Star Collector: Mayan Monuments & Alaskan Glaciers

The tropical city of Puerto Caldera is located in the Esparza Puntarenas Province on Costa Rica's western coast. The province has close proximity to many of Puntarenas’s major tourist attractions and nature reserves, such as Puerto Caldera, which is a great place to parasail. Perfect for the adventure tourist looking for some action, this small port town has some amazing steep cliffs, from which one can take off to see some truly breathtaking views of the country’s Pacific Coast. Read more about Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica

The Curú Wildlife Refuge is a Wildlife refuge of Costa Rica, part of the Tempisque Conservation Area, tropical dry forests on the southern Nicoya Peninsula, near Tambor. Although it is a wildlife refuge it is also private property forming part of a cattle ranch. Read more about Curu, Costa Rica

Playas del Coco is a small beach town in Guanacaste province, on the North Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. It is close to several beaches including Ocotal, Playa Hermosa and Playa Panama. There are buses that travel the roads between Coco and nearby beaches, but they are often crowded, uncomfortable, and crawling with thieves. Read more about Playas Del Coco, Costa Rica

Puerto Chiapas lies on the Pacific coast in southern Mexico. Built in 1975, it has served to promote tourism in this area. It is a small port town that handles the export of agricultural products grown in the region, an area of rich green lowlands and foothills. Read more about Puerto Chiapas, Mexico

Huatulco with its nine bays with 36 beaches - many of which are accessible only by boat - is a tourist development centred on the town La Crucecita in Mexico. With the help of local guides and businesses one can explore the beaches and bays in relative privacy, or dive to see tropical fish and coral. The entire area has a ‘small town’ feel about it and is rarely crowded. Read more about Huatulco, Mexico

Puerto Vallarta is located on the Western Pacific coast of Mexico, and renowned for its beaches and its vibrant centre of art. Surrounded by the impressive mountains of the Sierra Madre and the sparkling waters of Banderas Bay, it is always waiting to offer visitors the very best choices. Initially made popular by Movie stars such as Liz Taylor and others as a great place to have a holiday home, visitors soon followed. Read more about Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Located just two hours south of Vancouver, Canada, the city of Seattle in USA is an international port that boasts three professional sports teams, hundreds of restaurants, a myriad of cultural venues and a lifestyle that is unique to the Pacific Northwest. It is known as Emerald City due to the lush evergreen forests in the area. Well known for its impressive musical history, from jazz to the rock music style of grunge, to this day Seattle hosts a diverse and influential alternative music scene. Read more about Seattle, USA

Vancouver is a sophisticated coastal city located to the south of British Columbia, Canada. The city is linguistically and ethnically diverse as reflected in the fact that 52 percent of its inhabitants do not speak English as their first language. Ranked highly in worldwide ‘liveable city’ rankings for many years and being surrounded by nature’s scenery at its best, makes tourism its second largest industry. Read more about Vancouver, Canada

Kingstown is the chief port of the island of St Vincent and the capital of the St Vincent and the Grenadines island nation in the Southern Caribbean. Often referred to as the ‘City of Arches’, Kingstown is a lively town, and the close proximity of the wharf adds vitality, noise, and colour to the small but busy capital. Arches, cobbled streets, magnificent churches and historic stone buildings blend with the functional and the modern. Read more about Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Misty Fjords National Monument is a region of 928,000 ha along the Inside Passage coast in extreme southeastern Alaska. It lies about 60 km east of Ketchikan, Alaska. Because of the remoteness of the area, most visitors arrive by cruise ship or fly over the monument in tourist aircraft from Ketchikan or Juneau. Read more about Misty Fjords, USA

Wrangell (pop. 2400) is located on the northern tip of Wrangell Island, an island in the Alaska Panhandle. It lies just south of the estuary of the 610 km Stikine River that empties into the Eastern Passage separating Wrangell Island from the mainland. Read more about Wrangell, USA

Sitka, the fourth largest city by population in Alaska, is nestled on the west side of Baranof Island, and is thought to be the most beautiful of SE Alaska cities. The flora and fauna of Sitka and its surrounding area are notable attractions. Residents and visitors alike enjoy fishing, hiking, wildlife viewing, and simply experiencing all this dynamic town has to offer. Read more about Sitka, USA

Tracy Arm is an enormous fjord located 72 km south of Juneau, and lies inside the largest temperate rain forest in the world - the Tongass National Forest of Alaska, USA. Tracy Arm is comprised of Yosemite-like granite rocks, countless waterfalls, glass-smooth water, and mountain peaks rising over 2000m. The ‘arm’ itself penetrates about 40 km into the Alaskan wilderness, bending between near-vertical mountain chasms with numerous waterfalls cascading from spruce and hemlock-forested valleys. Read more about Tracy Arm, USA

Standing out is the scenic beauty of Haines, probably the best of any Alaskan town. It is in the northern part of the Alaska Panhandle, near Glacier Bay National Park. Skagway is 25 km away further along the fjord. Read more about Haines, USA

Built on a narrow shelf between Mt. Juneau and the deep waters of Gastineau Channel, Juneau is Alaska's state capital and a rewarding destination for glacier viewing. Juneau is a blend of fishermen and teachers, legislators and artists, homemakers and lawyers, union workers and frontier entrepreneurs, students and Native elders, all sharing an active port city within an inspiring wilderness setting. Read more about Juneau, USA