Top Caribbean Experiences

A Guide to the Best Caribbean Experiences

BY: ANDREW MARSHALL

The Caribbean is a region of plenty. Here is a fast and fabulous guide to some of the most memorable experiences to flag on your bucket list.

The mix of cultures and races give the islands of the Caribbean a unique style in cuisine, music, architecture, customs and language. Whether you are climbing the Pitons in Saint Lucia, drinking rum with locals in Barbados, or listening to the sounds of steel pan in Trinidad, the Caribbean is jam-packed with a rich array of varied experiences and activities. Here are ten of the best.

"Take it easy and be happy," the locals are likely to say when you first arrive on Caye Caulker, a tiny island off the coast of Belize in the Caribbean Sea. Situated on a reef of some 200 cays, and blessed with a fascinating mix of Rastafarian, Garifuna and Creole culture, Caye Caulker offers a Caribbean experience at its most laid-back and affordable best. The cay is only seven kilometers long and 600 meters at its widest point, and you can stroll the bougainvillea-lined sandy lanes barefoot in under ten minutes.

The main industries in Caye Caulker, once the hangout of pirates, are lobster fishing and its own special brand of locally run tourism. If you become tired of watching from your hammock the frigate birds wheel in lazy circles, there are plenty of activities to tempt you away. Sailing trips on a reef second only in size to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, observing manatees (dugongs or sea cows), diving the Blue Hole, a day boat trip to the Mayan ruins of Altun Ha, or a sunset drink down at the Lazy Lizard.

A trip to the Dominican Republic would not be complete without a visit to the vibrant capital of Santo Domingo. This Old Spanish colonial city founded by Bartholomew Columbus (brother of Christopher) in 1496, was designated a UNESCO site of World Heritage Importance in 1990. It contains many of the oldest buildings in the Americas and wandering its labyrinth of narrow streets will reveal the New World’s first church, the oldest street, and nunnery and monastery and library and university.

The weathered stonework, heavy iron-studded doors and beautiful colonial balconies are testimony to the grand style in which Columbus and the early colonists lived. From a stone seat in the battlement wall of Fortaleza Ozama, the oldest fort, you can gaze over an impressive armory of cannons aimed over the Ozama River and the anchorage where Columbus once weighed anchor.

VISIT A RUM SHOP - Barbados

Though small in size, in the world of rum Barbados is huge. In fact Bajans were the first to concoct this hearty cane liquor in the mid-17th century. Found in every village and town, and at almost every crossroads or street corners where people pass by are the island’s colorful rum shops. Part pub, part convenience store, part social center, these sugar cane shacks are the best places to enjoy a rum with your friendly neighborhood Bajans.

Along Baxter’s Road just north of the capital Bridgetown, you’ll find a concentration of watering holes where sidewalk vendors fry up fish and the drinks flow freely late into the night. On the outskirts of town, amid the palm-fringed turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea, is the Mount Gay Rum Visitor’s Centre where the world’s oldest rum brand was born over three centuries ago.

In these southernmost Caribbean islands, there is an almost tangible native pride about steel pan, a musical marvel often described as “the only acoustic instrument to be invented in the 20th century.” From biscuit tins to the hubs of motor car wheels, all manner of items have been employed in the past to create musical notes, but it wasn’t until the 1930s, that the steel pan made from discarded oil drums evolved into a fine example of creative recycling.

The “people’s street festival,” or Carnival, held in February or March each year is where the steel pan reigns supreme. More than 100 steel bands, both large and small are active throughout Trinidad and nearby Tobago. Especially in the weeks preceding Carnival, you can visit the pan yards where steel bands diligently practice their rhythms for National Panorama, the Carnival’s big musical event.

EAT JERK CHICKEN – Jamaica

An essential travel experience in any country is eating its signature dish, and in Jamaica that means jerk chicken or pork. Jerk chicken is believed to have been conceived when the Maroons introduced African meat-cooking techniques to Jamaica, which were combined with native Jamaican ingredients and seasonings used by the Amerindians. At most “jerk centres,” as they are known here, the recipe for jerk sauce is a closely guarded secret however usually contains peppers, onions, pimento, ginger and chili.

One of the best places visit is Scotchies, an unassuming thatched-roofed joint on the outskirts of Montego Bay, where a reggae soundtrack combines with delicious aromas that waft on the balmy tropical breeze. Rows of chickens are splayed flat and whole backs of pig sizzle in jerk marinade over a low fire of pimento wood, which introduces a strong distinctive smoky flavor to the meat. A cool mix of locals and visitors rubs shoulders at rustic tables opening tin foil parcels of tasty jerk chicken or pork accompanied with rice and peas, sweet potatoes or yam.

The palm-fringed San Blas Islands situated off the southern Caribbean coast of Panama are the stuff that dreams are made of – coral gardens, white sandy beaches, deep blue skies and turquoise waters. Home to the fiercely independent and traditional Kuna Indians, some 40,000 of them live on the islands, fishing, farming and trading coconuts with the Colombian schooners that ply the waters.

With their nose rings of gold, and legs and arms covered in beads and traditional clothing of a zillion different colors, the Kuna women are outrageously photogenic. Equally vibrant are the famed molas they make, where sections of cloth are sewn together depicting aspects of Kuna life through geometrical designs and symbols. While there is very little of an infrastructure for tourism here, a few resourceful Kuna families have developed low-key eco-friendly family-run resorts.

TAKE A CIGAR FACTORY TOUR – Cuba

With heads bowed over wooden workbenches and with their hands methodically rolling, chopping and tucking, the busy workers create Cuba’s most famous product – cigars. This is the scene inside the Romeo y Julieta cigar factory in Havana, which produces several sizes of handcrafted Cohiba, Montecristos, H.Upmanns, and of course Romeo y Julietas. Whatever your views are about smoking, it is fascinating cultural insight to take a factory tour covering the various stages of cigar production. Being Cuba, factory tours can be ad hoc. Tours usually take around one hour and cover the various stages of cigar production.

Start in the selection room where sorters grade the various tobacco leaves, and end in a tiny room where the finished cigars are packed into cedar boxes and pasted with their official green and white seals to confirm authenticity. The rolling rooms (galeras) are the very heart and soul of the cigar-making process where you can fully appreciate the craftsmanship that has been handed down through generations of cigar rollers.

CLIMB THE PITONS – Saint Lucia

The lush volcanic island of Saint Lucia is situated in the Caribbean Sea, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. More mountainous than many other Caribbean islands, Saint Lucia is known for its most famous landmark, the Pitons which is located between Soufrière and Choiseul on the southwest coast. These two towering volcanic spires (Gros Piton rises to a height of 786 meters and Petit Piton 739 meters), attract hikers and climbers and are featured everywhere from postcards and T-shirts, to paintings and beer labels.

In spite of being the highest, Gros Piton is the easier of the two Pitons to ascend and is more a hike than a climb. A decent degree of fitness is required to tackle Petit Piton, with various obstacles to negotiate such as twisted roots, boulders, exposed areas and a section of knotted rope ladder. Although there is no mandatory park service guide required to climb Petit Piton (as is the case with Gros Piton), it is a very good idea to find a local guide (ask around in Soufrière) who knows the route. It’s well worth the effort and from the summits of the Pitons there are unparalleled views of Piton Bay and Saint Lucia.