Enjoying in SANTA MONICA Beach - California

Santa Monica is a busy beach smack bang in the middle of big Los Angeles, boasting more than 340 days of sunshine per year.

This is a wide sandy beach 5 kilometres long with walk trails restaurants and even a place called Muscle Beach. Santa Monica Beach is cleaned and raked daily, and visitors love seeing the dolphins who often come in close to shore for their morning swim.

You can drive directly out of Hollywood down the famous Santa Monica Boulevard until you hit Santa Monica pier.

Santa Monica beach and nearby Huntingdon Beach are your typical southern Californian beaches that inspired many songs from the likes of the Beach Boys, including "I Wish They All Could Be California Girls."

Santa Monica beach is wonderful on a hot summer night, and many people swim to the right of the pier, which features restaurants full of people all having a good time on the Californian coast.

Photo of Malibu Beach near Los Angeles
Just north of Santa Monica beach is the famous Malibu beach, where the world's most famous movie stars have their homes and holiday homes. You can walk along the water's edge, but there are signs everywhere warning that's it's private property just beyond the high water mark.
And of course there's all the entertainment for families near Santa Monica beach too, including Universal Studios, the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, and a little to the south, Disneyland, which is a big day (or two) for children and grown-ups (the big kids) as well.
If you head straight to the beach from Disneyland in Orange County, you'll hit the famous Huntingdon Pier, which is a great sandy beach full of sunworshippers for much of the year because of southern California's sunshine.
Try also heading south to San Diego and La Jolla Beach (near accommodation), where it's a little more laid back than LA but still full of happy beachgoers.
And while you're in San Diego, if you're game cross the border into Mexico and the touristy town of Tijuana.
This is great fun for a Mexican cultural experience and cheap shopping, but be sure to fix a price first if you're taking a taxi.
While you're there in Mexico, head just a little further south to the Rosarita Beach Hotel which overlooks more nice beaches and is a favourite of Californians. If you want the best seafood around including lobster, there's a little fishing town just a touch further south again called Puerto Nuevo (Newport in English).
Southern California has a lot of people, but it's still one of the world's best beach holidays.

Coastal Charm of Boracay Island

Boracay Beach

I was captivated by several respected travel magazines claiming that Boracay island resort in the Philippines has one of the best beaches in the world, I wasted no time in traveling to this island resort to experience what many claimed is a tropical island paradise.

Boracay is a lush tropical tourist resort island about 200 miles south of Philippine s capital Manila and is about slightly more than a mile off the northwest of Panay in the West Visayas province. Because of its acclaimed publicity of being home to some of the best beaches in the world, Boracay island resort is naturally one of the Philippine s most popular tourist attraction.

The island is made up by the barangays of Manoc Manoc, Balabag, and Yapak and is under the administration of the Philippine Tourism Authority. A barangay is also known by its former name, the barrio and is the smallest local government unit in Philippines. The word is a Tagalog term for a village or constituency.

Boracay island was originally the home of the Ati tribe before it became a major tourist attraction. Not surprisingly, the word Boracay is derived from words Bora which means bubble and Bukay means white sand . However, the sand on the main island is not as white as I have expected due to too many tourists and pollutions. Then again, if you visit some of the nearby islands and you will be fascinated by how white the sands on the beaches can be.

Boracay is part of Aklan Province and it was only in the 1970s that tourism industry started to develop. The main tourism beaches on the island are the White Beach and the Bulabog Beach both of which are located on diametrically opposite sides of the island s central area with the White Beach facing towards the west and Bulab og Beach facing east. Of course, Boracay also have several other beaches as well.

White Beach is well known for its white powdery sand and hence its name. The beach is slightly over 4 km long (2 miles) and is populated with numerous beach resorts, hotels, restaurants and shops catering to the needs of tourists staying in the area.

Incidentally, Borocay has more than 300 beach resorts with more than 2,000 rooms ranging from stylish five star hotels and resorts to budget a

ccommodations for backpackers. Golfers will be delighted to know that Boracay is home to a world class 18 hole par 72 golf course.

Bulabog Beach, across the island from White Beach is a secondary tourism beach. This beach is a favorite location for windsurfing and kiteboarding because of its seasonal strong winds for these activities.

When is the best time to visit Boracay? Well, you can visit Boracay anytime, however some visitors may wish to visit the island resort for different purposes.

Catch the spectacular world famous Kalibo Ati Atihan Festival in January. This festival is Philippine s version of the Mardi Gras which is celebrated on the third week of every January.

