Eastern Caribbean with Turks & Caicos & Celebration Key

According to the popular 1960 beach movie, Fort Lauderdale is "where the boys are." The city's reputation as America's Spring Break capital, however, has been replaced with the more favorable image of a prime family tourist destination, attracting more than 10 million visitors annually. The most popular beach resort in Florida is even more rightly famed as the "Yachting Capital of the World," with more than 40,000 registered crafts calling its waters home. The city also prides itself on being the "Venice of America" with more than 300 miles of navigable waterways. Fort Lauderdale boasts world-class theaters, museums, sightseeing, and shopping.

Grand Turk, the capital of the Turks and Caicos Islands, is a small island bursting with turn-of-the-century Caribbean charm, retaining the look and feel of the Caribbean 40 years ago. Grand Turk was founded by Bermudan salt rakers some three centuries ago and its Bermudan-British-colonial architecture surrounded by colorful local dwellings make the island a treasure to visit. It is recognized as being one of the first places in the New World where Christopher Columbus landed and also gained worldwide attention when John Glenn splashed down near Grand Turk on his historic first mission to space. Grand Turk is six miles long and just over a mile wide with a population of only 6,000. It is blessed with miles of uncrowded, beautiful beaches and is close to several uninhabited cays such as Gibb's Cay, home of the stingray encounter. While there are many landside attractions to explore such as the Old Prison, Lighthouse Park, and the re-created salt salina, the real beauty of the island lies underwater. Grand Turk is world-famous for its healthy and beautiful coral reefs that surround the island, stretching almost from the coastline to the 7,000-foot vertical wall just offshore.

For a taste of Europe with Caribbean flavor, look no farther than Nassau. The main city on New Providence Island in the Bahamas, Nassau offers everything from British-influenced cricket games and bewigged judges to Riviera-style casinos. And its banking system, with its strict secrecy laws, rivals that of Switzerland. Situated less than 75 miles from the coast of Florida, the islands of the Bahamas lure visitors with their tropical landscapes and clear waters. More than 700 islands, covering some 100,000 square miles, make up this popular archipelago, although only 20 or so are inhabited. Most of the island nation's 330,000 inhabitants live on New Providence Island, centered around bustling Nassau with its colorful waterfront area and open-air markets.

According to the popular 1960 beach movie, Fort Lauderdale is "where the boys are." The city's reputation as America's Spring Break capital, however, has been replaced with the more favorable image of a prime family tourist destination, attracting more than 10 million visitors annually. The most popular beach resort in Florida is even more rightly famed as the "Yachting Capital of the World," with more than 40,000 registered crafts calling its waters home. The city also prides itself on being the "Venice of America" with more than 300 miles of navigable waterways. Fort Lauderdale boasts world-class theaters, museums, sightseeing, and shopping.