Beaches of Mexico

The best months to go to Mexico beaches are November - May.

July-August, Christmas, and Easter attract huge numbers of holidaymakers from both inside and outside the country, especially at beach resorts. The worst are the hottest and most humid months, June - September, with an insect problem too.
Aug-Nov has the possibility of rough seas on the Pacific coast due to storms.
For diving off Baja California August - November is best, with warm, clear water.

Plus: great varied food and drink are generally available, lively evenings with music and dance are common, coral is superb in some places, some nearby ancient sites are AMAZING [Chichen Itza, Tulum], Spanish is an easy language.
Minus: it's very package touristy in many places, souvenirs are poor, petty theft happens.

Tulum, on the Caribbean coast [picture top left; stormy season just finished so seaweed around!]
One of the prettiest beaches in the world, with picturesque Mayan ruins overlooking the beach.
130 km south of a massive resort of Cancún, it is a tiny but perfectly-formed white sandy cove, with a few palm shade and the azure Caribbean sea to swim in.
The entrance to Tulum is totally touristy, with a huge car park, souvenir shops, café and restaurants. There is no place to stay on the spot, but there are a few hotels and restaurants in Tulum village and also [far better option] plenty of resort type places, cabañas [beach huts] and campsites along the coast road south to Punta Allen.

Playa del Carmen, on the Caribbean coast [not too far from Cancún] [picture top right]
A cool, casual beach scene with plenty of accommodation [though an imbalance towards monster hotels these days], excellent bars, restaurants and shops. Although it is very popular and attracts crowds from all over the world, the place is reasonably low-key, friendly and relaxing.
It is the best place in Mexico to buy high quality crafts, especially jewellery.
It has also boats to Cozumel - for world class diving and a park for swimming with dolphins [at considerable expense!].

Puerto Escondido, on the Pacific coast
Puerto Escondido has several stretches of magnificent sandy beach, with a laid-back ambience and plenty of inexpensive accommodation. Beaches are varied from a 2 km long Zicatela, the surfing mecca [nicknamed the Mexican Pipeline] to the east of the town, to the calmer three coves including Playa Puerto Angelito on the west.
August - November surf reaches 7-8 metre due to south Pacific storms.

Puerto Angel, on the Pacific coast
For even more tranquility go to the Puerto Angel area, including the backpacker's favourite, Zipolite Beach. About 60 km east of Puerto Escondido, there you can find the most simplicity and relaxation [except for the overdeveloped west end] in Mexico.
Recently there has been an increasing security problem. Beware of high surf [particularly August -November] and strong currents in deep water.

Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, Baja California [peninsula]
Offering miles of marvellous beaches this is a major American tourist destinations for fishing, golfing or young party animals.
Best beaches are:

Playa Cemeterio 4 km east, Playa Santa Maria 12 km from Cabo San Lucas for swimming, with easy access.

Playa Costa Azul, Playa Canta Mar are ideal for surfing.
Playa Solmar, 1 km west of Cabo San Lucas, is for whale- watching January - April.
Scuba diving and snorkelling are OK, but the the best sites are offshore, reachable only by boat.
Infamous time-share salesmen can be annoying. Beware strong rip tides at some of the beaches.

Bahía Concepción, Baja California
The shore of Bahia Concepcion [Conception Bay], between 10 and 50 km south of Mulegé, has several scenic beaches including Playa Requesón, Playa Buenaventura, and Playa Coyote. The bay is on the coast of Sea of Cortez, which is a protected marine sanctuary. The facilities are fairly basic [some places have no fresh water], but there is wildness, natural beauty, and tranquility. Excellent for watersports and great for seafood, especialy clams. Playa Santispac has the best campsite, with a fine resaurant. If you are up to kayaking, try Playa Buenaventura.

Bahia de Matanchen, San Blas, on the Pacific coast
This small and very Mexican fishing village of San Blas has an excellent town beach, but the best in the area is just 4 km away - Bahia de Matanchen, a broad crescent bay with splendid beaches of prime soft sand and a relaxing atmosphere.
The only drawback is summertime mosquito and sandfly problems.

Between Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco on the Pacific coast
The central Pacific Coast has several hundred miles of coastline with fine sandy beaches and excellent facilities. The choices are enormous from international resorts like Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco for monster all-inclusive resorts packed densely, to smaller resorts with local colour such as: Chamela [the prettiest, 165 km south of Puerto Vallarta], Barra de Navidad and Zihuatanejo. Great activities, fantastic seafood, and lively night life.

Gold Coast, Australia

The Gold Coast is a city and local government area in the southeast corner of Queensland, Australia. It is the second most populous city in the state and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is also the most populous non-capital city in the country. Gold Coast City is renowned for its sunny subtropical climate, popular surfing beaches, expansive waterway and canal systems, a skyline dominated by high-rise apartment buildings, a peaceful rainforest hinterland in the west of the city, active nightlife and its wide variety oftourist attractions.

