ArcaMax

Crystal River, Florida, a village perched on the state's west coast, has a human population of about 3,400 people. During the winter months they're joined by more than 400 manatees. Those large, droll-looking mammals -- sometimes referred to as sea cows -- are attracted by the proliferation of warm spring-fed waters in the area.

Tourism based ...Read more

In 1503, Christopher Columbus came upon a group of islands in what today is known as the Caribbean Sea. The Arawak-Taino people who lived there called the atolls caiman (crocodile) because of the many semiaquatic reptiles with which they shared the location.

I recently followed Chris to what now are named the Cayman Islands. I left ...Read more

He was a smooth operator, this one -- his silky body caressing mine in most provocative ways. But I knew we wouldn't be leaving together as his home was a large sandbar he shared with several of his wingmen - very large wingmen, actually -- emphasis on wing. Although we're visiting their habitat in the wild, let's be clear here. They know where ...Read more

Views from the passenger seat of an SUV transported me to a world far from the traffic and concrete of Los Angeles. On an extraordinary road tour around Tahiti's coastline, it was clear that the skyscrapers here are not manufactured but are sacred ancient mountain peaks.

Tahiti is the largest island in French Polynesia, a collection of five ...Read more

Dreams really do come true, I discovered during a visit to Tahiti, isolated in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. Just the thought of it evokes images of guest rooms unique to this utterly romantic part of the world: thatched bungalows built over lagoons. Like the Eiffel Tower became the symbol of France, the overwater bungalow is the icon ...Read more