Sure, snow is pretty and skiing is fun. But sometimes, deep in January and February, winter can start to seem endless. Folks dream of blue skies, days flooded with sunshine, and glorious scenery. Here are 5 places to go to escape the winter blues, in every corner of the world. [Read more...]
Top 5 Beaches For The Winter Season
5 Delightful Exotic Vacations – Part 1
Most people dream of taking a once-in-a-lifetime vacation to somewhere far away and exotic. Whether you’ve been squirreling away cash for more than a decade or are just starting to consider a trip, here are some exotic South Pacific vacations that are sure to wow.
South Island, New Zealand
New Zealand’s larger island has less than half of the country’s population, so if you want to get away from it all, this is definitely the spot. You’ll find wildlife and scenery here that’s unlike anything else in the world. Mountains, glaciers, volcanoes, and pristine coastlines make the South Island’s landscapes some of the world’s most picturesque. Skiing, scuba diving, and hiking await the adventurous, while world-famous vineyards, glamorous boutique hotels, and relaxing spas are in store for those who need some pampering.
Hawaii
Hawaii’s majesty would set it apart from all other states, even if the Pacific hadn’t already done the job. Stunning landscapes, rich underwater worlds, and a noble history—this is one tropical paradise with serious depth. Vitamin D deficiencies melt away under the Hawaiian sun, all without the hassle of a passport. You won’t need to convert currency to take surf lessons, explore active volcanoes, or go whale watching. Really, the only difficulty is choosing which island to visit: Do you prefer the pristine beauty of Kauai, the modern luxury of Oahu, the award-winning beaches of Maui, or the natural wonders of the Big Island? Willing to get farther off the beaten path? Then Molokai or Lanai might be worth a visit.
Tasmania, Australia
In 2013, Tasmania, Australia’s southernmost state, will celebrate its 30th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Join the festivities on the wild island, where wombats and wallabies roam free. The island offers an unspoiled Australian adventure like no other. Check out Cradle Mountain National Park’s diverse wildlife and catch a peek of the eponymous Tasmanian devil. Or dive the coast’s calm waters and explore shipwrecks, exotic aquatic life, and crystal-clear Wineglass Bay.
Tahiti
Five amazing archipelagos, 118 islands, one paradise. Tahiti is less than eight hours from Los Angeles, but it may as well be in an entirely different universe. The South Seas islands promise emerald waters, white-sand beaches, and, oh yeah, overwater bungalows. Embrace leisure with a unique banana-tree-leaf body wrap, culture on a tour of small villages, or adventure on a shark-feeding expedition. Or, simply start out the day in your overwater bungalow with breakfast delivered by canoe.
Adelaide, Australia
Often considered one of the world’s most livable cities, Adelaide celebrates year-round with food and art festivals, as well as major sporting events. As the wine capital of Australia, the city’s reds and whites get high praise. Adelaide is also the jumping-off point for Kangaroo Island, which is one of the prime places in Australia to see animals in their natural habitats.
Which of these destinations would you like to visit right now? Tell us about your dream exotic vacation!
Source: Yahoo Travel
Image: Smarter Travel
5 Surprisingly Affordable Vacations
For some destinations, a reputation precedes them. They are thought to be expensive, inaccessible, and out of reach for many travelers. But don’t judge them on their pasts. Far-flung places like Hawaii, New Zealand, Russia, and even China are becoming easier to get to, and some recent deals are too good to refuse. So in the interest of challenging stereotypes, consider these destinations that just might be more affordable than you think.
China
With stringent visa requirements and hard-to-find online planning resources, China is often considered “complicated” by many Western travelers. However, all that is starting to change. The country is surprisingly affordable, too. At the time of publication, fares on Air China include $808 from New York to Shanghai and Guangzhou and $951 from Los Angeles to Beijing. Starting July 11, the airline will add new service between Houston and Beijing, so look for more introductory fares to appear. [Read more...]
America’s Top 5 Hotels For 2013
Our editors analyzed recommendations from many sources, comparing reviews, accolades, and ratings for nearly 2,000 luxury hotels throughout the United States. Below, you’ll find the top hotels that have wowed guests time and time again. The properties on this list are winners not only for their luxurious amenities, fine service, and lavish décor, but also for the way they showcase America’s diversity: [Read more...]