If you just want to enjoy the beaches and the sea , then visit Boracay during the Amihan season. This is during northeast monsoon season in the months of March to May when trade wind is at its strongest which is very suitable for activities like sailing, big game fishing, scuba diving, wind surfing and kite boarding.

The months of June to September are considered off peak season, however budget conscious tourists and backpackers consider this as the best time to visit Boracay as prices for everything are at its lowest and there are few competition for that precious white sand beach turf to plonk yourself on to enjoy the sun.

Turks and Caicos The Best family Holidays

On a 12-mile stretch of satiny white-sand, Beaches Turks & Caicos is one of the premier family resorts on the island.With separate programs for infants, toddlers and teens, each is designed to give each age the activities they love. So when you're off doing your thing, they're off doing theirs. There are many other resorts to stay at this idyllic family beach destination

Bohol Island Philippines

Bohol is one of the most important islands in the Philippines, known for its exotic wildlife, stunning landscape and white-sand beaches. The main gate of entry is Tangbilaran Airport, with flights to capital cities Cebu and Manila. Taxis in Tangbilaran are the main method of transportation from the airport to the resorts of Bohol, while many of the larger hotels will arrange to pick guests up via private transfer.

The ferry terminal at Bohol's capital is even busier than the airport. It receives ferries from Cebu City and Manila, and most of the traffic connects to the posh hotel district of Panglao Island. Most tourists visiting Panglao head straight for Alona Beach, where exclusive resorts offer the high level of service and amenities expected by luxury travelers. The diving sites offshore of Panglao Island are among the best in the world, and local outfitters provide equipment to the experienced diver and certification courses to those just starting out.

The world's smallest primate, the tarsier, is Bohol's local celebrity. These rare animals can only be found on a few islands in the Philippines, and the best place to spot one is at the Tarsier Research Center.

The Hinagdanan Cave is a cave on Panglao Island, in Bohol Province, in the Philippines. It is a naturally lighted cavern with a deep lagoon and many large stalactites and stalagmites.

The cave is lit by sunlight which filters through holes in the ceiling. The underground lake is a popular swimming spot, but it has been known to test for high levels of various pollutants, since it is fed by ground runoff.

The local landscape is breathtaking. The Chocolate Hills of Bohol are the island's lead attractions, with more than 1,700 of these odd formations dotting the island. The hills are shaped like chocolate drops, and they change color from green to brown in the dry season. A few of the hotels in Bohol are found in or near the Chocolate Hills Complex, a government-run facility.

If not for the wild popularity of the Chocolate Hills, Bohol might have been known only for its idyllic and luxurious white beaches, enchanting terraced rice fields or the colonial architecture of Baclayon. The resort and hotel infrastructure continues to improve, securing Bohol's position as one of the leading resort destinations in the Philippines.

Best Summer Holiday Destinations - Puerto Banus, Marbella, Spain

Marbella, situated on the Southern coast of Spain on the Costa del Sol, is one of the most popular summer holiday destinations for us Brits, and for good reasons. The climate in Southern Spain is wonderful, with long sunny days and high temperatures of 30 degrees celsius and upwards. Coupled with this, wonderful food and drink, and great beaches make the Costa del Sol a very desirable location.

Puerto Banus Marina

If you're holidaying in Marbella or Malaga this summer, I would highly recommend a visit to Puerto Banus, although the town is certainly well worth a visit in its own right. It is known as a bit of a playground for the rich and famous, and often draws comparisons as the Spanish St. Tropez. The marina area is always full of huge yachts in the summer months, and flash Ferraris, Aston martins and Lambos line the seafront. Puerto Banus is the place to be seen, celebs will often be spotted dining in the fabulous restaurants or doing a spot of shopping in the areas many designer boutiques.
You can get to Puurto banus easily - it is around a five mile drive from Marbella so if you're planning on having a few drinks with the glitterati I recommend getting a taxi. After a wander around the marina, you're bound to be slightly peckish and luckily Puerto banus doesn't disappoint. When I visited we went to a restaurant called Antonio's which quite simply served up the finest Paella I have ever had. There are several other cuisines to choose from apart from Spanish and most restaurants have kids options so you shouldn't be stuck for choice. After dinner there are a good number of bars lining the marina - so order a nice cocktail, sit back, relax and watch the world go by in front of you.

