Stuffed at the Renaissance Curaçao

I just arrived in Curaçao this afternoon, and like any responsible foodie, I decided to spend the rest of the day eating. About two hours after inhaling an overproportioned lunch of fresh seafood salad and rice, I rightly decided it was time for some authentic Curaçaoan appetizers, so I headed downstairs to the Renaissance Curaçao's Blue Bar and I noshed on bitterballen - the national dish of spiced, battered meatballs soaked in mustard - then washed them down with the resort's signature (and as yet unnamed) cocktail of light rum, amaretto, fruit juice, green curaçao and champagne. Yum!

Feeling sufficiently stuffed by the time I cashed out, the only obvious thing to do next was head to dinner, so I joined some friends at the Renaissance Curaçao's private Eternity Beach for a private, candlelit dinner at sunset. Yes, totally romantic, if there weren't 9 of us.

As we grazed on yummy smoked tuna, lamb chops and marinated chicken breast, I should have been thinking about the resort's new fitness center where I'll be spending my early morning hours tomorrow in penance for my food sins - but instead, I couldn't stop thinking about the cool outdoor setting where we were dining. Because the four-month old Marriott-owned property decided to set up shop right in the heart of Willemstad, there was no "beach" to speak of, so the resort got creative and made one from scratch - complete with a sandy bottom, infinity edge and real saltwater straight from the sea. There are even real fishies in it. And it's all on the second floor.

The resort uses the venue as a guest-exclusive beach by day, but it can be rented for weddings, proposals or special events anytime. Even if you're not totally sold on the man-made beach idea just yet, the Renaissance makes a convincing argument for checking out a private dinner there with their Sweet Temptations - mini indulgences like chocolate mousse and crème brulée to end the night. Sold!

Stuffed at the Renaissance Curaçao

Winning Dives

Bonaire's well known as a green destination, and this year the eco-friendly island is going to make two of the divers among you very, very happy. Enter any time from today until July 31st for the chance to visit during Celebrate Our Planet week, held from August 15-22 and hosted by famed oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle. The winner of the contest will receive an 8-day/7-night hotel stay at Captain Don's Habitat Bonaire including room, transfers, daily buffet breakfast, 6 days of unlimited shore diving and complimentary airfare on Continental Airlines. All you've got to do is surf over to Bonaire's tourism site at tourismbonaire.com. Good luck, and if you're looking for a plus one to take on the trip, I'm available.

Winning Dives

Choice Rewards

At Caribbean Travel + Life, we love to uncover the hidden gems of each destination - particularly unique, boutique and authentically Caribbean places to stay. We highlight these Rare Finds in most issues, and we reveal many of our other favorites in features and blogs throughout the year.

But we also know that when travel budgets are tight, it's great to have a few chain hotel brands to throw in the mix as well. And one brand that does mid-priced lodging right is Choice Hotels, with budget-friendly properties scattered throughout the Caribbean in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Turks & Caicos.

Through August 13, guests who visit select Choice properties – including the brands Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion and more – can sign up to receive Choice Privileges points for their stay. For every third qualifying stay, guests will have earned enough of these points for a prepaid $50 cash card with no strings attached – and there's no limit to how many of the cards you can earn. That's all in addition to their affordable summer rates and other incentives like an airline mileage rewards program and free-nights promotions.

Just log on to the Choice Hotels web site to check out their vacation packages and to sign up for the rewards program. Then book online or by calling 800-4-CHOICE.

Choice Rewards

Sweetening the Deal with Spas

Among the more pleasant side-effects of the struggling economy are the seemingly endless perks that many hotels and resorts have started lavishing on guests. Besides slashing room rates at properties across the Caribbean, many hoteliers are also heaping on the extras, like free rounds of golf, upgraded amenities, resort credits and - my favorite - complimentary spa treatments.

At the newly renovated Peter Island Resort & Spa in the BVI, guests can enjoy a ton of upgrades and spa goodies with the New Us, New You vacation package through October 31. The promotion includes a five night stay for the price of four, a 75-minute couple's massage and private yoga instruction for two, in addition to an American meal plan (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and amenities like windsurfing, snorkeling and biking - all starting at $2,780 double occupancy for the whole trip.

On the more affordable end of the spectrum, the Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino's new five-night minimum Escape! Spa package offers accommodations in the adult-exclusive Marina Hotel property with daily breakfast for two, along with a sampling of five separate spa treatments for two: a facial, scalp treatment, body exfoliation, Swedish massage and pedicure. It all starts at $398 per night double occupancy through December 21. Rates at the resort usually start in the mid- to high-$300s per night in low season, so the spa treatments are a pretty sweet perk for just a little more.

Check out all the details of these vacation packages on the Peter Island site and Renaissance Aruba site, and keep your eyes open for more great deals like these all summer.

Sweetening the Deal with Spas

Caribbean Sale on JetBlue

Speaking of St. Lucia, my favorite Caribbean carrier JetBlue just announced an inaugural service to the island's Hewanorra International Airport from New York (JFK). The flights - on sale since Wednesday - are valid for travel between October 26 and November 14. And for a limited time they're going for just $99 each way plus taxes.

Also included in the $99 one way fare promotion are two previous Caribbean destinations: Barbados and Kingston, Jamaica - though the promotional dates vary for those islands.

The sale ends June 17 so check out the JetBlue web site for more details and to book your trip...

