Posted by Forbes Travel Guide

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When airlines like Pan Am began flying nonstop from New York to tropical destinations like Martinique in the 1960s, the islands were a hotbed for celebrity sightings. Of course, not much has changed in that respect. Sun, sand and bottomless sangrias have a way of staying relevant.

In the decades since, though, the region stretching east and west from Belize to Barbados, and north and south from Cuba to Colombia, has gone through a family-friendly phase, had more than a few romantic runs and even took a couple of eco-tourism jaunts. But through it all, the Caribbean has worn the same warm smile and carried the same jovial disposition it always has.