TROPIcal paradise

with piglets and other cute animals!

That and more perfect winter getaway destinations for everyone on the East Coast.

Last year an uncountable amount of people packed their bags to go swimming with pigs. Somewhere on some tropical island with pearly white beaches and crystal clear blue water. It was the ’trending getaway’ for the winter of 2014. The online world was bombarded with selfies from gorgeous blogger babes and Insta-it-girls floating around in the ocean surrounded by pigs. To-die-for.

Since winter is well on its way, us New Yorkers are gearing up for our holiday plans. Everyone, seriously everyone, is finding a way to flee the horrid temperatures that are to come for at least a week. And then preferably a location filled with palm trees, coconut cocktails and perhaps a place with cute animals too. And then I don’t mean the typical ‘swimming with dolphins’ kinda vacay. Can we all agree to never ever do that again by the way? Please take a look at the documentary called The Cove and stay the hell away from that rotten industry.

Alright well, that being said, back to the ultimate getaway. Although I pretty much have our tickets booked to go to the island of piglets, I did a bit of research to find similar forms of paradise. And hallelujah, the options are all so attractive. And now I’m stuck with the following dilemma: are we going to swim in the ocean with pigs or are we going to opt for the manatees?

the pigs

Obviously I’m going to start this list off with the beach full of pigs. You can find them on a deserted island close to the Bahamas. For 180 dollars, a boat will take you there to spend a day swimming with these bad boys. How they even got there? That’s a story we’ll never know. And whatever the story may be, this beach is the ultimate dream.

Vieques

This is an island off the coast of Puerto Rico. The only way to get there is by boat or a mini jet. The W Hotel there alone is already some sort of paradise but the coolest part of Vieques is the insanely gorgeous bioluminescent bay. This is, without having to bore you with a bunch of biological terms, the lighting of the sea in the night. Like in the movie and book Life of Pi. It actually exists!

Bathing with a bunch of pink ladies on a private island

I was here last year! On a private island owned by the Renaissance hotel on Aruba, you can find the Caribbean version of the garden of Eden. And the pink flamingo’s that roam around there gives it that extra feeling of wandering around through paradise.

A round of manatees

Believe it or not, this animal is related to the elephant species and weigh about 600 kilos and are the perfect snuggle buddies. However, here you aren’t allowed to cuddle, let alone touch them, but you are able to swim alongside them in the wild. This is possible in the Crystal River in Florida. And if swimming with them frightens you a bit, then you can just admire them from a distance in a canoe.