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Tourism is one of Bonaire's most important sources of income, with many visitors coming for the excellent diving.

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David "Dread" Hinds of reggae band Steel Pulse recording tracks at Tuff Gong Studio. “Tuff Gong” was Bob Marley’s nickname, itself a tribute to one of the founders of Rastafarianism: Leonard "The Gong" Howell.

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Young Bahamians, such as this boy cycling in Dunmore Town on Harbour Island, struggle to find work. Tourism and offshore banking contribute to the wealth of The Bahamas but around 31 percent of 15 to 24-year-olds remain unemployed.

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A Goldentail moray eel bears its teeth and peers spookily from the dark. These eels usually hole up during the day and emerge in the dark to hunt other fish, molluscs, and crustaceans. Spotting one can be a highlight of a night dive on Bonaire's excellent reefs that have gained the island the nickname of the 'fish capital of the Caribbean'. Bonaire's reefs are a protected Marine Park and home to more than 370 different species of fish.

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The Jamaican school system closely follows the British model, with students such as these at Happy Grove High School taking up to ten subjects for "O-levels" at age 16. Those who wish to can then go on to study for another two years, taking several subjects for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exams (CAPE) to qualify for university entrance.

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Negril is Jamaica's most popular resort, with a seven-km beach and a setting on the west coast that enjoys dramatic sunsets. It attracts American spring break students between March and April, and Europeans and other North Americans during the winter.

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A teenage woman flirts with a young man in Las Terrenas.

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Bonaire's population speaks a variety of languages. Papiamento is the local tongue, while Dutch, Spanish and English are all well used thanks to the island's colonial history. It's said that if you wish to meet a ”true Bonairian” you have to visit the village of Rincon. Located inland, it's where the original Spanish colonialists retreated to protect themselves from pirate attacks.

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The East End of Grand Cayman is home to a small fishing community who now offer arts and crafts as well as beach bars and restaurants for visitors. This quieter side of the island, away from the busy harbor at George Town and the bustle of Seven Mile Beach, is the site of several upmarket resorts.

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The yellow-headed jawfish (Opistognathus aurifronsare) are found in sandy areas around the Cayman Islands where they live in tunnels and feed on plankton or other small organisms. As mouthbrooders, they protect their eggs inside their mouths until they hatch, as protection against predators.

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A couple dance to reggaeton – a fusion of Jamaican dancehall and Latin rhythms with its origins in Puerto Rico. Sexually charged moves are part of the music's culture, especially "perreo", or doggy-style, where the woman grinds her backside against the man.

Rum production began on the Appleton Estate in the fertile Nassau valley in 1749 and Appleton Rum is now the island's oldest and most famous brand. The Nassau Valley has a unique micro-climate of sunny mornings and rainy afternoons, and also lacks the volcanic soil of other Caribbean Islands.

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Customers relax in a bar in Santiago – whose full name of Santiago de los Caballeros is seldom used – which was once the capital of the country. A paper napkin is essential to hold the bottles of beer which are served super cold.

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Tourism is one of the island's most important sources of income. Many people come to Bonaire for diving and the world-class windsurfing but it's also a popular wedding location. Officiants join couples over their wedding vows either on the beach on in their resort, and everything from a wedding breakfast to witnesses can be arranged locally. Here a couple tie the knot at the Buddy Dive Resort.

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It is popular for girls to have their hair braided by professional hairdressers working on Palm Beach. The hairdressers are employed by the hotels and leave at 5 o’clock sharp.

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Kingston has been Jamaica's capital since 1872, although much of it was destroyed in an earthquake and fire in January 1907 that killed almost 1,500. That prompted the wealthier residents to rebuild their homes in the hills around the city, leaving the working class in the now-crowded downtown area.

Dunn's River Falls near the popular resort of Ochos Rios plunge 183 meters down a unique geological feature. They are surrounded by rich tropical greenery and end on a small, sandy beach, making them one of the island's most photographed sights.

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This driftwood sign points to all parts of the world - a reminder that the indigenous "Caquetío" Indians believes the island to be the centre of the earth. They named the island after Boy Nayil, son of the supreme deity who took the form of a silver snake. Bonaire is the corrupted Dutch version of the name.

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Jamaican Dancehall moves can be very intimate, as this young couple demonstrate in a Kingston night club. In recent years, the Jamaica government went so far as to impose a radio and TV ban on "daggering" a sexually explicit form of dance.

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Seroe Colorado used to be a villa town for Esso employees. The village had its own beach, called Baby Beach. It is now open for the public, but is mostly visited by the Arubans, not tourists.

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Although associated with rastafarianism, dreadlocks have a history dating back to the Ancient World in North Africa and are also worn by Indian holy men and Masai warriors, among many others. While often considered dirty, locks actually have to be washed frequently to maintain their condition.

Organized horse racing in Jamaica dates back to at least 1816 and Caymanas Park in Kingston now holds races every Wednesday and weekend of the year. The first horses arrived with the Spanish, and English breeders later made the island's bloodstock famous throughout Central America.

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A pig is slaughtered and hung to bleed before being offered for sale as a popular local dish. The pork industry in the Dominican Republic was almost eradicated in the early 1980s as a result of African Swine Fever but has since rebounded to become a key export.

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Taking a bamboo raft down the Martha Brae near Falmouth is a popular holiday activity, with some 80 licensed rafting guides. The rafts were originally used to transport sugar from the estates in Trelawny down the river to Falmouth for shipping to Europe, and actor Errol Flynn is credited with the idea of making them a tourist attraction.

