Latest news with #TheBucketList
Observer
6 days ago
- Health
- Observer
Living to die well: Find freedom the body offers
My patient, stoic and pensive, told me that he'd made it through his last year of work by dreaming of the European cruise he and his wife planned to take the week after he retired. 'I thought I'd paid my dues,' he whispered. 'I was just waiting for the best part of life to finally start.' He rarely took time off and had pushed through nausea and occasional abdominal pain that had worsened during his final months of work. Freedom, he'd thought, lay just beyond the newly visible finish line. But a diagnosis of stomach cancer, which had spread to his liver and lungs, had left him too breathless to walk, too nauseous to endure a boat ride, too weak to dress himself. Instead of living out his dreams, he was living out his death. We live alongside death. It speeds down highways recklessly and blooms clandestinely within our bodies. We have no idea when we will meet death, or how. Living with an awareness of this specific uncertainty can be terrifying, yet I've found that death also shimmers with a singular magnificence: the possibility of living freely. Popular culture would have us believe in cliché bucket lists, which call to mind outlandish activities that defy the physical limitations imposed by illness or the emotional limitations of common sense. Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson skydive in 'The Bucket List", despite terminal lung cancer. Queen Latifah withdraws her life savings and jets to Europe after learning she has weeks to live in 'Last Holiday". Greeting death with the fantasia of daredevil activities or adopting a newly carefree persona is a tempting salve for our fear of that last great unknown. But in my experience, considered reflection on mortality nudges people towards a more complicated version of the ordinary, not novel permutations of extremes. I often hear variations on similar wishes: A daughter wants a small wedding ceremony in the hospital so her dying parent can attend. A brother calls an estranged sister, asking her to visit so that he can say goodbye. I have heard uncommon goals too: wanting to take a long-postponed trip to the Alamo, to write a romance novel, to breed one last litter of puppies and inhale, one final time, the milky sweet of their young fur. These wishes are at their core the same desire, reconciling the differences between the life we have and the one we longed for. While contemplating our deaths can guide us to a place of deep honesty with ourselves, sometimes helping us to live more fully, it also can teach us to inhabit and understand our bodies more fully, too. Death will unravel our bodies in ways we cannot predict. Will we die in a sudden car crash, avoiding the indignities of a physical decline? Or will dementia claim our bodies and minds in an uncertain sequence? Our bodies absorb our lives; terror and joy alike live in our skin. My patient began to cry regularly about the traumas of his youth and losing his loving relationship with his wife. Dying offers the opportunity to face what we have simply accepted as part of our lives — formative events and experiences that we don't challenge or question, but simply accept and accommodate like a messy roommate. But we don't have to wait until we are dying to consider what it means to live freely. For all of us, reconceptualising death as a guide can help us to begin an ongoing conversation with ourselves about who we are and what we'd like our lives to mean. Think about how you spent the last six months. What and who brought you fulfilment and joy? What would you do differently if you could? If those were the last six months of your life, what would your regrets be? These questions, deceptively simple, are as commonplace and ordinary as death itself. Our answers to these questions evolve as our lives unfold. What and who seems to matter the most to you right now may change. If we begin this inquiry before death arrives, we may die as fully as we have lived. Rearranging our waning lives around previously buried desires isn't always practical or possible, emotionally or financially. But even if we cannot upend our existence in the name of slumbering passions, we can find freedom in the life the body offers, paying attention to the burn of grief and the pulse of joy, the intensity of an embrace or the taste of butter on toast. Even as we die, our bodies are capable of more than devolution from illness. Several months after I first met my patient who dreamed of European travel, his wife rushed him to the emergency room, her voice trembling as she described the way his skin glowed yellow seemingly overnight, the ferocity in his voice when he refused to go to the hospital, their daughter's decision to leave school to help care for him. He smiled when I pulled up a chair next to his bed. 'It would have been so nice to see Belgium,' he murmured. 'I could have brought you some really good chocolate.' — The New York Times
ITV News
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- ITV News
'No cap': the slang terms 'kicking the bucket'
