Cartagena Gold & the Turquoise Reef I

The combination of urban centers and cultural treasures make Palm Beach the perfect getaway. Enter the heart of Africa by visiting the Panther Ridge Conservation Center or get up close and personal with manatees at the Manatee Lagoon. If you’re more into urban sightseeing, visit CityPlace for the top-rated dining, entertainment, and shopping experiences.

America's last island unwinds at yacht pace. Wander Hemingway's shuttered villa and its six-toed cats, sip a cold conch chowder on Duval Street, then join the nightly ritual at Mallory Square as fire-eaters and buskers salute the sinking sun. Because SeaDream III can linger overnight, guests catch that green-flash sunset ashore and still make Fort Zachary Taylor's reef by morning. Key lime pie, of course, is compulsory.

The quietest of the three Caymans, home to more iguanas than people and not a single traffic light. Bloody Bay Wall drops from eighteen feet to well over a thousand within a few fin kicks, one of the Caribbean's most celebrated dives, while the Booby Pond Nature Reserve shelters the region's largest colony of red-footed boobies alongside magnificent frigatebirds. A handful of beach bars and bone-white sand round out an island that has stayed, deliberately, almost exactly as it was.

Colombia's Caribbean outpost dazzles in that famous sea of seven colours. Snorkel the calm pool of La Piscinita among sergeant majors, feel the spray of the Hoyo Soplador blowhole, and boat to Johnny Cay for grilled fish and coco loco beneath the palms. SeaDream III's shallow draught anchors close to the powder-soft shore, and the Creole-speaking Raizal culture lends every rundown supper a genuine island soul.

Colombia's walled jewel glows at every hour, pastel balconies dripping bougainvillea inside ramparts the Spanish built to keep out pirates and the English navy alike. Wander the Old City to the Palace of the Inquisition and the fortress of San Felipe de Barajas, then lose an afternoon in Getsemani's mural-covered streets before an emerald browse and a ceviche lunch. As evening falls, horse-drawn carriages and rooftop bars take over a city that UNESCO protects and Gabriel Garcia Marquez immortalized. Vivid, musical and unmistakably Caribbean.

Colombia's walled jewel glows at every hour, pastel balconies dripping bougainvillea inside ramparts the Spanish built to keep out pirates and the English navy alike. Wander the Old City to the Palace of the Inquisition and the fortress of San Felipe de Barajas, then lose an afternoon in Getsemani's mural-covered streets before an emerald browse and a ceviche lunch. As evening falls, horse-drawn carriages and rooftop bars take over a city that UNESCO protects and Gabriel Garcia Marquez immortalized. Vivid, musical and unmistakably Caribbean.

Perhaps the voyage's most magical call: 350-odd palm-dot cays governed by the indigenous Guna themselves. Anchor off a single-palm islet, wade waist- deep to a sandbar with nothing but sea in every direction, and snorkel warm shallows over starfish. Buy intricate hand-stitched molas direct from Guna women and share fresh-caught lobster grilled on the beach. No jetty, no crowds, no big ship can enter, only a yacht like SeaDream III.

Perhaps the voyage's most magical call: 350-odd palm-dot cays governed by the indigenous Guna themselves. Anchor off a single-palm islet, wade waist- deep to a sandbar with nothing but sea in every direction, and snorkel warm shallows over starfish. Buy intricate hand-stitched molas direct from Guna women and share fresh-caught lobster grilled on the beach. No jetty, no crowds, no big ship can enter, only a yacht like SeaDream III.

One of travel's great set-pieces, savoured from your own sun deck. Watch SeaDream III rise in the mighty Gatun locks, glide across the rainforest-fringed Gatun Lake past freighters queuing for their turn, then thread the sheer rock of the Culebra Cut. A canal historian narrates as howler monkeys call from the banks and the Bridge of the Americas marks the Pacific. An engineering wonder, experienced intimately rather than from a distant rail.

Cosmopolitan Panama City rewards a lingering stay. Stroll the restored plazas of Casco Viejo for rooftop cocktails against a skyline of glass towers, trace the colonial ruins of Panama Viejo, and take in Frank Gehry's kaleidoscopic Biomuseo on the Amador Causeway. Feast on just-landed ceviche and cold Balboa beer at the Mercado de Mariscos. Berthed at Fuerte Amador, SeaDream III sits minutes from the old town, not an hour's coach away.

