UNESCO Treasures Below and Above the Caribbean Sea

Presenting divers, windsurfers and nature lovers with the ultimate gifts of discovery, this journey fully displays Mother Nature’s tour de force of beauty above and below the Caribbean Sea’s surface. With a lovely enticement of ease, we begin in Barbados, an island of wonders: flying fish, green monkeys, subterranean waterfalls, and towering banyan trees with shaggy aerial roots that inspired the island’s Portuguese name, the “bearded ones.”

The lure of geography blesses us on Sunday Island, formally baptised Dominica, where sperm whales swim her waters all year long. Uncrowded and unspoilt, its mountainous heart includes the 1,342-meter-high volcano and namesake Morne Trois Pitons National Park (a UNESCO gem) ringed by primordial rainforests thick with blooming orchids, jungle grottos, hot springs, and a profusion of rainbows in a swirling cloud of mist. Surround yourself in cerulean blue, tranquility and sky on Bonaire, considered the Caribbean’s shore-diving capital with more than 50 dive sites in a national marine park and coral reef all ringing the coastline. Head to Lac Bay, the birthplace of windsurfing, where an endless sweep of turquoise water mixes with a 90% chance of favourable winds. Following a westerly breeze, we find the city and harbour of Willemstad, both of which have earned a UNESCO award, with brightly coloured Dutch-gabled buildings that look like a tropical Amsterdam. With 26 hours in the Dutch West Indies port, we can take our time exploring this semi-arid island. Walk the Queen Emma Bridge, visit the Israel-Emanuel Synagogue, learn about African empires or take a walk on her wild side at the Ja Kok Salt Ponds, a briny inland lake where we may find the island’s national bird — the precocious pink flamingo — vividly strutting in flocks of profusion. Our Journey of discovery returns to Barbados, the birthplace of rum, where we salute Mother Nature with our final toast of ¡Salud!, Santé!, Prost!, Skål!, Cin cin!, and Kanpai!

EJ125 Operated by Explora Journeys