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Bonaire's salt flats are an important habitat for all manor of water fowl. They provide a peaceful place for birds to breed and forage and, as the sea water evaporates, it leaves shallow pools of brine shrimp that give the flamingos their pink colour. But flamingos are not the only birds here: osprey, heron, frigate birds and cormorants are all regular visitors, as are stilts like the one seen here walking on dried soil.

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West Indian flamingos – the national bird of The Bahamas – march through the Ardastra Gardens & Zoo in Nassau. Over 80,000 flamingos can also be found on Inagua Island, which is home to around 140 species of birds.

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Port Antonio on Jamaica's north-east coast was a shipping point for bananas and coconuts, until actor Errol Flynn moved there in 1950 and helped put it – and Jamaica – on the tourist map. Tourism now makes up 10 per cent of the Jamaican economy, with some 3million visitors every year.

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Bananas are picked when green, then washed as seen here, before packing, ripening during transport to their export destination. Around 25 per cent of banana production in the Dominican Republic is certified Fairtrade and 60 per cent is certified organic.

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The Blue Mountains rise steeply from the coast to a height of more than 2,000 meters, providing a cool environment that has become famous for its coffee production. The coffee is among the most expensive in the world and most is exported to Japan.

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When Gucci opened the doors of its new store, it couldn’t wait till the interior was ready or the sign was put up. It is on the popular route taken by the vast numbers of cruise passengers who disembark at Oranjestad.

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The blue iguana (Cyclura lewisi) is endemic to the island of Grand Cayman and one of the longest living lizards, with one recorded dying at the age of 69. Young animals are dark brown or green but adults males range from dark blue to turquoise, becoming bluer in the presence of other males in a territorial display.

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Reggae singer Robert "Bob" Marley won worldwide fame before his death from cancer in 1981 and remains a Jamaican icon. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine rated him #11 in its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

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Twenty percent of pro baseball players in the US come from the Dominican Republic but they are often signed at rates well below those of American players. Even so, up to 100,000 teenage Dominican boys are thought to be competing for contracts.

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The snapper is snapped! A tourist takes a picture by the pool of the Riu Palace Hotel. The 450-room all-inclusive hotel is one of the island's newest. Completed in 2007 it replaced the Aruba Grand and is one of the 26 major hotels and resorts on the island.

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Since 2009, lionfish have spread from Florida along the Caribbean coasts of Mexico and Central and as far as Venezuela. They have also reached as far north as Rhode Island but water temperatures so far seem to prevent them living north of North Carolina or as far south as Brazil.

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Guests of the Renaissance Marina watch a cruiseship from the swimming pool. Cruise tourism is very important for Aruba where each year around 400 ships moor in Oranjestad harbor and more than 500,000 passengers disembark. Another 750,000 tourists enter Aruba by plane or on smaller visiting yachts.

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Bonaire's capital is pretty Kralendijk and Kaya Grandi is the main street where most of the shops can be found. The brightly coloured buildings that line the street are usually quiet until a cruise ship ports, when tourists hunt for souvenirs.

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Bonaire is one of only four places in the world where flamingo colonies breed and the bird is the national symbol of the island. The pink motif can be seen everywhere: painted on houses, used in shop logos and even on the island's mailboxes.

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The Stingray City Sand Bar allows visitors to stand in less than a meter of water surrounded by stingrays feeding off squid bait. Divers enjoy a similar experience in deeper waters but both sites have raised concerns about making the rays dependent on humans for food.

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Loyalist clapboard houses can be seen on Elbow Cay in the Abaco islands, where this man is relaxing in a hammock. American colonists loyal to Britain brought slaves and building skills to The Bahamas in the 18th century.

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Horses are cooled down by a stable-hand after a day on hire to guests at nearby resorts on the Samaná peninsula. Columbus started landing horses from Spain in 1482 on the island of Hispaniola – now shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The average Jamaican household has an income of $8,000, making it one of the poorer countries in the Caribbean. At the 2011 Census, only seven in ten homes had access to a water closet, with 23 per cent using a pit latrine. A similar number (73 per cent) have piped water, although that was largely (57 per cent) untreated.

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Before the Civil War, cockfighting was a popular sport in the US and presidents such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were fans. The cock remains a symbol of both France and Portugal.

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The Westin Hotel on Palm Beach is one of the bigger hotels. Tourism grew steadily on Aruba in the 1960s and 1970s but only really took off after the island achieved independent territory status in 1986, when the tourist industry was appointed spearhead.

Exotic fruit is part of the culinary experience on cruise ships visiting The Bahamas. Around 80 percent of food, worth over $250million, is imported each year but the islands do export fruits such as oranges, watermelons and pineapples.

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Sugarcane is still the principal agricultural product, centuries after slaves were first brought here to work it by the Spanish colonizers in the early 1700s. More than 90 per cent of the sugar workers are Haitian migrants who often live in poverty with no right to retirement or other benefits.

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The Cayman capital of George Town has a population of 30,000 but has seen 20,000 passengers land when several cruise ships dock together. It is also the business and financial center of the Cayman Islands, which is home to some 600 banks among many other international companies.

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Softball is the most popular sport in Aruba and the bush league tournaments held each weekend attract huge crowds. Naturally, music and drinking serve as necessary accompaniments to the on-field entertainment.

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Tourists do aqua aerobics in the Caribbean Sea at Bayahibe in the Dominican Republic. The country welcomes well over four million visitors a year, of which more than a million are from the US, its biggest market for most of the past decade.

