Go Windsurfing in BVI

British Virgin Island holidays offer a windsurfer’s paradise.  Constant trade winds, beautiful sunshine and calm and sparkling turquoise waters draw people from around the world, and they are never disappointed here.

If you plan to go windsurfing in BVI, you don’t need to bring all your own gear.  There are plenty of places to rent everything you need right here. If you’re looking for the ideal windsurfing challenge, plan to be here in July for the yearly Highland Spring HiHo Windsurfing and Sailing Adventure, where competitors race between each of these islands.

It’s a great idea to check in with the BVI Kiteboarding Association for tips on where to board and where to rent.

Rent a villa Virgin Gorda and head to the Bitter End Yacht Club in the North Sound, where you can find the only kiteboarding school in BVI. The Kite School is the perfect place for beginners to start, and they can rent you whatever you need.  If you bring your own gear, make sure to check in with the watersports manager before you launch on the property.

Tortola villas are perfect for expert kiteboarders who can then check in with Nanny Cay on the south side of the island.  You can rent gear in West End at Island Surf and Sail, and they can also arrange for guided kiteboarding excursions. A warning that this area is not suitable for beginners due to choppy waters.

Experts can also kiteboard at Brandywine Bay on Tortola’s south shore when the wind is southerly or southwesterly.

St. John & Virgin Gorda: Best in the Caribbean

The gorgeous U.S. Virgin Island of St. John and beautiful Virgin Gorda in BVI have done it again.  Direct from the readers of one of the world’s leading travel magazines, St.  John and Virgin Gorda have been named on the list of top 5 destinations in the Caribbean.

Travel+ Leisure Magazine does a World’s Best Awards survey every year, and every year, little St. John and sweet Virgin Gorda get chosen as the best in the Caribbean.

In the 2012 Awards, the rest of the top honors went to Vieques in Puerto Rico, Harbor Island Bahamas, the Grenadines, as well as St. John and Virgin Gorda.

Both islands have made the list before in the Caribbean category, being matched by islands in other areas, including the Galapagos, the Florida Keys, Santorini and Bora Bora.

This is the 17th year the renowned travel magazine has put out its It List, choosing the best hotels, cities and islands, based on reader feedback. It also ranks cruises, tours, safaris, airlines and even car rental agencies.  You can find the full listing right here.

For three months, the magazine’s readers were invited to give their feedback to the magazine, and then the answers were scanned to make sure that travel industry insiders were not included in the results.  When it came to islands, the questionnaire asked about the natural attractions, the available activities and sights, the restaurants, the food, the value and the warmth of the local people.

St. John and Virgin Gorda were both singled out for their immaculate beaches, unique landscapes, historic monuments and breathtaking views.   Perhaps it’s time for you to consider a holiday to a villa Virgin Gorda or one of our St. John vacation rentals to come see these award winning islands for yourself.

Tortola’s Annual Mango Festival

There are festivals all year long in the Caribbean, celebrating everything from music to holidays to food.  There’s lots to keep you busy while you’re enjoying one of the islands beautiful Tortola villas, and now a fun new festival to see is the small but very entertaining Mango Array and Tropical Fruit Festival.

The idea of a mango festival came to fruition in 2009, when the island was looking for ways to promote the tasty fruit and other fruit trees in the Virgin Islands.  The main goal: to showcase all the different ways you can use mangoes to make delicious things, and to encourage local businesses to use mangoes.

There’s a kid’s mango eating competition, bobbing for mangoes, games and face painting, and for adults, lots of information about cultivating, growing and cooking with mangoes.

In 2012, the festival added a mango juice contest with prizes for the tastiest non-alcoholic drink entries.

Mangoes are known as the king of fruits, and were brought to the Caribbean from India hundreds of years ago. The mango is one of the most commonly grown tropical fruits because they are so tasty and so versatile.  You can make a mango into just about everything from ice cream to a salad to a drink, and they are juicy and sweet all on their own.

The very best way to taste a mango is to book a holiday to one of our lovely Tortola villas, and taste one fresh from the tree.  You can also slice up a fresh mango with a little vanilla ice cream to enjoy by the pool in the evening.  Or slice up a fresh mango, a red onion, some fresh green and red peppers, and grill together with white wine, chili powder and cumin to serve on some delicious fresh fish.

A Volunteer Vacation in Jamaica

While there are plenty of people who come to the Caribbean to rest, relax and nap by the pool, there’s an alternative here for anyone who wants to give back to the community, while still enjoying the gorgeous surroundings and warmth of Jamaica.

As part of the celebrations for Jamaica’s 50th year of independence, the organization Hands Across Jamaica for Righteousness is inviting people to come to the island this year and help build a stronger Jamaica.

