Six great beach reads for travelers

by Katie Hammel on

There’s a special joy that comes with losing yourself in a good book while relaxing on a beach. The warm sun on your skin, the sand between your toes, and the sound of waves gently breaking on the shore create the perfect environment for shrugging off your cares and transporting yourself to a new world. Here are a few of my favorite travel books – perfect picks for an easy summer read no matter what your style.


If you’re looking for a trashy novel. . .
Summer beach reading should be light, fun, and maybe a little tawdry. Thomas Kohnstamm’s Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? fits the bill perfectly. The subtitle, A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics and Professional Hedonism, describes the plot quite well. The book tells the story of Kohnstamm’s first guidebook-writing assignment for Lonely Planet. He gives up his apartment, job, and girlfriend to travel to and write about northern Brazil and soon realizes he’s in far over his head. What follows is a hilarious and controversial account of his adventures, how he learns the ropes of guidebook writing, and just how guidebooks are created.

If you’re looking for a travel-writing how-to. . .
Rolf Potts’ Marco Polo Didn’t Go There: Stories and Recollections from One Decade as a Post-Modern Travel Writer is perfect for the aspiring travel writer, or anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into a travel story. The book includes some of Potts’ published work (well-written, insightful, and entertaining stories on their own), followed by interesting end notes about how each story came about, from what really happened and what didn’t make it into the final copy to the long road from experience to published article.

If you’re looking for an inspiring story. . .
If you dream of one day taking charge of your life and pursuing your passions, Unlikely Destinations: The Lonely Planet Story is for you. The story traces the creation of the Lonely Planet empire, from Tony and Maureen Wheeler’s decision to take an overland journey from Europe to Australia to the publishing of their first guidebook and the subsequent failures and triumphs of the company. Even if your goals don’t involve building one of the top travel book publishing companies in the world, the story of chasing your dreams and finding success will inspire you.

If you’re looking for a good laugh. . .
Bill Bryson’s I’m a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away is a quick beach read that will keep you laughing all afternoon. Based on the hilarious writer’s newspaper column, the short stories point out the idiosyncrasies and oddities of life in America. From dealing with the Post Office to the difficulties of preparing a tax return, the book perfectly captures small town life in America and pokes fun at some of the country’s stranger traditions. The chapters are all quite short, perfect if you’ve got kids to mind and can’t commit to lengthier reading periods.

If you’re looking for a collection of short stories. . .
The Best American Travel Writing series has been combining great travel stories and narratives from websites, magazines, and newspapers, and putting them in one place for nearly a decade. The 2008 edition was edited by Anthony Bourdain and covers everything from restaurants in Kabul to weddings in St. Petersburg. With a dozen or so unique tales from different voices in each book, the collection will satisfy your need for short story variety and entertain you with engrossing travel narratives.

If you’re looking for intellectual stimulation. . .
If you’re the type who loves reading about research and studies, Eric Weiner’s The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World is right up your alley. Weiner set off to explore what makes us happy, and how economic conditions, culture, and traditions in various countries make people happy (or not). Along the way he visits countries like Iceland, India, Bhutan, Moldova and Thailand to see just how happy or unhappy the people are, and why. Along with being a fascinating and educational read, it also happens to be pretty darn funny too.

Inside Curtain Bluff: a tale of two beaches

by Tom Johansmeyer on

There are two beaches at Curtain Bluff, and it’s pretty clear that one’s for looking and the other’s for playing. The former is what you see from the guestrooms, with sometimes large waves brutalizing the shore before receding and feeding those that follow. The latter is nothing short of serene, with gentle ripples quietly lapping the sand.

The “swimming” beach begins next to the tennis courts and is bookended by the restaurant and bar. Lounge chairs and hammocks are spread across this stretch of sand, along with wooden umbrellas (technically cabanas? not sure …) providing shade from the sun and more than ample cover from the rain (I can vouch for both, having experienced both elements during my stay. Feel free to bring your chair to the waters edge, and let the Caribbean Sea lick your toes for a while. The current will not yank you to its depths.

To explore the bottom, grab some snorkeling gear and take the plunge. Poke around on the sea’s floor and see if you can find anything interesting. Certified SCUBA divers can opt to be taken out on deeper excursions, and other water sports are accommodated, from sailing to waterskiing. If you want to stay busy out on the water, Curtain Bluff is more than ready to help.