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Tourists soak up the view from one of the private resorts that make Love Beach one of the least-crowded on New Providence Island. The name Bahamas comes from the Spanish words “baja mar”, meaning "shallow water".

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Pekelmeer is a vast series of salt plains and lagoons where salt has been harvested by the power of the sun for decades. It is also one of the last breeding locations of the Great Flamingo and, as such, has been designated a wetlands of international significance by the Ramsar Convention.

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Thousands of revellers parade through the capital city of Nassau to celebrate Junkanoo on December 26 and New Year's Day. The festival began as a temporary celebration of freedom for slaves given a few days off at Christmas time.

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Street musicians, such as this one in Nassau, play saxophones and electric guitars as well as traditional, home-made goatskin drums. The uniquely Bahamian “goombay” music can be experienced at the annual “Junkadoo” celebrations.

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Green iguanas, native to Latin America, are now common on Grand Cayman after being brought over as pets in the 1980s. They have no natural predators but their appearance on Little Cayman and Cayman Brac has seen the local government introduce a culling program to protect indigenous iguana species.

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Wild pigs swim out to tourist boats to be fed by locals and holidaymakers in the tropical waters off Big Major Cay. Dozens of pigs roam free on the uninhabited island in the Exuma archipelago, now known as “Pig Beach”.

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Diving is a popular activity on Aruba, where ecological programs such as the Reef Care Project and the Aruba Marine Park foundation strive to conserve the underwater ecosystems and to educate divers and fishermen.

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Stingray City at Grand Cayman has its origins with local fisherman using the shallow water near George Town harbor to clean their catch, attracting rays and other fish for the free food. Since the 1980s, the Sand Bar has become a very popular tourist attraction with cruise ship passengers.

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Horse-back riding is not for everyone, so many people prefer to conquer the rough terrain of the island's eastern coast on quad bikes. The environment is hard on mechanical parts – and on their riders.

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Carnival has been celebrated on the island of Hispaniola since the 1500s, being introduced by the Spanish colonizers who thought it was a good way for slaves to let off steam.

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A merengue dancer takes a break and shows off her smile. Female dancers tend to wear traditional costumes that consist of a peasant top and a long, flowing skirt in warm colours. Men wear shirts in a colour that matches that of their partner.

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Paradise Island is best known for the sprawling tourist resort of Atlantis, seen here behind the oldest surviving lighthouse in the West Indies. It is connected to New Providence Island by a two-kilometer-long bridge.

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The principle of salt production is simple and has remained unchanged over the years. Seawater is chanelled into shallow salt pans known as saliñas – along the way, water evaporates thanks to the sun and wind and becomes increasingly brine-line. Once all the water has evaporated, the salt left behind is harvested.

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Bahamian women, such as this artisan in Arthur’s Town on Cat Island, supplement their income by plaiting dried palm leaves. Straw handicrafts, used to create baskets, hats and voodoo dolls, are part of the culture of the outer islands.

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The Willems Toren lighthouse – also known as the Lacre Punt Light – was built in 1837 on the southern tip of the island to warn passing ships that land was ahoy. The seas around Bonaire can be treacherous, especially in hurricane season which runs from May to December. While the lighthouse is still in good condition, the old keeper's house nearby now lies in ruins.

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An immigrant Haitian father and his sons plant rice in a paddy. Many Haitians have spent decades working for poverty wages but are still classed as illegals, and any of their children born in the Dominican Republic are not entitled to citizenship.

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The Alto Vista Chapel, a small Roman Catholic church surrounded by cactuses in the north-eastern region of the island, dates back more than 250 years. The windy road to it is decorated by a large Christian cross.

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Visit the southern part of Bonaire and you will be greated by huge mounds of shimmering white salt. The island's history has revolved around salt production for more than four centuries when the Dutch West India Company introduced flats in the 17th century. Once harvested by slaves, production has now been modernised and is under the control of the US-based Cargill Company.

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The people of the Cayman Islands, such as this young boy on Cayman Brac, have a mix of European, Latin American and African genes, although slavery was less common than on many other Caribbean islands. Even so, in the first census of 1802, 545 residents out of a total of 933 were African slaves.

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The Bahamas has 15 main islands, including the Abacos seen here – making it an ideal place to go island-hopping. With clouds dotting the sky at up to 2,286 meters, weather conditions are perfect for flying and just about every vacation spot has an airport.

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The Windmill is not a monument of the era when Aruba was a Dutch colony but rather an attempt to create an interesting landmark. The mill originated from the Dutch province Groningen and was dismantled and shipped to Aruba to be rebuilt there in 1962. It is now home to a restaurant.

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Kayakers explore the mangroves of Lucayan National Park on Grand Bahama Island. The 16-hectare park boasts some of the most secluded beaches in The Bahamas and one of the longest underwater cave systems in the world.

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Even on such a small and remote island, it's not hard to find surprise. Here a Mexican mariachi band play live music in one of the many bars of Kralendijk.

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The sea goddess Amphitrie, wife of King Poseidon, is honored in this three-meter-high statue at Sunset Reef off Grand Cayman. The work of Canadian artist Simon Morris, the bronze mermaid was put in place as an attraction to ease the pressure of visitor numbers on the resort's famous reef.

Drumming was banned in the days of slavery because of the fear it could be used to spread subversive messages from plantations to plantation. The drum is now the most important instrument in Rasta music, and Reggae's universal appeal may be due to its beat that replicates that of the human heart.

