Mazatlán

Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word meaning "place of deer". It is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, and serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding ''municipio'', known as the Mazatlán Municipality. The city was founded in 1531 by an army of Spaniards and indigenous settlers. By the mid-19th century a large group of immigrants had arrived from Germany. These new citizens developed Mazatlán into a thriving commercial seaport, importing equipment for the nearby gold and silver mines. It served as the capital of Sinaloa from 1859 to 1873. The German settlers also influenced the local music, banda, which is an alteration of Bavarian folk music. The settlers also established the Pacifico Brewery on March 14, 1900. Mazatlán is a socially and economically diverse city. It is a popular vacation and retirement destination for Europeans, Canadians and Americans, and also provides opportunities for working immigrants.

Cabo San Lucas

Cabo San Lucas, commonly called Cabo in American English, is a city at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. Cabo San Lucas together with San José del Cabo is known as Los Cabos. Cabo is a varied destination that captures the essence of Baja Peninsula in its many resorts, championship golf courses, world-class dining and amazing outdoor activities. The city also houses a range of wildlife including rays, sharks, birds like eagles and a range of fish like mahi-mahi (dorado) and stripe marlin. For much of its history, Cabo was a sleepy, remote fishing port which was generally accessed either by ship or a three-hour drive from La Paz. In 1977, the airport to the north of San Jose del Cabo was expanded to handle jet aircraft and international flights, thereby launching the transformation of Cabo into one of the most popular resort destinations in Mexico.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a small, rugged, rainforested Central American country with coastlines on the Caribbean and Pacific. Since the late 1980's Costa Rica became a popular nature travel destination, and its main competitive advantage is its well-established system of national parks and protected areas and home to a rich variety of flora and fauna. Costa Rica is also known for its beaches, volcanoes, immense biodiversity and progressive environmental policies, being the only country to meet all five criteria established to measure environmental sustainability.

Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Santa Barbara's climate is often described as Mediterranean, and the city is sometimes referred to as the "American Riviera." In addition to being a popular tourist and resort destination, the city economy includes a large service sector, education, technology, health care, finance, agriculture, manufacturing, and local government. In 2004, the service sector accounted for fully 35% of local employment. Education in particular is well represented, with five institutions of higher learning on the south coast (the University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara City College, Westmont College, Antioch University, and the Brooks Institute of Photography).

Havana

Havana, officially Ciudad de La Habana, is the capital city, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city is one of the 15 Cuban provinces. The city/province has 2.1 million inhabitants, the largest city in Cuba and the second largest in the Caribbean region, after Santo Domingo. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three main harbours: Marimelena, Guanabacoa, and Atarés. The sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay.

San Diego

San Diego, named after Saint Didacus, is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California after Los Angeles, with a population of 1,306,300 (Jul 2009) within its administrative limits on a land area of 372.1 square miles (963.7 km2). The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California. The urban area of San Diego extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 2,880,000. San Diego is also the county seat of San Diego County, the 5th largest county, by population, in the United States.   

Seattle

Seattle is the northernmost major city in the contiguous United States, and the largest city in the Pacific Northwest and in the state of Washington. A seaport situated on a narrow isthmus between Puget Sound (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington, about 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canada – United States border, it is named after Chief Sealth "Seattle", of the Duwamish and Suquamish native tribes. Seattle is the center of the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan statistical area, the 15th largest in the United States, and the largest in the northwestern United States. Seattle is the county seat of King County and is the major economic, cultural and educational center in the region. The 2010 census found that Seattle is home to 630,320 residents within a metropolitan area of some 3.4 million inhabitants. The Port of Seattle and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport are major gateways to Asia, Alaska, and the rest of the world.

Miami

Miami is a major city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625. The 42nd largest city in the United States, with a population of 433,136, it is the principal, central, and most populous city of the South {Florida} metropolitan area, the most populous metropolis in the Southeastern United States. According to the US Census Bureau, Miami's metro area is the seventh most populous in the United States, with an estimated population of 5,547,051 in 2009. 

Acapulco de Juárez

Acapulco (officially known as Acapulco de Juárez) is a resort city in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico. It is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico's history. It is a port of call for shipping and cruising lines running between Panama and San Francisco, California, United States. The city of Acapulco is the largest in the state, far larger than the state capital Chilpancingo. Acapulco is also Mexico's largest beach and balneario resorted city. The city is best known as one of Mexico's oldest and most well-known beach resorts, which came into prominence in the 1950s as a getaway for Hollywood stars and millionaires. Acapulco is still famous for its nightlife and still attracts many vacationers, although most are now from Mexico itself. The resort area is divided into two: The north end of the bay is the "traditional" area, where the famous in the mid-20th century vacationed; and the south end is dominated by newer luxury high-rise hotels.

Cartagena

Cartagena is Colombia's most famous tourist destination on the Caribbean coast. The city is renowned for its colonial and colourful architecture. With a tropical climate, the city is also a popular beach destination. The city was founded on June 1, 1533, and named after Cartagena, Spain, itself after the original Carthage in Tunisia. However, settlement in this region around Cartagena Bay by various indigenous people dates back to 4000 BC. During the colonial period Cartagena served a key role in administration and expansion of the Spanish empire. It was a center of political and economic activity due to the presence of royalty and wealthy viceroys. In 1984 Cartagena's colonial walled city and fortress were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Astoria