Whether you're "keeping it real", having a "glow-up", or "eating and leaving no crumbs' could have a lot to do with how old you are. The British Council, an organisation which promotes and educates on UK culture, claims some older expressions are falling out of fashion as new ones rise in popularity - driven largely by social media and Gen Z. In its report on 100 phrases which show how the English language is changing, they said that whilst classic idioms such as 'kill two birds with one stone' remain widely used, newer phrases are gaining momentum. 'No cap', meaning no lie or I'm serious, was the most popular of the 100 phrases for Gen Z. First used in 2011, the slang term comes from African American English where 'cap' means exaggeration or falsehood and is used across the generations, the study found, but most prominently by Gen Z. Other phrases are being replaced by modern alternatives as younger generations embrace the shift. 'Spill the beans' was first recorded in 1919, the report said, but saw a surge in the 1990s. The British Council says the rise in social media is partly to blame for the rising popularity of similar phrase, "spill the tea" - an idiom popular with gen Z. Some phrases like "step up to the plate" and "below the belt" are frequently used among older generations but could be falling out of fashion as they're rarely seen in internet comment sections which skew to a younger audience. The British Council said the phrase 'bucket list', meaning a list of things to do before you die, was 'practically unheard of' until 2007, when comedy-adventure film The Bucket List was released. It is thought to have come from another idiom: 'to kick the bucket'. The research, led by computational linguistics expert Dr Barbara McGillivray and natural language processing specialist Iacopo Ghinassi, analysed millions of online documents to track when expressions emerge and how their use changes Dr McGillivray said: 'Analysing the frequency and emergence of idioms, proverbs, and phrases, we uncover not only the impact of historical events but also how the digital era shapes the language we use today. The British Council found some idioms appeared to skip a generation, with phrases like "throw in the towel" and "joie de vivre" being popular among older generations and gen Z, but not with millenials. This could show that some idioms are being revived or reinvented among younger speakers, the British Council said. Mark Walker, director of English and exams at the British Council, said: 'This latest study into the evolution of English explores the phrases we use to express shared ideas and experiences – it shows how much English is shaped by people around the world and how it continues to grow and adapt. 'By celebrating the richness of our language, we're not just looking at its past, but also at the future of English. 'Whether for work, study, travel, relationships, or lifelong learning, as the global lingua franca, English is one of the key ways that people connect and engage across cultures.'
The Independent
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Michelle Williams's raunchy terminal illness dramedy Dying for Sex is a joy
TV series adapted from podcasts are in search of one thing: intimacy. It is what the audio format thrives on. A familiarity with the voices whispering in your ear that makes you feel like you are amongst friends or with family. Dying for Sex was just such a podcast: the story, told through its host Nikki Boyer, of her friend Molly Kochan and the existential journey she took after a terminal diagnosis. Now the podcast gets sexed up for the small screen, with Michelle Williams taking the lead role in a charming, warm Disney+ adaptation. Molly's cancer is back. Back, and incurable. 'If you're dying,' her best friend Nikki (Jenny Slate) asks her as she reels from the diagnosis, 'why are you weirdly vibing right now?' If the cancer has turned Molly's life on its head, her subsequent decisions have her spinning like a 90s breakdancer. She leaves her irritating husband Steve (Jay Duplass), putting her care in the hands of Nikki, who she describes as 'a beautiful flake'. Then Molly embarks on a 'sex quest', a voyage through New York City's eligible (and ineligible) men in pursuit of something she has never experienced: a partnered orgasm. Created by Elizabeth Meriwether, the writer behind New Girl, one of the best sitcoms of the 21st century, and Kim Rosenstock, Dying for Sex could easily have been a knockabout raunchfest. The Bucket List with dildos and riding crops and cock cages. But Meriwether keeps her taste for zany oddballs largely in check here. Molly is thoughtful, curious but, ultimately, played rather straight (Williams has one of the great faces, but is not a natural comic actor). Nikki is a conduit for a more chaotic energy, but even she is played closer to the timbre of Lena Dunham's Girls (in which Slate made a fleeting appearance) than the overblown mania of New Girl 's breakout character, memeable fuss-pot Schmidt. This is a project in a lilting minor key, where the comedy plays second fiddle to notes of melancholy. Which isn't to say that Dying for Sex is a weepie either. The necessity for a box of Kleenex is split quite evenly between the two parts of its title. 'There's a whole world out there,' Molly's palliative care nurse Sonya (Esco Jouléy) tells her. 