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On the other hand, you may be among the many who see the beach as a place to chill. Each lounge chair is accompanied by a little chair that you can use to knock sand off your feet before settling into its larger counterpart. Use the nearby table to hold your drink, your book or (in my case) your cigar. Take an occasional nap, or just feel the breeze.

The sense of placidity at the swimming beach is not replicated at the other beach. There are a few lounge chairs on hand, so you can sit back and enjoy the elements without having to walk far from your room. It’s convenient. But, treat the ocean itself with caution. The waves can get quite large (exacerbated, during my stay, by a storm forming at sea), and the current is very strong.

Disregarding what little common sense I have – and the boatloads of it offered by my wife – I decided to experience the “looking” beach first hand. Well, at one point, a wave crashed me in the back while the current yanked my ankles out from under me. I spun several times before crashing to the bottom of the sea. I wasn’t in a deep spot, but if you don’t spend much time in the water, this sort of turn can leave you incredibly disoriented (and with a mouth … and stomach … full of saltwater).

But, it can be a lot of fun.

I played around in the waves until I was battered and exhausted, some of them starting to crash over my head (yeah, they can get pretty big). For very strong swimmers, this is an ideal chance to screw around in the conditions your parents would never let you experience – despite your protests – as a child. There is no lifeguard or other staff on duty at this beach, so you really are venturing out at your own risk.

However you do it, definitely get into the water at Curtain Bluff. It’s warm, even when the rain is falling. Splash around, and have a great time. If you sail, waterski or dive, scratch your itch. I hadn’t been to a beach in at least a decade and had forgotten how much I enjoy it.

The guestroom is only one part of the Curtain Bluff experience. Come back to Gadling throughout the week for other peeks inside this exclusive Antiguan resort.

Disclosure: Curtain Bluff did pick up the tab for this trip. Honestly, a prolie blogger like me wouldn’t be able to cover this destination without support from the resort. That said, my opinions are my own. Worried that my experience was positive? Blame the resort staff for doing a kickass job. I could lie and say it all sucked, but that would come at the expense of my editorial integrity.

Gadling gear review – GoPro HERO all-terrain camera

by Scott Carmichael on

As Grant mentioned, Today is beach day here on Gadling. Earlier this morning I listed some great gadgets for at the beach, but the piece of kit in this review is so cool that it deserves it own post!

The GoPro lineup of all-terrain sports cameras feature a 5 megapixel sensor, capable of shooting high resolution video and 5 megapixel photos. The camera itself is fully enclosed and can survive pretty much everything you throw at it – including taking it underwater up to 100 feet.

Now, to be honest, sports cameras are nothing new, and I remember purchasing a helmet camera for my Archos player many years ago. What sets the GoPro lineup apart from anything I’ve ever seen is that you can attach their camera to anything – really, GoPro has a mount, clip, harness or suction cup for anything you could ever want to mount it to, including your handlebars or a tripod.
Fancy recording yourself riding the waves on your surfboard? Stick a camera on your board using a mount and some 3M VHB tape. Want to record yourself barreling down a mountain? Get a helmet mount!

The GoPro HERO camera comes in 2 flavors – wide and normal. The wide camera can be purchased on its own (camera, cables and case) or as a helmet, motorsports or surf package. The non wide HERO comes as a wrist mounted camera or ready for your surfboard.

The camera itself is very simple to operate – it has just 3 buttons, a small LCD screen, an optical viewfinder and an SD memory card slot. To use the camera, you simply insert an SD card with enough free space your your recordings, pop the entire camera in its waterproof case, and mount the whole thing where you want it.

The case has a waterproof seal, and can be submerged in up to 100 feet/30 meters of water. The buttons on the camera can be accessed when it is in its case.

Recording quality with the camera is surprisingly good for such a small unit. Sadly, I’m not too much of an outdoor adventure sports person, so I’ve included some real life sample videos made by real GoPro users.

As you can see, the camera really does capture the action quite well.

Each camera comes with a dual USB/video cable, so you can transfer recordings to your computer, or watch them on your TV. Recordings are made in 30FPS MJPEG, so they can be viewed and edited on almost any computer.

The GoPro HERO camera starts at $139 for the wrist HERO or the Wide HERO (without any mounts). A wide HERO plus mounting kit starts at $159 (for the Surf HERO).

