Fort Lauderdale to Bridgetown

The most easterly of the Caribbean Islands, Barbados stands as a welcoming sentinel at the gateway to the West Indies. The island has for centuries been the first landfall for any sailors venturing westward, beginning with Spanish and Portuguese adventurers who came to Barbados in the 1500s in search of gold and riches. Instead they found a densely vegetated island inhabited by a small population of Amerindians, some of whom were captured and taken to other islands as slaves. Although the Iberians opted not to settle on the island, they did give it a name, Los Barbados (the "bearded ones"), which is generally believed to have derived from the aerial roots of the Bearded Fig Tree.

Grand Turk Island is part of the Turks & Caicos Islands, a British Crown Colony comprised of 40 islands and cays. This beach paradise has been blessed with crystal clear turquoise waters and smooth powder-white beaches. Seven miles long and 1.5 miles wide, Grand Turk has served as the government seat for the colony and the British Governor since 1766. The island is renowned for its inspiring and colorful Bermudian British colonial architecture yet exudes its own quaint Caribbean charm. Located approximately 575 miles southeast of Miami, Florida, and 30 miles south of the Bahamas, Grand Turk enjoys a very comfortable climate year round due to constant trade winds and averages 350 days of sunshine per year.