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Going to church on Sunday, as this woman is at Seaford Town Catholic church, is a Jamaican ritual, with services often lasting for several hours. Despite its strong Christian culture, however, the vast majority of the population will also consult African traditional religious healers for advice on personal issues.

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The venomous spines on a lionfish have to be removed carefully as they cause severe pain comparable to a bad wasp or scorpion sting, although they are not normally fatal to humans. They are purely defensive, as the fish hunts by using its fan-like pectoral fans to herd prey against corals, before consuming them whole with a single bite.

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Every Thursday, as the sun sets, the Terrible Thursday Thunderbirds ride their Harley Davidson motorcycles on a twilight tour through the island. One prominent member is Rudy Croes, the former Minister of Justice.

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A great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) swims past the wreck of the MV Captain Keith Tibbetts, a former Russian frigate that was sunk off Cayman Brac in 1996. One of the few Soviet wrecks in the Western hemisphere, the ship was renamed for a local dive operator after being bought from Cuba with the help of a local Spanish-speaking barmaid.

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Cayman is hit by a major hurricane on average every five years, including the major Hurricane Wilma in 2005 which did the damage seen here. The islands were still recovering from Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which brought wind gusts thought to be in excess of 300kph, and waves that reached a height of 15 meters.

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The afternoon heat can be a perfect time to find a quiet spot for a siesta – and at times, any spot will do. Locals down tools here – or cellphones at least – and grab the chance to relax on the back of a flatbed truck.

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The Salto del Limon waterfalls in the Samana Peninsula is fed by the Arroyo Chico river and has a height of 40 meters. Some take the trip inland to 300 meters above sea level to make a daring jump into its waters.

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Originally brought over by the Spaniards as working animals in the 17th century, donkeys were released into the wild when machinery took over. A wild population flourished despite the harsh, barren conditions on the island which and their numbers are suffering as a result of dehydration. Traffic also provides a danger to them. The Donkey Sanctuary shelters sick, wounded and orphaned donkeys.

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Father Jerome, an architect and Catholic priest, built a monastery on Cat Island in 1939. Mount Alvernia Hermitage sits at 63 meters atop the highest hill in The Bahamas and offers a 360-degree view of the island.

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Visitors from a cruise ship exploring Samaná’s Avenida La Marina, or Malecón, are greeted with a display of merengue. More than 250 cruises dock in the Dominican Republic’s four cruise ship ports every year, bringing more than 400,000 passengers.

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Banana pancakes are on the breakfast menu at Arthur’s Bakery in Dunmore Town on Harbour Island. This island attracts only committed travelers as getting there demands a series of planes, boats, cars, and even golf carts.

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Home to less than 2,000 people and more golf carts than cars, Harbour Island is one of only 14 outer islands that are inhabited. Just 5.6 kilometers long and 2.4 kilometers wide, it is among the 700 islands that make up The Bahamas.

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Aruba is home to the most famous tree in the Caribbean. This ancient tree, twisted by wind and weather, is the sole survivor of the trade winds that have buffeted Eagle Beach for centuries. The tree is used in all of Aruba's marketing campaigns. It is not a divi-divi tree as many believe, but a Buttonwood tree.

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The "Diablo Cojuelo" or "limping devil" reflects the religious roots of carnival.

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Although track and cricket remain Jamaica's most popular sports, soccer also enjoys a passionate following, as these children in Kingston demonstrate. In 1998 the country's national team, nicknamed 'The Reggae Boyz', became the first English-speaking Caribbean team to compete in the Soccer World Cup.

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Sharks are among over 50,000 aquatic animals in 14 lagoons filled with 3.6million liters of salt water at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island. Nurse, black tip, bull, tiger, hammerhead and reef sharks all swim off the islands of The Bahamas.

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The red lionfish (Pterois volitans) is covered in venomous spines that make it almost immune to predators in the western Atlantic where it has spread with extraordinary speed after being introduced in the early 1990s from its home in Pacific waters. A single female can spawn more than 2million eggs per year and the average lionfish eats 60,000 other reef fish before it is two years old.

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With its turquoise waters and powdery sand, The Bahamas boasts some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Pink Sands Beach, seen here, is on the east coast of Harbour Island, just one of over 2,000 paradise islands and cays.

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Bonaire lacks in abundant beaches but there is one stretch of sand that more than compensates – Sorobon beach at Lac Bay. A fantastic lagoon with calm waters that are clipped by windsurfers, it has a large mangrove forest which acts as a breeding ground for millions of tropical fish.

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Destroyed several times by hurricanes, Rick's Café sits atop a 12-meter cliff at Negril and is a popular place to watch the sunset. Cliff divers, some of whom jump from the trees in return for voluntary donations from holiday makers, are another spectacular attraction.

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Lac Bay is a vast lagoon, protected from the sea by a barrier reef. While the water remains as still as a millpond, stiff breezes make it one of the world's best windsurfing locations. Bonaire has a number of windsurfing schools and children learn to ride the waves at an early age, meaning the island has produced some of the sport's major talents.

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A boy gets a haircut on a porch in the capital Kralendijk. The town consists of several narrow streets and a series of low, pastel-coloured buildings that host a variety of shops, restaurants and bars.

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A fisherman holds aloft a large squid, part of a recent catch. Although the waters surrounding the island teem with fish, including marlin, barracuda, kingfish, mackerel, tuna, sailfish and tarpon, the fishing industry is still comparatively underdeveloped.

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This sheltered pool on Aruba's inaccessible eastern coast is a popular attraction for the few tourists who manage to reach this far. Locally it is called conchi which means shell.