'If you want it.' And so rather than focus on the gruelling regimen of chemo and radiation, Molly's story is told largely through a picaresque series of sexual encounters, which often culminate in stolen moments – sometimes involving sexually degrading commentary; sometimes involving tenderly eating snacks – with her vaguely disgusting unnamed neighbour (Rob Delaney). There's the man who wants to be humiliated for having a small penis (the twist: it's big) or the 25-year-old desperate for her to 'clasp' his balls. Her journey into kink is rendered vividly but palatably: even her human pet, who she pees on, is rather handsome. More Kennel Club than dive bar. With its interest in fetish, Dying for Sex is, in a way, more explicit than many TV shows that have dealt directly with sex in the past. And yet it has a softness that might blunt its edge for some viewers. The comedy, too, is a gentle thing, more often dictated by the situations in which Molly finds herself (such as Steve's arrival at her chemo session with his new girlfriend) than big set-piece yucks (though I did laugh out loud at a joke about Bill de Blasio). It feels like there is an emerging model for American limited series – like Painkiller or The Shrink Next Door – which straddle a line between comedy and drama without fully committing to either. The 30-minute format of Dying for Sex makes it feel like it's in classical sitcom territory, yet it is played with a deep attention to Molly's interiority (she simultaneously narrates the action) and focused on issues, like childhood trauma and mortality, that hit hard. It is credit, then, to Williams's performance, and the lightness of touch that Meriwether brings, that Dying for Sex manages to bottle the intimacy of the podcast form. In spite of its subject matter, it feels soothing, a parasocial balm to the ills of the human condition. It might not be family viewing, but it has a universality. To love, to lose, to fight, to f***: these are the experiences that round out a life. Dying for Sex is, in the end, the ultimate switch: an ode to both taking control and losing it.
USA Today
17-03-2025
- USA Today
These Florida family vacation ideas prove there's something for everyone
These Florida family vacation ideas prove there's something for everyone Show Caption Hide Caption The Bucket List Family gives five tips for traveling with kids The Bucket List Family sold everything to travel around the world. Here are their tips for traveling with children. It's not hard to see why Florida is one of the most popular family vacation spots in the country. Miles of Atlantic and Gulf coastline, world-class beaches, theme parks galore, incredible natural sights – with so much to do, it's no wonder families return to the Sunshine State year after year. I've made Florida my home for 20 years and I still haven't experienced it all, but it has given me the chance to explore beyond the beaches and theme parks when it comes to family vacations. Don't get me wrong: The beaches and theme parks are great. But the truth is that whether you want a Florida beach vacation, a theme park trip, an equestrian escape, a quick city detour before a cruise, or something entirely different, you can find it in Florida. Here are the top 10 destinations I recommend for memorable family vacations for different ages and interests. FUN FOR ALL AGES: 101 fresh new family vacation ideas to make 2025's trip the best you've ever had 1. Anna Maria Island My blood pressure immediately drops whenever I drive onto Anna Maria Island. If you want a Florida beach vacation with a bit of a throwback vibe, this place delivers. The Gulf Coast barrier island took a bit of a beating during the 2024 hurricane season, but its resilient spirit got it on the road to recovery quickly, and it's visitor-ready. Expect to log lots of hours at the beach here, and you can make that time even more relaxing with a setup from AMI Cabanas, which donates a portion of every reservation toward manatee conservation efforts. There are lots of ways to get out on the water, from fishing charters to kayaking tours. And when you're hungry, family-friendly eats can be found all over the island, from all-you-can-eat pancakes at Anna Maria Island Beach Cafe and burgers at Skinny's Place to the made-to-order goodies at The Donut Experiment. ▶ Where to stay: Book one of the two-bedroom suites at Waterline Villas & Marina, Autograph Collection for plenty of room to spread out and a central island location. Or stay steps from the sand at retro-cool Mello on the Beach, which offers one- to three-bedroom rentals with kitchens. 2. St. Augustine Dubbed 'the nation's oldest city,' St. Augustine is a great getaway spot no matter the time of year. During the holidays it's aglow with millions of lights, but it's just as picturesque in other seasons. That's thanks to the Spanish Colonial architecture found throughout the historic downtown, including along Aviles Street, the oldest street in the country. A visit to Castillo de San Marcos National Monument is a must, where you can tour the oldest masonry fortification in the continental U.S. Kids will enjoy learning about the residents of the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, sipping from the Fountain of Youth, and climbing the 219 steps to the top of the St. Augustine Lighthouse. (They must be over 44 inches and able to climb the tower on their own.) If they like spooky stuff, one of the many ghost tours of the Northeast Florida city will be right up their alley. (My teenager still talks about one she took.) And eating lunch at one of the grass huts perched over the water at the Conch House Restaurant is a Florida vacation experience the whole family will remember. ▶ Where to stay: Book a family suite with bunk beds at Embassy Suites by Hilton St. Augustine Beach Oceanfront Resort, and you can easily add some beach time to your experience. Or stay at Hilton St. Augustine Historic Bayfront, which puts you right in the center of the historic downtown. 