Nothing puts you in touch with your wild side quite like a big adventure. And Seychelles offers 115 islands to do just that. From island hopping to snorkelling to sailing, you'll never be bored here. Read on for three adventures that'll send you on your merry way.

Island hopping

Seychelles' main islands are Mahé, Praslin and La Digue, though there are many more options to explore. Each island has its own distinct charm, which makes the archipelago primed for island hopping. And, thanks to a strong network of air and sea connections, you can quickly get between them all.

Local operators offer trips to the inner granite islands. These are the world's oldest ocean islands, where you can easily spend the day exploring pure nature. Hiking is highly encouraged, as is swimming and admiring the wildlife.

Then, when you work up an appetite, traditional Creole food goes down a treat. Be sure to try local favourites such as coconut curries; fresh-baked fish basted in ginger, garlic and chillies; a variety of fruit and veg used in hearty stews. You can't go wrong.

But for unspoilt nature at its best, head to Bird Island and Denis Island in the north. These flat coral outposts are rich in conservation, making for lovely spots to unplug and unwind. The outer islands of Desroches and Alphonse are just as amazing if you wish to get away from it all – far away from the crowds. More than that, they are some of the best places for diving and fishing.

After a well-spent day hopping the islands, there's all manner of accommodation to rest your head. Whether you prefer small tropical lodges or exclusive hotels, the sea will be waiting right outside your door.

Watersports

With warm turquoise waters and sunshine all year round, it's no surprise that Seychelles is the ideal watersports destination. Mahé Island's Beau Vallon is a safe bay for jet skiing, windsurfing and paragliding, and just as popular with surfers too.

Seychelles is also home to thriving marine life, and few experiences beat swimming with dolphins, rays, turtles and schools of tropical fish. Dive centres can take you deep down into the depths of colourful coral reefs.

Or, you could watch from above by hiring snorkelling equipment from the island's hotels and watersports centres. Operators offer deep sea fishing in waters full of tuna and marlin, because you never know when you might hook the catch of your life.

Sailing

Some of the biggest adventures can be found cruising the open sea. Seychelles' climate is nearly flawless, and stunning panoramas abound, never failing to impress when it comes to sailing.

Sailing can be enjoyed on hulls and catamarans, which you can hire within the area. Boats can either be skippered or unmanned, leaving you to either sit back and cruise or take the wheel. The best part is that sailing is an activity you can enjoy any time of year.

Another advantage to sailing is that the waters around the islands are often calm and free of traffic, so the only sails out there may be your own.

Efteling – the fairytale theme park in the south of Holland – has revealed that a new attraction is to launch where the Bob bobsleigh run is currently located, scheduled to open in spring 2020.

After more than 34 years of service as a children's roller coaster, next year the Bob will make way for a new rollercoaster aimed at children aged between 4 and 10 years old. Max & Moritz will be a dual-tracked roller coaster, based on a well-known German visual poem about two naughty boys called Max and Moritz.  Like Bob, Max & Moritz will be suitable for the whole family (with a minimum passenger's height of one metre) and will open in spring 2020.

The Bob's current Swiss theming and its station building will be retained for the new attraction, while the construction of the track will start in September 2019 and is expected to cost 15 million euros. The Bobsleigh run will remain open until then.

Max & Moritz will be themed on the 1865 German illustrated story of the same name, written and drawn by Wilhelm Busch. The forerunner of the comic strip, the original copy consists of drawings and text, with each image accompanied by a few lines in rhyme.  The story follows Max & Moritz, two naughty boys who make fun of villagers with their mischievous behaviour. Efteling will create a free adaptation of the original story in the attraction; a happy nod to the story about the two boys.

With the announcement of Max and Moritz, the opening of another new attraction in a soon-to-be expanded area to the east of the amusement park will be postponed until 2021. It will be part of a completely new themed area. The new themed area will be part of the adventurous Reizenrijk, and include the new attraction next to the Efteling Hotel, renovations at the hotel and a few smaller attractions.