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The old stone California Lighthouse, near the island’s northwestern tip, was built in 1910 after a US ship sunk off the coast and broke in two. The name of the ship was the SS California.

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Wearing swimsuits and pantyhose masks and covered in river mud, "mudmen" from Bonao take part in the La Vega Carnival. Their costume is thought to be inspired by the mud of the nearby Falconbridge gold mine.

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A couple set sail from Fernandez Bay on Cat Island, whose location near the Tropic of Cancer gives it one of the best climates in The Bahamas. Named after the pirate Arthur Catt, the island was the childhood home of actor Sidney Poitier.

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The Renaissance Marina hotel has a unique attraction: its lobby can be reached by boat or watertaxi. It is part of the Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino which boasts its own private 40-acre island with two private beaches – including an adults-only one.

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A shanty town on the banks of the Ozama River, which flows through Santo Domingo and into the Caribbean. Despite the Dominican Republic's prosperity, an unequal distribution of wealth means around a third of the population lives in poverty.

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Jamaica’s first black millionaire George Stiebel built Devon House in the late 19th century. Stiebel was the son of a Jamaican housekeeper and a German Jew, who made his fortune after investing money made from shipping into a successful gold mine in Venezuela. Devon House is one of Montego Bay's most popular sights.

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Santa arrives by boat at an all-inclusive resort near Las Galeras on the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic. All-inclusives have been criticized for distancing visitors from local culture, as well as crippling nearby restaurants and lack of staff tipping.

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Pirates Week is an opportunity for Cayman children to dress up and join in the fun. The islands' original pirates were displaced when the first permanent settlers arrived from Jamaica in the 1730s and started exporting turtles and cotton.

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Mail in the Cayman Islands is sent to a post office box, such as these ones in George Town, and not delivered to addresses. The Cayman Islands is the world's fifth-largest banking center, with some 600 banks and more registered businesses than residents.

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A Diablo Cojuelo from Santiago performs during Santo Domingo’s Carnival. Each town has its own characters and Santiago’s devil is a “lechón” – or “pig” – with the face of a duck. The very long, thin horns show this dancer is a “joyero” from the downtown La Joya district.

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The Cordillera Central range has the three tallest mountains in the West Indies and 18 waterfalls fed by rainfall off the Atlantic. Eco-tourism is fast-growing and the country has 25 percent of its area protected in scientific reserves and 16 national parks.

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A brightly colored mask on the carnival day parade stands out from the crowd. Carnival has been celebrated on the island of Hispaniola since the 1500s, being introduced by the Spanish colonizers who thought it was a good way for slaves to let off steam.

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Reggae singer Robert "Bob" Marley won worldwide fame before his death from cancer in 1981 and remains a Jamaican icon. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine rated him #11 in its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

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Cigar leaf hangs to dry in a tobacconists. Since the 1990s, production of cigars on the island has jumped more than five-fold, a phenomenon referred to by those in the industry on the island as "El Boom".

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Norma's on the Terrace at Devon House is one of the island's most famous restaurants. The late owner/chef Norma Shirley's success was based on local ingredients such as spices, lobster, conch and rum, and choosing scenic settings for her restaurants.

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Workers such as this woodcarver at Nassau Straw Market rely heavily on the tourist trade for their income. There is no income tax in The Bahamas but 12.8 percent of the population still lives below the poverty line.

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Pupils at the St Anna school start each week by hoisting the Aruban flag and singing Aruba Dushi Tera, the national anthem. Based on the Dutch system of education, the island is home to 68 primary schools, 12 secondary and five universities.

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Pirates Week takes place every November in Grand Cayman, offering music, street dance, local food, fireworks and a parade. A highlight is the "pirate invasion" when two shiploads of pirates land in George Town harbor to capture the governor, watched by thousands of spectators.

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Despite its reputation for Rastafarianism (which is based on Christianity), more than 60 per cent of Jamaica's population are Protestants. Another 3 per cent are Catholic – about the same as the number of Rastas – but the biggest Christian sect is the Church of God, with around 22 per cent.

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Contrary to Aruba’s reputation as a party island for American teenagers during Spring Break, it is mainly families who holiday here. The slogan Aruba uses to attract tourists is ”Home away from home.”

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The annual Sand Sculpting Competition on Seven Mile Beach was started by the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands. The gallery has a strong outreach program to encourage various art forms in the community.

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For centuries, Aruba was used as a breeding ground for horses, and there are now many ranches on the island that offer riding holidays.

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Harbour Island is famous for its Pink Sands Beach, which stretches for five kilometers along the Atlantic coast. The color of the sand comes from the pink shells of tiny marine animals called foraminifera that live in the coral reefs.

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The annual Pirates Week Festival sees two sailing ships flying the Jolly Roger stage a mock invasion of George Town. The 11-day event commemorates the time during the late 17th and early 18th century when the three Cayman Islands were a hideout for pirates.

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Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus), such as this one hunting a baitball off Grand Cayman, can reach up to 2.5 meters in length and are considered one of the best saltwater game fish. The baitball is a defensive measure by smaller fish, with the sudden turns and the dazzling effect making it difficult to pick out an individual.

Geographically in the Atlantic, The Bahamas has strong cultural links to the Caribbean. Calypso, reggae and even limbo dancing, practiced here in the tourist hotspot of New Providence, have become part of the Bahamian culture.

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Reggae musician Junior Reid (in blue T-shirt) leads the street party on a Kingston street corner to music from a convertible BMW parked nearby, a few days after a hurricane hit Jamaica. The tradition of street music dates to World War II, when poor people gathered outside those houses with radios to listen to the first Jamaican government wireless broadcasts.

