The Caribbean lures visitors with sunny beaches and clear blue water, but each island has something unique to offer. With white water rafting, rainforests, crater lakes and mangrove forests as well as beautiful colonial architecture, there is a lot to see and do in the Caribbean.

Jamaica is the third largest English speaking country in the Americas. The lifestyle is a combination of the native inhabitants, African, Spanish and British cultural influences. Visitors hike up the mountains in the interior of the island, swim with dolphins at the beach and watch locals dive from high cliffs into the waves. Dunn’s River Falls are a natural highlight and there is zip lining and aerial trams in the rainforest. All of this is surrounded by local music and delicious food and drink.

Mexico has some of the hottest beach resorts on the Caribbean. Cancun has the party life to put Ibiza in the shade and the beaches to go with it. There are also secluded beaches in the less developed areas. Considered the gateway to the Mayan World, visitors can see Mayan temples and other ritual sites in the thick jungle. Famous for scuba diving and other water sports, there are also local hotels a little further from the beaches that offer a relaxing, intimate holiday.

The Dominican Republic offers a wealth of activities for adventure tourism. It has rainforests, deserts, mangrove swamps and alpine peaks and is the right place for trekking, mountain biking and all the popular water sports. The highest mountain in the Caribbean as well as the popular Atlantic beaches on its northern coast are two the favourite holiday spots. It is the place Christopher Columbus first landed and the site of the first European settlement in North America. Playa Bonita is a popular beach with golden sand, warm, shallow water and a few islands that are within swimming distance.

Barbados is the proverbial deserted island with soft, white sand and swaying palms. There is a Botanical Garden, Cricket Oval and Rum distillery worth seeing, but this island is mainly about the sea. It has world class surfing, scuba diving and submarine tours to see the amazingly colourful underwater world. Along with the myriad fish there are sunken ships and coral reefs to see. Catamaran cruises take visitors to places where they can snorkel alongside sea turtles and other marine life. There are restaurants and bars along the beach for night time clubbing.