The group is backing volunteer projects all across the island where you can help build homes for the homeless, paint and repair local schools, and fix up homes for the aged.

It’s a unique plan aimed at bringing Jamaican expatriates home for the celebrations, while inviting newcomers and fixing up the community all at the same time. There are also ways to support the project through donating computers, library books, and school supplies to help build up the country’s education system.

The big date to mark on your calendar is August 6, 2012, which is Independence Day. There are already great plans falling into place to turn this day into an island-wide celebration of freedom and nationhood.

While the packages through Hands Across Jamaica include room and board, why not finish off your week of hard work with a week at a Jamaica villa rental, where you can enjoy a more traditional Caribbean vacation of golf, swimming and kicking back.

Jamaica has given so much to the world in the past 50 years, from music to movies to food and culture.  Perhaps it’s time to consider a vacation that also involves giving back a little to this stunning and vibrant island.

Big, Bold and Beautiful: Yachting in the U.S. Virgin Islands

There was a lot of excitement here in St. John recently, when the Qatari royal family dropped by the U.S. Virgin Islands on the Al Mirqab, one of the largest and most impressive yachts in the world.  In fact, it’s the eight largest yacht on the planet, built back in 2008, and it looked utterly spectacular, anchored here in the gorgeous blue Caribbean waters.

As it sat moored in Cruz Bay on St. John’s, the locals wanted to know more about it.  It’s nearly 440 feet and has luxury accomodations for 60 people, as well as 60 crew.  When it was launched, it won the Yacht of the Year award, as well as several design and style awards.

It hasn’t been the only world famous yacht moored here in St. John in recent months.  Yachting in the U.S. Virgin Islands is popular with the world’s rich and famous, as are its beaches, restaurants, and luxury accommodations. There has also been a visit from the spectacular Alfa Nero, a nearly $200-million dollar yacht.

Rumor has it that the Qatari royal family may have been in the U.S. Virgin Islands shopping for a luxury villa.

Of course, St. John vacation rentals  can also be affordable for the average vacationer as well. There are lots of great villa rentals on the island where you and your family can relax, and enjoy the view of the multi-million dollar yachts anchored in the harbor below.

Take a look at some of the excellent St. John rental villas available for your next vacation, and start planning your trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands today!

Why Visitors Love the U.S. Virgin Islands

Just in case you needed one final reason to book a vacation to the U.S. Virgin Islands, here it is!  A recent survey conducted by the Virgin Islands Department of Tourism has found an extremely high level of visitor satisfaction.

Of course, you probably don’t need even more reasons to visit, considering that the U.S. Virgin Islands are already famous for their powder-soft beaches, world class duty-free shopping and excellent snorkeling, but just in case, here’s what the survey found.

More than two-thirds of visitors to USVI have already been to the islands, and nearly 100 per cent said they planned to come back again.  Half of those surveyed said the Virgin Islands met their high expectations; the other half found the islands exceeded their expectations.

This year, there are even more reasons to consider a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands.  The island of St. Croix has revitalized the Sunday Market Square in pretty downtown Christiansted.  There are new direct flights to USVI on Jet Blue and Air Canada starting in the winter of 2012. Finally, a new restoration project on St. John is re-introducing native trees and shrubs onto beaches across the island with a goal of planting a tree a day.

Why not book a visit to one of the lovely St. John vacation rentals available on the doorstep of the gorgeous Virgin Islands National Park and visit the famous Trunk Bay Beach or Cinnamon Bay Beach, and see what all the fuss is about?

Getting Ready for Gold: Jamaica’s Olympic Dream

With days counting down to the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, the island of Jamaica is getting ready to celebrate speed, style and the color gold.

In Kingston, the crowd went wild when superstar gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt won his first 100 meter race of the season, clocking the fastest time in the world so far this year.  Bolt ran the 100 meters in 9.82 seconds at the Jamaica International Invitational, sending everyone to their feet for a standing ovation.

Of course, Bolt won gold in Beijing four years ago, setting world records in both the 100 and the 200 meter races, and he helped set another world record in the gold medal 400-meter relay.

Other Jamaican runners at the event are also names you will likely hear much more of during the London Olympics.  Michael Frater came in second in the 100 meter, and Yohan Blake won the 200 meter with the best time of the year so far. Novlene Williams-Mills took the women’s 400 meter race. Other names to look out for are Kurt Brown, Hansle Parchment, Kerron Stewart and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

Jamaica is going to be one of the best places in the world to watch the track and field events at the London Olympics.  Every television set and radio in every home, bar and restaurant will be trained on London, waiting to see their hometown heroes bring home gold once again.

It would be the perfect time to plan for a Jamaica villa rental during the Games, so you can be right in the heart of the party, enjoying the celebration of a nation’s achievements and pride.

