A tall ship's billowing sails, lit by a full moon, are keeping time with the rhythm of the lapping sea against the ship's wooden hull. They are sleeping off a day of sunning, swimming, snorkelling, motor biking or fishing around the small, secluded beaches of a picturesque French island named Iles les Saintes. Dressing up on this cruise means putting on a makeshift grass skirt outfit for a costume party. Itineraries feature infrequently visited Caribbean ports that cannot accommodate large cruise ships. The provincial marine park just 80 km from Vancouver is usually accessible only to seaplanes or private yachts.
Lunch is served on board.
Huge Sitka spruce, western hemlock, cedar, broadleaf maple and alder trees are carpeted in soft mosses, framed by lettuce-leaf lichens, fiddlehead ferns and wild sweet peas in every conceivable shade of green. Cruise West, the only scheduled passenger service to the inlet, makes this trip in spring and again in fall, when colours are changing. The difference on this voyage is the chance to take a closer look at a waterfall, to slow down for harbour seals or to explore inlets. Other itineraries visit Mexico's Sea of Cortez or the Snake River. The Galapagos Islands are one of the few places where nature has evolved undisturbed.