At Excellence El Carmen you are secluded but not isolated. This is a all-adult, all-suite resort and it is situated on a beautiful Caribbean beach in a palm grove on the east coast of the Dominican Republic. Its architecture is in the Contemporary Caribbean style, and there are 23 pools winding throughout the grounds! Excellence El Carmen gives you free rein to create each day your way.

Destination Highlights

• 12 international restaurant options–(no reservations required).
• There are 16 bars including poolside and beachside. Also available are a cigar lounge and coffeehouse.
• Fully equipped fitness center & Miilé Spa.
• Spanish lessons, dancing lessons, and cooking lessons, board games, air rifle shooting, bocce, aerobics & water aerobics, yoga, and football on the beach.
• 39 minutes for PUJ airport.

Things To Do

• Lots of day & night activities are scheduled.
• Local excursions like day trips to Santo Domingo, Outback Safari tours, Marinarium, Caribbean Pirates tour or Zip Lines tours.
• Active activities at the resort include: Use of snorkeling gear, 607-meter jogging course, introductory scuba lessons or bicycling. That’s just to name a few..

So what can the Excellence El Carmen offer you?

I think the Excellence El Carmen has a lot to offer. I had the pleasure of staying in a luxury suite with a private plunge pool. It was so nice to sit on my patio and have breakfast. I had my own Bali bed to lounge on, and get work done:). The set up between the 2 buildings with the large pool was awesome. The pool had its own wait staff & bar. All of us were in those 2 buildings, so we would just meet at the larger pool to visit. The nice thing was, that pool was not super close, there was a grassy area between my room/outdoor patio area and the pool, so I didn’t feel crowded.

The Miilé Spa and Wellness Center was really well designed. Fantastic facility! Massages, facials & body treatments. They also offer couples treatments and bridal spa packages.

The Restaurants! You probably already know this about me, but FOOD is a big part of my vacation. I love trying new things. They have a really good variety of options, but you will have to try The Lobster House! It is an open-air thatch-roof palapa with a tropical atmosphere and a garden view. For Breakfast, they have an la carte continental breakfast menu. For dinner, the restaurant turns into a wonderful destination for all things lobster! Really good!

The Dominican Republic has some amazing resort options and lots of activities to choose from. Customizing a vacation package to suit your needs is what I love doing. Give me a call and let’s customize your next vacation.

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Eden Roc

Eden Roc at Cap Cana is a five-star resort providing an intimate Caribbean hideaway with a focus on privacy, wellness, serenity and romance in an ultra-luxury private boutique hotel. Located in the exclusive gated community of Cap Cana, this breathtaking resort is surrounded by a tropical rainforest, pristine beaches, towering cliffs, a bustling marina and a Jack Nicklaus signature golf course. Eden Roc at Cap Cana is a blend of the French and Italian Rivieras with the charm of the Caribbean.

Destination Highlights

• 3 restaurants & 3 bar/lounges. Also available, in-room dining and meal plan options with diverse culinary selections.
• Luxury, private roundtrip transportation between the airport and your hotel is included in your package
• Each suite offers its own private swimming pool and golf cart (excluding Beachfront Suites)
• Solaya Spa offers a full spa menu of massages, body treatments and facials along with a beauty salon offering manicure, pedicure and haircut options.
• Koko Kids Club
• Located 10 minutes from Punta Cana International Airport

Things To Do

• Shopping and activities within walking distance
• Scape Park – Natural theme park
• Los Establos Cap Cana – Equestrian Center
• Punta Espada – a Jack Nicklaus 18-hole golf course
• This resort also offers Yoga, Pilates, wine tasting, cooking and cocktail classes, Spanish lessons, Dominican Rhythms lessons and water sports. Some activities require an additional fee.
• OUT of the ORDINARY EXPERIENCES include:
  • Flying over Paradise: Helicopter & private Jet Excursions
  • Saona Island: Excursions available via Private boat/ Catamaran/ Private Jet/ Private helicopter.
  • Private Ecotourism Safari’s

Pure Luxury offered here at Eden Roc

This 30,000-acre resort and residential complex is an ecological marvel. Walking around the grounds here, I was amazed. Truly stunning! Luxury, relaxation, wellness, cuisine.. All at your fingertips here. To up the ante, Eden Roc now offers In-Suite services by Solaya Spa, which allow you to experience an authentic spa treatment without leaving the comfort of your room.Eden Roc Cap Cana has two distinct resort areas:

• the in-land Boutique Suite segment, offering 34 stand-alone Suites & Villas overlooking the garden or the lagoon-style pools. These lavish boutique villas have their own private swimming pool and gazebo, exterior rain shower and spa area and exclusive use of a golf cart. The kid rooms in these villas were set up perfectly. They thought of everything!
• Eden Roc Beach Club is surrounded by 26 stunning Beachfront Two Bedroom Suites and 4 new Oceanfront Pool Villas.

