The Purple Passport

Seasoned advice for British Travellers

North America

4 Must-Visit Islands While Touring Mexico

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Are you planning a vacation for the much-needed get away from your busy to reconnect with your family, friends, and inner self? Well, among the top considerations while thinking of a vacation is the destination.  Choosing a destination can break or make your vacation quests, stressing the need to evaluate what it offers before making the final decision. From the goose bumps of spotting incredible scenery, a day with nature, the adrenaline rush from thrilling activities, to relaxed experience as you take in a spectacular sunset/rise, not to mention lazy strolls on sandy beaches, you need to ensure that a destination can cater to your needs. The good news, however, is that with insights from a resourceful travel blog, you find inspirational materials to pick an ideal destination, plan the itinerary, and get the most out of your vacation.

While choosing a vacation destination, Mexico can hardly skip your eye. With breathtaking sceneries, rich culture, and mouth-watering cuisine, your vacation endeavors in Mexico will be nothing short of memorable. With over 5000 mi coastline averaging close to a 100 Islands, your tour in Mexico can’t be complete without touring some of the idyllic islands. While planning your Mexico tour itinerary, here is a look at the top Islands you need to include for a memorable experience.

Isla Holbox

Have you been dying to explore virgin beaches? Well, your dreams are about to come true; Isla Holbox has yet to be fully explored, and with most of its land in Yum Balam Natural Reserve being undeveloped, your exploration will be more than exciting. Don’t, however, wait too long as the word is out and spreading fast, and before long, this haven will be flooding with tourists across the globe. With pleasant weather, soft beaches, and gentle breezes, your two hours drive followed a ferry ride will be more than satisfactory as you sample local cuisine from small boutique hotels, relax in wooden beach bars, or follow the popular hammocks trend stretched over the waters.

Isla Mujeres

Located off Cancun’s coast, the small and quiet island is a low-key destination whose popularity has rapidly grown. Isla Mujeres is a fantastic destination ideal for snorkeling and relaxed beach experience. While the island is home to a small fishing community, its history is inspiring, having been an ancient Maya religious site. While touring the island during summer, your visit will be kicked a notch higher by interacting with whale sharks, the large and tender giants that swim in the warm waters. The unspoiled haven is an excellent destination as you can also taste local cuisines from the local hotels and seaside restaurants as you take in the stunning beaches’ experience.

Isla Marietas

Located off the coast of the state of Nayarit, and known for its “hidden” keyhole crater opening to a majestic white-sand beach with turquoise waters when the tides are low, the uninhabited Islas Marietas is among the must-visit islands while touring Mexico. With active conservation efforts, the islands, ones used as a test site for the Mexican military, prides of rich biodiversity, marine life, and bird population that will quench your tour goals. Among the exciting things, apart from relaxing on the beach, is spotting incredible animals, including dolphins, blue-footed boobies, sea turtles, and whales (mostly during winter months), among others.

Cozumel

The Caribbean island is a haven for divers. With its warm, crystal clear waters, marine life, and stunning white sand beach, Cozumel is surrounded by the world’s second-largest coral reef system, Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, providing an excellent diving experience. The island is quite developed, with a range of large resorts to quench your tour needs, including a taste of the local cuisine.

Islands have a unique appeal. While touring Mexico, on a romantic getaway, a family tour, or an all-out thrilling adventure, you can easily find an island packed with amazing features to satisfy your quests. If you need more inspiring travel stories and photographs to plan your next tours, explore apenoni.com for an extensive reach.

Royal Holiday Vacation Club Mexican Holiday Plans

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Royal Holiday Membership Offers Luxurious Mexican Vacation!

The Royal Holiday Vacation Club is an elite traveling club that brings many traveling options and arranges luxurious accommodation for its members. The club has a strong presence in all the major holiday destinations of the world covering more than 180 vacationing regions, and they strive to bring the members the facilities and staying options that make the trip truly memorable for the whole family.

The club membership plans are highly economical and unlike other clubs, the Royal Holiday Vacation Club offers its members exclusive deals such as the option to lock in the holiday payments and fees for all the excursions, so the members do not have to face any extra charges during their membership.

Is the Membership Legit?

The elite club membership is a must have for all vacation lovers. It gives you the chance to explore different parts of the world, head for fantastic cruises and see some of the top attractions while taking full advantage of the membership.  The Club allows the member to get special vacation packages and the chance to travel to 52 countries. The club membership will make sure that the members get to stay at the best accommodation to make their trip memorable. Members can make a significant saving on some of the high-grade 5-star retreats, vacation hotels, clubs, and accommodation opportunities in all regions.

