Eco-Friendly Travel Binoculars

With global warming and the state of the environment becoming more and more important, people are looking for more and more ways they can do their bit to help. We have already seen many environmentally aware holidays and greener ways of travelling become more and more popular. But what about some of the equipment that you take with you on holiday?

If you are looking for a great compact pair of binoculars that make it easy for you to carry in your luggage and are ideal for wildlife observation and more than hold their own as bird watching binoculars and great for all types of sporting events, why not also get a pair that have been manufactured with the environment in mind.

The 10x25 Nikon Ecobins Binoculars

Compact and lightweight, with some excellent quality optics, these binoculars also have been manufactured using lead and arsenic-free Eco-Glass, a non-chloride rubber body uses no harmful inks or dyes.

They also come in environmentally friendly packaging that is produced from sustainable Eucalyptus forests and manufactured with minimal waste and have a travel binocular case that is 100% all-natural Lenzing TENCEL® fiber.

Interested?
Take a look at this full in-depth review of the Nikon 10x25 Ecobins Binoculars as well as some more information on Nikon Optics: Nikon Scopes & Binoculars

Free Beach Holidays in Mexico...

... if you get Swine Flu!

There is always a catch isn't there!

Talum Mayan Ruins
Originally uploaded by FerencSeitz

The Beach in Talum in the Yucatan Peninsula Mexico has been named as one of the world’s most beautiful beaches but even this is not helping as the outbreak of the H1N1 virus is driving tourists away from Mexico's top beach holiday locations.

There have been reports that occupancy in some hotels dropped more than 50 percent at the end of April and beginning of May and since the outbreak of swine flu 25 hotels in the Cancun area have closed down and that the tourism drop may cost Mexico around $2.3 billion in lost income.

In response to this, some of the hotels in the resort areas along Mexico's Caribbean coast have announced free vacations for three years to any tourist who catches swine flu while on holiday in the region. According to Mexico's Health Minister, Jose Angel Cordova: Mexican beach resorts, including Cozumel and Puerto Vallarta have not had any reported cases of the virus.

So far there are over five thousand hotel rooms that are involved in the promotion which is hoped to bring a little life back to Mexico's beach resorts.

For more check out this post on the Beach Holiday Guide: Free Holidays in Mexico if you get Swine Flue

Ferry to Spain, for a Family Holiday in France?

Yes the heading is right, I think that catching one of the Ferries to Spain could make for a fantastic family holiday in the South of France.

The Spanish ferry leaves from Portsmouth and takes 2 nights to get to Bilbao on Spain's northwestern coast. From here it is a very scenic two hour drive along the pretty Spanish coast and then up and over the Pyrenees mountains.

Sure it does cost more than the many cheap ferry crossings to France (Dover to Calais or Dunkirk), but in this way you get two nights to relax on the ferry, with all it's restaurants, live entertainment, casinos, saunas, beauty salon and gym, instead of the ten hour drive down the length of France. You must also remember that you are also saving on the fuel and toll road costs this way.
Why not fly to France?
I am not going to knock flying to hard as I use it often, but that is just the point, we travel so much by air these days, it is no longer exciting and more of a chore, something to get out of the way. I feel that doing something a little different, like catich the ferry can make it part of your holiday. If you do fly, you will also then have to hire a car in France, where as by using the ferry, your holiday starts from the moment you lock your front door.

To read more about our proposed trip to the South of France read the Beach Holiday Blog post on the
Ferry crossing to Spain

Prague City Breaks

I have recently returned from a fantastic long weekend city break in Prague, where the spring weather was simply glorious and I would highly recommend a visit before it gets too hot and the city gets too crowded with tourists.

Prague Weather
Because Prague sits in the middle of Europe, it has an almost Mediterranean climate, with cold winters. Prague tends to get really hot winters and short very cold winters. This means that probably the best time for a city break to Prague is in the spring or autumn.

Flights To Prague
The flying time for us from London Gatwick airport was only 1 hour 40 minutes, with our outward flight leaving very early on Saturday morning and returning on Monday Afternoon, meant that we had plenty of time to explore the city.

Prague Holidays
Our hotel (actually a floating hotel – Botel Racek) was located just outside of the city centre on the river, it was a very simple tram journey into the main tourist part of Prague, but we decided to walk in most of the time as the walk along the river was fantastic.

I am not usually a city break type of person, but I must say that Prague, like a few other smaller European cities (Amsterdam & Edinburgh) are fantastic to visit, you can walk them without feeling too overwhelmed and the river, whilst not only beautiful with it's bridges, makes for a fantastic point of reference making the city really simple to navigate.

So to sum up, I highly recommend a visit to Prague, it makes the ideal long weekend city break location as it is a fantastically beautiful city with something pretty much for everyone: River boat cruises, castles, cathedrals, beautiful parks, restaurants, cafes pubs, museums and more.

For more information check out this page on Prague City Breaks

Beaches in Malta: Ghajn Tuffieha Bay and Golden Bay

Two of my favourite beaches in Malta are Golden Bay and Ghajn Tuffieha Bay, they both sit next to each other and are only walking distance apart. They are situated on the Western part of Malta, with Golden bay having most of the facilities, like places to eat and toilets and the large 5 star Radisson Golden Sands Hotel and thus this beach gets much more populated especially in mid summer. You can hire all sorts of equipment for watersports from this beach and there is a diving school also located on site.

If you are looking for an un-crowded beach, somewhere to get a little peace and quiet Ghajn Tuffieha Bay may be just what you are looking for, this beach is also great for snorkeling. Because Ghajn Tuffieha Bay does not have any facilities, it tends to be much quieter and though it cannot be described as a nude beach, I have seen nudists at the far end of the beach before. If that is not your thing, you can easily stay away from that area and you would probably not even notice them.

You have to climb over 100 steps or you can choose to climb down hillside paths to get to Ghajn Tuffieha bay and so would not be suitable for anyone who has dificulty in climbing. To get to Golden Bay and Ghajn Tuffieha Bay you can take the bus Route 47 from Valletta or alternatively route 652 from Sliema.

Jumeriah Beach in Dubai

Dubai (2008) 10
Originally uploaded by Martin O'Connell

Dubai is a fantastic winter holiday location, with tons of shopping, loads of world class golf courses and stunning beaches.

This post is however all about what is acceptable for you to wear on the beaches in Dubai

I often get asked if it is ok to wear a bikini on the beaches in Dubi. I think wearing a bikini on the private hotel beaches like the Jumeirah Beach Hotel located near Jumeriah Beach is fine and you will not offend anyone. The photo of this post is actually of a couple on Jumeirah Beach and as you can see she is definitely wearing a bikini. I would say though it would probably be inadvisable to go topless in Dubai, save that for your beach holidays to Spain and Portugal!

Topless Beaches in Malta

P'tit cul maltais
Originally uploaded by jdlechere

I have had a number of people asking me if the beaches in Malta are topless, or indeed if there are any nude beaches in Malta.

From the research that I have done, I think officially public nudity is illegal in Malta, but having said that I have seen some people go nude on some remote beaches like Gnejna Bay.

As for topless sunbathing, most people turn a blind eye to topless bathing, but again it tends to be done at the more remote beaches of Malta and Gozo.

So to answer your question, I would say that it is ok, as long as you don't wander the streets or go into the bars topless! For me though this is definitely not a reason not to visit Malta and it's wonderful beaches.