Traveling as a couple or with your family, an experience here, at Eden Roc, will leave you breathless.

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Baby Sea turtles in Grand Cayman! Wow, I never thought I would see something like that. Having visited Grand Cayman previously on a cruise ship, I knew I wanted to go back. This visit to Grand Cayman was truly a spur of the moment trip. My husband and I had a chance to visit for a week, staying in a private condo on the islands north side. The north side of the island is beautiful and quiet, which is exactly what we were looking for and since it was in September, the quieter time of year, it was extra quiet. We had the whole beach to ourselves! Breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, calm waters & a white sandy beach. It was truly a relaxing & rejuvenating getaway.

• Daily life: Every morning started with cup of coffee & sunrise, we are early risers. Followed by a morning swim and a walk to Rum Point and every evening ended with a stunning sunset, picture perfect for postcards. There were a couple days where the beach was our only destination. But others involved exploring this beautiful island and taking in the scenery.
• Rum Point, not far at all from where we were staying, had a bit of everything. Beach, entertainment, shopping, tours & activities, restaurants. The wreck bar had a great fish blt! If you go a little further past Rum point you will hit Kiabo, a fabulous restaurant with great food. And, just beyond there was Starfish Point. It looks like a little vacant park when you pull up. It doesn’t look like much but give it a chance. Get out, walk to the water, walk in and look around. First of all, you just won’t believe how clear the water is! Then you will see them, beautiful starfish. There are many tours that stop here but if you are on the island and can drive there, bring a lunch and enjoy the scenery or go back to Kiabo or Rum Point and enjoy some local cuisine. Driving on the island was my husbands job. You drive on the opposite side, so our joke was that whenever we got in the car we would yet out Left, Left!! Just as a little reminder. We took a day to do some sightseeing. The drive to George Town was beautiful. After lunch, we took the long way back driving along the Seaview Dr. We wanted to see the Blowholes. Now, this is not your typical attraction. As you drive along the road, taking in the sea views, you will notice some hand painted rustic signs that say Blowholes ahead. No fancy buildings, cobblestone sidewalks or paved parking lots. Just a road, roadside parking and a path to walk down to this spectacular site. I have to say, walking out onto the rocks was a bit intimidating. It sounds like there are sea creatures under your feet that are going to pop up and get you. The sound comes from the water rushing up against and under the rocks making a sound that makes you second guess being there. As it forces the water up through the many holes, it creates an amazing site. Get a picture as the water rushed up around you. You’ll be glad you did.

Now, the most amazing part of my vacation. Down on the beach, we noticed a hole in the sand and it was surrounded by sea shells. On one of our beach days, we were sitting under a palapa and enjoying the view. I jumped up to go get something from the house and noticed that the hole had something in it. I seriously looked reptilian so I had Mike come take a look. He said “it’s baby turtles”!! They were barely moving so we left them alone and continued to enjoy our beautiful afternoon. A little while later, Mike was in the water & I was under the palapa. I glanced over and I seen the most AMAZING thing. The baby sea turtles were coming out of the hole and making the journey to the ocean. The sand was littered with baby turtles, the size of a quarter. Their eyes appeared closed so, how they made it to the ocean was beyond me. Do they sense the water?

The next morning, Mike went down to take a quick swim. He came back and said grab the camera! There was a new nest on the beach. What a sight! Within 15 minutes the environmental agency was at the beach marking the nest. Apparently they monitor all nests! And I was told that it was a $100,000.00 fine if you mess with them!

I hope you enjoy the video. But, NO laughing! I sound like an elf!!

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The West Bay section of the island features the famed turtle farm, where thousands of Green Sea Turtles are raised each year for both food and for release into the wild. This is also the home of the kitschy town of Hell — a bleak natural limestone formation with a nearby gift shop and (of course) a post office that sells postcards that can be sent home from-Hell.

On the North Side resides the Queen Elizabeth II Botanical Park, a series of lush tropical gardens full of herbs and orchids, not to mention a fascinating butterfly garden and an iguana habitat. But, perhaps the most famous attraction in Grand Cayman is not on land at all. A few miles off shore in the North Sound, lies Stingray City, a series of shallow sandbars flush with friendly southern stingrays just begging for handouts from the tourists who flock to the site.