3. Naples Naples may be known as something of a swanky spot for retirees, but it's also a great place for a family vacation. This Southwest Florida city is home to attractions like the Golisano Children's Museum of Naples (CMON), Shy Wolf Sanctuary, and Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens, which are perfect for kid-friendly outings. There are lots of ways to enjoy and explore the outdoors here, which starts with the area's many picture-perfect Gulf beaches. But make time to experience places like Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and Big Cypress National Preserve, which play a part in the ecosystem of the Everglades. The Nature Center at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida has a touch tank and play zone that's great for little kids, and there are all kinds of boat and paddling tours to get the family out on the water. ▶ Where to stay: LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort offers a prime beachfront location and a regular schedule of family activities like pool games and weekend 'kids' s'mores hour.' Or go all out with a stay at the recently refreshed Ritz-Carlton, Naples, where the Ritz Kids program features nature-focused activities created in partnership with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. 4. Gainesville Gainesville is home to the University of Florida, but it's much more than just Florida Gator Country and a hotbed for college sports. The area has a number of parks and preserves that are definitely worth a visit, like Devil's Millhopper Geological State Park, where you can descend into a sinkhole, and Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, where you might spot wild-roaming bison and horses if you're lucky. The Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention will inspire future inventors and tinkerers, while Kanapaha Botanical Gardens includes a children's garden and the state's largest public display of bamboo. You can see everything from bald eagles to white-throated capuchin monkeys at the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo (the only zoo on a college campus accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and learn about the area's agricultural past at Dudley Farm Historic State Park and Morningside Nature Center. ▶ Where to stay: Gainesville is home to many well-reviewed chain hotels with suite-style accommodations ideal for families, like SpringHill Suites Gainesville, Drury Inn & Suites Gainesville, and Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Gainesville. 5. Miami For big-city vibes to go along with your beach time, head to Miami. There's always a lot going on in this vibrant Southeast Florida metropolis, from sporting events to musical performances. There's also lots of family fun to be found here at spots like Miami Children's Museum and the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, which has both a planetarium and an aquarium. At the Shark Valley entrance to Everglades National Park, you can climb the observation tower for amazing views or walk, bike, or take a tram tour to spot wildlife along a 15-mile loop road. Or you can have wild encounters of a different kind at Zoo Miami or Jungle Island, where you can book visits with lemurs, capybaras, and other creatures. There's almost too much to do in the Miami area, which means the kids should never be bored. ▶ Where to stay: Loews Miami Beach Hotel caters to families with amenities like a kid-sized breakfast buffet and a super-cool kids club featuring activities curated in partnership with the Miami Children's Museum and the Frost Museum of Science. JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa features a seriously fun water park with seven waterslides, a lazy river, and the first-ever FlowRider Triple in the nation. NO SNEAKY FEES: Hands down, these are the very best all-inclusive resorts in Florida for families (updated for 2025) 6. Amelia Island One of my favorite Florida vacation spots, Amelia Island, makes for a relaxed beach vacation with a little bit of Southern charm. Located about 30 minutes from Jacksonville in Northeast Florida, the island's got something for beach lovers, history buffs, and fans of the outdoors. You can stay along the Atlantic Ocean or in downtown Fernandina Beach, and either option is a winner. I recommend a boat tour along the local waterways (which also gives you a peek at Georgia's Cumberland Island), a visit to Fort Clinch State Park overlooking the St. Mary's River, strolling and shopping in downtown Fernandina Beach, and burgers at Tasty's. The interactive 'pirate ship' at the Amelia Island Museum of History was a big hit with my daughter when she was young, as were the mini-golf courses in the area. ▶ Where to stay: Omni Amelia Island Resort & Spa has all the ingredients for a great family vacation, from a setting right on the Atlantic Ocean to amenities like a family pool and splash pad, an on-site nature center and mini-golf course, and multiple kid-friendly restaurants. 