In the depths of winter, when your chilled, sun-deprived impulsive side demands a week in the warm, wonderful Caribbean, your practical side is likely to shoot back with, "Yes, but where? There's so much to choose from."

With scores of alluring islands, each with its own personality (some with multiple personalities), and hundreds of hostelries, it's not easy to know where to take your winter-weary body for a solar recharge. Are you longing for a quiet beach? A week of diving? French cuisine every night? A place the kids will be happy?

Here are our picks for sun-and-fun winter getaways . . . something to cure just about every known version of the winter blahs.

Submerged and Loving It

Wrecks, rays, and sea fans on the world's second largest barrier reef and a barefoot escape greet you at the intimate Posada del Sol, in the Bay Isles of Honduras. Our scuba and light-tackle fishing trip to this laid-back haven of 24 suites and villas is one of our all-time favorites. There are no cars (just boats), no crowds (unless you count schools of fish), no noise (just the whisper of tropical breezes and the beating of hummingbird wings), and no electronic distractions, other than an all-important photography studio.

Fall/Winter 1998