GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND, Bahamas - If you're traveling to the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area this winter, you may want to pack your passport so you can hop the new two-hour ferry to the Bahamas.
The service launches Nov. 1, with a daily departure from Port Everglades at 4 p.m., and a return trip from the Caribbean each morning at 10 a.m.
Called the "Cat," the high-speed vessel operated by Bahamas Florida Express is a 320-foot-long catamaran that travels 42 knots and carries 900 passengers.
The round-trip fare for adults, through Dec. 21, will be $129 to $189, depending on the day of travel, plus $31 in port charges and taxes. Tickets for children ages 3 to 17 are $70 plus the $31 in fees. Discounts for senior citizens are planned. There's also a premier class with a $179 price tag, along with discounts for booking online and for traveling on certain days.
Several hotels are offering package deals for Cat passengers: Holiday Inn SunSpree at Royal Oasis Golf Resort & Casino, Crowne Plaza at Royal Oasis Golf Resort & Casino, and Pelican Bay at Lucaya.
The boat offers a casino, duty-free gift shop, a TV/movie lounge and a cafe and bar.
For more information, visit www.ferrybahamas.com or call toll-free 1-866-313-3779.
Guide to studying abroad
NEW YORK - Studying abroad has become a rite of passage for many college students.
Now there's a new guide for American students interesting in spending a semester, a year, or even their entire college experience in another country.
Study Away: The Independent Guide to College Abroad (Anchor Books, $13.95) includes information on which schools offer English-speaking classes, which universities are friendly to Americans and which aren't, and how you can get an American-style liberal arts education for less money overseas than at a private college in the United States.
The beaches of Okaloosa County
FORT WALTON BEACH - The Panhandle's Fort Walton Beach-Destin area, famous for its sugar-white beaches, has become the state's second most popular destination for tourists who drive to Florida, a new survey shows.
"Being officially ranked the No. 2 drive destination in Florida is an incredible distinction for a destination which was practically unknown 10 years ago," said Rick Deckert, chairman of the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council.
Orange County, which includes Orlando, retained its top ranking, but Okaloosa surpassed Miami-Dade, Pinellas, Volusia, Duval and neighboring counties.
The study by Visit Florida, the state's official tourism marketing corporation, and D.K. Shifflet & Associates, a market research company, shows 7.1 percent of all auto traffic to Florida travels to the coastal area of Okaloosa County.
Tourism officials credit an aggressive marketing campaign that began in 1991 to raise the profile of the area, using the nickname the Emerald Coast because of the blue-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The exposure helped Fort Walton Beach-Destin win the titles of "Best Beach in the South" and "Favorite Family Destination" from readers of Southern Living magazine eight years in a row.
Yellowstone snowmobiles
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. - Yellowstone National Park will open for the winter Dec. 17, but a new set of rules will limit snowmobiles allowed inside.
Under the new winter-use plan, reservations will be required to snowmobile in Yellowstone, with 80 percent of those snowmobilers accompanied by guides.
Individual reservations must be made through a hotline run by Xanterra Parks & Resorts. Reservations cost $10 the first day and $3 each day after that and are not refundable.
Just 950 snowmobiles will be allowed in the park every day, and commercially guided operators will be required to use cleaner and quieter machines to cut down on pollution, Lewis said.
All snowmobilers also must have a valid driver's license. No learner permits will be allowed.
Starting December 2004 all snowmobilers must enter the park with guides and all snowmobiles must be cleaner and quieter than the current two-stroke machines.
The snowmobile season typically runs from December to March.
NEW YORK - Instead of taking photos, why not draw your vacation memories?
Orient-Express Hotels is offering art classes for guests at its facilities in Virginia, Australia, Botswana, South Africa and Italy.
The courses, all scheduled for 2004, include botanical painting and landscape and wildlife sketching. They range in price from $304 for a three-day nonresidential course to $3,275 for a five-day course that includes lodging.
NEW YORK - Spas in Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Mexico, New Mexico and St. Lucia have won top honors in a new survey by Travel + Leisure magazine.
Readers of the magazine rated spas on treatments, value, service, ambience and accommodations.
Miraval, in Catalina, Ariz., was named top spa worldwide. Next on the list was the Golden Door, in Escondido, Calif., followed by Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Ariz.; Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Mass.; Oaks at Ojai, Calif.; Mii Amo in Sedona, Ariz.; Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico; Ten Thousand Waves in Santa Fe, N.M.; BodyHoliday in St. Lucia and Palms at Palm Springs, Calif.
Top hotel spas in the United States also included the Hualalai Sports Club in Hawaii and the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
Complete results are available in the magazine's October issue.