5 Most Romantic Islands In The World
When you want to get away from it all, set your course for these romantic islands, as chosen by Travel + Leisure readers. From the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, they share the powerful ingredient of fantasy. There’s nothing like escaping to an island with your loved one to bring out starry eyes in the most jaded traveler. Discover the getaway escape that’s right for you two castaways among these top islands for romance. [Read more...]
5 Best Hotels For Stargazing
Some hotels have great swimming pools, some have incredible mini-bars. These have light-year-distant views into the cosmos.
1. Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa, Hawaii, United States
After sunset guests head to the roof of this award-winning Maui hotel for the Tour of the Stars. The tour explains the planets, nebulas and other heavenly objects with the help of the hotel’s director of astronomy, a pair of binoculars and telescope. If you’re looking for sparks closer to the ground, the Romance Tour for two comes with champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries. Rooms start at US$332. [Read more...]
Top 5 Islands In The World
In Travel + Leisure’s annual World’s Best survey, readers ranked their favorites, and the results show that no distance is too great when a fabulous island waits as your reward. Whether your island hopping takes you across the country or around the world, here’s where to go to find secluded beaches, wildlife encounters, and luxurious pampering. [Read more...]
Scuba Diving Volunteer Vacation
Scuba divers have a vested interest in protecting the coral reefs and ocean habitats they explore. After all, seeing cool fish and colourful coral is the main reason divers descend below the surface. Here are a few ways you can give back to the sea while still witnessing all it has to offer. [Read more...]
Top 5 Most Difficult Golf Courses In The World
Golf can be beautiful. More often that not it’s an exercise in damage limitation. No matter how good your last shot, you could screw it all up with the next. We thought we’d take a look at the courses most likely to leave the rest of us blubbering, defeated wrecks, promising next time we’ll do better, or at the very least not take it so seriously.
1. The Ocean Course, Kiawah Island, South Carolina, United States
Top on our list has to be the Pete Dye-designed Ocean Course. Dye designs golf courses so difficult and torturous that he’s earned the nickname “The Marquis de Sod.” Capable of being played at over 7,900 yards from the back tees the course’s combination of huge sand dunes, thorny marshes, fiendish pot bunkers and superslick greens will reduce even the game’s best to gibbering wrecks.
2. Carnoustie Golf Links, Dundee, Scotland
Laid out along the brutal North Sea coast, Carnoustie quickly earned the nickname “Carnasty” during the 1999 Open Championship, when the course played so tough that it reduced Sergio Garcia to tears after he finished dead last. Riddled with fiendish pot bunkers the course has even become part of a phrase in 21st century warfare — the Carnoustie effect meaning the “psychic shock experienced on collision with reality by those whose expectations are founded on false assumptions.”
3. Ko’olau Golf Club, Oahu, Hawaii, United States
Though not as tricky as our first two, Ko’olau is still a monster golf course. Fairways surrounded by Hawaiian jungle, over 80 deep bunkers, and six deep ravines make it a brute to play which is why it’s third on our list.
4. Whistling Straits, Kohler, Wisconsin, United States
Another Pete Dye-designed exercise in masochism, suitably located on the site of an abandoned artillery range on the shores of Lake Michigan. When Golf Digest magazine staffers visited the course they counted 967 bunkers. Yes, 967 bunkers on one course. That’s an average of almost 54 per hole. Some of them are so small there’s barely room for golfer and ball. Some of them are barely recognizable as bunkers.
5. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Golf Club, Lijiang, Yunnan, China
The longest golf course in the world at 8,548 yards, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain includes a 711-yard par-five (and two more that measure over 680 yards), a 525-yard par-four and a 270-yard par-three. Of course the thin air of its location, more than 3,040 meters above sea level in the Himalayas, does make the golf ball fly further. But it also makes it fly further left or right, making it an extraordinarily difficult course for even the best golfers to break 80.
So, do you think you can take on any of these tough golf courses? Share your most difficult golf challenges with us!
