In northwestern Jamaica, on the mouth of the Montego River, lies "Mo' Bay". The beach resorts of Doctor's Cave and White Sands have been popular holiday destinations for wealthy Americans since the 1900s. The main attractions are the beaches with their fine white sand and turquoise sea. A colorful coral reef with its fascinating underwater world stretches out along the shore line, and inland is the island's most beautiful golf course. Some magnificent mansions bear witness to the wealth and high life enjoyed by the plantation owners, since the town was one of the largest places for shipping sugar cane in the 18th century.

Port Antonio was once the world's banana capital, but for a long time now international VIPs have discovered this town for themselves. Some properties can be found near the clear deep waters of the Blue Lagoon. The pretty little town, surrounded by sugar cane fields and banana plantations, impresses particularly with its delightful beaches. The Rio Grande is the island's largest river and channels its course over 60 kilometers (37 miles) in green solitude through the jungle and into the sea. Historically, bananas and other fruit were carefully transported on bamboo rafts along the waterway to the port. Nowadays the rafts have been equipped with bench seats and are used for excursions.

On this island, which is part of Hispaniola, Columbus founded the first Spanish colony in America. Santo Domingo, the present capital of the Dominican Republic, is the first and oldest European-founded city in the New World. Old in the New World still means relatively young - it corresponds to Renaissance visions of the ideal and was the model for many cities in Latin America. A visit to the historic old city is like a journey through time. The splendid stone buildings are testament to the era of the colonial conquests and have been smartened up as World Heritage Sites under the protection of UNESCO.

During the sugar boom of the late 19th century, La Romana developed into a lively working-class city and eastern sugar center. The third largest city in the Dominican Republic now has many faces. The streets are laid out in a grid formation with colorfully painted houses. Between these and the golf courses and luxury villas of the prominent Casa de Campo flows the Rio Dulce, which runs into the sea. Native Taino art plays a large role, both in the city's archaeological museum and in what is perhaps the country's most beautiful cave, Maravillas. This was a cult site for the native Taino people and lies 35 meters below ground. The numerous cave paintings are more than 1,000 years old and have been exceptionally well preserved.

Explorers and privateers once used to cross swords in the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Nowadays the sea around the British Virgin Islands is one of the world's best sailing areas. Heavenly bays, gorgeous beaches, idyllic anchoring spots, smart yacht clubs, and charming little beach bars make the island a popular haunt for sailors. On Virgin Gorda, once called "The Fat Virgin" by Columbus due to its shape, you can find "The Baths", one of nature's most beautiful oddities, in the National Park. Ground to a sphere and polished to a shine, the huge granite formations on the beach and in the water create a multi-branched labyrinth of giant boulders.

Jost van Dyke, the smallest of the main islands in the British Virgin Islands, is a mountainous volcanic object of beauty with fewer than 300 inhabitants. One of them, Foxy, has been mixing his cocktails since 1968 and the bar of the same name enjoys a legendary reputation as perhaps the most famous beach bar in the Lesser Antilles. The island's past is less reputable - it was named by a Dutch pirate. The island gives its most beautiful treasures to all who visit - fine sand, green palm trees, colorful beach bars, and the luminous blue of the sea.

St Barthélemy, affectionately known as St Barths by most, had already had many "owners" before the Lesser Antilles were acquired by France in 1877. When the first estate was acquired by the banker David Rockefeller in 1957, the island's future was finally sealed. It became a refuge for the international jet set and an elegant holiday paradise for many Hollywood stars. For over 40 years, St. Barths has cultivated a luxurious lifestyle with a Caribbean laissez-faire approach. You can stroll through the charming main town of Gustavia, whose beautifully restored houses and colonial facades look out over the sea with its elegant superyachts, browse in the shops for precious items, or enjoy a sundowner in the picturesque harbour surrounded by clusters of high class bars and restaurants.

Dominica, nicknamed the "Nature Isle" of the Caribbean, is one of the most untouched of the Windward Islands. It boasts some of the highest mountains in the Lesser Antilles, as well as many beautiful national parks. Its interior is characterized by thick virgin forest, where rivers plunge into the depths and tiny streams wind through the jungle. Two extinct volcanoes are at the center of Cabrits National Park and, recaptured by nature, the former strategically important Fort Stanley appears like a picturesque backdrop in the heart of the jungle.

Two famous volcanic cones are indisputably the emblem of St. Lucia and have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Gros and Petit Piton tower over the southern, windward side of the island and, in Soufrière, seem close enough to touch. The volcanoes have in fact long been extinct, but the sulphur springs demonstrate the power of the earth's core and still bubble up. In the Botanical Gardens, natural abundance is combined with artistic arrangements to create a colorful tropical paradise. Some people claim that Josephine, who later became Napoleon's wife, used to bathe in the little pool in the garden.

More than 300 years of British rule have left their mark. The whole of Bridgetown, Barbados' historic center, with its colonial architecture surrounding Trafalgar Square, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Gentle green hilly countryside and endless fields of sugar cane characterize the island's landscape. Old colonial houses are reminders of the high life of the plantation owners, while innumerable colorful chattel houses are evidence of their workers' "moveable property". The sweeping coastline is a picture postcard of fine sandy beaches and turquoise sea surrounded by colorful coral reefs. Disembark and return home individually.