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The Bahamas is a Christian country but some islanders still follow the largely hidden folk religion of "Obeah". Cat Island is said to be the center of this Bahamian version of voodoo, or black magic, brought to the islands by African slaves.

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The statue of Christopher Columbus, who made the island his base for exploring the New World, sits in the center of Santo Domingo, founded in 1498 and the oldest European city in the Americas. The Ciudad Colonial (Colonial Zone) is listed as a World Heritage site by Unesco.

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The island's Governor, Sir Nicholas Lawes, planted the first coffee in Jamaica in 1728 and by 1814 there were 600 coffee plantations. However, the end of slavery saw production plummet because picking the ripe beans, as seen here, is so labor intensive.

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A fishmonger prepares freshly-caught snapper at a roadside food stall at Potter's Cay in Nassau. Seafood, such as lobster and conch, is a staple of the Bahamian diet, which also includes tropical fruits, rice, pigeon peas and pork.

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The Catboats these men are making models of were first developed for turtle fishing in the Cayman Islands, based on earlier American designs. Catboats are wide and make a stable platform for fishing, while their single sail is mounted near the front to keep the deck clear for landing any catch.

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Club Arawak in Williamstown on Little Exuma is a chilled place to knock back a bottle of Bahamian beer. Brewed in Nassau, the best-selling Kalik is named after the sound of the cowbell – a key instrument in the Junkanoo festival.

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Long Island was described by Christopher Columbus as “the most delightful island in the world” when he landed at Cape Santa Maria in 1492. The cape, named after the explorer’s ship, boasts mile upon mile of white, sandy beaches.

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Framed against a spectacular sunset, the Caribbean waves splash up in a fountain of water against the rocky coastline.

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A 1,000-year-old rock drawing of a bird in the Arikok National Park, left by a group of indigenous Arawak indians called the Caiquetios whose last ancestor on Aruba died in 1862. There were some 600 Indians living on Aruba at the time of the Spanish arrival but most were transported as slaves to Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic) to work in the mines, although some were returned in 1526 to work on cutting wood for export.

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Cannabis was introduced to Jamaica in the mid-19th century by East Indian indentured laborers brought in by the British. In the early years of the Rastafarian movement in the 1940s, followers grew cannabis as a cash crop to support themselves while living in the hills around Kingston.

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Salt production on the island may have been a bounty for the Dutch colonial power but its production was manned by slaves brought to the island to work the flats. These slave huts remain on the island – a lasting reminder of the oppression and exploitation that was regarded as normal for many centuries.

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Cigar leafs are carefully hand cut before hand rolling. The artisan nature of cigar making in the Dominican Republic is seeing the industry provide a serious alternative to the Cuban cigars favored by many aficionados.

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A mural advertises Presidente beer – drank "super fria" or seriously cold. The beer has been the number one best selling brew on the island since its introduction in 1935.

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Bonaire's population speaks a variety of languages. Papiamento is the local tongue, while Dutch, Spanish and English are all well used thanks to the island's colonial history.

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Aruba is a wealthy country and the economy attracts many labourers. They are mainly illegal immigrants from poor South American countries such as Colombia. The Colombians occasionally gather at the Rancho Monte Blanco to play music and celebrate their culture.

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Lionfish are venomous, not poisonous, and make excellent eating, being firm enough to be served either raw as sushi, or cooked by frying, grilling or baking. The flesh is also higher in healthy Omega 3 fatty acids than bluefin tuna, grouper or snapper.

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Reggae singer Robert "Bob" Marley won worldwide fame before his death from cancer in 1981 and remains a Jamaican icon. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine rated him #11 in its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

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Iguanas roam Bonaire freely but their numbers are decreasing at an alarming rate and there is a drive towards their preservation. The Iguana Preservation Society has launched a campaign to install Iguana Crossing signs to stop them falling victim to motorists, but has been less successful in addressing another issue leading to their demise: iguana soup is an island delicacy.

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Washington Slagbaai National Park in the northern part of Bonaire was formed by the unification of two colonial plantations and now takes up around one fifth of the island. The park has hills with scenic vistas, salt plains and these "bocas" – rocky inlets around the coastline washed by waves.

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Bonaire covers an area of 294 square kilometres and has a population of around 15,000 who mainly derive their income from tourism. The island caters for those who love water sports: windsurfing and sailing are popular but scuba diving and snorkelling are the main draws. Reefs teaming with brightly coloured fish are easily accessible from the shore.

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Diablo Cojuelo masks are made ready for Carnaval Vegano in La Vega. The "Diablo Cojuelo" or "limping devil" reflects the religious roots of carnival, and his name is said to derive from hurting his leg after falling to earth when banished from heaven.

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To compensate for the island’s lack of colonial architecture and to lend it an historical feel, the Royal Plaza shopping mall was modeled after a Dutch gable house, but its pink color is entirely Caribbean in origin. Tourists benefit from Duty Free shopping on the island meaning bargains can be picked up.

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The blue iguana found only on Grand Cayman was functionally extinct, wiped out by introduced cats, dogs and rats, until a breeding programme brought them back from the brink. There are now 800 iguanas living in two reserves, with a planned goal of 1,000 in the wild.

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Locals hang out, play ping-pong, dance and drink Kaliks at the legendary Vic-Hum Club in Dunmore Town on Harbour Island. A social rendezvous for 60 years, the bar also claims to own the largest coconut ever grown in The Bahamas.

