Browsing: beaches

Moonlight Paddleboard Yoga, Greece

The Skiathos Princess: Participants can awaken their senses by performing YOGAqua (Yoga on Stand up Paddle Boards) on the glistening, moonlit waters of Skiathos with stars sparkling overhead – a truly idyllic and unforgettable atmosphere. Days with a full moon are revered in the Ashtanga yoga tradition due to the understanding that the moon affects tidal rhythms. As humans are made up of seventy percent water, the moon is said to …

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Gnarled chunks of solid silver  mounted in a picture frame are the only evidence that an elegant hotel near Cape Town isn’t the same building it used to be. The silver was once an ornate chair, destroyed along with 70% of the hotel when fires ravaged the Cape peninsular in South Africa in March. The main lodge and several bedrooms of the Tintswalo Atlantic Hotel were reduced to nothing but a yard high pile of …

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Skimming over the Indian Ocean towards the gorgeous islands of Mozambique is like entering a kid’s over-imaginative coloring book.
Water in a dozen shades of blue washes over the crisp white sand backed by vivid green palm trees. Your camera works overtime to capture some of the world’s most stunning islands owned by one of the world’s poorest countries.

Mozambique on the east coast of Africa has numerous islands, with the most tourist-friendly being the …

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Santorini, Mykonos, Ios…The top spots in Greece’s Cyclades are definitely must-stop destinations on any itinerary through the islands. However, after a period of time you may find yourself burned out on cruise ship crowds or incessant partying groups from Italy, Australia etc.

So how do you get a taste of a real Greek Isles getaway without the crowds? Head for the southern shores of Paros to the little fishing village of Aliki for an idyllic …

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Tour guides often refer to El Salvador as “the country of 40 minutes.”  Because it is the smallest country in Central America, flanked by Guatemala to the west and Honduras to the northwest, you can easily hike a volcano in the morning, grab lunch at the beach, and end your day with a zip-line canopy tour near the Guatemalan border.

Today, El Salvador boasts seventeen volcanoes, nine of which are active.  There are also over …

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Five, four, three, two, one…HAPPY NEW YEAR! Cue the traditional song of Auld Lang Syne to usher in the dawning of another New Year. From Times Square in New York to Trafalgar Square in London, voices ring out, accompanied by a spectacular fireworks display on the stroke of midnight. So, where should be heading this year for the most dazzling New Years Eve experiences? Here are some of the best free world-class events around the …

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If you’re looking for a cheap holiday, Cape Town has probably never topped your travel agenda. This gloriously swanky South African city has won so many travel awards that you naturally assume it’s going to pack a punch in the price department too. It’s been ranked as the top holiday destination for 2014 by the New York Times and the UK’s Guardian, and it’s always in favor with the flush Condé Nast class. It’s also …

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First time at a Waldorf. Expectations: High. I admit it. My girlfriend—a 5-star hotel connoisseur, same as me—has stayed there two other times, and she’s been raving about it. It’s nearly a 5-hour drive from Miami, so when we pull up, we are expecting to be in front of the beachside pool in about ten minutes. Instead, we wait in a valet line for fifteen. OK, I get it. It’s Friday evening, around 6pm, and …

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I travel frequently, and always prepare for my various jaunts doing fact-finding, participating in forums, asking friends, and even reading literature from my destination country. I’m prepared, but not too prepared, ever open to the spur-of-the-moment experiences traveling promises. For my month-long voyage to Southern India I spent an excessive amount of time planning. Hours, days, and months were spent investigating the merits of the SteriPEN® and concocting a route south from Mumbai. I weighed …

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You might feel like you have escaped to the edge of the planet, but in fact you have just reached the edge of the south Caribbean when you arrive on the island of Roatán. Best of all, that impression of distance continues as you make your way around this best known of Honduras’s Islas Bahias (Bay Islands), thanks to the pristine beaches and interior, the low-impact tourism, and the size and scale of everyday life …

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Beyond the historic handelskade lies an island full of surprises!

Chances are good if you have ever looked up the Caribbean island of Curacao, you would have seen a photo similar to this one above- a rainbow of restored 18th century Dutch colonial buildings lining the harbor. It’s certainly this island’s most famous landmark in its capital city of Willemstad. They call it the “handelskade”- meaning waterfront harbor- and  it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site. …

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Have you ever visited Kaua’i? Chances are, if you did you saw terrific beaches, not to mention great hotels, world-class golfing, sweet local restaurants, and (if you got really lucky), the elusive “green flash” which supposedly appears on the famous north shore of the island just as the sun dips below the horizon.

Of course if you go to Kaua’i for spiritual travel, there’s a lot more to see and do than have a Mai …

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If you’re looking for cosmopolitan urban culture or beautiful buildings, Port Elizabeth won’t be your first choice for a South African holiday destination. It’s a busy yet relatively crime-free industrial city (important to the South African motor industry) that marks the eastern end of the Garden Route. Although the city has been ravaged by industrialization and thoughtless modernization, one or two buildings do stand out in an otherwise featureless city centre. Thankfully, a couple of …

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     It’s been thirty years since I last visited Puerto Vallarta, but in retrospect, that trip in my early 20’s turned out to be a life defining one. I credit the time spent among the locals there –so welcoming and eager to include us in their daily lives- for my later foray into travel writing as a profession.

Located on Mexico’s Pacific Coast where Jalisco and Nayarit meet, the town is tucked among the lush rainforests …

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