pril's the month when we celebrate the end of the annual gouging—oops, we mean high season for Caribbean resorts. As we understand this process, sometime about the middle of April, various hotel accountants look at the reservation log and go into a panic as they discover that most of their rooms are empty until Christmas. So they slash their rates by 30 percent or more, in hope of luring a few travelers who don't mind a Caribbean vacation even when it's not snowing at home. In addition to lowering the rack rates, low season also brings special packages. If you're not picky and are willing to snoop around, you can find some great deals.

We won't get into packages or airfare specials here (the vagaries defy description), but we checked around and discovered a few low season discounts that are particularly worth heralding. La Samanna (800-854-2252) on St. Martin charges a whopping $715 a night for rooms in high season (just about the highest single price for a standard room in the region that we know of); in low season that room sells for $380 a night, a savings of 47 percent. Still too high? Little Dix Bay (888-767-3966) on Virgin Gorda gets $550 for standard rooms in winter—the same room is about to drop to $275, a 1/2 off sale if we ever saw one. A little closer to earth? How about the Hyatt Dorado Beach (800-554-9288) in Puerto Rico, where rates go from $395 a night to $175 this month—a break of 56 percent. And if you want our favorite off-season steal, look to Anguilla, where the smartly simple Carimar Beach Club (800-235-8667) slashes high season rates of $320 a night to a bargain $140, savings of 56 percent for a pleasant room located right on one of the most beautiful beaches in all the islands, Meads Bay.

kay, unless you're scoring a big refund from the IRS in the near future, we know the last thing you probably want to be reminded of at this time of year is filing income taxes. But we stumbled across a humorous story relating to the election for prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. On March 18, Ralph Gonsalves, leader of the leftist opposition Unity Labour Party, promised voters attending an election rally that if he won the seat, he would extend the deadline for filing tax returns. "I will give you a month extra to put your affairs in order," he announced. In fact, on March 28, Gonsalves' party won 12 of the 15 parliamentary seats, giving the former lawyer a landslide win, perhaps proving that a little breather on one's tax affairs is really worth something, politically speaking. The party Gonsalves unseats is the New Democratic Party, lead by James (Son) Mitchell, which has had 16 years of unbroken rule in the island nation. Since Mitchell and his family have numerous business interests in these parts, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out in coming months.

e have airline news, but the report is not all favorable. Let's lead with the good news: American Eagle announced plans to start service to the tiny Grenadine island of Canouan on May 17. Service will not be daily—four times a week between San Juan and Canouan, twice a week between Canouan and Barbados— but this should be sufficient to feed a wealth of customers into the giant not-so-new-anymore (2 year old) Canouan resort, Carenage Bay, now managed by Rosewood Hotels and Resorts (the folks behind Little Dix and Caneel Bay resorts).

The flip side is that EC Xpress, the year-old, Barbados-based offshoot of Air Jamaica, has suspended operations, effective March 31. We never got a chance to try the services of this commuter airline that island-hopped in the eastern Caribbean, and we lament the notion that the sudden drop in inter-island service, coupled with the growing disarray at LIAT may mean higher prices between many of these smaller islands.

Saddest of all is the little covered (in the U.S.) crash of an Air Caraibes Twin Otter on St. Barts. All 17 passengers, 2 crew members and 1 person on the ground were killed in the accident, which occurred March 24. Perhaps because only one American was among the dead did the story receive so little publicity. The runway for this island is unusually short—just 2,000 feet— and pilots have to undergo special training to receive permission to land here. However, the incident appears to have been caused by something that transpired in the air, at least a half-mile before landing, the plane crashed into a residence in the neighborhood between Public and Corossol. Amazingly, local officials say there has never been a death associated with the puny airport, but that doesn't stop many incoming visitors from crossing their fingers as they approach the runway. But for those planning trips to the isle of chic and wanting an alternative to the hair-raising approach by air, note that it is possible to ferry over to St. Barts from St. Maarten, in the morning and afternoon. Details are found in the 2000 edition of R&R.

peaking of Rosewood, you've heard us report twice before on the upcoming opening of their new resort, Martineau Bay, on the island of Vieques, off Puerto Rico. The much-delayed debut has been postponed from fall 1999, to early 2000, to fall 2000, to some time in 2001. We hear that, through it all, the resort has been close to 95% completed. Well, wish we could say, "third time's the charm," but the company continues to dance around the Martineau topic and it seems very possible that the resort may not open under the Rosewood banner.

e've also chatted with you about the U.S. Navy's use of Vieques as a bombing range. The islanders and most in Puerto Rico are greatly opposed to continuing use of the island for military practice exercises; a security guard was killed in 1999 during a bungled bombing run. It turns out that the military is aware that they may soon be driven out of Vieques, and the Navy has been quietly exploring other options in the region. Still, it came as quite a surprise to hear that the government of St. Kitts-Nevis has thrown its hat into the ring for consideration. Whaaat? Yes, you read correctly: Prime Minister Denzil Douglas announced he is considering the idea and wants to evaluate what the potential benefits might be for turning part of the island nation into a bombing range. One probable gain for St. Kitts-Nevis would be some muscle to assist with fighting regional drug trafficking. Not announced is where the exercises might take place, but we have a sneaking suspicion it could be the beautiful, virtually undeveloped southeast peninsula of St. Kitts. Marriott is said to be interested in a beach resort development here. Wonder what they would think of these neighbors?

ow, due to an editorial gaffe, a brief mention of our last stop on a trek through the USVIs was inadvertently omitted in the March newsletter. Alas, that's the kind of fate that seems to befall St. Croix as a matter of course when it comes to drawing visitors to its pretty shores. This is an island that is far less developed for tourism than St. Thomas (1,000 hotel rooms compared to 4,000 for starters), yet it has plenty to offer, including somewhat lower hotel rates. Unfortunately, although we stated in the last edition of R&R that many of the same shops on St. Thomas were found here as well, that's not really the case anymore—Little Switzerland and others have closed their doors for lack of business. There are still good values to be found, particularly with locally designed jewelry (the Crucian hook bracelet is as popular as ever - we still get compliments on ours regularly).

One St. Croix attraction that we took in on our recent visit was the Cane Bay Wall, an undersea feature that parallels the north coast (on the island's western half, anyway). The wall is accessible from shore, and a short swim takes you to the lip of the cliff, which then plunges thousands of feet into the blue spectacular. We were taken out by the dive shop located at the pleasant resort Waves at Cane Bay (800-545-0603; rates are PRICEY), which also has one of the island's better restaurants, located at the edge of crashing surf. Lovely.

A new hotel had opened—or rather, reopened—since our last trip to St. Croix. The Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino lies on the grounds of an old Divi property that was all but flattened by Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Surely one reason the rebuilding took a decade was the fact that the location— near the island's remote east tip—is isolated from town, restaurants and shopping (a full 30 minute drive back to Christiansted). But the hotel finally reopened last summer, and the USVI's first casino was added, in a garish building that looks as Vegas as they come. The 126 guestrooms are trendy-chic—the fun décor will be dated in a few years. There's a good beach with water sports, tennis, and an attractive pool area; two restaurants are on the property (but, again, any other dining is going to be a 10- to 30-minute drive away). The casino is sleek, and above-average, as these things come in the Caribbean, but it's discouraging to see that the only people using it are island residents. Rates are VERY PRICEY, but watch for off-season deals (800-554-2008).

See you in May!