Visitors to the Caribbean can combine a European vacation with a tropical holiday and, depending on the destination, cosmopolitan nightlife. Most of the islands are an easy plane or boat ride from the U.S. mainland, yet preserve their historic European flavor. Throughout the area, the architecture, cuisine, language, and customs reflect the heritages of English, French, Dutch, and Spanish communities. Miami is the major gateway to the Caribbean, but alternative gateways, such as New Orleans and Houston, offer less congestion and fewer customs delays. The high season in the Caribbean extends from mid November through mid April. During this period, hotel rates are twice as much, on the average, as low-season rates.

The Caribbean Sea is named for the Carib Indians who migrated to the islands from South America. Before them, most of the islands were inhabited by Aruaks, a farming people. Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492, on the island of San Salvador. Columbus thought he had arrived in India, and, for this reason, the Caribbean region is sometimes called the West Indies. He visited other islands in the region and claimed them for Spain.

The islands became a haven for pirates who preyed on the Spanish galleons and plundered their ports. Most of the islands in the Caribbean became free states in the 1900s, although many still have close ties to European countries.

Formerly called British Honduras, Belize is famous for Caribbean- style beach resorts and a lush tropical rain forest. Belize City (BZE) is the capital and largest city. The mountainous interior descends into jungle-lined valleys where jaguars, tree-dwelling monkeys, and numerous species of rare birds continue to thrive.

Most tourism in Belize is concentrated on Ambergris Caye, a tiny island 25 miles off the north coast. Resorts for ocean divers and deep-sea fishermen are also located on remote Turneffe Island and Lighthouse Reef. Expeditions are available from local tour operators into the interior, to explore ancient Indian ruins or observe exotic wildlife in the jungle habitat.

The Bahamas Islands lie just east of the Florida tip. Technically, the Bahamas lie not in the Caribbean but in the Atlantic, between Florida and Haiti. Their close proximity to U.S. shores underlies, in part, their enormous popularity. The Bahamas include twenty eight principal islands and innumerable minor isles, or cays. Tourism is concentrated around New Providence, where the capital, Nassau, is located, and where 60 percent of the population resides. Half of the population of 235,000 people is under 25 years of age. Most are of African or mixed African, Spanish, and British descent. The Bahamas offer the appeal of a subtropical climate, long stretches of white sand beaches, and easy access from the United States.

Most tourism in the Bahamas is concentrated on New Providence in the Nassau, Paradise Island, and Cable Beach areas. On Grand Bahama, several beachfront properties lie within close proximity to Freeport. On remote Long Island, a relaxed atmosphere awaits escapists, scuba divers, and sun worshippers.

South of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica lie the Cayman Islands, a British Crown Colony of three islands cherished by scuba divers, yachtsmen, and deep sea fishermen. The Caymans are famous for long stretches of superb beach onshore and an underwater wonderland of tropical fish and coral offshore. Grand Cayman was once inhabited by such notorious pirates as Blackbeard (Edward Teach) and Sir Henry Morgan. Prior to 1962, the Caymans were a dependency of Jamaica.

When Jamaica became independent, the Cayman Islands remained under British rule. The Caymans are the most familiar to scuba divers. The barrier reef off the south shore of Grand Cayman is rated as one of the ten best dive sites in the world. Seven-Mile Beach, widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in the Caribbean, is lined with resorts, hotels, and condominiums.

Southeast of the Caymans is the third largest island in the Caribbean, Jamaica, a botanical wonderland, with 200 different varieties of orchids. The Blue Mountains, blanketed with dense rain forest and laden with waterfalls, rise 7,500 feet above sea level, sloping down to white sandy beaches along a 42-mile coastline.The resort city of Ochos Rios offers visitors a variety of entertainment, including river trips, golf, tennis, deep-sea fishing, and scuba diving. The nights are filled with the sound of steel drums beating out Calypso and Reggae rhythms.

East of Puerto Rico are the U.S. Virgin Islands, "America's tropical paradise." The United States purchased St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John in 1917 to defend the Panama Canal during World War I. A provision of the sale dictated that the islands remain free ports, exempt from import duties.

The Virgins are hilly with lush vegetation, despite a scarcity of water. The smallest and most scenic island in the chain is St. John, two thirds of which is a National Park. On St. John is the upscale Caneel Bay Plantation, a historic resort built by the Rockefeller family on a former sugar plantation. With five fantastic beaches, three world-class restaurants, hundreds of acres of finely pruned grounds, and the best dive operation in the islands located right on the premises, Caneel Bay is one of the most coveted leisure properties in the Caribbean.

On neighboring St. Thomas, the bustling seaport of Charlotte Amalie is famous for shopping, with jewelry, watches, perfume, and photographic equipment available at duty-free prices. U.S. citizens are allowed to return with up to $800 worth of merchandise without penalty. Traveling further east to British Virgin Islands, the islands get less populous and the diving, more leisurely.

The islands that stretch from the Virgins south to Tobago and Trinidad are called the the Lesser Antilles, or West Indies, where a European influence predominates. The three main island groups are the French, British, and Dutch West Indies. The French West Indies consist of four principal islands: Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Barthelemy, and St. Martin. On these islands, Old-World charm and French cuisine are combined with rugged splendor and tropical atmosphere. Guadeloupe is a lush paradise sprouting atop an archipelago of several islands.

Christopher Columbus considered Martinique "the most fertile, delightful, and charming land in the world." Tropical rain forests, pristine beaches, and majestic hills abound throughout the French West Indies.

Dutch influence in the Caribbean extends from St. Maarten, due went of Puerto Rico, as far south as Curacao, off the northern coast of Venezuela. The Netherlands Antilles, or Dutch West Indies, are divided into two groups. One includes St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, and Saba. The other is made up of the ABC islands--Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. Dutch architecture is featured in the principal cities, which bear an uncanny resemblance to Amsterdam. The native language, Papiamento, is an engimatic blend of Dutch, Spanish, English, and Calypso.

The Netherlands Antilles were charted by Columbus on his second voyage in 1493. St. Maarten is the Dutch half of the same island on which the French territory of St. Martin is situated. The capital, Philipsburg, is a typical modern Caribbean free port, bustling with resorts, restaurants, and shops.