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A young boy wearing a "Kingdom of the Animals" T-shirt holds a bird before a cockfight. Cockfighting is legal in the country and passionately followed. It is a way to make money in a country where 40 per cent live below the poverty line.

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Shadows on the wall of Alcázar de Colón in Santa Domingo's historic Ciudad Colonial. The oldest former viceroy's residence in the Americas, it now houses the Museo Alcázar de Diego Colón which displays important medieval and Renaissance works of art.

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Iguanas control their body temperature by sunbathing on rocks or, more problematically, on roads where the black tar acts as a heat sink. This leaves them vulnerable to passing vehicles and is a major cause of death in reserves where other natural threats have been controlled.

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Though the heyday of stud farms has long been over, traces of Aruba’s equestrian past can still be seen. Guided horse tours of the island offer glimpses into the island’s early days, back when ships on the horizon were not cruise vessels, but fresh shipments of horses seized from the Spanish.

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A group of local women show off some merengue moves on the beach during the Holy Week break at Las Terrenas. With 1,300km of coastline, the country has more than 300km of beach, which are all traditionally public, although some hotels do control access.

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Horse-riding along Pink Sands Beach is popular with tourists on Harbour Island. The Bahamas was once home to wild horses on the neighboring island of Great Abaco but the herd became extinct in the summer of 2015.

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The town of San Nicolas is home to the people working at the Valero oil refinery. Its most important tourist attraction is the legendary Charlie’s Bar, founded in 1941 by Charlie Brouns, the grandfather of today’s owner. It was originally a safe haven for sailors, workers, hookers and soldiers on leave. Nowadays, cruise passengers pop in for the giant prawns or a steak.

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The Spanish language is becoming very important on Aruba and speakers of it are currently the quickest growing population group on the island. Although Dutch is the official language of the island, English is also taught to all children in schools from 4th grade.

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The Honor Guard relax before the Independence Day Parade in Santa Domingo. The parade, held on February 27, celebrates independence from Haiti in 1844, even though there was a brief return to Spanish rule until 1865.

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Although the cultivation, sale and consumption of marijuana is illegal in Jamaica, cannabis is sold and used openly. Pressure from international bodies keep the laws in place despite pressure from Rastafarians who consider smoking weed part of their religion.

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Men play chess in the Zona Colonial, Santo Domingo. The country has made attempts at world records for simultaneous chess matches but dominoes is actually the national pastime. Games involve much noise to disguise secret strategy signals.

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Boka Slagbaai is an inlet that is part of Washington Slagbaai National Park. One of the island's best dive and snorkel sites, it is home to an old harbour, a restaurant and picnic sites. Today you are likely to see people cliff jumping but many years ago, goats were slaughtered here and salted inside the colonial building before being shipped to Curaçao.

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At Rancho Daimari, a horse is brought back to the stable after a late afternoon ride. Aruba was almost completely deserted in the colonial era when the Dutch West India Company forbade immigrants and adventurers from settling on the island. For centuries, it was used as a breeding ground for horses, and there are now many ranches on the island that offer riding holidays.

Centuries-old herbal remedies passed down by descendants of African slaves are dispensed by Jamaican "bush doctors" such as this one. They have no shortage of patients in a country where there are only 13 doctors for every 10,000 people, while the government has expressed interest in researching some of the 300 varieties of medicinal plants found on the island.

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The Cayman Turtle Farm, where this woman is holding a green sea turtle, was set up to ease pressure on the species which had been nearly wiped out by fishing. When Christopher Columbus first saw the islands in 1503, he called them "Las Tortugas" because of the number of turtles he saw around the coast.

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Santa approaches a beach at an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic. The Christmas holiday is celebrated for an elongated period on the island, beginning some time at the end of October and running through until early January.

Negril's "Seven-Mile" beach is often rated as one of the World's top ten beaches and a number of resorts hold nightly beach parties on it in rotation. At weekends, local people come to enjoy the beach and the parties turn into all-night affairs.

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Captain Herman's East Side Fish Fry is a popular Grand Cayman restaurant, specializing in the local favorite of fried fish. Snapper, mahimahi, grouper, tuna and wahoo top the menu when available but such fish fry huts will also serve goat and Latin American staples such as chicharron – deep-fried pork cracklings.

All Appleton Estate Jamaica rum is produced on the estate giving it a unique character and flavor. It exports more than 1million cases every year and its top five markets are Mexico, Canada, the USA, the UK and Peru.

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Thanks to the shallow, warm water and stiff Trade Winds Bonaire has ideal conditions for both wind- and kite-surfing and attracts people from all over the world to take part in the sports. The consistency of the winds on the island, helped by its boomerang shap, means there are no surprise gusts to challenge beginners while the more experienced can perform jumps and spinning moves as seen here.

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Large parts of the island are uninhabited. Aruba’s semi-arid climate has created a unique eco-system in which local plants have developed the ability to flourish under drought-like conditions.

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Good bartenders are not only capable of mixing drinks, they also know how to impress and entertain their guests. The most talented practise their skills to enter the annual bartending competition.

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There are more than 350 species of fish and sixty species of coral living in Bonaire's reef.

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Handwoven baskets, mats and hats are sold as tourist souvenirs at the bustling Nassau Straw Market. Straw-work is one of the country’s oldest industries and each island has its own distinctive plaiting or braiding style.

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US diver Nick Mevoli relaxes by "walking" up a dive-line while preparing for a US Men's national record dive of 91 meters during the annual Deja Blue international freediving competition in Cayman. The clear water has made it a home of freediving, where no breathing apparatus is used and retired Cayman diver Tanya Streeter still holds a women's world record of 160 meters.