Source: CNN Go
Image: Malphrus International
Most Unusual Beaches In The World
Most of us would relish a day at any old beach. But there’s a certain thrill in sinking your toes into sand at a different kind of shore—one that looks so fantastical it could be straight out of a movie. No human hands were involved—just the perfect geologic storms of air, water, temperature, and pressure.
Pink Sands Beach, Harbour Island, Bahamas
Harbour Island is just 3.5 miles long and 1.5 miles wide, but this tiny slice of the Bahamas has one of the Caribbean’s prettiest beaches: three miles of pink sand that stretches along the island’s east coast. The red shells of foraminifera—single-celled marine animals—mix with the island’s white sand, thus creating the soft rosy hue.
Papakolea Beach, Hawaii
It takes effort to reach Papakolea. The beach is located near Ka Lae, the southernmost point in Hawaii—and the entire United States. To reach it, visitors endure a hot and rugged hike for nearly three miles along sea cliffs. The reward: ending up on a green-sand beach. The grains are almost pure olivine, a green mineral, and come from Puu Mahana, a volcanic cone that sits above the beach.
Thunder Cove, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Prince Edward Island has more than 500 miles of beaches, and about half have red sand due to high iron oxide content. The southern coast, where many such beaches are located, is known as Red Sands Shore. However, a local favorite is Thunder Cove, on the northern Green Gables Shore, beloved for its rust-colored sand and dunes.
Pfeiffer Beach, California
Big Sur lays claim to some of California’s most beautiful natural scenery: dramatic cliffs, forests, grassy meadows, and Pfeiffer Beach, a half-mile strip of purple sand, believed to get its color from the manganese garnet fragments of rocks on cliffs near the ocean.
Punalu’u Beach, Hawaii
Jet-black sand gives this southern Big Island beach a rather postapocalyptic look. Luckily, the frequent appearance of green sea turtles brightens the mood. Year-round, visitors will find the giant reptiles basking on the shore—nearly camouflaged by rocks on the beach—or swimming right off the coast. Signs on the beach warn against petting or riding the turtles, and it’s no joke. The turtles are endangered, and touching them is against the law.
Were you impressed with these unbelievable works of nature? Tell us which unusual beach did you like the most!
Source: Yahoo News
Image: Trifter
5 Must-Try Outdoor Spas
Vitamin D does wonders for our health. Luckily for us, some of our favorite spa hotels have just the the right “Sunshine Vitamin” treatments. Whether they boast ocean-side cabanas or secluded rooftop hot tubs, Oyster.com pulled together these outdoor spas that really know how to make us feel good — all while we’re soaking up the sun, of course.
Grand Solmar Land’s End Resort & Spa
Cabo San Lucas, Los Cabos, Mexico
Grand Solmar’s spa overlooks the ocean at Land’s End Terrace and features beachside massage cabanas. It offers a long list of indoor and outdoor treatments, as well as a Temazcal sweat lodge for a full-body cleansing.
Arenal Nayara Hotel & Gardens
La Fortuna/Arenal, Costa Rica
The beautiful Arenal Nayara’s 44 individual bungalows, restaurant, wine bar, and spa are all tucked into incredibly lush grounds. Nayara Spa is beautifully built into the forest, and a few of the treatment rooms have stunning views.
Four Seasons Hualalai
Big Island, Hawaii, United States
The pristine Four Seasons, the only five-pearl property on the Big Island, is unlike any other resort on the Kohala Coast. Lush and beautifully landscaped grounds surround private bungalow-style rooms and suites tucked along winding paths throughout the large property. The first-class spa includes a unique water garden, four outdoor hales, and saunas, which are spread out among lush garden pathways.
Barcelo Los Cabos Palace Deluxe
San Jose del Cabo, Los Cabos, Mexico
A great family-friendly option for Los Cabos, the 619-room all-inclusive-optional Barcelo Los Cabos Palace Deluxe offers guests a decent variety of activities and facilities. For the young ones, there’s the kids water park, kiddy pool, and kids’ club. For the adults, the on-site spa, relaxing adult-only pools, and swim-up bar in the infinity pool are definite perks.
