Turks & Caicos “Beautiful by Nature” Ecotourism Initiatives

The Turks & Caicos Tourist Board has big plans in the area of sustainable development in the islands, promising to “maintain an eco-conscious environment throughout the luxurious Islands.” The new initiatives will benefit tourists and residents alike, with the development of the world’s first “green island,” the Atlantic Ocean’s first mega-yacht marina, a Ritz-Carlton branded resort community committed to the preservation of West Caicos, and a new environmental center with on-site naturalist on the private island of Ambergris Cay. I know, we never thought we’d hear the words eco-friendly and mega-yacht in the same sentence, unless it was something like “Your mega-yacht is definitely not eco-friendly,” but this is what the press release claims.

“As a destination that prides itself on natural beauty, we are compelled to invest and partner on developments that are dedicated to the preservation our environment,” said Wesley Clerveaux, director of the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources. “We are striving to protect Turks & Caicos’ quiet appeal and maintain overall environmental sustainability by initiating green-friendly projects, with a particular emphasis on our outer islands.”

Salt Cay

The world’s first “green island” will be the lovely Salt Cay. This island will provide the islands with sustainable tourism benefits and environmentally conscience processes. On the island’s North shore, the Salt Cay Resort & Golf Club will offer a high brow destination based on “integration of the existing community and resort guests, nurturing and enhancing the native ecosystems and minimizing the impact of construction while being respectful of the culture and history of the island community.” Call me crazy, but it’s my understanding that any time you bulldoze the native turf to build a big resort and introduce foreign species (like Zoysia grass or whatever they use on golf courses) it isn’t a good thing for the environment. I can agree that it is a less bad resort in comparison to golf resorts created in the past, but the only good thing for the environment is to leave it alone and stop building golf courses or to renovate existing resorts and structures to use greener practices.

Date: May 31st, 2008 | 2 comments

Reggae Sumfest

Reggae Sumfest, proudly claiming to be “Jamaica’s Greatest” and “The World’s Best” reggae festival, takes place in July of this year. The festival is celebrated in Montego Bay, Jamaica and (oddly enough) New York City. Negril Village in Lower Manhattan is “set to come alive on June 4th as [the] festival rolls into the Big Apple for the annual New York kickoff. I would love to see the Rastafarians running around Lower Manhattan in dreads and Bob Marley t-shirts. The festival draws more than 30,000 people to the island …

Date: May 29th, 2008 | No Comments

Carnival in St. Vincent and The Grenadines

Carnival, colloquially known as Vincy Mas, is held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the end of June and beginning of July each year. Originally, the festival took place during the traditional carnival season just before Lent. But in 1976, the CDC which is the Carnival Development Committee not Center for Disease Control, made the decision to change the date from February/March to June/July starting the following year. I’m not sure the reasoning for the change, but the tradition has held to this day. Much like …

Date: May 26th, 2008 | No Comments

Caribbean Travel Deals Web Site

Cheap Travel Scout, a new web site with a team of “scouts” to that find great travel deals and review them as only humans can, has founds some great travel deals to the Caribbean:

Example deals:

$200 cash rebate for visiting Nassau Paradise Island
Funject Vacations Promo Codes for Caribbean Hotels & Fall Travel Specials
CheapCaribbean “Summer Splash” Sale

We’re thinking this site is a great one to keep your eye, and subscribe to their email updates or RSS feed so you can get the low-down on loads of travel deals, screened by real live humans.

Date: May 20th, 2008 | No Comments

St. Kitts Music Festival

The St. Kitts Music Festival takes place every year on the island of St. Kitts. The 2008 St. Kitts Music Festival Lineup includes several Grammy award winning performers.

As with every music festival in the Caribbean, the music festival was created to attract tourist dollars to the island during the low season. The tourist board set out to “establish a world renowned (annual) festival of different genres of music, that would attract broad based international participation, expose artistic excellence and promote St Kitts and Nevis as a major …

Date: May 15th, 2008 | No Comments