Christina Paulette Col?n - Frommers Caribbean Ports of Call

FrommersCaribbean Ports of Call, 9th Edition

by Robin Andersen

with Christina Coln & Felisa Mahabal

Published by:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774

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ISBN 978-1-118-36906-7 (paper); ISBN 978-1-118-51806-9 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-51810-6 (ebk)

Editor: Christine Ryan

Production Editor: Heather Wilcox

Cartographer: Guy Ruggiero

Photo Editor: Richard Fox

Production by Wiley Indianapolis Composition Services

Front Cover Photo: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas Interface Images - Cruise Travel & Life / Alamy Images

Back Cover Photo: San Juan, Puerto Rico Katja Kreder / imagebroker / Alamy Images

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5 4 3 2 1

List of Maps

The Gulf of Mexico & the Caribbean

The Eastern Caribbean

Miami

Fort Lauderdale

Cape Canaveral & Cocoa Beach

Tampa

Greater New Orleans

The French Quarter

Galveston

Baltimore

New York City

Charleston

Antigua

Aruba

Nassau

Freeport/Lucaya

Barbados

Belize

Bequia

Bonaire

The British Virgin Islands

The Yucatns Upper Caribbean Coast

Cozumel Island

Curaao

Dominica

Grand Cayman

Grand Turk

Grenada

Guadeloupe

Roatn

Jamaica

Key West

La Romana, Bayahibe & Altos de Chavn

Les Saintes

Martinique

Nevis

Panama

Puerto Rico

San Juan at a Glance

St. Barthlemy (St. Barts)

St. Kitts

St. Lucia

St. Martin/Sint Maarten

Trinidad

Tobago

St. Thomas

Charlotte Amalie

St. John

St. Croix

Note About Maps

This guide contains dozens of maps of varying sizes and complexity. If you find it hard to read a map on your device, use the zoom function to enlarge. You can also download and/or printout PDFs of all of the maps in this guide. Go to www.frommers.com/go/ebookmaps and click on the title of your guide.

About the Authors

Robin Andersen is a professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University in the Bronx, and an award-winning author of non-fiction books on media analysis and criticism. After negotiating the virtual landscapes of media of all sorts, it has been a natural transition to negotiating the real, and incalculably more fun, landscapes of the Caribbean. Growing up in California and exploring beaches from the top to the bottom of the state before moving the New York, traveling to the Caribbean seemed like returning home. A sign discovered at one port said it best: Home Is Where the Beach Is.

Through travel writing, Christina Paulette Coln has merged her passion for research, education and ecotourism. With a Ph.D. in ecology and an M.A. in environmental conservation education her academic research has taken her to the jungles of Borneo, rainforests of Belize, and shores of Bora Bora. Her work as a travel writer began as a science consultant for other authors over ten years ago. Since then she has explored nearly every island and port in the Caribbean. When not abroad, she makes her home in New York, where she enjoys exploring the parks of Manhattan, woodlands of the Bronx and beaches of Brooklyn.

Felisa Mahabal has an uncanny knack for fact checking and updating guidebooks. In her spare time, of course, as if running a full time day care, managing a household and raising four children is not enough. Perhaps it is her love for reading guidebooks, planning trips, and exploring exotic destinations that accounts for this skill. Or it could be her passion for traveling to the Caribbean. With a father from Puerto Rico, a husband from Trinidad, and timeshares in The Bahamas and Florida, it is clear that the Caribbean is in her blood, close to her heart, and always on her mind.

Acknowledgements

With so many spectacular port destinations in the Caribbean, this volume wouldnt be possible without the generous support of so many. Id like to thank my co-authors for their contributions, and also Angelo Berkowitz and writer Matt Hannafin. Our editor Christine Ryan was steadfast throughout the process. Bevan Springer keeps us up-to-date on people and places throughout the Caribbean. The weary travel writer cannot scout out destinations for cruise passengers without being guided and driven, lodged, and fed, scheduled and organized by the people who know what they are doing and love the places they live and work. In New Orleans, thanks to Christine DeCuir, Kelly Schulz, Lea Sinclair, and from another remarkable port of embarkation, Fort Lauderdale, thanks to Kaymi Malave, Jessica Taylor, and the wonderful people at Lago Mar, Debbie Banks and James Pancallo, and Michael Copper for his encyclopedic knowledge of eateries.

Cruzing Cozumel with Pablo Aguilar was fun and revealing, and dinner at Casa Mission with host Damian Miranda made it also a culinary delight. Without Emma Gomez I would never have caught the ferry to Playa del Carmen, and kudos to Paulina Feltrin for putting me up at the Fairmont Mayakoba. Cesar Lizarraga Gonzalez, a man of many talents, planed an extensive itinerary up and down the Yucatan Peninsula to wild places and amazing Mayan geographies. Special appreciation goes to Roberta Iniguea at Explorean, and to jungle expert Xavier, for allowing me to appreciate the sounds of night crickets. For their sense of humor and endless patience, my wonderful guides Harley Che and Denneric Polanco, made Chetulal my favorite capital city. I learned much from Raul Andrade while eating fresh fish along the Bahia. Ernesto Parra is an athlete as well as cultural historian; everyone should have him as a guide. The team from Ogilvy, Randee Ulsh, Marie Manning and Lauren Simpson, made travel in Puerto Rico a delight, and special thanks to Kathleen Krumhansl and Marta Albanese for their careful guidance. I am indebted to Judith Andujar and Efrain Rosa for extraordinary hospitality at the historic El Convento in Old San Juan, and the very same can be said for Lourdes Martinez and Stephanie Trabal at the Rincon Beach Resort.