t. Eustatius is the kind of island that seduces us almost instantly upon arrival with its backwater charm and bucolic intimacy. Then, like a “wham-bam-thank-you-mam” (or mister), we're ready to move on. It's not that Statia (as it is most commonly called) doesn't have appeal – it's just that, after a few hours of exploration, genuine allure is in short supply. We also long for a really dynamite place to overnight to ameliorate the situation. Tourists are few, though another kind of visitor is present this year – more on that in a moment.

Statia is not your normal Caribbean destination. There are no resorts or typical touristo sights, there is little in the way of nightlife, and no casinos or shopping. Although Statia Terminals – the island's massive oil-trans-shipping facility – might offer an interesting industrial tour, the terminal is strictly off-limits to visitors. There are just a couple beaches, but the most beautiful, Zeelandia, is too rough for swimming and beach walks are now a disappointment due to illegal sand mining that the government turns a blind eye toward. The other is black-sand Oranje Beach, but hurricanes have left it quite a bit smaller today than it once was. There are a few things that have occupied our time on previous visits: the hike to The Quill, the gently sculpted, 2,000-foot-high volcano; a stroll through the local history museum; a snorkel or dive through the wreck-strewn waters off the west coast. But since you can do all of that in one day, a day-trip from nearby St. Maarten has been the more logical way to experience Statia, particularly since this dusty, scrubby island has traditionally lacked good places to overnight.

Fortunately, progress has been made on that last point. For our visit in July, we stayed at the newly restored Old Gin House, a one-time cotton refinery converted to inn. The death of one of the owners in 1995 caused the hotel to go into disrepair and eventually it closed for several years. But the 18-room inn is now owned by Holland House in St. Maarten, a group that took it over in 1999 and refurbished the facility with attractive furnishings and amenities like cable TV and air conditioning. They also added four waterfront rooms that are surprisingly well appointed. There's a by-reservation restaurant (we didn't have one, so it didn't open on the night of our visit), and a decent waterfront grill. Service hiccups may be a factor to contend with (they were during our visit), but otherwise this is a place with lots of island character, and easily State's best option. Rates are NOT SO CHEAP; reservations: 800-634-4907.

There are just three other places to stay on St. Eustatius, including the well located but long-in-the-tooth Golden Era, and the familial King's Well, where some rooms have nice views of the coast. Talk of the Town used to be another lodging option, but the facility was recently subjected to a bloodless coup of sorts – it is today inhabited by students from the island's new medical university and the hotel no longer rents rooms to visitors. Yes, just as on neighboring Saba, Med Heads have invaded Statia (the other kind of visitor we mentioned earlier). This means the restaurants are busier at night, and it's easier to find someone on the younger side to sidle up next to at the bar (a plus!). We hope the Statian extremely low-key culture survives the onslaught.

e haven't visited Curaçao for more than a year, but the Dutch island off of Venezuela is undergoing a kind of tourism renaissance. Most notably, Curaçao has worked hard to lure name brand resort chains to the island, lending high-visibility imprimaturs to the destination (the big American chains bring marketing muscle to an island). So, the Sonesta became the Marriott, and the Curaçao Resort became the Sheraton. We just received word that the Jamaica-based SuperClubs chain will be taking over the Princess Beach Resort – at the completion of a $6 million renovation this winter, the 341-room hotel will reopen as Breezes Curaçao, an all-inclusive property. Our opinion of this latest development can be found in those little white bags in the seat pocket in front of you. Reservations: 800-GO-SUPER.

