Sandals Emerald Bay, Exuma

Hello friends, family, current and future clients of Island Breeze Travel!

Welcome to my blog! More information about me is coming soon. In the meantime, one of the reasons I decided to create a blog is because I want to be able to share my love of the Caribbean. With blogging I am able to speak openly about my travel experiences and experiences that I'm looking forward to having. I especially hope that this can be an open forum for Caribbean travel discussions.

For my first blog I'd like to share an experience I had recently on the Lady Sandals; a 135 foot yacht that belongs to the CEO of the Sandals Resort chain. It's previous owner was Nicholas Cage who had to sell it back due to financial difficulties. For those of you unfamiliar to the Sandals chain, just make a note that you need to get to one of the many resorts at sometime in your life. The Sandals chain has resorts on the Caribbean islands of Jamaica (where Butch Stewart began his mega empire), Antigua, Bahamas and St. Lucia. This couples only resort offers a very wide range of ammenities with luxury accommodations. A definite must visit!

Ok so back to the yacht.....Lady Sandals is primarly used to host Travel Agent information sessions along with a very nice breakfast or lunch and a tour of the yacht. Since I'm not use to the yacht life style, I found the experience delightful! I'm sure that those that are use to yacht life would think that this particular yacht was just small and ok. I loved it and wished that it would have left the dock to do some Caribbean island hopping. No such luck! They kicked me off after a delicious lunch and said I had to go home.

The reason for the visit was to learn about a great new property on the out island of Exuma. Sandals Emerald Bay, Great Exuma is the worlds first all butler service, all oceanfront resort. I was told that Exuma has the clearest water in the world. Because I have not seen the water myself, I guess I have to take their word. Formerly the Four Seasons Resort, the new Sandals has 183 all butler suite rooms; a junior suite being the lowest category. When it's all said and done, this 500 acre property will have a total of 17 different room categories. There's also an 18 hole Greg Norman golf course, 6 signature holes with dramatic features. It is situated near a very large mariner that holds up to 163 yachts; larger than the mariner at the Atlantis Resort in Nassau. I have to say, my son and I walked through the Atlantis mariner a couple of years ago and it was fabulous! I felt like part of the elite while strolling through there! I can't even imagine what the Exuma mariner would feel like!

Because of the clear blue water, Exuma is excellent for scuba diving and snorkeling as well as a host of other water sports. A full dive program will be available when the property opens.

If you're looking for anything other than diving and a variety of water sports, you may not want to stay here. However, just experiencing the butler service alone with a guaranteed water/ocean view is enough to get me there!


This resort will open on January 22, 2010