Asked to sum up this uncommon Caribbean adventure, Jesus Sanchez laughs: “The Watersports Platform gets plenty of use!” Jesus hails from the region, so he knows of which he speaks — and he raves about the “paradisiacal” waters of Costa Maya, ideal for snorkeling and sailing; as well as his favorite SCUBA sites off Cozumel, which he calls “the diving paradise of the Mexican Caribbean.” Windstar guests can troll for prize marlin and tuna on a catch-and-release deep-sea fishing trip off Roatan, and make fast friends with pufferfish and sea turtles on tiny Isla San Andres, part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that is only accessible by small ships like Wind Surf.
 
Yet there is more to this 8-day cruise than chalk-white beaches and rainbow-hued corals of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, second in size only to Australia’s Great Barrier. You also will uncover Mayan temples hidden within the rainforest at Chaccoben and Lamanai; see shimmering waterfalls while floating the Cave Branch River in Belize; and travel through the jungle to meet the Ngobe-Buglé people in Bocas del Toro and Embera Indians near Colón, two of Panama’s many indigenous communities that Jesus says are “as warm and welcoming as the Caribbean sun.”