Royal Holiday Safety Concerns

The club strives to give its members the best travelling experience. The club is an exclusive winner of some of the prime travel honors that validate the distinction of the Club propositions and customer service measures. While the club offers discounts for retreats, cruises, airfare and runs many promotional plans for its members, they equally look after the safety of its members and to make sure that all vacation plans are safe for all the members to pursue.

The club works hard to build the best travel itinerary for its members. The travel accommodations plans offer by the clubs are safe, and located in some of the top destinations that remain some of the busiest and secure tourist attraction. The club also keeps a check on all developments where it hosts its vacation packages, and make sure that the members get the best and safest traveling options with full information about the region and its safety parameters to the members.

Royal Holiday Mexico Plans

The holiday club is famous for many vacationing plans; however, one of the most renowned packages is the trip to Mexico. Whether the members want to explore the Mexican City or have a desire to witness the beauty of Cancun and Zihuatanejo —  Royal Holiday Vacation Club can undoubtedly turn the holiday visions into actual excursions.

Mexico remains safe for tourism and to date is one of the hottest destinations that attracts travelers and vacationers from the world over. Mexico has stunning islands, beautiful beaches, the mesmerizing Caribbean coastline, and the delightful restaurant scene.  Whether the members are traveling alone or are in the company of family and friends, the Royal Holiday Mexico trips cover all the vacation requirements for a truly memorable trip. The safety of the members remain the top priority club, and all the vacation plans are for the safest and popular vacation attractions in Mexico.

For Membership and other Details

Visit the club’s official website, https://www.royal-holiday.com/en. You can also contact the club’s exceptional customer assistance and customer relation services.  You can learn more about the club, its policies and regulations and get complete information on the membership programs.

Royal Holiday Vacation Club

(81) 5980-1140

Eco-Tours are Booming in Key West

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Ahh, the backcountry of Key West. Flats that extend for miles in either direction, full of game fish, sharks, rays, tarpon and other surprises. Get up close and see it all on one of the island’s many discovery tours. Go kayaking or have a guide drive you to the remotest areas where nature thrives and excitement rules.

What Makes Key West so Special?

Key West is a sub-tropical island set way out in the Atlantic Ocean, 120 miles from the mainland. To the north, we have the Gulf of Mexico and to the south, we have the Atlantic. There are miles and miles of backcountry around this island, too.

All of this means there is a thriving marine ecosystem out there just waiting to be explored. Key West eco tours will take visitors to remote areas to view wildlife and discover nature in a non-obtrusive way so we harm the environment as little as possible. If you’re an eco-tour newbie, here’s what you can expect:

  • Some eco tours take a boat of visitors to special spots to view dolphins
  • Some tours will take visitors to a remote spot to snorkel an area that’s not frequented by the bigger tour companies
  • Some eco tours involve boating out to a remote spot for kayaking on the flats and amongst the mangroves.

Whatever form is taken, an eco-tour means you get to discover nature at your own pace, silently and carefully. These trips are great for picture-taking, too.

What About Diving?

Key West diving is an exciting way to see the living coral reef that’s just minutes away from shore. Experienced divers and novices alike can get out to the reef and discover the underwater world that surrounds the reef system in our waters.

Even if you’re new to diving, you can take a short course and get temporarily certified for some scuba on vacation. If you really love it, why not get certified for real after you return from Key West? Diving is a lifelong sport that you can enjoy for years to come. There are dozens of charter companies in Key West ready to take you out to the reef or to a wreck for some fun exploration.

What Makes the Coral Reef Near Key West so Special

Key West diving is such a big deal because we are just six miles from the only living coral reef system in North America. That means an amazing diversity of marine life and a thriving, diverse ecosystem out there. All sorts of coral flourish on the reef, from soft coral species to hard coral, like rock.

The reef fish that make snorkeling and diving so popular abound everywhere on the reef, from zebrafish to parrotfish and Sargent majors to all kinds of jacks, snapper, rays and more! A Key West diving trip will take you out to the best areas of the reef, like Eastern Dry Rocks or Sand Key Light, for the best time ever discovering the coral reef.

Must See Toronto Group Tour Destinations

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With a barrage of attractions, Toronto is certainly the place to visit if you are a planning a group trip. From museums to galleries, from the world famous CN Tower to the Toronto Islands, it has got everything to keep you up on your toes. The city also offers a wide array of musicals and performing arts. Now you might be wondering as to how to travel to Toronto and thereafter. Well, not to worry. Go for some affordtable Toroto tour bus rentals. Before you make a bucket list of the places which are a must visit in Toronto, check out this list. It might make your job easier.

