News that has caught Chris' eye in the Travel World

World’s deepest Swimming Pool (7 March, 2017)

A hotel pool in Italy has been entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s deepest swimming pool.

If you’re not comfortable in the water, then the Hotel Terme Millepini in Italy’s Montegrotto Terme resort area may not be the place for you. That’s because this spa complex near Padua in Northeast Italy is best known for boasting the deepest pool in the world. It measures a daunting 42 metres deep - that’s the equivalent of a 13-storey building!

Named the Y-40 Deep Joy, the pool has been built to attract scuba enthusiasts and free divers. But unlike the frigid temperatures of the open ocean (where most such diving takes place) Deep Joy is filled with warm, thermal water from local springs, which eliminates the need for wetsuits.

But don’t worry if you don’t fancy yourself a diver – Deep Joy also features a suspended, transparent underwater tunnel that allows you to walk through in the dry and watch the divers in action.

TripAdvisor 2017 Travellers’ Choice Top Beaches (02 March, 2017)

TripAdvisor has released its Travellers' Choice Awards for Top Beaches of the World in 2017.  Four out of the top five have been covered on past Travel Shows!  Coming in at number five is Siesta Beach on Siesta Key, part of a chain of offshore islands lining Florida’s Gulf Coast. Fourth is Playa Paraiso on Cayo Largo off the coast of Cuba that’s picture perfect in every way. Eagle Beach on the southern Caribbean hot spot of Aruba is number three on the chart – I was enthusing about this gorgeous beach a few months ago when we covered this destination. Runner up this year is Grace Bay on the island of Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands where the water is every shade of blue and green imaginable. I wonder if anyone has ever thought about asking the people down there if they’d like to become a Canadian Province?

The one beach on this list that we have never covered on the Travel Show is the number one in the world this year: Baia do Sancho in Fernando de Noronha in Brazil. Where is this? Well, it’s a little out of the way, to say the least. It lies nearly 400 kilometres off the coast of Brazil in a remote archipelago that is only just coming on to the tourism radar. Once there, you need to descend an iron ladder in a chasm in the cliff side to reach a crazy-beautiful crescent of red sand bordering a dazzling blue water bay in paradise… 

Road Closures on the i75 (22 February, 2017)
 

For those of you heading south to Florida by car over the next little while, here is a heads-up about a significant change to your likely itinerary. Michigan has closed 13 kilometres of I-75's southbound lanes for the next two years. This section is just below the Ambassador Bridge and Detroit Tunnel, the Windsor/Detroit crossings, so it will affect all Ontarians who cross here en route to Florida. With March Break starting shortly, many driving south could be surprised by this interstate closure. There is a very useful website offering advice on detours and best times to drive this stretch: go to www.i75online.com.