I mean you can’t beat hanging around a great Caribbean resort like Harbour Village Beach Club on the island of Bonaire. It’s got a great restaurant, stunning sunsets, a long puffy sliver of silky white sand for a beach, and tons of stuff to do, from diving to snorkeling to kayaking and more. There are also the super comfy ocean-facing rooms set amid tropical gardens, and an ever-gracious staff, never leaving you wanting for … [Read more...]
About Paul Kandarian
I'm a full-time freelance writer and photographer from the Boston area, specializing in travel writing. I contribute regularly to a variety of places, including the Boston Globe, GoCaribbean at about.com, Dave's Travel Corner, Upscale Living Magazine and many others.
Cap Juluca, Anguilla
Sitting on the most comfortable lounger ever, watching fat white clouds scuttling by in the seriously blue sky above Cap Juluca on the Caribbean island of Anguilla, I’m wondering why I’d ever want to get up. I suspect the rich and famous who visit here, like Liam Neeson, Denzel Washington, Jennifer Aniston and other cinematic superstars, don’t want to get up much either. This is one great beach, St. Maarten and St. Bart’s on … [Read more...]
Finding the real Bahamas one drink at a time
OK, so I went to the Bahamas once before, as part of a cruise, putting in at Nassau and instantly clouding my view of the Bahamas as a whole, perceiving a place of giant cruise ships, sweaty tourists, over-priced gift shops and sheer sensory overload. Then most recently I visited Abaco Beach Resort and Boat Harbour Marina in Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island, a sedately unhurried resort, and was proven wrong. That, and having a Goombay Smash … [Read more...]
Bolongo Bay
Ever felt lost at a giant all-inclusive Caribbean resort? It’s not an unfamiliar feeling in a one-size-fits-all place with thousands of rooms and even more guests milling about where you’re a face in the crowd, a colored bracelet on your wrist. Not so at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort on St. Thomas. This super-cozy, 62-room resort has been run by the Doumeng family for more than 40 years, where they know your name the instant you arrive and use it … [Read more...]
Scrub Island a new Caribbean getaway
There are tons of resorts in the British Virgin Islands, but not many new luxury ones. A recent entry into the resort scene, the first luxury development in the BVI in more than 15 years, is Scrub Island Resort, Spa and Marina, not far from Tortola. The travel world has taken note: Scrub was named one of the Top 30 Resorts in the Caribbean’ by Conde Nast magazine. The 230-acre island, developed by Mainsail Lodging and Development and … [Read more...]
Old Florida charm in Panama City Beach
Panama City Beach in the Florida panhandle is one of those places that remind you of a combination of other places, a blend of kitschy charm found in Myrtle Beach, Atlantic City and Key West. It’s a place unto its own, though, and one where you’ll soon find, by dialect and design, a place apart from what you might usually think of as the Sunshine State. South Florida, more a mindset than geographical location, is arguably from the middle of … [Read more...]
Having The Don with The Coach
I've never been a huge football fan, but given the chance to talk to Don Shula, one of football's most beloved coaches, winner of back-to-back Super Bowls with the Miami Dolphins, while at the same time chowing down a world-class burger at a new restaurant bearing his name, you think I'm gonna say no? Bob Griese and the Shulas The occasion was the opening in 2012 of the first Shula Burger at the Postcard Inn in Islamorada (formerly Holiday … [Read more...]
Meredith – New Hampshire
If you're at all familiar with the Lakes Region in New Hampshire, then chances are you know the town of Meredith. Or did know it. If you haven't visited the tiny little community on Lake Winnipesaukee in the past 20-plus years, chances are you wouldn't recognize the place. What was once a sleepy little mill town - where an asbestos factory once loomed and was mostly just a cut through to the White Mountains – is now a bustling tourist … [Read more...]
Maxwell Mays Wildlife Refuge, Rhode Island
The late Rhode Island artist Maxwell Mays had long talked about giving the 300 acres he owned in that state's rural Coventry to the Audubon Society of Rhode Island upon his passing. Someone asked him why. Maxwell Mays Wildlife Refuge - cottage from across pond "I would like this land to stay open," he said. "I would like this land to breathe." He died in 2009, and gave the land that is now known as the Maxwell Mays Wildlife Refuge. … [Read more...]
Matunuck Oyster Bar Rhode Island
Forget hands on. Think feet and bellies. When taking a tour of the aquaculture shellfish farm behind the Matunuck Oyster Bar restaurant in South Kingstown, R.I., you not only learn about where your food comes from, you walk through its breeding grounds, and if you're lucky, harvest a few oysters to eat later. Sometimes the nibbling is sooner. On a tour last summer, led by owner of the shellfish farm and restaurant, Perry Raso,who does them … [Read more...]