7. Orlando No list of Florida vacation ideas is complete without Orlando, the theme park capital of the world. And there will be new thrills to experience when Universal Orlando Resort's Epic Universe opens in May 2025. New things are coming to Walt Disney World Resort and SeaWorld Orlando in 2025, too, to go along with all the old favorites. There's more to Orlando than just theme parks, of course. Pedal a swan boat at Lake Eola Park, get hands-on at Orlando Science Center, or stroll amid the plants and trees at Harry P. Leu Gardens. The city also has lots of cool neighborhoods to explore, like Thornton Park with its historic homes and tree-lined streets and the Mills 50 District that's known for its street art and fabulous food scene. ▶ Where to stay: With close to 500 hotels and resorts in the Orlando area, you have lots of choices. The best bet is to pick a hotel close to where you'll be spending the bulk of your time that fits your budgets and needs. Do you want a hotel with a cool pool area, a budget-friendly option near the theme parks, a hotel with great food, or a property offering residential-style lodging? 8. South Walton Many of the 16 beach neighborhoods in South Walton look right out of a movie. In fact, one was the setting for "The Truman Show." Any of them would make a great home base for a family vacation in this scenic Northwest Florida locale. There are 26 miles of white sand beaches and turquoise water to explore in South Walton, along with four state parks, a state forest, and four snorkel reefs. You'll also want to plan a paddle in the rare coastal dune lakes found here, the only ones outside of New Zealand, Australia, Madagascar, and the Pacific Northwest. The kids will love doing a donut tour of the area, and you can take your beach time to the next level with sandcastle lessons or a custom beach bonfire. ▶ Where to stay: The WaterColor Inn & Resort in Santa Rosa Beach borders one of the area's dune lakes and has a stretch of private beach, a beach club with three pools, and the Camp WaterColor recreational amenity with two more pools, waterslides, and a lazy river. RIGHT ON THE WATER: 10 Florida beach resorts that are all about family fun 9. Florida's Space Coast Just about an hour from Orlando, Florida's Space Coast is a stellar family vacation spot. Literally: It's the home of America's manned space program, and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex provides awe-inspiring ways to learn all about it. If there's a launch taking place during your visit, you'll likely be able to see it from your hotel or other spots around the area. And for more high-flying fun, a visit to the Valiant Air Command Warbird Air Museum delivers. Of course, there's plenty of action on the ground in this region along the Atlantic Ocean on Florida's east coast, which includes places like Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, and cruise ship departure spot Port Canaveral. Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge – one of the last places on Earth astronauts see when they launch into space – offers great bird watching, and the Cocoa Beach Pier is a legendary surf spot. Boat and kayak tours are another way to get out on the water, and you can even kayak through the Brevard Zoo. ▶ Where to stay: Hampton Inn & Suites Cape Canaveral Cruise Port offers free breakfast and a good location for exploring the Space Coast. Best Western Cocoa Beach Hotel & Suites provides easy access to the beach and family suites with kitchenettes. 10. Sebring There was already a lot to like about Sebring, a lakeside locale in Central Florida's Highlands County. 'The City on the Circle' exudes a Stars Hollow type of charm, with a local soda shop and annual soda festival and restaurants like Faded Bistro & Beer Garden, where you can dine under the stars. It's also home to Highlands Hammock State Park, one of the oldest state parks in Florida, where many rare and endemic species can be observed. Sebring International Raceway draws fans of fast cars to the world-famous 12 Hours of Sebring event every year, and Lake Istokpoga is a great place for fishing and airboat rides. And the city recently got a glow-up as the star of season three of HGTV's Home Town Takeover, which debuts in March 2025 and will likely showcase even more reasons to put Sebring on your vacation radar. ▶ Where to stay: Seven Sebring Raceway Hotel offers suites with views of the track's famous hairpin turn, plus amenities like an outdoor pool. Budget-friendly Tru by Hilton Sebring is well-situated for exploring the area and includes free breakfast with your stay. From beaches to theme parks, the best Florida family vacations prove there's something for everyone originally appeared on More from FamilyVacationist: The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. and are owned and operated by Vacationist Media LLC. Using the FamilyVacationist travel recommendation methodology, we review and select family vacation ideas, family vacation spots, all-inclusive family resorts, and classic family vacations for all ages. TourScoop covers guided group tours and tour operators, tour operator reviews, tour itinerary reviews and travel gear recommendations. If you buy an item through a link in our content, we may earn a commission.
