I’m not really one to shill for gimmicky tourism stunts (see Exhibit “1”: that “Best Job in the World” promotion that got over 34,000 applicants), but I really like the idea of this one from The Bahamas (not least of which because I basically do this anyway, but no tourism board is shelling out any money for me to do it).

Here’s the deal. The “14 Island Film Challenge” is a contest where 14 filmmakers will be chosen on December 7th to head to The Bahamas for 2 weeks to film their own movie. The winning director will receive 14,000 pounds for his work, the runner-up will get 5,000. To be among the lucky 14, potential directors must submit a 500-word “treatment” (film-speak for outline) about what they’d like to film. Here’s a link to the full rules.

Unfortunately, the contest is only open to Brits. Sorry Yanks. Since I’m immediately excluded, I shall therefore offer up my own treatment. It would be the rise and fall of a newspaper tycoon who would give it all up for the sake of his lost childhood. This may have already been done, I just can’t think of the name.

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And by wimps I include myself. That’s because I haven’t learned to Scuba, but I’ve also spent my life living in places where the ocean was either something you read about in textbooks (Colorado), something that was good to lounge near but not to go in unless you really love seaweed or had no fear of hypothermia (Connecticut), or something that was more synonymous with plane landings and mafia burials (New York). But if you’re looking for some of the best places in the Caribbean to whet your appetite for taking that next step to learn how to Scuba, try out some of these top spots for snorkeling.

In Dominica you can check out Champagne, a sub-aquatic sulphur spring (or volcano for the layman) in depths of only four feet, massive shipwrecks only 20 feet down in San Salvador in the Bahamas, or if you have a few months to spend lounging in warm seawater exploring the longest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere — yes please — head to Belize’s Barrier Reef where you can see manatees, sea turtles, sting rays, sharks, and your past life spent sitting behind a desk in a windowless office slowly fading away.

The post Top Spots To Snorkel In The Caribbean (It’s Like Scuba, But For Wimps) appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.