When you tell others that you are traveling to Nevis, you may receive a puzzled look. They may have heard of its sister island, St. Kitts, which lies just two miles off the coast, but Nevis has not come upon their radar. Nevis is a 36 square-mile island, the center of which is Nevis Peak, rising to 3,232 feet. Christopher Columbus discovered Nevis on his second voyage in 1493, naming it “Nuestra Senora de Las Nieves,” “Our Lady of the Snows,” referring to the small cloud, resembling snow, which is nearly always present at its peak. To its north, you will find St. Kitts, to the east, Antigua, and to the…
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I was listening to a podcast recently and heard that some of the most expensive repairs are the result of sand getting into your gear. Traveling to the Caribbean, I am familiar with the fact that sand gets everywhere. I have learned not to change lenses at the beach, and am careful in cleaning lenses afterwards so as not to grind bits of sand into the lens coatings. Having just invested in a very nice tripod (read more about the tripod I selected here), I wanted to do what I could to minimize sand and seawater getting into the locks. In the past, I had resorted to using plastic bags…
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Note: Links in this post include affiliate links, and I receive a commission on purchases. Thanks! An important part of traveling for me is not only relaxing in some of the most beautiful places in the world, but also taking time for my primary hobby, photography. But I was stuck in a rut. I found myself shooting the same thing over and over again. My Canon 24-70mm/f 2.8 lens was on the front of my camera most of the time, and I found myself seeing and shooting the same compositions on nearly every trip. I needed to break out. When we last traveled to Nevis in 2011, 1745 of the…
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Enjoy this short video glimpse of Tortuga Bay! This AAA 5-diamond resort lies on the southeastern shore of the Dominican Republic. They take service very seriously here, worthy of every diamond. Take a quick tour of the resort from the two-bedroom oceanfront suite to the white sand beach. Enjoy! For more on Tortuga Bay and the Puntacana Resort & Club… [the_grid name=”DR”]
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If you remember from our first post on our trip to Tortuga Bay, we were short on time for this trip. With a child in college, we had only a few days, leaving Thanksgiving Day and returning the following Monday. The fact that Punta Cana was a direct flight from Chicago made this trip work, but once we arrived, as guests of Tortuga Bay, we were treated to the VIP Service at Punta Cana International Airport, making it even quicker and easier to get from the airport to the beach and in record time. As soon as our plane landed in Punta Cana, we were greeted by a representative of…
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Welcome to Puntacana Village! Located on the grounds of the Puntacana Resort & Club, the marketplace includes restaurants and shops in an open-air environment shady by a canopy of beautiful trees. The distance to the Village from Tortuga Bay is too great for our golf cart battery, so we arranged for a lift. There are a variety of restaurants in the Village from which to choose. I loved these pizza delivery vehicles! In addition to a number of small galleries and shops, there is a pharmacy and a very well-stocked grocery store with everything you need. Every other Saturday, beginning at 10:00 a.m., the Village hosts the Puntacana Village Farmers…
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It’s time for a taste (and sip) of the restaurants and bars at Tortuga Bay, and around the property of Puntacana Resort & Club. Let’s start with the most important meal of the day — breakfast at Bamboo, the restaurant at Tortuga Bay. The breakfast buffet has loads of delicious choices, with tons of fresh fruit, pastries, and even these cute little parfaits! My favorite was the sancocho, a Dominican stew of meat and vegetables. Served with rice and avocado, it was great any time of the day! A great choice for the lunch is La Cana Golf & Beach Club. When the afternoon is upon us, it’s time for…
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Today we head off to Indigenous Eyes Ecological Park and Reserve (Reserve Ecological Ojos Indigenous), a 1,500 acre private reserve maintained by the Ecological Foundation of Punta Cana. The Foundation maintains the grounds for preservation, recreation, and research. Contained within the grounds of Punta Cana Resort & Club, the park is a quick golf cart ride from Tortuga Bay, midpoint between Tortuga Bay and La Yola, one of the fine restaurants on the grounds. The park is a series of trails which take you past freshwater lagoons and immerse you in the plants and animals that find their home there. Loads of turtles! And lots of cool fish! The paths are…