 

Beaches

The city consists of 57 kilometres of coastline with some of the most popular surf breaks in Australia including,South Stradbroke Island, The Spit, Main Beach, Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach, Mermaid Beach, Nobby Beach, Miami, Burleigh Beach, Burleigh Heads, Tallebudgera Beach, Palm Beach, Currumbin Beach, Tugun, Bilinga, Kirra,Coolangatta, Greenmount, Rainbow Bay, Snapper Rocks and Froggies Beach. Duranbah beach is one of the world's best known surfing beaches and is often thought of as being part of Gold Coast City, but is actually just across theNew South Wales state border in Tweed Shire.

 

There are also beaches along many of the Gold Coast's 860km of navigable tidal waterways. Popular inland beaches include Southport, Budds Beach, Marine Stadium, Currumbin Alley, Tallebudgera Estuary, Jacobs Well, Jabiru Island, Paradise Point, Harley Park Labrador, Santa Barbara, Boykambil and Evandale Lake.

While the beaches are beautiful and enticing, there are also inherent dangers, and the Gold Coast has Australia’s largest professional surf life saving service to protect people on the beaches and to promote surf safety throughout the community.

 

The Queensland Department of Primary Industries carries out the Queensland Shark Control Program (SCP) to protect swimmers from sharks. No fatal shark attacks have occurred on protected ocean beaches, tidal waterways or canals on the Gold Coast since 1958 (however two fatal attacks have been recorded in inland lake areas that are separate from the tidal waterways network since 2000). Sharks are caught by using nets and baited drumlines off the major swimming beaches. Even with the SCP, sharks do range within sight of the patrolled beaches, lifeguards will clear swimmers from the water if it is considered that there is a safety risk.

 

Tourism

Around 10 million tourists visit the Gold Coast every year; comprising of 849,114 international visitors, 3,468,000 domestic overnight visitors and 5,366,000 daytrip visitors.

Tourism is the region’s biggest industry, directly contributing more than $4.4 billion into the city economy every year and directly accounting for one in four jobs in the city.

There are approximately 65,000 bed spaces, 60 kilometres of beach, 600 kilometres of canal, 100,000 hectares of nature reserve, 500 restaurants, 40 golf courses and 6 major theme parks in the city.

Gold Coast Airport provides connection across Australia with airlines including Jetstar, Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways. International services from Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia and Fiji also land at Gold Coast Airport with airlines including Jetstar, Air New Zealand, Pacific Blue, Airasia X and Air Pacific.

Less than one hour from the centre of the Gold Coast is Brisbane Airport which provides wider domestic and international access to the Gold Coast.

 

Events

The Gold Coast Indy 300 (formerly known as Lexmark Indy 300) is a car racing event held annually, usually in October. The course ventures through the streets of Surfers Paradise and Main Beach. The Indy 300 comprises many other events such as the Indy Undie Ball and the Miss Indy Competition. The V8 Supercars event also coincides with the Indy 300, using the same track route.

The Magic Millions carnival is the brainchild of entrepreneurs Gerry Harvey (of Harvey Normans) and John Singleton. There are plans to relocate and build a state of the art new racetrack at Palm Meadows which will incoporate the Magic Million sale with facilities for up to 4000 horses.

Each June, Coolangatta hosts the Wintersun Festival, a two-week 1950s and 1960s nostalgia festival with free entertainment and attractions, includinghot rods, restored cars and revival bands playing music of the era.

Each July, more than 16,000 congregate on the Gold Coast from around the world to participate in the Gold Coast Marathon. It is also the largest annual community sporting event held on the Gold Coast.

Late November to early December sees thousands of school leavers across the country descend on the Gold Coast for Schoolies, a two week period of celebration and parties throughout Sufers Paradise, hosted by the Gold Coast City Council . The event is often criticised nationally and locally for its portrayal of drinking and acts of violence, however every effort by the Queensland Police and State Government to ensure all school leavers have a good time are put into place, including locals volunteering by walking the streets and keeping an eye out for those in need of assistance on where to go, what to do and how to have a good time.

Early each year the Gold Coast hosts one leg of the ASP World Tour of surfing, where some of the worlds best surfers compete in the Quiksilver Pro at Coolangatta.

The Gold Coast Arts Centre located in Evandale, features a fine art gallery featuring local and international works from painting to sculpture and new media. In addition, there is a theatre for live productions including musicals as well 2 arts cinemas showing foreign and independent films from Australia and abroad.

