Destinations

Norman’s Cay: New Marina, Great Back-Story

By Peter Janssen on May 31, 2023 Destinations

If you want to channel your inner Miami Vice, or just explore one of the smaller islands in the Bahamas with absolutely gorgeous waters and a pristine white sand beach, then put Norman’s Cay on your go-to list. It’s not hard to get there. Norman’s is in the northern Exumas, about 55 miles below Nassau and 220 miles from Miami. It’s small, just a few hundred acres, but it has a new marina that has plans to grow, and it’s also an official point of entry for the Bahamas. And Norman’s has a unique history, even in the Bahamas. It…

Canouan: The Caribbean’s Hidden Gem

By Peter Janssen on May 25, 2023 Destinations

Canouan is probably the best Caribbean island you’ve never heard of. At least it has never crossed my radar screen. No cruise ships stop there, no jumbo jets land there, no megayachts gather there for A-list New Year’s Eve parties. But now Canouan (pronounced kuh-nuh-wn), with gorgeous white sandy beaches, clear blue water and only 12,000 people, is experiencing something of a boomlet. A relatively new luxury marina has 120 slips for boats up to 320 feet; a new five-star Mandarin Oriental Hotel has opened along a beach; waterfront restaurants and bars are starting to spring up with sunset views…

Moorings Plans Croatia Rendezvous

By Peter Janssen on May 17, 2023 Charter, Destinations

The Moorings just announced that they’re holding their first rendezvous ever in Croatia next fall. Starting in historic Agana, not far from the airport in Split, the rendezvous will take place from October 14 to 21, and the week-long cruise will explore the best of Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast. The coast there, in central Croatia, offers some of the Med’s premiere cruising grounds, with more than 30 islands, ancient fortresses, protected national parks, rocky outcroppings, historic villages and translucent water. There are also pristine beaches, secluded coves, unspoiled natural settings, and wonderful small restaurants to try some exquisite local cuisine. To…

15 Favorite Boating Spots: MarineMax

By Peter Janssen on May 9, 2023 Destinations

Now that boating season is starting again, we have to face the perennial question of where to go. We all have our favorite spots, but much of the adventure of boating involves finding new ones. To help with that, MarineMax, the retail giant with 125 locations (including 78 dealerships and 57 marinas) around the world, should have some expertise here, and they just put together a list of their 15 favorite boating spots. Spoiler alert, they are: The Chesapeake; Florida Keys; Mackinaw Island; Nantucket; Ogunquit, Maine; Lake Lanier, Georgia; St. Augustine; Galveston; Lake of the Ozarks; the Mississippi; Lake Tahoe;…

Harbour Island: A Little Gem in the Bahamas

By Peter Janssen on April 24, 2023 Destinations

It’s only about 3.5 miles long and a little more than a mile wide, but Harbour Island, just off the northeast coast of Eleuthera, is a little gem of a boating, fishing, or vacation destination in the Bahamas. Once there, you won’t find any casinos, high-rise condos or big chain hotels, but you will find a charming community, Dunmore Town, with pastel houses (some dating to the 1700s), winding streets, quiet resorts and vacation rentals, two first-class marinas, and Harbour Island’s iconic Pink Sand Beach, a three-mile stretch of soft sand that’s on almost everybody’s list of best beaches in…

CCA Publishes New Digital Guide to Maine

By Peter Janssen on April 19, 2023 Destinations

The Cruising Club of America just launched its new digital Maine Cruising Guide, offering detailed information and local knowledge about more than 70 harbors and anchorages along the coast from the Isle of Shoals on the New Hampshire border up to Eastport on the Canadian border. You don’t have to be one of the CCA’s 1,400 members to access the guide; it’s free to everyone, and it builds on members’ experience with the first guide, written last year. It provides up-to-date local knowledge shared by 30 veteran CCA members who either homeport in Maine or have cruised there for decades.…

Illinois Waterway Will Close This Summer

By Peter Janssen on March 20, 2023 Destinations

There’s some bad news for anyone contemplating the Great Loop, or just cruising in the Midwest, this summer. The Army Corps of Engineers is closing three locks on the Illinois Waterway that connects Lake Michigan to the Mississippi for repairs all summer. The entire Waterway along the Illinois River has eight locks and dams that the Army Corps says are long overdue for repairs. The Corps had a short closure in 2019 and a longer one in 2020. This summer will also be a long one, but the closures are scheduled to occur simultaneously to lessen the impact to the…

New Safety Problems in Panama Canal

By co_admin on March 15, 2023 Cruising Life, Destinations

By Charlie Bartlett (The Loadstar) – OOCL Utah‘s near-collision on Sunday with a Panama Canal lock gate suggests a tragic and costly accident is waiting to happen, say experts. Video footage shows a fore-positioned ‘alpha’ tug almost crushed between the Hong Kong-flagged containership and the canal’s Agua Clara lock gate. There was no aft-situated ‘delta’ tug to stop the vessel. Representatives of the Panama Canal Captains and Deck Officers Union told The Loadstar how a lack of procedures and under-resourcing by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) left pilots – paid per vessel – calling the shots. “They [pilots] want to finish fast, because the more…

Photo by Michael Guerrero, courtesy of Manta Trust

Ecuador: Home of 2,800 Giant Manta Rays

By Peter Janssen on January 18, 2023 Destinations

If you want to see some giant manta rays, lots of them, head to Ecuador this summer. A new study says that more than 2,800 of them gather there in August and September, more than ten times the number of rays found anywhere else in the world. A recent study by the Marine Megafauna Foundation and the Manta Trust said the overall population of oceanic manta rays could be as high as 22,000, if you counted those off the coast of Ecuador and neighboring Peru. Oceanic manta rays are indeed giants. They grow to be as large as 29 feet…

Hawks Cay: Popular Keys Resort

By Peter Janssen on January 11, 2023 Destinations

Hawks Cay Resort, sprawling over 60 acres in the Florida Keys, about half way between Miami and Key West, has become an increasingly popular boating destination. It’s easy to see why. First off, as the real estate saying goes, it’s all about location, location, location. The resort is on Duck Cay, mile marker 61, about 90 miles south of the Miami airport and 61 miles north of Key West. It’s just a bit north of Marathon, where you can cut under the bridge if you want to head up the Gulf Coast of Florida, and a bit south of Islamorada,…

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