Destinations

Sailing, Sailing

By Kenneth Hoffman

It's eight o'clock in the morning and a chill wind is coming off the water into my face. The water is cold as I run my hand through the choppy waves. Though the middle of July, two more hours of a North Dakota sun will be needed before the sweaters can come off.

Mexico Beaches - Puerto Vallarta and Ensenada

By Richard Chapo

With shores on two oceans, Mexico is a beach lover’s paradise. Here’s a primer on two of the beach areas, Puerto Vallarta and Ensenada

Mexican Living: Bus Travel Mexican Style

By Douglas Bower

When I was in college, in the prehistoric days, I was a veteran bus traveler. I am not talking about the city buses but the kind you would take from city "A" to city "B" three states apart.

You know the kind of which I speak. I am talking about the long-distance ones that smelled not unlike you were stepping into an ashtray on wheels. There was always the peculiar smell of cigarettes, beer, and that nursing home smell that you encountered when you went to visit your 900-year-old aunt.

Lured to Sport Fishing? Jamaica Hooks More Than Your Attention

By Matt Helm

Deep and productive waters only 15 minutes from shore, well-equipped sport fishing boats and scenic views add up to a quality fishing experience in Jamaica. Visiting anglers have a chance at landing blue and white marlin, wahoo, tuna and dolphin (dorado) in deep water that drops to thousands of feet beyond the reefs. Blue marlin is the mostprized big game fish and catching your first marlin in Jamaica is well within reach. The Cayman Trench creates conditions of one to two knots of consistent current which helps clump together seaweed to form “weed lines”- these are every offshore angler’s dream. Heavy rainfall also erodes riverbanks causing trees and other debris to drift out to sea. This floating matter attracts baitfish and tripletail sea bass seeking shelter from the sun, which in turn attracts bigger fish. Entire ecosystems exist under these weed lines which can spread out for miles and contain all manner of sea life, including large numbers of game fish. During the summer months when the wind is fairly calm and the sea is relatively flat the weed lines get bigger, which therefore means more marine activity beneath the surface. On the south coast there are quite a number of banks and cays where you can find a great number of bottom fish, namely snapper and grouper. The largest bank along the south coast is the Pedro Bank. This bank is home to a variety of fish such as yellowtail, mutton and red tail snapper as well as grouper and shellfish. Fishing for wahoo and kingfish is excellent along the south coast due to the presence of these banks. The North coast also has quite a few banks and the three main banks located off the coast of Port Antonio are Henry Holmes, Grappler and Shipwreck. There is also a popular bank located 15 miles off the coast of Montego Bay called the Buckner bank. Strictly speaking there are certain periods of the year when different species of fish are more common. The dolphin (dorado) season runs from January through April, the black fin and yellow fin tuna season run from April to August and the core marlin season runs from August to December. Despite this, you will find that it is quite common for any of these species to be caught in Jamaica’s waters year-round. So if you are in Jamaica right now, it’s a great time to go fishing. Charter boats can be booked for full-day or half-day trips in most resort areas (see listings in Jam-boree’s golocal pages). Prices vary little but be sure to enquire about whether beverages are included and who keeps the catch. Mounting of prize fish is available and some boats will arrange to have a fish cleaned and even cooked to order. A day of fishing in Jamaica is about more than just lines, bait and fighting marlin. It is a unique opportunity to experience the island’s topographical beauty and coastline from offshore aboard a comfortable sportfisher with a professional crew that will ensure that whether you catch the “bigone” or not you have a wonderful experience. Listen to some music, enjoy some refreshments and keep an eye out for porpoises and sea turtles that frequent Jamaica’s coastal waters.

Interview with Ivana Grzetic - Former Miss Universe Croatia - Now Sea Kayaking Entrepreneur

By Susanne Pacher

In one of my searches on the Internet about interesting travel websites I found a site on sea kayaking in the Adriatic. I contacted the webmaster to do a mutual link exchange and upon further investigation, I asked Ivana, one of the founders of the website, to actually do an interview with me. As you will see, she is an expert on Croatia and a pretty interesting individual herself.

Ivana Grzetic was born and raised in Dubrovnik in a "crazy about the sea" family of scuba divers and sea kayakers. She is a graduate of ACMT (American College of Management and Technology) in Dubrovnik.

As Miss Universe Croatia 1998 and a fashion model, Ivana traveled all over the world, including Hawaii, California, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Europe. She now looks forward to sharing her knowledge and love of the Dubrovnik region and the sea with international visitors.

In 2003, Ivana Grzetic and Edi Brkic founded Adriatic Sea Kayaking. Their mission is to offer Dubrovnik visitors an opportunity to experience and explore the Dalmatian coast, Elafiti islands, the Mediterranean waters, and the region’s history and culture in a safe, healthy, active way. Adriatic Sea Kayaking offers top quality active excursions that celebrate the region’s natural beauty and cultural heritage with minimal negative environmental impact.

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