 

Tourism and landmarks

Tourism is Gold Coast City's main industry, generating total revenue of $2.5 billion per annum  Gold Coast is the most popular Queensland tourism location with over 13,000 available guest rooms contributing over $335 million to the local economy each year. Accommodation options available range from backpacker hostels to five star resorts and hotels. The most common style of accommodation is three and four star self-contained apartments.

Major tourist attractions include internationally renowned surf beaches, and theme parks including, Dreamworld, Sea World, Wet'n'Wild Water World,Warner Bros. Movie World, WhiteWater World, Currumbin Sanctuary, Fleays Wildlife Park, Australian Outback Spectacular and Paradise Country.

 

 

Palau

 

 

Palau offers you the world's most beautiful tropical paradise. Famous for its diving, Palau is rated as one of the world's best diving destinations by scuba aficionados. And why not...Palau has unspoiled reefs, caves, and walls with the most amazing array of marine life you can ever imagine. 

Palau beckons to you with some of the world's most awesome natural wonders. Imagine the whitest beaches you will ever see, gardens of coral just beneath the clearest waters, lakes filled to the brim with "sting less" jellyfish. Forests, waterfalls and caves that have never been ravaged by man, and hundreds of islands of the purest beauty abound all along our pristine archipelago. 

 

Location and Geographic Description
7° 30' North Latitude, 133° 30' East Longitude

Offical Languages 
English and Palauan

Time Zone
When it's Noon Monday in Palau, it is:
Manila 11:00 A.M. Monday 
Tokyo 12:00 P.M. Monday 
Sydney 1:00 P.M. Monday 
Honolulu 5:00 P.M. Sunday 
Los Angeles 7:00 P.M. Sunday 

Climate
Palau enjoys a pleasantly warm climate all year round with an annual mean temperature of 82° degrees F. (27° C.). Rainfall can occur throughout the year, and the annual average is 150 inches. The average relative humidity is 82%, and although rain falls more frequently between July and October, there is still much sunshine. Typhoons are rare as Palau is located outside the typhoon zone.

Currency & Credit Cards :
The official currency of the Republic is the U.S. Dollar. Visa, JCB, Master Card, and American Express cards are widely accepted at stores and visitor facilities. There are FDIC insured banks and major hotels with limited foreign currency exchange. In addition, Palau has money transfers such as Western Union or through Bank Institution.

Customs, Immigration & Health Requirements
One (1) bottle of liquor and one (1) carton of cigarettes can be brought into Palau duty-free. Importation of controlled substances and weapons is strictly prohibited. Travelers must have valid Passport. All visitors must have return travel arrangements or approval by the Chief of Immigration for an extended stay. The fee is $100.00 (U.S.). Cholera and Yellow Fever immunizations are required for those arriving from infected areas.

Getting There

Many visitors to Palau arrive on Continental Airlines by way of daily flights from Guam--gateway to Micronesian. There are daily connections to Guam from Tokyo, USA, and other metropolitan centers around the world. Continental Airlines provide daily flights from Guam to Palau and twice a week from Manila, Philippines.

In addition, there are scheduled chartered ariline services and they are Asiana Airline from Incheon, South Korea, China Airline from Taipei, Taiwan-ROC, and Japan Airlines from Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, Japan to Palau.

From the western seaboard of the United States, you can hop to Hawaii, skip to Guam, then jump to Palau. For a scenic island route, you can do an island hop across Micronesia to Palau. Through Asia, there are twice weekly charter services between Taipei, Taiwan and Palau and additional flights are also available during peak seasons. From Europe,visitors can fly via Emerates direct to Manila, Philippines and onwards with Continental Airlines to Palau--this is possible without overnight stay in Manila.

Beaches and Diving

Palau is one of the most extraordinary diving spots on this planet. Far to the southwest of Micronesia the Republic of Belau (the traditional name) consists of an archipelago of 343 islands, spread north to south over 100 miles form the atoll of Kayangel to the island of Angaur plus five tiny islands, known as the southwest islands. 


Palau's profuse, unspoiled reefs offer a wealth of marine life, coral formations and wrecks. Dives begin in knee deep water and plunge straight down to depths of 1000 feet and more. 
Blue holes, huge caverns and an immense variety of rare and exotic marine species are easily accessible in clear water with visibility exceeding 200 feet. Vast numbers, not found anywhere else in the world, of large pelagic predators, sharks, turtles, dolphins and many species of migratory fish gather here at a unique crossroads of three of the world's major ocean currents. Land locked marine lakes, accessible from the sea through tunnels beneath the island's steep shorelines, are home to rare jelly fish, anemones and soft corals. 

