Aruba

Aruba sits 15 miles off the Venezuelan coast, below the hurricane belt, which gives it something rare in the Caribbean: nearly perfect weather year-round. The trade winds blow consistently from the northeast, keeping temperatures in the mid-80s Fahrenheit and the humidity low — a combination that makes the island one of the most reliably comfortable warm-weather destinations in the world. Eagle Beach is consistently ranked among the best beaches on earth: two miles of powdery white sand with shallow, calm, turquoise water and a fraction of the crowd density of Aruba's busier Palm Beach strip. The interior of the island is an entirely different landscape — rocky, cactus-covered desert with dramatic natural formations including the Natural Pool (Conchi), a rock-enclosed swimming hole accessible only by 4x4 or a 90-minute hike, and the Arikok National Park covering 20% of the island's total land area.