Caribbean Sale on JetBlue

Resort and Spa Savings on St. Lucia

Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort on St. Lucia just announced a sweet deal for spa-lovers and I wanted to share. This summer, guests of the 60-acre beachfront resort can save three ways:

1. Reduced room rates as low as $200 per night, double occupancy
2. Sun Dollars resort credits of 50 percent of your room rate, good toward food and beverage, island excursions and more...So if your room is $200 per night, you'll receive an extra $100 per night back in credits
3. Savings of 30 percent on all Serenity Spa treatments, including facials, body wraps and massages

All three offers can be combined on the same stay, and kids 11 and under stay free too, so it's great deal for couples and even better for families. The low rates and Sun Dollar credits are available for travel through December 20, but the spa incentive is only good through September 30, so be sure to check out the Windjammer Landing site and book this summer if you want to cash in on all three deals.

Resort and Spa Savings on St. Lucia

Blue Tulum

Last week, I had the chance to check out the boutique Blue Tulum resort in the Riviera Maya. I'd never been to Tulum and was stoked to spend the week visiting the quiet beaches like El Paraiso, sampling the local food and of course exploring the nearby Maya ruins.

On arrival, I was excited to find that Tulum was just as I had hoped: a laid-back, ocean-front town dotted with eco- friendly inns and restaurants, and boasting just the right amount of authentic artisan shops to occasionally distract from the gorgeous beaches - where, admittedly, I spent most of my time. While easily accessible from the bustling spring break-haven of Cancún to the north, Tulum still felt like a world away. And I loved it.

But the most pleasant surprise on the trip was Blue Tulum itself. The 96-room all-inclusive resort was the largest such lodging that I came across in the area, but it somehow managed to feel quiet and personal, as if we were the only two guests there all week. (We definitely were not). The attentive staff did their part to keep that feeling going strong throughout the trip, essentially memorizing all of our favorites so we never even had to ask; By day two, I'm pretty sure every member of the staff - and probably everyone in town - knew I enjoy a champagne with brunch, a cabernet with dinner, and that yummy mint aromatherapy candle at turndown each evening. Having not one but two hot tubs in my ocean-view suite didn't hurt a bit, either.

FOR THE FAMILIES...

The resort recently added a new Kids Club program called BAAXAL PAALA (meaning "games for children"), including a range of indoor and outdoor activities like billiards, a large playground, XBOX 360 and more - plus childcare so mom and dad can go check out the town. And from what I saw while exploring the area, it will be one of the only resorts in Tulum to offer such services, so I definitely suggest checking it out for your next family vacation.

To view the resort's rates and availability, surf over to the Blue Tulum web site, then check out our Riviera Maya destination page for more information on the area.

Blue Tulum

Bélè Beats

When I hit an island, the first thing I do is ditch the iPod and channel surf past the island talk radio for the good stuff - local tunes. I'm from Louisiana, and I learned from an early age that music isn't just something that makes you dance. It's part of the culture. It's a way to experience yet another level; to connect. Whether it's in an off-the-beaten-track Belizean village or the welcome terminal of the San Juan airport, I'm not satisfied until I've had my fix.

I landed on Martinique just in time for their Emancipation Day festivities. That's where I first heard Bélè, a mix of traditional drumming and singing from the era of slavery, which eventually evolved into zouk. The drums, called ta mbou in Creole, are handmade like a rum barrel, with wooden slats shaped by metal rings and fired from the inside. We watched Bwa Mabi perform a few cadences in the Slave Savannah heritage village, led by Max Telephe (the one standing). He's kind of a big deal - a local celebrity for his singing, acting and musical instrumentation.

In their cadences, Max sang in the traditional call-and-response style. In other words, he called, and the rest of the band repeated. Simple, but rhythmic. He also played the flute and shaker, and another member played ti bois, the bamboo drum. They were fascinating to watch.

The accompanying dance (bottom), also called Bélè, is a form of quadrille, where four couples dance in a square formation. It got pretty raunchy (if you've ever been in a late night club in the Caribbean, you know what I'm talking about). Let's just say I'm still blushing. Apparently that's not a new invention from the whippersnappers. Now that I've seen the dance, felt the beat and heard the lyrics, I know Martinique a little better (maybe even intimately).

Bélè Beats

Go Monty

I had the chance to visit the lovely volcanic isle of Montserrat earlier this year, and it was truly an unforgettable experience. Between my stories of boating around the modern-day ruins of Plymouth - the former capital city now buried under feet of ash and mud from eruptions in the 1990s - and my many tales of dinners, drinks and dancing with the locals at Little Bay, the Green Monkey and the new Cultural Center, I couldn't recommend the destination enough to my friends and family.

But there has always been one caveat to my "you have to go there" directive: getting there.

As I mentioned in my blog about traveling to Montserrat, it isn't the easiest Caribbean island to visit. The tiny airport can only accommodate short-range prop-planes with limited seating, and at the time that I traveled, Winair had a monopoly as the only airline that flew there. That drove up the price of tickets and also made for a ton of delays and cancellations.

But just this week, Montserrat welcomed Fly Montserrat, a new airline service that offers on-demand charter services, including day trips to and from the island. Charter service costs will range from $767 to $4,400 depending on the departure gateway, but for a group traveling together, the savings could be substantial over the usual ticketed seats on Winair.

Now that it's easier to visit Montserrat, I can say it without the fine print: you have to go there. Check out the Fly Montserrat web site for more information.

Go Monty

Diving à Deux

Dominica is considered one of the top diving destinations in the world, and the island's Fort Young Hotel just announced a low-season package that will make it affordable for vacationers to check it out for themselves. With the new Super Summer Dive Deal, guests staying in June and August can cash in on the seven-night package with a savings of 20-percent off the standard summer rates, which is like having the second guest dive for free all week. The package includes five days of two-tank boat diving, daily breakfast, airport transfers and all taxes and gratuities and it starts at $1,046 per person.

Check out the Fort Young Hotel site for more details and to book your dive trip.

Diving à Deux