Area Daily: La Isla de la Juventud, Cuba

Ahoy, matey! Cuba’s second largest island – and the inspiration behind the pirate accounts in Peter Pan and Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic, Treasure Island – draws its historical roots from its swashbuckling counterparts.

The hideout for pirates like Francis Drake, John Hawkins and Thomas Baskerville, La Isla de la Juventud is a Caribbean destination that’s off-the-beaten-track and a top destination for snorkelling.

Just be aware: there are few amenities here. Hotels and dining are basic. But if you love scuba diving - this is some of the best in the world.

How to Get There: Just getting to Isla de la Juventud is a bit of an adventure. Cubana Airlines has flights from Havana 3-4 times a day and boats depart daily from Surgidero de Batabanó.

What to Do: Scuba diving is the main attraction. When you’re not diving, there’s sunning, swimming, excursions to the black-sand beaches on the northern coast or just enjoying the unhurried way of life and unspoiled surroundings.

Don’t Miss: The cave paintings at Punta del Este. Described as the "Sistine Chapel of Caribbean Rupestrian Art", one cave contains more than 200 aboriginal pictographs. And if you’re a history buff, the former Presidio Modelo, now a museum, is where Fidel Castro was imprisoned after the failed 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks. After the triumph of the revolution, the same facility was used to imprison counterrevolutionaries.