photo: Fevi Yu
By David Swanson
Budget Travel
We took the 10 islands that Americans visited most last year and searched for the hidden corners, the spots that make your old standby feel new. Yes, you’ve been here before. But never quite like this.
ST. MARTIN
If there’s any complaint about this part-French, part-Dutch island-piled high with nightclubs, restaurants, and resorts-it’s that there’s too much of everything. But in the wake of the global economic downturn, construction has slowed-and even, in a sense, reversed. A string of hurricane-battered structures at Mullet Bay on the Dutch side was torn down (after 15 years) and replaced by a provisional park. On the French side, the 154-acre private nature reserve Loterie Farm continues to grow, adding poolside cabanas to its zip-line course, hiking trails, and other outdoorsy amenities (loteriefarm.com, hiking $7, zip line $48, pool access $28, 10-person cabana $240). And following a 13-year effort, the Man of War Shoal reef earned certification as a marine park, giving divers new reasons to take the plunge.
ARUBA
There’s a reason Aruba’s luxury hotels, glitzy casinos, and designer boutiques are concentrated along this Dutch island’s western edge: the spectacular sunsets. Yet even a non-morning person might want to sample the sunrise side for its weekly street party called Carubbean Festival, which sprang up this summer (297/582-3777). Every Thursday night, food and drink vendors set up stands to sell regional specialties, primarily to local transplants hungering for a taste of home. This cross-cultural mixer takes place, appropriately enough, in the working-class community of San Nicolas, built to house oil-refinery workers who immigrated here in the 1920s. “Aruba has opened its doors to many other islanders—a lot of Jamaicans, Haitians, Dominicans,” says Ruthlene Flemming, an Aruba native and the event’s coordinator. “It’s our melting pot. And here, you can experience a little bit of the whole Caribbean.” The sunrise side is also home to cactus-studded Arikok National Park, which features rebuilt access roads, trails, and a new visitors center, thanks to a $10 million grant from the EU (arubanationalpark.org, adult admission $5). The best budget-hotel option, however, is back on the west side about a $20 cab ride away: MVC Eagle Beach, a 19-room inn with ocean-view terraces, all-white bedding, and dark-wood furniture (mvceaglebeach.com, from $90).