The price of the camera is actually quite low, especially since a waterproof case for most digital cameras can cost well over $200 – and include the risk of damaging your camera. The GoPro camera itself is designed for rugged use, so it won’t mind being battered around in its case.

If you invest in a HERO camera and decide to take on a new sport, your investment is not lost – the GoPro site offers a huge variety of accessories and mounts which allow you to upgrade your camera

My conclusion is simple – if you do any kind of outdoor sport or other activities you’d like to record, you should order one of these. Capturing live action from your activities is so much cooler than just talking about it after the fact or relying on someone to photograph you from far away.

You’ll find the camera lineup and all the available accessories over at the GoPro web site. Did you make some amazing video with the camera? Drop us a comment, and share your adventures with the world!

Thanks to fellow Gading Blogger Tom Johansmeyer for the awesome beach photo made with the GoPro camera.

Sun, sand, surf and awesome beach gadgets!

by Scott Carmichael on

In the “old days”, a trip to the beach involved bringing a folding chair and plenty of sunscreen. Nowadays, that same trip means you’ll need even more sunscreen, but also ways to stay in touch with Twitter, Facebook, Email and the latest news in the Gadling RSS feed.

In this lineup, you’ll find 5 gadgets that can make your beach trip a little more fun, and help keep your gadgets safe from the elements.

Otterbox cases

Lets face it, even though the beach is one of the more relaxing places you’ll find yourself, there are plenty of us that insist on taking the Blackberry, iPhone or other email device along with us. And if there is one thing gadgets hate, it is sun, sand and water. Otterbox is here to protect those gadgets with a full lineup of awesome cases.

Their protection varies from basic, to full body armor with waterproof gaskets. Their mid-range lineup of cases will allow you to take your Blackberry or iPhone to the beach, without worrying about sand clogging your ports.

Price: from $19.95
Where: www.otterbox.com


TriSpecs Bluetooth stereo sunglasses

Look cool and listen to music – the TriSpecs do both. These high quality (Carl Zeiss optics) sunglasses house a pair of Bluetooth headphones, a microphone and music controls. Simply pair the headphones to a compatible Bluetooth device. For a full review of the TriSpecs, click here.

Price: From $199.95
Where: www.trispecs.com


Freestyle MP3 player

If you want music on the beach, but also want to be able to take your player for a dip in the ocean, then check out the Freestyle Audio MP3 player. We took a closer look at this fully submersible device last year.

Not only is the player itself waterproof, the headphones can come swimming with you as well! Included in the package is an arm strap, so you can attach the player to your arm and go our surfing while listening to your favorite tunes!

Price: $89.95
Where: www.freestyleaudio.com

Loksak element-proof transport bags

Last year, Tynan wrote about the Loksak product lineup. Their basic bag is called the aLOKSAK and provides a watertight barrier for your most cherished items.

These are not your household Ziplok bag style container – the aLOKSAK is waterproof up to 200 feet, and is perfect for protecting items like the Amazon Kindle or your iPhone when you enjoy the beach.

Price: from $6.39
Where: www.loksak.com

Callpod Fueltank

What’s a beach lover to do when halfway through the day, all your gadgets run out of power? The Callpod Fueltank may be able to help you out – its large internal battery and 2 charging ports can fully charge your gadget(s), and keep them running for the rest of the day. Power tips are available for almost every portable gadget out there, and the unit can be recharged using the included AC adapter or the awesome Chargepod.

Price: $69.95
Where: www.callpod.com

Swim with wild pigs on Big Major Spot Island, Bahamas

by Katie Hammel on

Are pigs the new dolphins? While many visitors to the Caribbean shell out big bucks to swim with Flipper, it seems others would rather watch the antics of Porky. On the Bahamas‘ Big Major Spot Island, people are heading to Pig Beach, which has been home to a family of wild pigs for decades, to watch the pigs swim and play in the water.

The little pink and brown porkers, which I dare say are almost downright cute, scrounge off roots and brush on the beach, but survive mainly on scraps fed to them by locals and tour guides. Though the pigs are feral, they’ll happily swim out to greet passing boats and are friendly to swimmers and beach-goers. The piggies are so popular with tourists that many nearby resorts now offer day trips to go watch the pigs frolic and give guests the chance to cavort in the crystal clear water alongside them.

[via Jaunted]