Terranea Resort
Beaches – Santa Monica and Venice, Los Angeles, California
One of just a few true mega-resorts in Southern California, the 100-acre, 582-room Terranea in Rancho Palos Verdes offers a range of features that’s unrivaled among Los-Angeles-area properties, including nine holes of golf, five restaurants, three pools, gorgeous manicured grounds, and a top-tier spa. The spa facility encompasses a whopping 50,000 square feet and has 25 treatment rooms as well as its own pool and outdoor hot tubs. The three serene private treatment rooms, called VIP suites, are themed after the elements; the earth suite has a redwood sauna and shower, the fire suite has a fireplace, and the water suite has a copper tub and views of the Pacific.
Do you know of other incredible outdoor spas? Tell us about them!
Source: Fox News Travel
Image: Oyster
Top Honeymoon Destinations in the World
Going grand on your honeymoon? An international trip to the best honeymoon destinations might just be the perfect thing for both of you after tying the knot. Nowadays, couples want more than just a beach trip for their honeymoon. In pursuit of an exceptional vacation, couples now want to do something unique. You can choose your destination from among the top honeymoon destinations listed here: [Read more...]
Hawaii Honeymoon Deals For Beach Lovers
Hawaii is one of the most well-liked honeymoon vacation spots- and for good reason! Boasting 8 œmain islands,Âeach with their own unique surroundings, climate, and tourist attractions, you can be sure that your honeymoon vacation spent in Hawaii will be both relaxing as well as enjoyable.
Whether you wish to spend your Hawaii Honeymoon Packages relaxing on the seaside, or visiting all of the most popular tourist attractions, The hawaiian islands has something for everybody.
Hawaii Honeymoon Packages in Oahu
For additional laid-back honeymooners, there are many remarkable beaches on each one of the main islands. The island of oahu offers the more tourist-central seashores, while some of the other island destinations (like Kauai) provide more isolated beaches.
If popular tourist beaches are your choice, Oahus Waikiki beach is spot you won’t want to skip. With a beautiful extend of beach, as well as an impressive night life, Waikiki is a superb place to go if you wish to interact with other visitors to Oahu, or hit up some of Hawaiiâ™s highest quality restaurants.
For a more remote beach on the Isle of Oahu, North Shore provides a different experience. At North Shore, surf is consistently 10 feet tall. Laying on the beach and watching huge waves is a fantastic experience, and one which comes highly recommended.
Oahu is also a great location for scuba divers. One of the most popular scuba diving locations in Oahu is Hanauma Bay. Right here, you can see a wide variety of seafood without having to swim within deep water. Actually, you can stay within 100 ft. of the shore and still observe plenty of fish. This is often a great place to give scuba diving a try, and also take it easy on the beach.
Experience Beauty in Kauai
If the idea of spending your time amongst additional tourists doesn’t sound appealing, you may want to consider visiting an island other than Oahu. Yes, Oahu provides extensive great places to visit. You can check out the ultra-popular seashores, or enjoy additional tourist attractions on the isle. However, if you’re looking for more secluded Hawaii Honeymoon Packages, Kauai offers an incredible experience.
Kauai is often referred to as Hawaii’s most beautiful island. You can have just as many beautiful beaches and amazing environments without having to deal with hundreds of other people. Rather, you can find a nice remote beach, and simply appreciate your honeymoon. If you’re into beauty, as well as would like to avoid the crowd, there are many Hawaii Honeymoon Packages available in The island of kauai.
Common honeymoon actives in Hawaii include horseback riding, zip-lining, and hiking. Basically, Kauai has many beautiful locations, and the easiest way to see them all is to get out and about.
In Conclusion
There are many different kinds of Hawaii honeymoon packages for seaside lovers. If you enjoy lounging on the beach and getting a sun-tan, or heading scuba diving, both The island of oahu and Kauai have a lot to offer. Usually of thumb, if you enjoy doing popular tourist activities and interacting with other tourists, The island of oahu is a great place to be. If you prefer to spend time alone with your companion and enjoy the beauty of The hawaiian islands, Kauai is the ideal location.
