Legendary Amazon Explorer

Fort Lauderdale is South Florida's reinvented waterfront city, where three hundred miles of inland waterways, the NSU Art Museum's contemporary collection, and the tree-lined Las Olas Boulevard create a cruise departure point of genuine sophistication at Port Everglades. Arrive a day early between November and April to explore the 'Venice of America' by water taxi and discover the dining scene that has replaced Spring Break with year-round culinary ambition.

Marigot Bay is St. Martin's French-side anchorage, where café culture, Fort Louis panoramas, and the nearby 'Gourmet Capital' village of Grand Case create the Caribbean's most elegant expression of Franco-Caribbean civilization. Visit December through April via Seabourn or Windstar for waterfront market spices, lobster thermidor, and the island that proves two nations sharing one coastline produces complementarity rather than conflict.

Fort-de-France, Martinique's gracious capital, blends French metropolitan sophistication with deep Caribbean soul in a way that no other island quite replicates. The Bibliothèque Schoelcher, a beautiful Art Nouveau building transported piece by piece from Paris for the 1889 World's Fair, anchors a downtown of wrought-iron balconies and aromatic spice markets. The surrounding countryside offers rum distilleries — some of the finest aged agricole rums in the world — dramatic rainforest hikes, and the haunting ruins of Saint-Pierre, destroyed by Mont Pelée's catastrophic 1902 eruption. December through May brings the driest, sunniest weather on this endlessly captivating island.

Bridgetown, Barbados's compact and convivial capital, carries three centuries of uninterrupted British colonial heritage — a UNESCO World Heritage Site of Georgian townhouses, coral-stone churches, and the Garrison Savannah, whose racecourse is the oldest in the Western Hemisphere — all infused with the irresistible rhythms of a proud Caribbean nation. The island's culinary scene has matured into one of the Caribbean's most sophisticated, with flying fish cutter sandwiches from roadside stalls competing for devotion with the elegant seafood preparations of the Platinum Coast's celebrated restaurants. Visit December through May for the driest season; the island's sheltered west coast offers superlative year-round sailing conditions.

Macapá straddles the equator at the mouth of the Amazon River in northern Brazil, home to an eighteenth-century Portuguese fortress and the world's only equator-bisected football stadium. Must-dos include visiting the Marco Zero equator monument and taking boat excursions into the Amazon delta's flooded forests. September through December offers the most comfortable weather for exploration.

Santarem, Brazil, delivers South America's irresistible combination of dramatic landscapes, vibrant culture, and extraordinary biodiversity. Essential experiences include exploring local markets, tasting the distinctive regional cuisine, and venturing into the surrounding natural environments. Best visited year-round, though the drier months from May to October tend to offer the most comfortable conditions. Cruise lines including Oceania Cruises feature this port on their most compelling itineraries. Whether you have a few hours or a full day, the port rewards exploration at every pace and in every direction.

Boca de Valeria, Brazil, delivers South America's irresistible combination of dramatic landscapes, vibrant culture, and extraordinary biodiversity. Essential experiences include exploring local markets, tasting the distinctive regional cuisine, and venturing into the surrounding natural environments. Best visited year-round, though the drier months from May to October tend to offer the most comfortable conditions. Cruise lines including Holland America Line feature this port on their most compelling itineraries. Whether you have a few hours or a full day, the port rewards exploration at every pace and in every direction.

Manaus is the Amazon's improbable metropolis, a thousand miles inland where the rubber boom's Teatro Amazonas opera house rises above the world's largest rainforest. Must-dos include witnessing the Meeting of the Waters where two rivers flow side by side without mixing, tasting Amazonian cuisine at the Adolpho Lisboa Market, and spotting pink dolphins in the Anavilhanas Archipelago. The wet season (December-May) enables deep forest navigation, while the dry season concentrates wildlife.

Parintins is an Amazonian river city between Manaus and Santarém, famous for the Boi-Bumbá Festival — a three-night folk competition in late June featuring towering set pieces, indigenous mythology, and passionate rivalry that rivals Rio's Carnival in artistry. Must-do experiences include the festival itself, pink river dolphin spotting, and exploring the vibrant waterfront market. Late June brings the festival, while August through November offers the best dry-season wildlife viewing.

Alter do Chão, the "Caribbean of the Amazon," is a village on Brazil’s crystal-clear Tapajós River where white-sand freshwater beaches emerge during the dry season—a thousand kilometers from the nearest ocean. Must-dos include swimming at the Ilha do Amor sandbar, exploring primary rainforest in the Tapajós National Forest, and tasting pirarucu fish with tucupi sauce. Visit September through December when receding waters reveal the most expansive beaches.

Icoaraci, a riverside district of Belém at the Amazon’s mouth, is celebrated for its pre-Columbian Marajoara pottery workshops where artisans continue thousand-year-old ceramic traditions. Must-dos include visiting the ceramic studios, exploring Belém’s legendary Ver-o-Peso market, and tasting Amazonian specialties like duck in tucupi sauce. Visit June through November for drier weather in this equatorial gateway to the Amazon.

Devil's Island is the most notorious of French Guiana's Îles du Salut, where France imprisoned 80,000 convicts over a century in one of history's most brutal penal colonies. Must-dos include exploring the haunting ruins of Île Royale and the solitary confinement cells of Île Saint-Joseph, and reflecting on the contrast between tropical beauty and human suffering. July through November offers the driest weather for visiting these profoundly moving Atlantic islands.

Curaçao is a culturally rich Caribbean island with the UNESCO-listed Willemstad waterfront, whose colorful Dutch colonial buildings are among the most photographed in the hemisphere. Must-dos include crossing the Queen Emma pontoon bridge, visiting the Kura Hulanda slavery museum, and tasting keshi yená cheese dish and genuine Curaçao liqueur. Year-round warmth near 28°C and a position below the hurricane belt make it a reliable destination.

Fort Lauderdale is South Florida's reinvented waterfront city, where three hundred miles of inland waterways, the NSU Art Museum's contemporary collection, and the tree-lined Las Olas Boulevard create a cruise departure point of genuine sophistication at Port Everglades. Arrive a day early between November and April to explore the 'Venice of America' by water taxi and discover the dining scene that has replaced Spring Break with year-round culinary ambition.