Jamaica Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has highlighted that revenue from both cruise and stopover arrivals is outpacing total arrival figures.

Speaking at the Ministry of Tourism’s recent two day mid-term review and strategic planning retreat, Minister Bartlett said, “Preliminary data from the Jamaica Tourist Board shows that foreign exchange earnings are outpacing arrival figures by ten percent,

Last year we saw an unprecedented 4.3million visitors which translated to USD3billion in foreign exchange earnings and the projection is that by the end of this year, Jamaica will see earnings of USD3.3Billion.”

Minister Bartlett lead the two day mid-term review and strategic planning retreat, held at the Terra Nova Hotel, where heads of agencies, divisions and senior manages within the ministry discussed the progress they have made in meeting key performance indicators set ahead of their last meeting. The meeting included all agencies of the Ministry of Tourism – the Jamaica Tourist Board, Tourism Enhancement Fund, Tourism Product Development Company, Devon House Development Company, Jamaica Vacations Ltd, Bath Fountain Hotel and Spa and Milk River Hotel and Spa.

“From this two day self-analysis we were able to drill down to critical programme areas and review our progress so far using data. Of note is that it has been highlighted that for the last five years, our arrivals have grown by 35% and revenue by over 40% which means that we on a positive upward trajectory in both areas,” said Minister Bartlett.

In 2016, Minister Bartlett established 5x5x5 growth targets for the Ministry and its agencies, which seeks to grow the tourism contribution to the economy by providing 5 million visitors over a 5 year period; earn US $5 billion; employ 125,000 directly in the industry; increase room stock by 15,000; and grow at 5% per annum.

Minister Bartlett added that “Through the strategic and deliberate approach of my Ministry and agencies, we are seeing that the KPIs established may have to be revised as we are well on target to achieving and even surpassing these benchmarks. The team has done a tremendous job and through their hard work the sector is experiencing a boom we expected to continue.”

The new Chairman gave his first remarks under his new post to press at an early morning Press Conference at Atlantis Bahamas.

"Let me first of all, publicly thank my colleague ministers for placing their faith in me by electing me on Tuesday as chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization. I’m humbled by their confidence, yet excited about the opportunity to help guide such an important regional institution for the next two years.

I’m also excited at the prospects for the CTO and the critical role it can play in unifying the Caribbean, not simply as a tourism destination, but as a people destined for greatness.

I’m convinced that a well-supported, well-funded, CTO can take its place alongside other venerable institutions to lift the people of the Caribbean to incredible heights that are attainable but not yet achieved.

The organisation’s leadership in tourism and its contribution to the development of our human resources will help drive strong economies and build reliable, competent and productive workforces and Caribbean populations that are ready to face an ever-changing global environment.

The CTO’s leadership was on full display this week through the experts we brought together to share insights into how we can better build a lasting and sustainable tourism sector that will benefit every individual, every community, every country in this region.

We dared to challenge the region to build better, not just the infrastructure, but the entire industry. We explored applicable recommendations for the use of technology, not only to improve the visitors’ experience, but our lot as a people. We boldly tackled controversial issues such as commoditizing our cultures without exploiting them and embracing the Caribbean as a region of roots.

We brought these issues to the forefront not because they’re popular, but because we are convinced they must be successfully addressed sooner rather than later, if we are to truly build a Caribbean tourism industry for the future.

And there’s no better way to shape the future than to involve our young people. There isn’t a single person among those who were in the room for yesterday’s youth congress, or among the approximately three thousand people who watched it live on the CTO Facebook page, who will disagree with me when I say we have some of the most creative, imaginative and smartest young people anywhere.

They are the ones who will be challenged to continue building the tourism industry on the foundation that has been laid by today’s leaders and yesterday’s pioneers. Based on the strength of their performances yesterday, I’m confident that the future of tourism is bright.

