Caribbean and Central America Travel

Fodor.com listed three islands in the Caribbean as the favorite port of call of Caribbean cruises. The winners? Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles, the island of Dominica, and the Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos islands.

According to Fodor’s, these islands have the best to offer Caribbean tourists. Curacao with its spectacular dive sites, Dominica with its lush rain forest and numerous outdoor activities making it the perfect destination for adventure travelers, and the Grand Turk with its gorgeous beaches that’s perfect for sunbathing, wading or snorkeling.

Head on over to Fodors.com to see the complete recommendation list.

The Netherlands Antilles is composed of several islands, grouped into two. Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten make up the Leeward Islands. Bonaire and Curaçao make up the Windward Islands located north of Venezuela.

Both group of islands were discovered for Spain: the leeward islands by Alonso de Ojeda in 1499, and the windward islands by Christopher Columbus in 1493. When they first arrived in the islands, it was inhabited by the Arawak Indians.

The Dutch came in and colonized the islands during the 17th century. The slave trade in the Netherlands Antilles flourished, but quickly floundered when slavery was abolished in 1863. It was the burgeoning oil industry in Curaçao that saved the Netherlands Antilles’ economy.
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