Palau's famed "Rock Islands" are a collection of rounded, foliage-covered isles which seem to float above the surface of the water. A boat trip through them will reveal a number of magnificent white sand beach hideaways perfect for a secluded picnic or adventurous overnight stay. Below the water's surface, divers and snorkelers are treated to a diverse technicolor paradise of fabulous drop-offs, blue holes , breathtaking reefs, crystal caves and World War II wrecks. 

 

 

Vietnam Beaches

Vietnamese Beaches, the best time to go there:

The country has a long coastline, varied, complex climatic zones and generally a fair amount of rain.
The best beaches are mostly in the southern half, and that's best Dec- May [dry, but hot and humid]. However, in that area it doesn't usually rain for long periods at any time, only showers, unless an infrequent typhoon hits the coast, so the beaches are basically OK all year round.
The worst season is probably July -Oct [humidity, occasional rains, typhoons, and of course July-Aug is always a busy holiday period].
Oct - Dec has the best weather over the whole country for sightseeing, with clear skies and temperatures in the mid 20Cs.
Plan ahead if you wish to travel during the Tet New Year festival [late January to early February] - it can be a problem getting accommodation and transport.

China Beach, between Da Nang and Hoi An [Central] Best May-Oct
The most unspoilt Vietnam beach is the endless white sand of China Beach, where US troops landed during the 70's unpleasantness.
The main beach is officially around the Non Nuoc Resort hotel but some locals argue that the real China Beach is at My Khe Beach about 5 km north of the hotel [both are near the tourist attraction of Marble Mountains]. Development is in on the way!

Nha Trang, Vietnam [Central] Best May-Oct
Nha Trang, 'the Vietnamese Riviera', is a delightful little town of tranquil, friendly locals. It has 6 miles of splendid white sandy beach with azure water, backed by green hills and palm trees. The town has little noise or pollution because locals prefer walking or biking to motorbiking.
You can find good Indian restaurants there and some of the best seafood restaurants in the country.
Tran Phu [public beach] is inviting but beaches north of the town and on islands in the bay are a better option. For instance, Doc Let Beach [34 km north of Nha Trang], Dai Lanh Beach [37 km north], Bai Tru Beach in Bamboo Island are worth the trip for peace and quiet.

Mui Ne Beach, Mui Ne Bay, near Phan Thiet [South] Best Dec- May
Mui Ne Bay is about 20mins [by bus] from Phan Thiet, which is 120 miles/198 km [a 3 hour drive] from Ho Chi Minh City. It has fabulous stretches of white sand, a scenic landscape and lovely locals. The climate is hot and dry almost all year, with an average temperature of about 27C.
The good bits [e.g. Rang Beach] are the outlying beaches to the north, but the best is Mui Ne Beach, an upcoming resort area known for its spectacular sand dunes. This is regarded as one of Vietnam's most beautiful beaches, but locals still needs to develop an attitude to cleanness, as rubbish piles up between resorts. 
The beach is also known for world-class wind/kite surfing [good wind almost guaranteed - though the sea-breeze can be over-the-top for sun bathing sometimes. See Mui Ne Beach Pictures. No hustlers/sellers. Lots of comfortable, reasonably priced hotels are available.

Hon Chong Beach, Ha Tien [South] Best Dec- May
The coastline of Ha Tien is on the border with Cambodia [5m/9 km] and has some superb beaches, including the site of the French film L'amant [The Lover, 1995].
Hon Chong Beach is a very seductive beach with soft white sand and calm tropical water, while nearby Tien Cave has interesting rock formations. White sandy Duong Beach is also worth a try.
The Hai Tac islets accessible by boat from Ha Tien offer some great diving for scuba freaks. The biggest of these islands, Hon Doc, has also some splendid white beaches. Or try Nghe Island [1 hour one way].

Bai Tam [Long Beach], Phu Quoc Island [South] Best Dec- May
Phu Quoc Island in the Gulf of Thailand is Vietnam's largest island. Off Ha Tien, it's a hidden gem of Southeast Asia. The island has mountains, forests and superb sandy beaches perfect for nature lovers as well as sun-seekers.
Some of the beaches can only be reached by hiking sandy paths - Bai Truong [Long Beach] on the west coast is apparently the best, where you can see sunset over the water. 
Bai Thom in the north and Bai Khem in the south are also popular. Major development plans are afoot.

Amazing Images of Maldives

Photos Courtesy of:
http://www.manthiriliveaboard.com/about-maldives.html
http://ava7.com/2006/11/beautiful-nature-wallpapers-part-1.html
http://www.athousandandone.com/21/
http://www.thetravelwebsite.co.uk/maldives-c413.html
http://www.weddings-abroad.com/list.htm
http://www.greenglobetourism.com/place_details.php?state_id=36
http://www.i4ide.org/
http://islamdom.blogspot.com/2007/09/maldives-unreached-vacation.html