Cosmopolitan Panama City rewards a lingering stay. Stroll the restored plazas of Casco Viejo for rooftop cocktails against a skyline of glass towers, trace the colonial ruins of Panama Viejo, and take in Frank Gehry's kaleidoscopic Biomuseo on the Amador Causeway. Feast on just-landed ceviche and cold Balboa beer at the Mercado de Mariscos. Berthed at Fuerte Amador, SeaDream III sits minutes from the old town, not an hour's coach away.

One of travel's great set-pieces, savoured from your own sun deck. Watch SeaDream III rise in the mighty Gatun locks, glide across the rainforest-fringed Gatun Lake past freighters queuing for their turn, then thread the sheer rock of the Culebra Cut. A canal historian narrates as howler monkeys call from the banks and the Bridge of the Americas marks the Pacific. An engineering wonder, experienced intimately rather than from a distant rail.

An archipelago of jade lagoons and Afro-Caribbean rhythm. From the marina, kayak to Red Frog Beach, snorkel the coral gardens off the Zapatilla Cays, and drift into Dolphin Bay where bottlenose pods surface at the bow. Wade among the cushion sea stars of Starfish Beach, then eat rondon stew in stilt- house Bocas Town. SeaDream III threads between the islands and stays for sunset, something the large ships anchored offshore can only envy.

An archipelago of jade lagoons and Afro-Caribbean rhythm. From the marina, kayak to Red Frog Beach, snorkel the coral gardens off the Zapatilla Cays, and drift into Dolphin Bay where bottlenose pods surface at the bow. Wade among the cushion sea stars of Starfish Beach, then eat rondon stew in stilt- house Bocas Town. SeaDream III threads between the islands and stays for sunset, something the large ships anchored offshore can only envy.

Columbus named this the Isle of Pines, and its main settlement, Bonacca Town, is built almost entirely on a tiny cay of its own, canals standing in for streets and boats for cars, a nickname of Little Venice well earned. The main island itself is virtually car-free, laced with waterfalls and dense pine forest running down to a barrier reef, some of the healthiest coral in the western Caribbean. Garifuna drumming and fresh conch fritters wait in the villages along the shore. One of the least-known Bay Islands, and one of the most rewarding.

A barefoot fishing village at the tip of a sixteen-mile peninsula, home to what Guinness once called the world's narrowest street. Belize's barrier reef, the largest in the Western Hemisphere, lies just offshore for snorkeling among sharks, turtles and coral gardens at Laughing Bird Caye. Upriver, the Monkey River delivers howler monkeys, crocodiles and a heron-thick mangrove within a single morning's excursion, while a Creole and Garifuna kitchen turns out fresh lobster and coconut rice back in the village. Slow, unpolished and entirely unhurried.

The Riviera Maya before it became the Riviera Maya, a fishing village the big resorts passed over in favor of Cancun and Playa del Carmen further along the coast. Its reef, part of the Mesoamerican Barrier system, is protected as a national park and lies close enough to snorkel straight from a boat, while a leaning lighthouse and a laid-back plaza stand in for any real infrastructure. Golf at the region's championship courses, a dip in a nearby cenote, or simply a ceviche lunch under the palapas, this is Mexico's Caribbean coast at its most unhurried.

The Riviera Maya before it became the Riviera Maya, a fishing village the big resorts passed over in favor of Cancun and Playa del Carmen further along the coast. Its reef, part of the Mesoamerican Barrier system, is protected as a national park and lies close enough to snorkel straight from a boat, while a leaning lighthouse and a laid-back plaza stand in for any real infrastructure. Golf at the region's championship courses, a dip in a nearby cenote, or simply a ceviche lunch under the palapas, this is Mexico's Caribbean coast at its most unhurried.

The combination of urban centers and cultural treasures make Palm Beach the perfect getaway. Enter the heart of Africa by visiting the Panther Ridge Conservation Center or get up close and personal with manatees at the Manatee Lagoon. If you’re more into urban sightseeing, visit CityPlace for the top-rated dining, entertainment, and shopping experiences.