Favorite Beach Holiday Destination in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu Beach

Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India is hemmed by both Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. Both the seas provides a vast coastline and some exotic beaches. These beaches quite famous among the globetrotters for beach holidays. Apart from visiting the ancient temples and hill stations, vacationers also loves to spend some memorable moments on these vast expanses of golden sands.
Some of the ideal beach holiday destination in Tamil Nadu are

Marina Beach, Chennai:-Marina Beach is the pride possession of Chennai, the state capital. Heralded as the second longest beach in the world, Marina beach is located on the eastern side of Chennai, adjoining the Bay of Bengal. Everyday the 12 km long stretch of Marina beach attracts large number of tourists as well as local people for some fun moments. Watching sun rise and sun set from the beach is quite famous. In the evening, people engage themselves in various kinds of joy rides and loves to gorge on several snacks available on the beach.

It is an ideal site for water sports lover as it provides good surfing opportunities to them. This beach also has some fantastic sightseeing spots such as Senate-House, Chepauk Palace, Presidency College, P.W.D office and Ice House, a new lighthouse, sculpture of Victory of Labour and the Mahatma Gandhi etc.

Mahabalipauram Beach: Located just 60 km south of Chennai, Mahabalipuram beach is nestled on the shores of Bay of Bengal. Mahabalipuram beach was once a port of Pallavas. They have created many marvelous monuments with Sculptural Panels, Caves, Monolithic Rathas (chariots) and Temples at the vicinity of beach.
Rameshwaram Beach: It is an island situated off the mainland. This beach of Rameshwaram town is surrounded by Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar. Rameeshwaram is also famous as one of the oious pilgrimage destination of south India. Apart from its religious significance, the serene ambiance of Rameshwaram beach with shallow water makes it an ideal destination for swimming and sun bathing.
Kanyakumari Beach: Kanyakumari, famous as the end point of India. The beautiful beach of this tranquil town is hemmed by azure water of three vast seas namely Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean, and Arabian sea. Thanks to the confluence of this three seas, it is also called as 'Triveni Sangamam'. From here on can enjoy breath taking view of sunrise and sunset. Kanyakumari beach is also popular for its marvelous assortment of multi-hued sand. While enjoying your beach holiday, you can also visit the Gandhi Mandapam, Kanyakumari Amman Temple, and the memorial of Swami Vivekananda.
Covelong Beach: Last but not the least, Covelong beach is another best destination for beach holiday in the state. Located away from the hustle and bustle of Chennai city, Covelong beach is a salubrious beach which is famous for a calm and relaxing beach holiday. It also offers numerous with fishing activities. Visit Tamil Nadu and explore the state as a beach holiday destination.

Enjoy Holidays in SANTA BARBARA - California

Santa Barbara is a beachy town 130 kilometres north of Los Angeles that's often referred to as the "American Riviera" because of its warm climate.It has white sandy beaches perfect for sun-worshipping, and the beauty of this Spanish mission-style town is that you can choose from busy cosmopolitan beaches like East Beach near the famous Santa Barbara pier, through to Hendry's Beach where you have privacy and deserted stretches of white sand yet plenty of facilities.
Or for a long stretch of gorgeous white sand, try the easily-accessible City Beach which rolls into State Beach. This is the locals' favourite stretch of beach, and the beauty of State beach is that you can still set up camp on the beach without being told to move.
If you're after beach sunsets, try Butterfly beach which faces true west. This is almost like the Malibu of Santa Barbara, a private beach with plenty of expensive houses near the beach and plenty of interesting characters on Butterfly beach.
Americans love their piers, and the pier at Santa Barbara Beach is up there with the best of them. You’ll find a cluster of restaurants, shops and stalls all with great ocean views.

Strict planning in Santa Barbara has made this laid-back beach town an attractive spectacle. On arrival, you're greeted with the alluring sight of mostly whitewashed Spanish mission buildings and terracotta tile roofs. This and some of the best beaches in America have made Santa Barbara one of the most refreshing destinations on the US west coast.

The open air restaurants are wonderful in Santa Barbara’s balmy weather. Try Carlito's Cafe on State Street, the main street filled with restaurants.

Carlito's is Mexican-American food with a delightful alfresco area surrounded by those ubiquitous whitewashed walls with a lively Mexican band playing on Friday nights.
Try a fresh mango Margarita or a Mojito, Cuba's favourite drink with fresh lime juice.

As you may have guessed Carlito's is a local institution, so make sure you book or be prepared to line up and wait.

Photo Courtesy Carlito's Cafe Santa Barbara

The strict planning in Santa Barbara has made the drive through town an attractive one because billboards are banned, so much so that you won't even see them on the freeway 30 kilometres near Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara is a must-see beach town on any trip between LA and San Francisco.