A Big Step for Montserrat’s Future

Montserrat is one of the loveliest in the Caribbean, and it has just taken an important and historic step.   Reuben T. Meade has been sworn in as the very first head of government on the island.  The swearing in ceremony happened as part of the official adoption of the new constitution of Montserrat.

In a ceremony at the island’s Cultural Center, both Premier Meade and Governor Adrian Davis pledged that the new constitution and new island government were the first step in a Montserrat’s future.

The constitution was approved by the island’s legislature one year ago, after more than nine years of negotiation between elected officials on the island and the U.K..   There was a lot of input by the people of the island as well.

Premier Meade also vowed that his priority as head of the island’s government would be to focus on economic growth and development.

Meade is an economist, who studied at the University of the West Indes, McGill University in Canada and Bradford University in England.   He has worked with the Caribbean Development Bank in Barbados, and has been in the Montserrat government since the 1990s.  He has also been recognized for his work done organizing international aid for Montserrat after the devastation of Hurricane Hugo.

Montserrat is a self-governing overseas territory of the U.K., and the new steps of adopting it first constitution and the official swearing in of its first Premier are the first in asserting a more independent global position.

With the island of Montserrat rebuilding and moving forward, now is the perfect time to consider a dream Caribbean vacation with a private Montserrat villa.  Enjoy the privacy of a villa Montserrat and help this unspoiled island celebrate new steps to a bright future.

Jamaica catches Olympic Fever

Jamaican superstar and Grammy Award winner Sean Paul has just unveiled a new song aimed at being the Olympic anthem for all Jamaican athletes in London this summer.  The song is called Hold On, which speaks not only to the lifetime of work put in by Olympic-level athletes, but to the average person as well.

“Hold on to the dream,” Sean Paul urges.  “Hold on and believe, though we already won, we still hold on.”

Paul says he wrote the song to help Jamaica’s national team achieve its best despite the challenges that will be in their way. Sean Paul is a Dancehall sensation and a familiar voice on the world’s music charts from his wildly popular song “Get Busy”.

You know that Jamaica is feeling that Olympic fever when it’s even eying the Winter Olympics.  And what better place to be in the winter, after all?  This Caribbean island has just become an associate member of the International Ice Hockey Federation with its eye on putting a team on the ice for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.  Caribbean vacation villas in and around Tryall Club Jamaica will book up quickly if it happens though.  TIR thinks it is better to be safe than sorry, so book your  Jamaica villa rental now, and avoid the rush and potential price hikes other villa owners will impose.

Jamaica only has one ice rink on the entire island, but then again, it had no bobsled runs at all before entering the world famous Jamaican bobsled team at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

If you’ve spent any time in Jamaica you know that this is a country that can do anything when it sets its heart on it.  Already involved in Jamaica’s hockey project is the famous Canadian hockey player Willie O’Ree, who broke the NHL’s color barrier. Jamaica is the first Caribbean country to enter the International Ice Hockey Federation.

If you’re planning a Caribbean vacation sometime soon, why not check out Jamaica and experience this spirit and tenacity for yourself?  There might even come a day when you can book a lovely Jamaica villa rental and go see a hockey game on your island vacation!

Go Home to a Jamaica Villa

Jamaica is celebrating its biggest party ever in 2012, as it marks 50 years of independence.  A key part of the celebrations are what is known as the Grand Jamaica Homecoming, an invitation to all Jamaican ex-pats from around the world to come home and contribute.

The goals are two-fold; to rekindle a sense of pride in being Jamaican, and to create a lasting legacy for future generations.

Over the past 50 years, many Jamaicans have left the country to build lives in other countries.  Most have established themselves in the United States, Britain and Canada.   There are more than 800,000 Jamaicans now living in the U.S., mostly around New York City and Boston and in Florida.  Three-quarters of a million Jamaican people live in the U.K., mostly in London and Birmingham.  Nearly a quarter million Jamaicans live in Canada, mostly in the Toronto area.

The Jamaican government is hoping that in 2012, this group of nearly two million proud Jamaicans will visit their native country, and help build a stronger future while they celebrate their heritage.  The government is also hoping to set up a Legacy Fund to support educational groups on the island.

As part of Jamaica’s year-long celebration in 2012, there are island-wide activities scheduled every month of the year.  The theme is Jamaica 50: Feel the Heart and the Soul of a Nation.  The plan is to put the island on display for the world, so everyone can see what it has to offer.

The celebrations are a great excuse to plan that Jamaica villa rental at the Tryall Club Jamaica.  You can sit back and relax in a home-like setting and experience the island as it shows off its best to the world.  It can be like your very own Grand Jamaica Homecoming!