Bonaire

Bonaire is almost entirely devoted to snorkelling and diving. Even the island's licence plates proclaim it a 'Diver's Paradise' and, with 300 species of fish in the surrounding waters, it is not an overstatement. Hotels such as Buddy Dive (tel: 599 717 5080; www.buddydive.com) leave tanks and dive lights out on the docks so Cousteau wannabes can watch the underwater action at night. The lively Divi Flamingo Resort (below, top right, tel: 599 717 8285; www.diviresorts.com) offers diving for the disabled.

While Bonaire has its share of stylish continental restaurants, such as the authentic Italian Capriccio (Kaya Islariba, tel: 599 717 7230) and typiquement francais Bistro de Paris (tel: 599 717 7070; www.bistrodeparis.com), visitors should try the local cuisine, or kuminda krioyo. The Henriques family runs Maiky Snack (Kaminda Nieuw Amsterdam 30, tel: 599 9 567 0078), a little lunch spot 3km down a dirt road and surrounded by huge cacti. It serves delicious baka stoba, a kind of beef stew with a hint of cumin and nutmeg, cooked over mesquite charcoal. At Rose's Garden Inn (Kaya Guyaba 4, tel: 599 717 6420), a cluster of outdoor tables under trellises of flowers and broad-branched flamboyan trees, Malfina Mastrum (bottom right) serves piska salu (salt fish with peppers). Iguana soup is an island speciality too, but no one will be offended if you decline a helping.