Caribbean Photos

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Dominica

Photograph by Michael Melford

A rainbow arcs over trees blooming on a hillside in the West Indies island of Dominica. The country's interior can receive some 300 inches (760 centimeters) of rain each year, yielding hundreds of square miles of mountainous, densely forested wilderness, much of it protected as state land.

Havana, Cuba

Photograph by David Alan Harvey

Flanked by a classic Chrysler, a group of men enjoy a curbside dominoes game in Havana, Cuba. The streets of Cuba are at times a living classic car show, lined with pre-Castro relics of the 1940s and '50s. Some have their original engines; others make do with Russian-made replacements.

Carnival in Grenada

Photograph by David Alan Harvey

On the island of Grenada, Carnival is celebrated in mid-August to avoid a conflict with the anniversary of its independence from Great Britain on February 7. Here, revelers with greased bodies and dead snakes play jab-jab, patois for Satan. The Evil One must be appeased before one can gain entry to heaven, says the street-theater script.

Haitian Girls

Photograph by James P. Blair

Haiti, poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, is trying to distance itself from years of violence and political unrest. Here, two girls in the resort city of Cap-Haïtien run from a photographer as he tries to take their picture in 1987.

Havana Apartments

Photograph by Kristen McLaughlin

In the narrow streets at the historic heart of Havana, Cuba, stand rows of apartment buildings suffering from poverty, yet brimming with historic charm.

Havana, Cuba

Photograph by David Alan Harvey

Life unfolds at a leisurely pace in Havana, Cuba. Here, streets resonate with the clip-clop of horses' hooves and the squeak of bicycles as a young man tinkers with a U.S. jalopy by the curb.

Trinidad, Cuba

Photograph by David Alan Harvey

The oldest church still standing in Trinidad, Cuba—Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de la Popa, built in the early 1700s—needs restoration and is closed to the public. Yet it still attracts townspeople who gather at the hilltop site to watch the sun set.

Shipwreck, Bahamas

Photograph by James F. Byrnes

The rusted hulk of the Gallant Lady leans against a rocky shore on North Bimini in the Bahamas. This local landmark's days are numbered. Her resting place is on the planned site of a controversial casino-and-condominiums development.

Scott's Head, Dominica

Photograph by Michael Melford

A rooster skips past a fishing boat beached on the rocky shore of Dominica's Scott's Head. All along the Caribbean side of the island, the warm, placid waters provide pristine coral gardens for snorkelers and an abundance of fish for the local fishermen.

Samana Cay, Bahamas

Photograph by James L. Stanfield

Crabbers hunt for their quarry by torchlight on the Bahamas' Samana Cay. Many historians think that the island's Lucayan Indians, using the same hunting technique, may have been the lights "like a small wax candle" that Christopher Columbus wrote about in his diary before his fleet landed here in October 1492.

Malecón, Havana

Photograph by David Alan Harvey

Stormy waters breaking over the Malecón, Havana, Cuba's famed seaside avenue, don't slow the flow of rickshaws and antique U.S. automobiles. Like its classic cars, Havana's seawall—built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—is another relic of a bygone age.

Dominica

Photograph by Michael Melford

Volcanic activity on the tiny island of Dominica yields natural gems like boiling pools, geysers, and black-sand beaches. Here, Caribbean water turns to steam as lava meets ocean.

Baseball Game, Trinidad, Cuba

Photograph by David Alan Harvey

Baseball may be America's game, but passion for the sport could be strongest in Cuba. Here, children play in the colonial heart of Trinidad. "Cubans are just fanatical about baseball, and every evening men gather to talk about it," said photographer David Alan Harvey. "The first time I saw them talking baseball, I thought a fight was going on—and there they were debating something that Mickey Mantle did in 1953."

Trinidad and Tobago

Photograph by David Alan Harvey

Sunlight filters over the forested seaside cliffs of Trinidad and Tobago. The Caribbean islands, which lie just beyond the tail end of the Windward Antilles, are a study in contrasts. Densely populated Trinidad is an industrial giant with a thriving nightlife; a two-hour ferry ride away, Tobago is a relatively undeveloped, easygoing island that specializes in relaxation.

Mushroom Rock, Barbados

Photograph by Michael Andrassi

Weathered formations like Mushroom Rock dot the white-sand beaches of Bathsheba on the rugged east coast of Barbados. Normally thought of as a highbrow vacation spot, Barbados is nurturing a reputation as a surfer's paradise, with some of the best waves in the Caribbean.

Tobago

Photograph by David Alan Harvey

A visitor savors a twilight run along a beach on the island of Tobago. Tobago's pristine beaches and reefs are beginning to pay off. They have been discovered by international travelers who've had enough of the Caribbean's more developed islands.