In this context, allow me to congratulate the youth congress winner, Jamaica’s Bryanna Hylton, as well as St. Maarten’s Kiara Meyers and Caroline Pain of Martinique, who placed in the top three.

I know you’d also like an update on our The Rhythm Never Stops campaign; I’m happy to advise that the campaign will be launched this coming Monday, thanks to the public- and private sector stakeholders who contributed to this important first phase.

On the region’s tourism performance, it has been a tale of two situations. On the one hand, we have robust growth in countries that were not affected by last year’s hurricanes.

On the other, we have seen dramatic decreases in arrivals to those hit by the storms, although the performances of these countries are steadily improving.

Of the 22 reporting destinations, 13 of them registered increases in tourist arrivals during the first half of the year, ranging from 1.7 per cent to 18.3, while seven recorded decreases of between a negligible -0.3 per cent and 71 per cent.

The top performing destination during this period were Guyana at 18.3 per cent, Belize at 17.1 per cent, the Cayman Islands at 15.9 per cent, and Grenada at 10.7 per cent and the Bahamas at 10.2 per cent.

These individual results substantiate the regional messaging of the openness of the destinations for business and the confidence in destinations to deliver quality experiences.

The performances of the key source markets varied considerably, with some destinations recording strong growth, while others registered declines.

In the US market, for example, while Jamaica reported growth of 8.4 per cent, the Dominican Republic was up by 6.3 per cent and 11 other destinations achieved growth, six of which were by double digits, the Caribbean received Seven million visits from the US during the first half of the year.

This was a 15.8 per cent decrease when compared to the corresponding period last year, due mainly to a 54.6 per cent fall in arrivals to Puerto Rico and decreases in arrivals to Cuba.

On the other hand, there was a new record in arrivals from Canada for this time of year, with 2.4 million overnight international tourists, representing a 4.7 per cent increase.

Arrivals from Europe also increased, though marginally at 0.3 per cent, with three million tourists visiting the Caribbean during the first half of the year.

Belize led the way with 24.3 per cent growth, followed by Guyana at 9.4% per cent, Curaçao 6.2 per cent and Saint Lucia at 4.5 per cent. However, overall growth was impacted by steep falls in arrivals to Anguilla, Puerto Rico and Bermuda.

There was also a marginal decline of 0.5 per cent in cruise visits, although there are signs of improvement. Of the 23 reporting destinations, 15 realized improvement upon their 2017 performances with Trinidad & Tobago registering increases of 166 per cent, St. Vincent & the Grenadines up by 84 per cent and Martinique at 54.7 per cent, leading on growth rates.

However, this was countered by declines of nearly 90 per cent in the British Virgin Islands, Dominica was down by 88.4 per cent, St. Maarten down 27.5 per cent, and the US Virgin Islands decreased by 22.5 per cent. Puerto Rico, though hurricane-impacted, posted a 1.1 per cent increase during the period.

The region’s competitive advantages of a diverse tourism product and safety and security are still intact. Destinations are rebuilding, and new tourism products and services are being restored daily in the destinations impacted by last year’s hurricanes.

Our research department anticipates an overall decline of between three and four per cent this year, but predicts a 4.3 per cent increase next year.

Cruise, on the other hand, is projected to grow by five per cent to six per cent this year.

Let me take the opportunity to thank Minister Dionisio D’Aguillar, director general Joy Jibrilu and team at the Bahamas ministry of tourism, as well as our own CTO staff for working so hard to pull off a wonderful State of the Tourism Industry conference, and I thank you for your participation."

The White Harte and the Anchor in Bristol are conjuring up a ‘Perfect Storm’ ahead of this year’s Halloween Screamfest 2.0 - as the pub prepares to transform itself into a house of horrors for what they’re dubbing ‘Hallo-week’.

The tempestuous times come in the form of a scrumptious Kraken Black Spiced Rum cocktail – the Caribbean rum’s take on the traditional Dark and Stormy – served in a ‘Perfect Storm’ limited-edition tankard, especially for customers to enjoy on the annual spook-fest.

