10 Days, Panama & Tropical Playgrounds

Do you like fish? Not necessarily to eat. Just to look at. Because if you do, you’re going to love Cozumel, Mexico,where sheltered coral reefs make this one of the best snorkeling areas in the world. Abundant and colorful marine life turn the sea into a visual fantasy.

Of course, you might even love it if all you like are beautiful secluded beaches, great shopping, and authentic Mexican cuisine. That’s the deal with Cozumel; there’s a lot to like.

Its beauty is deep. Not skin deep; we’re talking underwater. For however gorgeous the land-based sites are on this largest of the Cayman Islands, it is snorkeling, diving and glass-bottom boat and submarine rides that provide the most breathtaking natural attractions.

Grand Cayman is one of a group of three islands named “Las Tortugas” by Columbus, because he found them populated by turtles, or “tortugas.” Today, the national symbol is a peg-legged pirate turtle.

A friendly people, Caymanians have traditionally counted on the sea for their livelihood. Since the islanders’ identity was gleaned from the sea rather than from the land, the Caymans’ human history took a different turn from that in other Caribbean islands. Most of the early citizens were seafarers from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Blacks later migrated to the island from Jamaica in search of better paying jobs and a higher standard of living. The Caymans never suffered from the indignities of plantation slavery, so racial tolerance developed more easily, further reinforced by interracial marriage. This mixing process plus the continuing immigration of British and American people result in a culture that is Caribbean yet recognizably Western.