Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel....

The Caribbean On Sale

The fall offers a perfect time to head to the Caribbean for less. The summer season has ended and the ‘high season’ of winter has not yet started. Thus, smart island-hoppers will find the Caribbean is on sale.

“With seasonal specials and promotional packages available, the fall is a great time for visitors to visit the Caribbean, in that they will find vacation options that are equal in gratification and value,” says Michael Youngman, director of marketing for the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), which offers a great Caribbean Vacation Planner to visitors to their website (www.doitcaribbean.com).

If you’re looking for bargains in the Caribbean sun this fall, then Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn SunSpree(R) Resorts ((800) HOLIDAY; www.holiday-inn or www.sunspreeresorts.com) can get you there without going on a spending spree. With Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Sunspree locations including Aruba, Nassau, Paradise Island, Grand Bahama (opening this fall), Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Puerto Rico (Ponce and Mayaquez), and St. Thomas, the tropical resorts of Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn SunSpree can set you free for little cash in the Caribbean.

With more than 25 locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, Holiday Inn Sunspree gives you more for your vacation dollar, with a variety of on-site activities and recreational facilities. At each resort, visitors will find free activities and an Activities Coordinator who helps put everything together. The kids will definitely have more fun, with the super kid’s programs, including free supervised activities (arts and crafts, games, Parent’s Night Out, and more), and the Kid’s Eat and Stay Free offers.

With the variety of Caribbean choices, the unique SunSpree resort concept, and the Holiday Inn name, it’s hard to beat the deals. Known for their family-friendly policies, Holiday Inn Hotels remains the largest single hotel brand and the most widely recognized lodging brand in the world. With Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn SunSpree in the Caribbean, you’ve found a great holiday at a great price.

If you’re looking for a convenient and relatively low-cost Caribbean vacation with lots of accommodations and without “leaving” the U.S., then head to the United States Virgin Islands ((800) 372-USVI; www.usvitourism.vi).

The U.S. Virgin Islands is an official American territory governed by U.S. laws. The currency is the U.S. dollar and mail is delivered via U.S. mail services with the same postage rates. English is the native language spoken by Virgin Islands residents, enhanced with a charming lilt called "calypso." Thus, though the U.S. connection is strong in many ways, the islands have their own unique Caribbean culture to explore.

U.S. citizens are not required to carry a passport when traveling to the USVI, although carrying photo identification and a copy of a birth certificate is suggested. American Airlines, Delta, US Airways, Continental, USAirways, and several charters offer regularly scheduled and reasonably priced flights to the USVI. Nonstop flights from New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, Boston, Newark, and other cities travel to the USVI, with most arriving in less than four hours. Major cruise lines also operate throughout the year.

With no customs duties or sales tax on tourism related items, the USVI is a shopping lover's paradise. U.S. citizens are allowed a duty-free shopping quota of $1,200--twice that of any other island in the Caribbean and three times that of European countries. The USVI offers great bargains on items such as watches, cameras, fine jewelry, china, and leather goods.

The USVI consists of three major islands: St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas. St. Croix, the largest of the islands, is 28 miles long and seven miles at its widest point. It lies entirely in the Caribbean Sea. St. John and St. Thomas, 35 miles east of St. Croix, lie between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Cooled by Caribbean breezes, the islands have year-round warm temperatures. The average temperatures range from 77 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter to 82 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer.

The Caribbean’s first budget traveler, Christopher Columbus, visited in 1493, first landing on the northern shore of St. Croix, which he named Santa Cruz (Holy Cross). Before the United States purchased the islands for $25 million in 1917, six other flags--Spanish, Dutch, British, French, Knights of Malta and Danish--flew over

St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas.

A wide range of accommodations, activities, dining, and more make for a perfect mix. Thus, for a Caribbean vacation this fall, with an American accent, the USVI have it.

The fascinating Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao is more than just beautiful beaches. Its capital, Willemstad, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site just like the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal--where visitors can explore the city on foot, taking in fine restaurants and shady sidewalk cafes. Here, restored historic buildings, painted Crayola colors and decorated with curlicue gables and arches, are home to museums, restaurants, shops, and galleries.

Museum Kurá Hulanda is the newest addition. Believed to be the largest museum facility in the Caribbean, it is on the site that was once a slave yard. The permanent exhibitions begin with the Darwin-Leaky Rooms showcasing of fossils, skulls, and bone artifacts (many from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, Africa's Garden of Eden). In the Slave Trade and Middle Passage exhibit, visitors descend into a full-size reconstruction of the hold of a slave ship. Artifacts from empires of Ancient Ghana, Mali, and Songhay and bronzes from Benin bring the West African Empires exhibit to life. Outdoor exhibits include full-size reconstructions of the house gable of Dogon's Ogotemelli and the city gate of the ancient city of Djénné; a new sculpture garden features contemporary works of Antillean and African artists.

Mikvé Israel-Emanuel, the oldest continually worshipped-in Jewish synagogue in the New World is here, now celebrating its 350th anniversary. There is also a centuries-old Protestant church, complete with a cannonball embedded in the wall, and a Maritime Museum which documents the island's rich naval history, with a "floating market" of colorful ships just across the canal.

Divers and snorkelers will be amazed at the variety of underwater life and easily accessible dive sites, while hikers, bikers and horseback riders can experience the rich variety of flora and fauna--orchids to iguanas--in Christoffel National Park.

