4 minute read
Family & multi-generational holidays
holidays for THE AGES
From swimming with stingrays to hurtling down zip-lines to learning how to paddleboard, the Caribbean is a fun-filled adventure playground for families, says Kathryn Liston
The Caribbean offers multiple opportunities for creating wonderful family memories.
Its family-friendly hotels, luxury villas – some with a private chef – and all-inclusive resorts with kids’ clubs and waterparks cater for all group sizes and ages.
The clear, warm waters of the Caribbean Sea provide fun for all.
Swim with stingrays in the Cayman Islands or Antigua, frolic with dolphins in St Maarten and paddle with turtles in St Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The whole family will be fascinated by the friendly pigs that live on Big Major Cay, one of 365 islands in Exuma, a district of The Bahamas. The pigs paddle out to greet arriving boats. Visitors here might also spot nurse sharks and the endangered Exuma Island iguanas.
In Tobago, active families can enjoy a range of watersports at Mount Irvine or Minister Bay while kite-surfers can learn the ropes from instructors at Pigeon Point and cyclists can ride the invigorating Elvis Goats cycle trail or ease up on the gentle Chala’s Trail, created by local villagers. Tours and bike hire, including e-bikes, are available.
The Belize Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a great place for families to discover the pristine coral reef and at the same time learn how to sea kayak, sail a kayak, SUP, snorkel, or fi sh Belizean style.
Inland, Mayan temples and tombs at Altun, Caracol and Santa Rita offer a history lesson.
In Grenada, take a traditional Carriacou sloop to the underwater sculpture park or the Caribbean’s largest ship wreck, Bianca C, or captain your own kayak on a night-time guided bioluminescence tour from Grand Cayman’s Rum Point and watch billions of plankton particles create an amazing light display.
A kayak is the best way to reach Rendezvous Bay, Montserrat’s only whitesand beach, and to tour the mangroves of Lac Bay on Bonaire’s western coastline.
Nature-loving families will fi nd plenty to entertain them in the Dominican rainforest, where hot springs, bubbling mud pools, geysers, rivers, waterfalls, rare orchids and colourful birds abound. Activities include hiking and canyoning.
In Guyana, see some of the estimated 910 bird species and 6,000 species of plants.
A zip-wire is an exhilarating way to traverse the rainforest and you’ll fi nd them in St. Kitts, Belize, Jamaica, Antigua, Grenada, Saint Lucia, St Martin, Trinidad and Haiti, where the Dragon’s Breath is the Caribbean’s longest.
An aerial tram in Saint Lucia provides little ones with a bird’s eye view of hummingbirds while a jeep safari is a fun way to explore the rainforest of Antigua. A high-speed catamaran can whizz visitors off to neighbouring Barbuda for the day, where they can visit the Frigate Bird Sanctuary.
An adventurous way to explore Aruba’s scenic desert, rock formations and amazing coastline is by joining a quad or ATV tour.
Younger visitors will enjoy meeting Barbados’s popular green monkey residents
A Mayan history lesson for the family in Belize Rainforest Canopy Tram, St Lucia
at the Barbados Wildlife Reserve which is also home to flamingos, armadillos and caimans which wander freely throughout the park. In the central uplands of the island, Harrison’s Cave Eco-Adventure Park features trams which take visitors on a ride of the crystallised, limestone cave, where they will see flowing streams, deep pools of crystal clear water and towering columns.
A trip to a volcano offers an educational experience for the entire family. Saint Lucia has the Caribbean’s only drive-in volcano while the Caribbean’s active volcanos include Mount Pelee in Martinique, La Soufriere on St Vincent, which erupted in April 2021, and Soufriere Hills in Montserrat, which did the same in 1997, burying the now-abandoned capital, Plymouth. Visitors can view the town from the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. •
READY TO WELCOME YOU
Feel that tug? It’s the feeling you get when you’ve gone too long without seeing the ocean, or walking on the beach, or tasting the salt air. Head to one of 16 unique island destinations and feel the tug fade as soon as your toes hit the sand. We’re ready to welcome you home. Even if it’s your first time. Bahamas.com | T: + 44 207 355 0800
