Inspiring Travel Writing from Melanie Reffes
Photo taken on Little Whale Cay in the Bahamas
Melanie Reffes is a travel journalist based in Montreal, however, specialising in sunnier climes. She is much-published about the Caribbean in many newspapers and magazines including the Miami Herald, Canadian Traveller and TravelHotNews.
She is a contributor to many Caribbean-based magazines including those in Bermuda, St. Maarten, Aruba and Curacao.
She is the Caribbean editor for JaxFax travel agent magazine and the humble recipient of many Caribbean Tourism Organization writer awards. When she's not racing through airports to catch flights to the tropics, you'll find her in her backyard garden growing the hottest scotch bonnet peppers this side of Montego Bay.
Melanie Reffes is a travel journalist based in Montreal, however, specialising in sunnier climes. She is much-published about the Caribbean in many newspapers and magazines including the Miami Herald, Canadian Traveller and TravelHotNews.
She is a contributor to many Caribbean-based magazines including those in Bermuda, St. Maarten, Aruba and Curacao.
She is the Caribbean editor for JaxFax travel agent magazine and the humble recipient of many Caribbean Tourism Organization writer awards. When she's not racing through airports to catch flights to the tropics, you'll find her in her backyard garden growing the hottest scotch bonnet peppers this side of Montego Bay.
Articles by Melanie Reffes
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Jewish Jamaica: Who Knew?
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Melanie Reffes
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Jamaica
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Kingston Region
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Kingston
With a smile as wide as the sea, Ainsley Henriques is delighted to show-off the synagogue that is so near and dear to him. The floors are sandy as a memorial to Jews who once worshipped in secret (sounds are muffled and no footprints are left) and...
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A Guide to Aruba: Restaurants, Bars, Shopping and Beaches
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Melanie Reffes
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Aruba
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Abruzzo
Marketed with the snappy slogan “90,000 friends you haven’t met yet,” the island sits twenty kilometers from Venezuela in the southern fringes of the hurricane belt. Cactus-studded, the Dutch territory entices with a bounty of restaurants,...
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St. Vincent & the Grenadines
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Melanie Reffes
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St Vincent & Grenadines
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Grenadines
Strung like a necklace in the southeastern Caribbean – thirty minutes as the gull flies from Barbados- St Vincent and the Grenadines is a strand of thirty-two islands stretching across the sapphire sea. With short distances between them, they have...
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Tropical Treats: A Guide to Caribbean Cuisine
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Melanie Reffes
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Anguilla
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Southern Anguilla
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Maundays Bay
Whether it’s Grenada’s oil-down stew of breadfruit, spinach, coconut milk and salted meat, Mexican mole or Jamaican lip-searing jerk, tropical cuisine is a delectable mélange of ingredients from faraway lands and long ago times. Peppered with...
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Riviera Maya: Margaritas and Mariachi in the Western Caribbean
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Melanie Reffes
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Mexico
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The Yucatan
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Playa del Carmen
From Cancun to the Belize border, Riviera Maya unfurls along eighty-one miles of Mexico’s Caribbean coast. With some of the finest beaches and golf courses in the world, nearly 40,000 hotel rooms, duty-free shopping, eco-adventures, archaeological...
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Bliss in Barbados: Caribbean Wedding Hotels
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Melanie Reffes
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Barbados
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Southeast
With a smile as wide as the sea and a forkful of perfectly seared ginger tuna, Ruth Emerson is the eternal romantic as she gazes at the rolling waves from her table at the Lone Star restaurant on the west coast of Barbados. “In my opinion, the Good...
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Island Hopping in the Eastern Caribbean
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Melanie Reffes
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Anguilla
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Southern Anguilla
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Maundays Bay
With high hopes for a busy winter season, several of the islands in the Eastern Caribbean are actively marketing ‘island hopping’ as a way to lure business to the tropics. Looking for more than a suntan and a swim-up bar, tourists are discovering a...
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Beyond the Surf, Sand and Slot Machines: Selling Puerto Rico
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Melanie Reffes
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Puerto Rico
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Puerto Rico Region
With temperatures in the eighties year round and no passport needed from the U.S., Puerto Rico tops the list as the perennial vacation destination. Boasting fine beaches, casinos, golf courses, shopping and eco-adventures, Puerto Rico is a sun-...
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America’s Caribbean: United States Virgin Islands
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Melanie Reffes
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US Virgin Islands
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St Croix Region
Each with a character all its own, the three islands that make up the United States Virgin Islands entice with a cornucopia of Caribbean charm. From the Danish influence in St. Croix to shopping galore in St. Thomas and Mother Nature at her finest...
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A Sliver of Shangri-La: A Guide to Anguilla
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Melanie Reffes
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Anguilla
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Southern Anguilla
For a small island, Anguilla rivals the best in the Caribbean with cosmopolitan restaurants, grand resorts, championship golf course and endless strands of sandy beaches. A chi-chi forty square miles of sea grape trees and gentle British vibe...