Or, you can simply relax on one of Curaçao's beautiful beaches.

For more information visit www.curacao-tourism.com or call the Curaçao Tourist Board at (800) 3CURACAO.

Because an estimated 50,000 visitors travel to Barbados on air miles each year, a number of hotels on Barbados have joined together to offer a special package for travelers using air miles. The program, appropriately called Miles Closer ((246) 428-5682; www.barbados.org/milescloser), includes three nights accommodations (based on two sharing), three breakfasts, airport transfers, and a half-day island tour. Participating hotels charging just $169 per person for the package include: Dover Beach, Edgewater Inn, Peach and Quiet, Woodville Beach Hotel, Sea U Guest House, Rainbow Reef, and St. Lawrence Apartment Hotel (extra nights are just $35 per person). Participating hotels charging just $199 per person for the package are Casuarina Beach, Sand Acres, Sandridge, and Sea Breeze Beach Hotel (extra nights are just $45 per person).

You can often reach Barbados for the same number of miles required for much closer destinations, with non-stop services including: BWIA West Indies (New York, Miami, and Washington, D.C.); American Airlines (New York, Miami, and San Juan); Air Jamaica (New York, as well as 11 cities via Montego Bay); Air Canada (Toronto and Montreal); and British Airways and Virgin Atlantic (London’s Gatwick). Reduced rate greens fees at the island’s new championship golf course and special rates at Atlantis Submarine are also being offered during this special promotion, which ends December 14th.

Grand Bahama Vacations, the largest North American tour operator to Grand Bahama Island, has introduced four new flights on Laker Airways to Nassau, The Bahamas, from Tampa, Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Dallas, Texas. The exciting new flights will operate under the trade name Driftwood Vacations. These flights are part of GBV's new Summer/Fall 2001 program, which also includes a new seasonal flight out of New Orleans, as well as seasonal flights from Nashville and Memphis to Grand Bahama Island. Air inclusive packages are available from $299 per person.

"With The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism reporting more than four million visitors to The Bahamas last year--an increase of almost half a million people over the previous year-GBV is focused on an aggressive growth plan for 2001 that includes new service into Nassau/Paradise Island," said Kamal Shah, managing director of Grand Bahama Vacations.

Grand Bahama Vacations launched its Summer/Fall 2001 program with a new brochure filled with a wide variety of vacation choices at affordable rates, including three-, four- and seven-night packages from thirteen different U.S. gateways and offering round-trip non-stop 727 scheduled jet flights on Laker Airways and accommodations at a choice of sixteen hotels. For a seven-night stay at The Resort & Casino at Bahamia, kids under 12 years of age fly and stay for FREE when accompanied by two full paying guests. Package rates vary by departure and are based on double occupancy; airport and departure taxes are not included.

Exciting optional activities such as golf, diving and snorkeling packages, beach party and dinner cruises, deep sea fishing, the popular Dolphin Close Encounter, island tours and more can be added to any Grand Bahama Vacations package.

Grand Bahama Vacations and Driftwood Vacations are part of the Driftwood Hospitality Management family of companies. Driftwood is an independent hospitality management company based in West Palm Beach, Florida. Driftwood owns and/or operates the tour operation based in Fort Lauderdale and a portfolio of nine hotels and resorts comprising approximately 3,000 rooms throughout the continental United States, Hawaii, and the Bahamas.

Since 1984, Grand Bahama Vacations (www.gbvac.com) has carried more than 2.9 million visitors to Grand Bahama Island. For reservations and information, visit your local travel agency or call (800) 545-1300. For casino junket information, call (800) 432-2294. Visit their website at www.gbvac.com.

If you’re into scuba diving and great prices, then La Ceiba Beach Resort and Casa Del Mar--The Diver’s Inn, along with Del Mar Aquatics, offer incredible diving (and non-diving) packages this fall. Divers can enjoy a weekend getaway for just $204 per person at Casa Del Mar--The Diver’s Inn or $221 per person in an oceanview room at La Ceiba Beach Resort. Both packages include three nights accommodations, two days of two-tank dives, hotel taxes, full buffet breakfast, welcome cocktail, T-shirt, and unlimited tanks for shore diving. Longer stays are available at “Fall On Sale” rates (August 16-December 20, 2001), as well as Sea & Sea/PADI Underwater Photo Certification Weeks and non-diver deals like four-night honeymoon packages starting at just $498 per couple and much more. For further information, call (800) 435-3240 or visit www.dive-cozumel.com.

Down in Tobago and nestled in the forest above the Caribbean, Immortelle Nature Resort (www.immortelleresort.com) is an ideal island budget-oriented base for outdoors activities. Spread over 160 acres and two valleys and three ridges, this 52-room property even has it’s own 35-acre Nature Park, where trails help guest mingle with countless species of birds, butterflies, and plants. Whether it’s a hike to the nearby waterfall or a full outdoors outing, Immortelle Nature Resort is a Tobago (and Caribbean) natural this fall.

Located in the eastern Caribbean and the southernmost of the Windward Islands, the three-island state of Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique offer an ideal low-cost Caribbean getaway--and Intimate Inns of Grenada ((800) 927-9554; www.grenadagrenadines.com) offers a great way to stay. Made up of more than 50 unique small resorts, inns, hotels, cottages, apartments, and more, on all three islands, Intimate Inns of Grenada offers one of the best and most affordable ways to experience fascinating “Isle of Spice” and her sister islands.