Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for beach travel
Captiva Captivates
By Linda Tancs
Sister Sanibel may be larger, but Captiva Island in southwest Florida is just as captivating. This is the land of the Calusa Indians, a place that pirates reportedly roamed. It’s where you’ll find the ever popular Bubble Room restaurant, where it’s always Christmas. Even nature’s oddities await you here—you could discover a giant toad, a tiny starfish or an endangered Eastern Indigo snake. Captiva is just over a small bridge that crosses at Turner Beach, where a drive down Captiva Drive will net you giant cacti, colorful bougainvilleas and other tropical flora.
The Paper Island
By Linda Tancs
Thailand’s southernmost island is Koh Lipe, a quiet paradise in the Andaman Sea near Malaysia. Its name has been roughly translated from the local language to mean “paper island.” From the looks of it, that’s an apt description. The island is flat, and its pure white beaches (three main ones) resemble a sheet of white paper. Now in low season, the good weather is coupled with low tourism (although the island in no way approaches the hustle and bustle of Phuket even in high season). Accessible only by boat, in low season the main transport hub is the pier at Pak Bara in Satun. Don’t go there via Phuket, though; the ride to Pak Bara is about seven hours’ long. From Hat Yai it’s only two hours by taxi to the pier.
Marine Life Thrives at Atlantis
By Linda Tancs
Atlantis in the Bahamas is a resort of choice for Caribbean travelers seeking fun in the sun. It also happens to be the site of the world’s largest open-air marine habitat. The exhibition encompasses 14 lagoons, eight million gallons of salt water and more than 50,000 aquatic animals representing over 250 marine species, including dolphins, sea lions, sharks, rays, barracuda, piranha, eels and even endangered alligator gar. Admission is free for resort guests; otherwise, you’ll have to settle for a day pass, subject to availability (especially during peak season).