With Halloween falling on a Wednesday this year, the two pubs will ensure that there is plenty of chance to get in the spirit, with the spooky celebrations extended througoughout the week. There will be decorations galore, fancy dress and a party atmosphere on Friday and Saturday night, either side of the Hallowed Eve.

You won’t be missing out if you visit the them on the night however, as on the 31^st October things will be spicing up on the food front, with hellishly-hot wings at just 25p a go, courtesy of the aptly named, Hallo-wing Wednesday.

“We’re planning on building up our spooky décor over the course of the month,” said Chris, General Manager of the White Harte “a cobweb here, some ghostly apparitions there – just as teasers, until we’re all set for Hallo-week from the 26^th October. The team are pretty excited, particularly about dressing up and, of course, even more so, because they get to do it twice! It’s going to be SPOOK-tacular!”

New Zealanders are traveling abroad in record numbers – over 2.9 million people travelled out of New Zealand airports last year – and one of their favourite destinations is the United States. Kiwis are a responsible bunch, according to MoneyHub, only one in six Kiwis holiday or venture abroad without travel insurance. Kiwis are also fiercely loyal, they overwhelmingly prefer to purchase travel insurance from New Zealand-based travel insurance companies. However, there is a new trend on the horizon of non-US travellers purchasing US-based travel insurance based on lower cost, increased benefits and ease of filing medical or loss claims for luggage, flight delays and other travel mishaps.

Silicon Valley-based travel insurance company, VisitorsCoverage, reports a 120 percent increase in New Zealanders searching for and comparing travel insurance policies on their site, and an almost 100 percent increase in sales of travel insurance policies to Kiwis for travel to the US for the first half of 2018, compared to 2017 statistics.

The United States does not provide universal medical coverage. Unprepared travellers who did not purchase travel insurance and sustain serious injury or a catastrophic medical incident in the US risk incurring financial liability that can easily run over $100,000, as the US also has one of the most expensive healthcare systems in the world. Should a fellow Kiwi require medical air transport back to New Zealand, costs could easily double or triple for medical repatriation.

“Visitors to the US are realizing the cost savings, coverage advantages and convenience of purchasing US-based travel insurance,” says Rajeev Shrivastava, CEO and founder of VisitorsCoverage, an InsurTech company that provides online comparisons of travel insurance policies. Not only do more US-based providers recognize and accept US-based insurance, but non-US policies are generally reimbursement-based and travellers may be required to pay medical costs out-of-pocket at the time of service. Filing a claim for reimbursement later could be complicated, frustrating and lengthy as a result of different time zones and countries.”

Most non-US travel insurance companies use third-party providers to enable them to offer medical and travel insurance in the US, which may result in higher costs to the purchaser as well as higher deductibles. Most policies offered through third-parties rarely offer comprehensive coverage that utilize US-based Preferred Provider Networks (PPOs) – these often have low or no deductibles, and little or no co-pays – provided the traveller uses only physicians and hospitals that are part of the approved provider network.

US-based travel insurance companies partner directly with medical insurance providers who often directly pay all covered claims filed by the traveller, with little or no payment at the time of treatment. Companies like VisitorsCoverage partner with top-rated providers such as IMG, Seven Corners and underwriters like Lloyd’s of London, giving peace of mind to unlucky travellers who actually have to file a claim for medical treatment or loss. Many comprehensive policies offer coverage beyond medical, including lost luggage, flight cancellation or delay, repatriation or border entry denial.

The bottom line for Kiwis travelling to the US? “Take the time to shop around and compare New Zealand-based travel insurance policies with those offered in the US,” Shrivastava continues. “Most US-based travel insurance policies cost the same or more as non-US based policies, depending on age, but the small added cost is worth it if you need to use your plan. It’s really not worth the risk of buying a cheaper policy that could still leave you with a huge, unpaid portion of medical fees should a catastrophic incident occur.”