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A member of staff prepares to clean rooms in an all-inclusive hotel near the village of Las Terrenas, on the Samaná peninsula. The country has more than 65,000 hotel rooms that house some 4million tourists a year.

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A Junkanoo performer beats a drum in Parliament Square, whose pink buildings are typical of Nassau’s colonial architecture. Built by the British Loyalists in 1815, the square includes a statue of Queen Victoria in front of the Senate building.

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Women pose with a soldier during the Independence Day Parade in Santo Domingo. The Spanish-speaking country still shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, its poorer, French-speaking neighbor.

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The "Diablo Cojuelo" or "limping devil" reflects the religious roots of carnival, and his name is said to derive from hurting his leg after falling to earth when banished from heaven.

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Green turtles (Chelonia mydas), such as this one swimming off Little Cayman, are unique among sea turtles in that they are almost exclusively herbivores, only eating seagrass, algae and other plants. The resulting greenish tint to their body fat is what gives them their name.

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The Dominican Republic’s annual carnival – as well as a religious pre-Lenten festival – is also a celebration of independence from Haiti on 27 February 1844.

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A young boy takes a jump into one of the Dominican Republic's lakes.

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Although Aruba’s famous natural bridge collapsed a number of years ago, the ocean battered volcanic rock on the eastern shore still offers other spectacular caves and arcs.

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The ex-USS Kittiwake was a Submarine Rescue vessel (ASR-13), which was sunk at the northern end of Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman, as an artificial reef for divers. All hazardous materials, including pcbs, cabling, oils and lubricants, were removed to ensure she is possibly the world's cleanest wreck.

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Among Jamaica's population of almost 3million, some 91.2 per cent identity themselves as black, with another 6.2 per cent being of mixed race. As many as 1.5million slaves were imported from Africa for the sugar plantations, with a third dying within three years due to the harsh conditions.

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Recent studies show the average Dominican has 70 per cent being DNA of African origin. However, only 10 per cent of the country’s ten million people describe themselves as black – a legacy of lingering tensions with neighboring Haiti.

Six million tourists visit The Bahamas each year with over 70 percent arriving on cruise ships, including these passengers on MS Maasdam. Tourism is the mainstay of the economy, providing jobs for nearly 50 percent of the 384,000 population.

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Batabano Carnival, held every May, takes its name from the distinctive tracks left by turtles when they nest on beaches – a reason to celebrate when islanders still depended on the eggs for a living. The Carnival is based around a parade, with soca music and costumed dancers, and the money raised by the sale of T-shirts and other merchandise goes to help local charities.

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Traffic cops such as this woman on the 10,000-strong Jamaica Constabulary Force have a difficult task on an island where road crashes remain the second leading cause of violent death. Jamaica has recorded more than 300 traffic deaths every year for the last decade.

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Aruba’s weather can be classified as sunny and warm. With a low average annual rainfall, the island displays typical semi-desert characteristics and there is very little difference between summer and winter, night and day. While the average daily temperature hovers around 27˚C, the trade winds offer welcome relief.

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Dancing merengue in the street. Merengue was made the national dance in the 1930s by dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, who modeled it on the waltz as part of an effort to make his country seem more European.

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After dark, Fort Zoutman – the oldest building on the island from 1798 – transforms into a stage for folk dancing and traditional music. Given the young history of the settlement, many of its traditions were borrowed from neighboring countries such as Venezuela and Curaçao.

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As the sun sets, tourists watch a catamaran on the Caribbean Sea. Tourism is the country's lifeblood, accounting for three quarters of GDP with the biggest markets coming from the USA with more than half a million visitors and Venezuela with 100,000.

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A bird is sprayed with water to aggravate it before a fight. The cocks have sharp resin spurs attached to their legs so they do more damage to their opponent. Winning birds are treated like members of the family – some say even better.

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Cutting sugarcane is a back-breaking task in difficult conditions and workers are paid daily by the weight they harvest. The sugar Industry is the largest employer in the island, and generates the third largest foreign exchange earnings after tourism and bauxite exports.

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The Jamaica Defence Force combines an Army, Air Wing and Coast Guard into a force of around 2,500 personnel. They play a major role on ceremonial occasions, as seen here, wearing a uniform with its roots in the red coats of the British Army.

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While eating lionfish is not going to stop them, putting them on menus is part of the efforts to slow down their invasion until nature finds a way to deal with them. They have reduced native fish populations in the Gulf of Mexico by nearly 70 per cent and more than 70 different other fish species have been found in their stomachs.

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Friday night is party night in Aruba and the fun is concentrated in a handful of venues in downtown Oranjestad. To set the mood, the staff at a beachside bar mingle with the crowd and siphon tequila.

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Bahamians come to buy fruit, vegetables and seafood at Potter’s Cay in Nassau, where these men are playing cards at a roadside food stall. Tucked away under the Paradise Island Bridge, this lively market is often missed by tourists.

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The Black Pearl Skate and Surf Park on Grand Cayman has an artificial wave machine as well as being the largest skate park in the Western Hemisphere. Cayman's inshore reefs, particularly those on the windward side, makes surfing only possible in a few places and very dependent on conditions.

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Dutch National Remembrance Day is still celebrated on May 4. At the police station in the capital Kralendijk, the flag is hoisted to halfmast at 6pm. The service is in commemoration of all civilians and members of the armed forces who died in battle or on peacekeeping missions since World War II .