Caribbean Travel

Happy Valentine's Day, and here's hoping you and your sweetheart and snuggling your toes into the sand on a fabulous Caribbean beach! Speaking of which, we're still accepting nominees for the 2012 About.com Readers' Choice Awards in the category of Favorite Caribbean Beaches, so how about taking a minute to show some love for that special strand you dream about on chilly February days?

Nominate Now: Favorite Caribbean Beaches

U.S. State Department has updated its travel warning on Mexico to include more detail on the ongoing drug violence and threats to visitors, but also spelling out which parts of the country are considered safe and which regions should be avoided by Americans.

Specifically, the Mexican Caribbean is excluded from the warning. That includes the entire province of Quintana Roo and Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, the Riviera Maya, and Tulum; and the province of Yucatan, including Merida and Chichen Itza.

As I've noted before, the Mexican Caribbean is more than 1,000 miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border region, where most of the drug violence you see on TV occurs. Until and if this violence spreads to the Yucatan Peninsula -- and there's no sign of that happening -- you should not let the violence taking place more in the border region affect your decision to travel to Mexico's Caribbean beach destinations.

You can read the entire travel warning here.

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(Photo of Mexican flag © Esparta via Flikr)

What was the most fun thing you did on your last Caribbean vacation? Swimming with dolphins? Ziplining? Visiting a historic fort? If a tour or attraction was one of your travel highlights, please take a minute and make a nomination in the 2012 About.com Readers' Choice Awards for Favorite Caribbean Tour or Attraction!

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(Photo © Clint Brownfield)

The 2012 Grammy Awards were announced last night, and while Adele was the big winner, as usual artists from (or with roots in) the Caribbean took home their fair share of statues.

Major Grammy award winners from the Caribbean this year included:

• Rihanna (Barbados): Rap/Sung Collaboration: "All of the Lights," Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi & Fergie
• Melanie Fiona Hallim (parents from Guyana): R&B Song, Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: "Fool For You," Cee Lo Green, Melanie Hallim & Jack Splash
• Cachao Lopez (Cuba): Tropical Latin Album: "Last Mambo"
• Stephen Marley (Jamaica): Reggae Album: "Revelation Pt. 1: The Root of Life"

More on Caribbean Music

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(Photo of Rihanna in concert © MikeARB via Flikr)

From budget beachfront bungalows to five-star luxury resorts, the Caribbean has some of the best hotels in the world, including more all-inclusive properties than anywhere else. Got some favorite places to stay in the islands? Nominate them now for the 2012 About.com Readers' Choice Awards:

Nominate: Favorite Caribbean Hotel

Nominate: Favorite Caribbean All-Inclusive Resort

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The Hilton Key Largo Resort in the Florida Keys is located on a dozen acres of tropical forest bounded by the Everglades on one side and coral reefs on the other. In addition to nature trails to explore, the resort recently a new "scoutabout" program, which allows guests to explore the property and learn about its natural wonders.

Sort of a eco-friendly scavenger hunt, scoutabout features a search for "discovery markers" at such points of interest as a stand of black bamboo and Gumbo Limbo Trees, called the "tourist tree" because its bark is red and peeling. The hotel is located at mile marker 97 on the Overseas Highway connecting the Florida mainland to Key West.

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The beachfront Riu Palace Peninsula, the fourth Rui property in Cancun, is scheduled to open in May 2012, joining the Riu Cancun, Riu Caribe and Riu Palace Las Americas.

The 17-story main hotel building and nearby villas will contain a total of 562 rooms. Resort amenities will include six restaurants and a Renova spa.

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A demonstration farm with crops from the Caribbean and Taiwan will open in 2014 on the island of St. Kitts, complete with a tea house and labyrinth on the site of the former St. Gillies sugar-cane plantation. A joint project of the St. Kitts and Taiwanese government, the planned tourist attraction will also have a botanical garden open to visitors.

The labyrinth will be carved out of the sugar-cane fields and feature two mazes, in the shape of the islands of St. Kitts and Taiwan, respectively.

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AirTran Airways -- now a subsidiary of Southwest Airlines -- is expanding its Cancun service to include new flights from Denver and Austin, Texas.

The Denver flights will launch on April 16 and be daily nonstops through July 7, then shift to four weekly flights (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) through Aug. 12. From Aug. 13 to Sept. 28, the flights will operate on Saturdays and Sundays only.

Austin-Cancun service will begin May 25 and operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through Aug. 31, then shift to a Wednesday-Friday-Sunday schedule through Sept. 28.

Earlier, Southwest announced that AirTran also would being flying four weekly roundtrips between Cancun and San Antonio, Texas beginning May 24.

Compare Prices on Caribbean Flights

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Come down to St. Croix this spring for the annual Food & Wine Experience and you can get some great hotel deals and help support the St. Croix Foundation.

The U.S. Virgin Islands festival is scheduled for the week of April 19, 2012, and event packages can be booked now through March 1 (unless otherwise noted). Special packages include:

• The Buccaneer Hotel Culinary Getaway: $2,445 package price includes five nights in ocean-view accommodations, a five-day car rental, tickets to A Taste of St. Croix, and a culinary welcome amenity plus full American breakfast daily, and welcome cocktail. Taxes and service charges are included. To book the Buccaneer Culinary Getaway Package call 800-255-3881 or visit the hotel website. Compare Prices
• Caravelle Hotel: $940 will get you a three-night package (April 18-20) for two in a deluxe ocean-front room. The package includes two tickets to Food Fight, A Taste of St Croix and Sunset BBQ, as well as a relaxing sailing trip to Buck Island National Park. To book call Hotel Caravelle at 340-773-0687 or visit the website. Compare Prices
• Divi Carina Bay Beach Resort, the host venue for A Taste of St. Croix, offers the "Taste of St. Croix Package" which includes a ticket to the event, oceanfront accommodations, and all meals and beverages. The package is good April 16-23, and is $225 per person, per night; three-night minimum stay required. The deal can be booked Feb. 28 through March 15. To book call 877-773-9700 or visit the website. Compare Prices
• Palms at Pelican Cove: offers beachfront accommodations for their four-night package (April 18-22), costing $2,170. The offer is based on double occupancy, includes taxes. The package includes two tickets to A Taste of St Croix (April 19), Sunset BBQ (April 20), and Wine in the Warehouse (April 21). To book call 340-718-8920 or visit the website. Compare Prices
• Sea View Play Villa: For $11,500 you get three nights in a five-bedroom villa with a pool for four couples, a four-course gourmet dinner prepared by celebrity Chef Roberto Trevino of Puerto Rico, and tickets to A Taste of St. Croix and Wine in the Warehouse. For more information or to book the package, please call 917-903-6642,email info@seaviewplay.com or visit the website.
• Southern Breezes villa: For $3,000 you get seven nights stay for four guests at a villa with a private beach within walking distance of A Taste of St. Croix. The package includes four tickets to A Taste of St. Croix and four tickets to Kids Cooking (April 21). For more information visit or to book, call (310) 430-1420.

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