are also some smaller towns worth a visit such as Falmouth with its great plantation houses or the charming Port Antonio with its beautiful harbour. The island-life is laid back, set against a background of reggae. Eco hotels on this Caribbean island focus on being part of the community and conserving the environment.

As you might expect of a Caribbean Island, on Tobago you will find beautiful sandy beaches lined with palm trees and clear, blue waters where you can snorkel or scuba dive out on the coral reef. However, unlike many other Caribbean Islands, Tobago is largely undeveloped. Tobago’s rainforest is the world’s oldest nature reserve and the island has won tourism awards as an eco-destination. The pace of life is slow and relaxation is the order of the day. Eco-tourism projects here work to preserve the environment and put something back into the local community.

Known to its residents as the ‘Nature Island.’ Dominica is a lush, green paradise with rainforested peaks set against the brilliant blue of the Caribbean sea. Here you’ll discover cascading waterfalls, hot springs and the second largest boiling lake in the world. Added to this, you will find a way of life steeped in tradition – watch out for cocoa pods drying on a porch step, cassava bread cooked on the road side and juice being made from sugar-cane. Eco accommodations in Dominica aim to help preserve the cultural heritage of the Island, while conserving the magnificent natural beauty.

Saba, in the Netherland Antilles, is not your run-of-the-mill Caribbean island: there are no sandy beaches, no casinos and no marinas. But that's just a small price to pay for being in paradise. Here you will find spotlessly maintained quaint red-white-and-green Saban homes, beautiful gardens, old agricultural plots, lush vegetation and, perhaps most of all, the people of Saba who are curious, hospitable, inviting and entertaining. While Saba is developing like every other place on the globe, such development has been modest and slow-paced and has not affected the unique character of the island. Hence Saba continues to proudly bear its name of "Unspoiled Queen."

As you might expect of the Caribbean, the tropical island of Grenada is a great place to go if you’re looking for beaches, swimming, snorkeling and diving. Moving further inland there are also plenty of opportunities to experience nature, from walking along forest trails to hiking the mountain tracks where you’ll find small rivers and beautiful waterfalls flowing from the mountains into the sea. Eco-projects on this island are working to benefit the local communities through their operations and to reduce their carbon footprint.