The moving and shaking on Curaçao isn't limited to the renaming of existing hotels. Kura Hulanda is a 65-building village in Willemstad that is home to a superb museum that focuses on the island's history and slavery. A 100-room property has been built here, the Hotel Kura Hulanda, which opens this month. Accommodations are decked out in mahogany and teak furniture, and hand-woven linens imported from India. We don't normally recommend staying in a city setting while on vacation in the Caribbean, but 500-year-old Willemstad is one of the more appealing – a World Heritage Site for its architectural endowment and with plenty of shopping, casinos and dining within walking distance of this locale. Rates are VERY PRICEY; reservations: 888-660-2225.

he hallowed pages of the New York Times informs us that in 2001 the U.S. Treasury Department has stepped up efforts to penalize Americans who have traveled to Cuba. If you've read your R&R carefully, you know it is not actually illegal for Americans to visit the country – freedom to travel is protected under the constitution – but it is against Treasury Department regulations to spend money while on Cuban soil, effectively barring Americans from legally traveling within the country. So, most of the estimated 40,000 to 50,000 Americans who visited Cuba last year entered through Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas or Jamaica, rather than via the scheduled charter flights that operate out of Miami, New York and Los Angeles, and avoided having their passports stamped by Cuban officials.

Visiting the Communist country has become a dicey proposition – apparently American officials are covertly watching passengers deplaning from Cuban flights in the Bahamas and elsewhere (is it Big Brother or the continued and annoying influence of some Miami Cubans – remember the Presidential Election 2000 “massacre” in Florida). The numbers tell the story. During the year 2000, the Treasury Department sent 188 letters requesting Americans to detail the amount of money they spent while in Cuba (the penalties are usually $7,500, though fines can go as high as $55,000). In the 10 weeks ending July 18, 2001 the department sent 443 letters, a dramatic increase. What's the difference between last year and this? Look no farther than the White House for your answer. And we may not have seen the worst of this newfound zeal – it wasn't until July that President Bush announced his crackdown on travel to Cuba, with increased resources devoted to the ban (Bush counts Cuban-Americans -and brother Jeb - as part of his political base, which you can never have too much of in the state of Florida). The Times advises us that, according to a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Treasury Department will often accept a payment of between $700 and $2,500 to settle a case. One may also request a hearing to protest any fine – not a bad idea since the agency has not actually held such a hearing in 10 years. Additionally, Representative Ron Paul of Texas introduced a bill in Congress that would end travel restrictions for Americans visiting Cuba – this isn't the first such attempt to pass legislation, but it may be the one that finally sails through for approval. Still, although the influence of the USSR is all but gone in Cuba, travel to the island may be an increasingly risky game of Russian Roulette. Since it's difficult to know just how many chambers of this gun are loaded for now, proceed with caution.

few quick notes… Air Jamaica has instituted the novel idea of beachside check-in. Guests departing on the airline from one of at least 15 Jamaican properties can check in for their flight at the resort, and then return to the beach for a few extra minutes of relaxing. OK, this isn't a totally original idea – the Four Seasons Nevis and Casa de Campo in the D.R. are other places we recall seeing flight check-in at the resort – but this is a step in the right direction that we'd like to see other airlines emulate…American Eagle, the commuter division of American Airlines that provides extensive island service out of San Juan, was added to the Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report this year. The little carrier did not fair well during the six-month period ending in June, 2001. For instance, for on-time arrivals, American Eagle ranked either number 11 or 12 each month out of the 12 airlines reporting. It ranked at the bottom of the heap for flight cancellations (5.7 percent canceled, compared to an industry average of 3.0 percent). It had the highest number of lost baggage incidents (6.25 reports per 1,000 passengers, compared to an average of 4.67). And American Eagle had the highest incident of involuntary denied boarding claims (3.97 per 10,000 passengers, compared to the industry average of 0.86). Doesn't the Caribbean deserve a better dominant airline than this one?

ou'd think a member of the world's most technologically advanced nation would be among the first to embrace the internet – right? Wrong, but at least they've finally taken a big leap into the present. Although virtually every other Caribbean destination has long had its own “official” Web site for tourism, the US Virgin Islands Department of Tourism finally debuted its long-promised interactive site (promised for so long, in fact, that the two-year-old edition of Rum & Reggae's Caribbean 2000 lists the site, despite its not being up-and-running at time of publication!). Oops! Fortunately, it was worth waiting for – if you're the type that stays up at night worrying about such things. Check it out for yourself at www.usvi.net.

ollowing our St. Eustatius visit last month, we skipped over to Saba – full details will be found in our October Caribbean Newsletter.