USA Today
08-02-2025
- USA Today
Slide into fun at these 10 Caribbean family resorts with the coolest water parks in 2025
Slide into fun at these 10 Caribbean family resorts with the coolest water parks in 2025 Show Caption Hide Caption The Bucket List Family gives five tips for traveling with kids The Bucket List Family sold everything to travel around the world. Here are their tips for traveling with children. Many of these resorts are all-inclusive, covering the cost of water park access. These resorts offer additional amenities like kids' clubs, spas, and dining options. Popular destinations for these resorts include Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, and Jamaica. When it comes to traveling with kids, beach resorts are a no-brainer — even more so if they have a water park and other family-friendly perks. These top-rated Caribbean family resorts offer everything from lazy rivers and splash pads to wave pools and water slides that kids and adults of all ages can enjoy. Plus, many of them are all-inclusive, so there's no extra charge for the water park fun. BEST TRIP EVER: 101 fresh new family vacation ideas for every age and budget 1. Pirates Island Water Park at Beaches Turks and Caicos Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Beaches Turks and Caicos offers a lot for families: more than 20 dining options, 10 pools, and kids' programming that includes Sesame Street parades and character interactions. But the main attraction is the 45,000-square-foot Pirates Island Water Park, which features thrilling waterslides (and pint-sized versions for little ones), a surf simulator, a relaxing lazy river, a splash zone, and even a swim-up bar with slushies and other treats just for kids. In Jamaica, Beaches Negril and Beaches Ocho Rios offer similar water parks. More about Beaches Resorts: 2. CocoLand at Coconut Bay Beach Resort and Spa Vieux Fort, Saint Lucia Coconut Bay Beach Resort and Spa features CocoLand, the largest water park on Saint Lucia. Here you can brave the enclosed Coconut Cannon waterslide, take on the twists and turns of the Coconut Coaster slide, or relax in the lazy river. There's also a water playground for little ones and, just for the kiddos, a swim-up bar with a mocktail menu. Coconut Bay is split into two wings: Harmony for adults and Splash, a dedicated family area with easy access to all the wet-and-wild fun, plus other amenities. BUDGET-FRIENDLY: 11 cheap family vacations that are super fun 3. Aqua Nick at Nickelodeon Hotels and Resorts Punta Cana Punta Cana, Dominican Republic At the all-suite Nickelodeon Hotels and Resorts Punta Cana, a multi-leveled (and newly expanded) water park features slides, pools and lazy rivers, plus interactive games and signature Nickelodeon slimings. The water park is part of a larger entertainment zone called Nickelodeon Place, where your kids can meet the Paw Patrol pups and other favorite characters. For an extra-special stay, splurge on a swim-up room or The Pineapple, a villa inspired by SpongeBob. If you're interested in a trip to Mexico, check out the similar Nickelodeon Hotels and Resorts Riviera Maya. 4. Aquaventure at Atlantis Paradise Island Paradise Island, Bahamas When it comes to Caribbean resorts with water parks, nothing compares to Atlantis Paradise Island and its 141-acre Aquaventure playground. One of the largest water parks in the world, it features the iconic Leap of Faith waterslide, which starts with an almost-vertical drop from the top of the resort's Mayan Temple and sends riders through a submerged tunnel surrounded by marine life. For easiest access to the water park, book a stay at The Royal (which recently underwent major renovations). YOUR NEXT VACATION: The 10 best places in the U.S. to go with kids in 2025 5. Fins Up Water Park at Margaritaville Beach Resort Nassau Nassau, Bahamas The Fins Up Water Park at Margaritaville Beach Resort Nassau offers four water slides, a FlowRider boogie board simulator, and a 10-foot dive board that sends guests splashing into an ultra-deep pool. But since this is Margaritaville, you can also take it easy with a float in the lazy river or a dip in the zero-entry pool. Other amenities include the Parakeets Kid's Club for young guests, St. Somewhere Spa for the grownups, and dining options for the whole family. 