CN Tower:

The 553-CN Tower is a must see. Towering the downtown, this tower can be seen from anywhere and everywhere around the city. So you can just enjoy the tower while sipping on a piping hot cuppa, sitting on a couch at your favourite restaurant. Also you can take a trip to Lake Ontario, if you want a better view of the tower. Built between the year 1972 and 1976, this tower was once the tallest standing structure in the world. You want to have a closer look of the tower and a wider look of the city, you should go to its highest viewing area, which is from the Sky Pod at 447 m above the city. From riding the bus tours in Toronto, you can see this place has a magnificent view.

Royal Ontario Museum:

The Royal Ontario Museum, also called the ROM, houses some of the exquisite pieces of art and craft from across the world. Its world class collection will make any art lover go weak in his’/her knees. Plus the architecture of the museum makes it all the more attractive.

Casa Loma:

Casa Loma is an exquisitely built castle which takes one back down the memory lane. Much like the castles in fairytales, this one is a riveting in every sense of the term. It was built for Sir Henry Pellatt, a Canadian multi-millionaire who was the first to exploit the resources of Niagara Falls. The castle has got 100 rooms and three dozen bathrooms. This castle exudes the essence of European art and culture. It has been turned into a museum now. Visitors can come down to the castle and gawk at its beauty.

Toronto Zoo:

Some 40 kms northeast of the city center, Toronoto’s zoo is a must visit place. It has a collection of several thousand animals. So if you are a group of wildlife photographers, Toronto zoo might come across as a delight to your eyes and camera. One of the major attractions here is the Panda. Plus, its grizzly bear, vast bison park, and impressive polarium are among the other attractions.

St Lawrence Market:

Built in the year 1850, St Lawrence hall place was as a meeting point for many. However, eventually the area around this hall turned into a market place. From flower vendors to food products, this market place has a lot to offer.

Entertainment district:

If New York has the Broadway, Toronto has the Entertainment district. This place comes to life in the evening with a bevy of theatre productions, concerts and other performing arts on the platter. Plus this area has a barrage of restaurants and hotels which make the place all the more lively.

So folks, these are the few hotspots which should definitely be on your list while you are planning a group trip to Toronto. City Hall, Eaton Center, Distillery district, High Park, Ontraio Science Center are among the other places which you should also visit while you or a trip to Toronto.

3 Ways to Get Out on the Water in Seattle

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If you are a lover of water and everything that it entails, then Seattle offers you many options for doing just that. You just have to know where to go, and what to use in order to find your favorite attractions. So, where do you start? How do you go about enjoying the water attractions in the city of Seattle?

Use the Ferry Services for Transportation

Image via Flickr by thirteenthbat

One of the best ways to get around in Seattle and its vicinity is to make use of Washington State Ferries. This ferry service system consists of 28 ferries that travel across 10 routes.

If you want to go on a tour of Bainbridge Island and enjoy a picnic while taking in the scenery or travel to Bremerton and visit the USS Turner Joy Museum Ship, the Washington State Ferry services will get you there. And you will be able to sightsee and enjoy the local attractions in peace until it’s time to go back again.

Generally speaking, if you want to tour the entire Puget Sound and see what’s on offer, the ferry services offer you the best chance to do so. But in case you do not have much time, it pays to find an IHG hotel in a great location with water views for your enjoyment.

Boat Rentals for Fun and Sports

It’s safe to say that fishing is indeed a sport. And in Seattle, you can rent a boat when you’re feeling the itch to release the reel. You can charter a fishing boat for salt-water fishing courtesy of Seattle fishing companies. You will then have access to experienced skippers and the right tackles so that you can finally catch salmon just like you have always wanted to. And it’s year-round too. What’s not to like about that?

You can also rent boats or kayaks for fun. Green Lakes Park offers you the chance to learn about sailing. And you can use your knowledge to set sail using the rental boats available. You can opt to be part of a group canoeing event if you would rather. Paddle boats, row boats, kayaks, and stand-up paddle boats are also available if you are looking for a fun workout.  And when you are done, there’s a café nearby to help you get your energy back up again.

Cruises and Sightseeing

What if you could go on a cruise and get to see a lot of Seattle even when you have minimal time to enjoy yourself?

You could start by booking the DUKW aka the Duck, which is an amphibious vehicle that travels on both land and sea, courtesy of Ride the Ducks of Seattle. You can get to view the Seattle waterfront, Pioneer Square, and even the downtown shopping district before you sail into Lake Union.

You can also book a whale watching tour that will take you to the San Juan Islands, where whales are frequently seen. Other cruises will enable you view whales in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea. You can also charter private cruise boats that will allow you to sightsee at a more relaxed pace.

These are just a few of the ways you can get out on the water. Between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, Seattle is a haven for water-lovers.