If you can't spend Christmas in the Caribbean this year, don't fret. There are plenty of other destinations around the world with unique Christmas celebrations, as detailed in About.com's latest "blog carnival": It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. A quick browse will take you from Christmas in the Midwest to fireworks in Athens and the Natal Luz in Brazil...

You'd think that if there was one thing that Caribbean islands would have a lot of, it is sand. Not true: sand is costantly being added, removed and moved by wave action and storms. For example, I just got back from a stay at the Young Island Resort in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where the beach used to be in front of the hotel restaurant until high surf generated by a storm hundreds of miles away swept through and moved the strand behind a string of private villas -- a spot less accessible by hotel guests.

There's a dark side to the story of the Caribbean's shifting sands, too, and I don't mean a black-sand beach, either. As the Associated Press recently reported, thieves have been stripping sand off the beaches of Vieques, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and north-coast towns in Grenada to supply construction projects, which need sand to make concrete. In Jamaica this week, a developer has files suit against Riu Hotels & Resorts and the Fiesta Hotel Group, claiming that sand found at two Spanish-owned hotels was stolen from another beachfront property, shutting down construction of a $105 million resort at Coral Spring beach on Jamaica's north coast.

The irony is that the concrete being used to build tourist hotels may be helping to diminish the beauty of the very beaches promote in resort brochures. Thieves in Jamaica hauled away 500 truckloads of sand from the Coral Spring beach, formerly 1,300 feet of white sand.

Dec. 22 is the deadline for booking an all-inclusive stay at a Sandals resort in the Caribbean and receive up to 55 percent off the cost of your room. Rates have been trimmed at all 12 of the Sandals resorts in Jamaica, St. Lucia, Antigua, and the Bahamas when you stay for at least three nights, and you also can get up to two nights free with a minimum seven-night stay.

The 55-percent-off offer is good at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios Beach & Villa Golf Resort; Sandals Royal Bahamian Spa Resort & Offshore Island; and Sandals Regency La Toc Golf Resort & Spa in St. Lucia. Two nights free on seven-night stays are also available at Sandals Negril Beach Resort & Spa’s Plantation Suites and Swim-Up River Suites and Sandals Montego Bay’s Bay Rock Villas, among others.

See the Sandals website for full details on discounts, or call 800-SANDALS.

Book Now

More Info on All-Inclusive Caribbean Resorts

Photo: Mediterranean Village, Sandals Antigua. © Sandals Resorts

The current recession has been a double-whammy for Caribbean tourism in this sense: not only do fewer people have money to spend on vacations, but the airline industry's woes have led to cutbacks on flights to some islands, making it harder and more expensive for tourists to get where they want to do even if they have the money to do it.

The good news is that since American Airlines and other carriers trimmed their schedules earlier this year there have been some readjustments and new service added in the Caribbean. For example:

• American Airlines is adding new service from Chicago to Montego Bay, Jamaica this winter
• American also has agreed to continue flights between Los Angeles and Baltimore and San Juan, Puerto Rico
• JetBlue recently added new flights between Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Boston and New York/JFK and San Juan
• AirTran is adding Baltimore-San Juan service in December
• American Eagle has increased service between San Juan and the British Virgin Islands to four weekday and five weekend flights
• LIAT is now flying three times daily between San Juan and the BVI

Looking to make a Caribbean flight reservation? Book Now

For more information on flying the the Caribbean, see:

• How to Get the Best Caribbean Airfares
• Top Airlines Flying to the Caribbean
• Top Regional Caribbean Airlines
• Other Airlines Serving the Caribbean