6. Sugar Mill Falls at Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa Rose Hall, Montego Bay, Jamaica The oceanfront Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa features the Sugar Mill Falls water park, billed as the second-largest water complex in the Caribbean. A 280-foot waterslide brings the thrills, while the lazy river and three terraced pools offer plenty of places to chill. Young guests can also make a splash in the park's waterfalls or venture across a rope-and-wood suspension bridge in the jungle garden area. Live music, daily activities and games, and a swim-up bar add to the fun. NO PASSPORT NEEDED: 19 best family resorts and hotels in the U.S. 7. Royalton Splash Punta Cana, an Autograph Collection Resort and Casino Punta Cana, Dominican Republic There are several waterslides to choose from at Royalton Splash Punta Cana, including a rollercoaster-style slide and a multilane water slide where riders hit speeds of nearly 45 feet per second. Little ones will love the splash pads and water slide area that's just their size, and the whole family can bob around in the wave pool. For even more time in the water, head to the adjacent Royalton Punta Cana Resort for some snorkeling or paddle boarding. 8. Mangrove Beach Corendon Curacao All-Inclusive Resort, Curio Collection by Hilton Willemstad, Curacao King Cobra isn't just a name for one of the waterslides at the all-inclusive Mangrove Beach Corendon Curacao. It also inspired the twisting slide's look, which actually resembles a snake. It's one of six waterslides you can enjoy at the on-site waterpark, where you'll also find a splash playground for the younger set and the Aquabar for food and drinks. The resort also features a private beach, four pools, nine different dining outlets, an on-site dive center for snorkeling and scuba diving, and a spa. TEEN-FRIENDLY TRIPS: 10 best vacation ideas for families with teenagers 9. Rockaway Bay Water Park at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Punta Cana Punta Cana, Dominican Republic The all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Punta Cana takes an all-inclusive approach to its Rockaway Bay Water Park, too, with 26 water slides that offer options for the whole family. This Caribbean family resort also has a family pool and a food truck area for refueling amidst all the activity. For even more fun, the kids can head to the resort's Hard Rock Roxity Kids Club for cooking classes, crafts, and games, while the adults can take a fitness class or enjoy a spa treatment. 10. Coqui Water Park at El Conquistador Resort Fajardo, Puerto Rico All accommodations at El Conquistador Resort overlook the Caribbean Sea, and guests enjoy amenities like four pools, five restaurants and bars, an 18-hole golf course, and access to a private island. But it's the on-site Coqui Water Park, with its high-octane speed slide and peaceful lazy river, that elevates it to one of the best Caribbean water park resorts. When you need a break, head to the water park's infinity pool and admire its sweeping Caribbean views. Slide into fun at these 10 Caribbean family resorts with the coolest water parks in 2025 originally appeared on More from FamilyVacationist: The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. and are owned and operated by Vacationist Media LLC. Using the FamilyVacationist travel recommendation methodology, we review and select family vacation ideas, family vacation spots, all-inclusive family resorts, and classic family vacations for all ages. TourScoop covers guided group tours and tour operators, tour operator reviews, tour itinerary reviews and travel gear recommendations.