• Hit the Beach! Whether it’s relaxing in the sun or snorkeling in the reef just off shore at the Sunrise Villa, enjoy the year-round tropical breezes on Grand Cayman’s beaches.
• The World-Famous Stingray City: Top of every visitor’s list is an excursion to Stingray City, an extraordinary 12-foot dive site and adjacent sandbar. In as little as two to six feet of water, everyone-with or without snorkel gear-can feed and touch the friendly Southern Atlantic stingrays. My husband and I visited here and it was amazing!
• Spend a Lazy Afternoon at Rum Point: Hop in your rental car and head to Rum Point on Grand Cayman’s quiet North Side, a favorite destination for both residents and visitors. Experience island atmosphere the way it used to be in a scenic spot known for its clear, calm waters and tall pines. Sink into a hammock with a book, swim, snorkel, or try a glass-bottom boat trip. The Wreck Bar, a Rum Point landmark, serves lunch and frosty drinks at picnic tables on the beach.
• Boatswain’s Beach: Boatswain’s Beach is the name of the new 30-acre marine theme park that is the expansion of the Cayman Turtle Farm. When Christopher Columbus first discovered the islands in 1503, he named them “Las Tortugas,” meaning The Turtles. According to legend, there were so many turtles that the islands looked like they were covered with rocks. Located in Grand Cayman, the Turtle Farm has been in operation since 1968 and has since been dedicated to educating the public on the benefits of a proactive conservation program for sea turtles.
• Indulge in Cayman Cuisine: It would be difficult to spend time in Cayman without being offered conch fritters, a local Stingray beer, or Cayman’s own Heavy Cake. But don’t miss the island specialties that will make your visit unique; for a snack that is not to be missed, stop in at any of the Tortuga Rum Company stores for a Tortuga Rum Cake. Compare the spicy taste of Cayman Brac’s McCoy’s BBQ to the unique flavor of Bussy’s Jerk Chicken on Little Cayman.
• Discover the Cayman Story: The National Trust for the Cayman Islands office, located in George Town, offers visitors extensive information on the islands’ history, environment, national symbols and culture. Tours are also available for guests to uncover the Cayman of yesteryear – by learning about wattle and daub, a method of construction used to build homes; discovering historical sites such as the Bodden Town Guard House, Old Savannah Schoolhouse and Watlers Cemetery; environmental treasures such as the Mastic Trail; and resources such as the Trust’s Herbarium and Insectarium.

I will get the pleasure of visiting here again. Connect with Anytime Travel Agency on Facebook or Twitter and watch for some great little tidbits.

Are you ready to getaway to Grand Cayman? Contact Anytime Travel Agency and get started.

#travellogic #travelagentatwork

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The island’s small interior is spotted with unique villages; the buildings have steep roofs tracing their roots back to the New England settlers who colonized the area. While this may not be familiar territory to some, Green Turtle Cay is an excellent place to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Since it is only a short flight away from South Florida with a 10-minute ferry ride from the airport to the island, losing precious vacation time traveling is not an issue.

Within the island’s three-mile long by approximately half-mile wide watery boundaries lies an abundance of activities – local marinas and resorts, deep-sea fishing, fantastic diving with access to certain parts of the beautiful Abacos’ 100-mile long barrier reef, the village of New Plymouth, museums.

The best part? The island is home to about 500 residents. The true definition of privacy is unknown until you visit Green Turtle Cay. It is the perfect place for those who seek the definition of relaxation.

Staying true to its roots, Green Turtle Cay has kept a low-key lifestyle, easily seen within its bars, clubs, and restaurants. The island theme is fluent throughout, especially in the main city of New Plymouth. For those looking to kick back and enjoy the atmosphere, The Rooster’s Rest is the place to be. A crossover of Reggae themes combined with Rock-n-Roll, it is sure to please all who seek the club scene (not to mention it is one of the most acclaimed hot spots in all of the Bahamas). As for bars, the world famous tropical cocktail dubbed “Goombay Smash” was created in Green Turtle Cay, and can be found at its source, The Blue Bee Bar.

Given the small dimensions of the island, traditional public transportation is non-existent. The use of golf carts and bicycles is mainstream, which further adds to the relaxed lifestyle of the island. This does not make commuting a challenge at all, though, as everything is in close proximity.

Green Turtle Cay is a small island with plenty to discover: a sparkling diamond within the Bahamas. It offers serenity for those who seek it and is beautiful year-round. Its fantastic uniqueness, local flavor, and remarkable natural treasures, like the green turtle nests for which it is named, are sure to entice clients who visit.

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