Other Islands

I took these trips from 1991 through 1993. Because they were so long ago and so many things have changed since I visited, this report will not be as detailed as those on Hawaii, Grand Cayman, Aruba and Curacao.

Cancun

The beach at the Fiesta is very close to the building. There are a lot of compact-car-sized rocks in the sand, the result of a hurricane. The water off Cancun is warm, but has an undertow and can get rough. The hotels use a flag system to notify guests of the conditions. On our second trip, the water stayed rough during our entire visit. Red flags were posted. We ventured briefly into the water and were knocked down by a huge wave. About once a year I read stories about tourists drowning in Cancun, so it's wise to heed the signs.

On our second trip, we stayed at the Omni. It has a wonderful beach (no big rocks) but because the water was so rough, we spent most of our time at the multi-level pool. The Omni has three mediocre restaurants, one of which serves mediocre buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Cancun has hundreds of restaurants, so we weren't upset with the poor selection at the hotel.

Other entertainment we enjoyed included Mexico Magico, a kind of amusement park, and a flamenco show.

Cancun is very touristy, and the entire island is structured to give visitors from the United States and Canada a sanitized Mexican experience. If you want real Mexico, don't go there. But if you want a quick, inexpensive, fun, safe tropical vacation, you can't beat Cancun.

The Bahamas

I spent most of my time on the beach and ate most of my meals at the glitzy, neon Crystal Palace. The Palace has a huge casino, which you have to walk through to get to anything else in the hotel. The lights, the sounds, the rows and rows of slot machines left me dumbfounded. Even more amazing was the sight of people with buckets of quarters, frozen in front of slot machines, when just a few steps away were a glorious beach, wonderful warm water and perfect weather.

The Bahamas are very poor islands. Islanders walk along the beach pestering tourists to buy hair braiding, coconuts or trinkets. Boats land on the beach and the captains try to hustle up tourists to take snorkeling trips.

I visited Coral World aquarium about five miles down the road from the hotel. It was quite small, but part of it went below water and I arrived at feeding time, so thousands of fish appeared. There is snorkeling available there, but the entrance and egress into the water seemed unsafe, so I passed.

I learned a lot on my four-day visit to the Bahamas. Research a destination carefully and don't be swayed by an unknown travel agent's opinion. This is much easier with the Internet. I learned that I don't like traveling alone (this was the only trip I took without my mother).

I want to go back to there. The Bahamas are inexpensive and easy to get to. I've heard good things about the new Atlantis resort and would like to give the Bahamas another chance.

St. Thomas and St. John

My mother and I arrived in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands in May 1993. We flew American Eagle from Miami. St. Thomas is a speck of an island. The airport is carved out of hills and the runway is short. The plane fishtailed upon touchdown.

Our van picked us up and drove us along narrow, winding, hilly roads to Marriott's Frenchmen's Reef hotel. The property is perched atop a hill. Our room on the seventh floor had a glorious view of the Caribbean Sea, and we could watch cruise ships sail into and out of the harbor. But the lofty position of the hotel puts it far from the beach. You have to take an outside elevator (which was out of order the first day we stayed). Then you have to go down two flights of steps, walk past the tennis courts and the rooms and restaurants at the adjoining Morningstar hotel to reach the sand. The beach was wonderful and the water was wonderful. But it was a major effort to get there and back.

In July 1995, a hurricane hit St. Thomas. Several hotels were destroyed, and many more, including Frenchman's Reef, were damaged. Coral World, the glassed, in-water aquarium we had enjoyed, was washed into the sea. Dozens of commercial boats that take tourists on sailing and snorkeling trips were sunk or hurled up on land.

The pools at Frenchman's Reef were destroyed and the top floors rendered uninhabitable. The hotel stayed open for months, providing accommodations to workers with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The resort owners rebuilt the pools (with a waterfall) and then resumed accepting tourists. On May 1, 1997, the hotel closed for major repairs until December that year. I've seen pictures of the renovated property. It looks very different, but still luxurious.

My mother and took a daylong island tour which included stops at Coral World and several high points on the island, from which we could see Magen's Bay and much of the island. Fabulous shopping is available at Havensight Mall at the cruise ship dock, and in the center of town, where hundreds of shops are crammed on the streets and in alleys. When three or four cruise ships are docked at the island, the downtown shopping area becomes impossibly crowded. Hawkers tried to entice tourists into their shops. It was a mob scene the day we went shopping. Among the most popular items for sale were jewelry, perfume, liquor and leather goods.

We took a daylong trip to St. John. We were escorted by the tour guide onto the public ferry that departed from the dock at the Marriott. It is a 20-minute ride to St. John. A driver met us and took us to see the natural sights, including a former sugar mill, and flora and fauna.

We took a snorkeling trip aboard the Winifred, run by two women. Two other passengers went on the excursion on this sailboat. We sailed to Honeymoon Beach on St. John, where the snorkeling was fantastic. The water was clear and about 8 feet deep. The coral was healthy and plentiful and there were lots of fish.

© Copyright 1997-2001 by Kasey Jones. All Rights Reserved.