Bahamas - The Bahamas has successfully promoted itself as a destination for US jetsetters, and a lot of it is Americanised. Yet there are still opportunities among its 700 islands and 2500 cays to disappear into a mangrove forest, explore a coral reef and escape the high-rise hotels and package-tour madness.

The 18th-century Privateers' Republic has become a modern banker's paradise, at least on New Providence and Grand Bahama. On the other islands - once known as the Out Islands but now euphemistically called the Family Islands - the atmosphere is more truly West Indian.

You'll certainly be more in tune with the local environment, and have a less generic experience, listening to a rake 'n' scrape band in a bar on a backwater cay than sunning by the pool at a Paradise Island resort.

Featured Hotels in Bahamas

Atlantis Paradise Island Royal Tower Bahamas
Atlantis Casino Drive, Paradise Island, Bahamas
5 Star Hotel

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Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort & Spa Nassau
P.O. Box 39-CB-13005, Cable Beach Nassau,
5 Star Hotel

Pink Sands Hotel Harbour Island Bahamas
Harbour Island , Bahamas
5 Star Hotel