The Adventures of the Caribbean
by Raquel Hunter

Have you ever wanted to just get away but never knew where you could go for fun, adventure, and relaxation? Imagine yourself on a white sandy beach floating in water as you watch the fish swimming around you, or snorkeling the deep ocean, or even a hiking adventure at historical landmarks, and for those who love to surf you are at the right place. The Caribbean can offer all these things as well as wonderful nightlife activities.

The Virgin Islands is comprised of three islands, St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. Each island has its own unique tourist locations. St. Thomas Island is a place where you can enjoy a cool day as you snorkel along Coki Point Beach, Sapphire Beach (with a live calypso band), and Magens Bay Beach. If you are a surfer, or are interested in surfing, the West Caret Bay and Vessup Beach is ideal for you. If you feel like learning some history, the Fort Christian Museum will give you insight on how the fort was built to protect against attacks and takeovers, and how it later became the governor's house. In the later years it turned into a jail and presently it is a fire station. Take a tour downtown on the waterfront where ships would dock. Make sure to visit the historical landmarks, buildings, and parks. During your our stop visit BlueBeards Castle, this is an old landmark that was built by the BlueBeards pirate for his wife and is today a hostel resort.

St. John, Trunk Bay Beach has a wide range of different snorkeling and swimming lessons. Later in the day you can hike your way through the Anna Berg Ruins where you can see slave plantations, and farming areas where women's job is to make straw hats for the site-seers. To learn about their very own West Indians you can hike the Reef Bay trail where you will see West Indian hieroglyphics.

Have you ever thought of camping? Cinnamon Bay is the best camping grounds within these three islands and it fully equipped for a week worth of camping. Do not forget to take some time out to enjoy a day of touring through the mountains enjoying the cool breeze.

St. Croix, which is the largest of the three islands, has a number of beached, historical sites and hiking grounds to enjoy. The beaches are comprised of Davis Bay, Hotel on the Key, Carambola and Shoys Beach. There you can enjoy hiking the trails and cool off in the sky blue beaches. Another wonderful hiking attraction is Cramer's Park. Looking for some history, well look no further; on St. Croix there is the Custom House where old foreign ships would dock to import and export, The Fort that was an old police station, but is now a landmark, Whim Plantations where you can see windmills and sugar mills, and Steeple House is another historical location. These 3 islands all have a host of evening events that tourists can inquire about at their hotel and brochures.

Have you ever wondered how far the Virgin Islands are from Puerto Rico? Stop wondering because it is right next door. Puerto Rico is the home of many Virgin Islanders. You can hike the mountains of EL Yunca in the city of Fajardo, there you can enjoy the wonderful sites of the rain forest and get lost in the bat caves. Speaking of caves you can visit the underground caves in Camuy, they were built by the West Indians. Okay here we go, are you looking for history? You should be, at EL Morro in old San Juan. This is a fort that was built around the city by Spaniards to protect against invasions. Ponce, Puerto Rico is a huge city with the oldest fire station within the United States and its Territories. Finish off your tour and visit Arecibo; this is a town with the largest radio telescope in the world. Puerto Rico has many cities and towns with history and adventure.