It’s Going Swimmingly Here in the Caribbean

Wear out the spandex in your swimsuit on an eight-day cruise that leaves from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and makes lots of swimming and snorkeling stops in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. The 51-cabin Nantucket Clipper anchors several times along the way, so passengers can literally jump ship to swim in particularly beautiful lagoons. Stops are made at St. Thomas, St. John, Virgin Gorda, Tortola, Norman Island and Jost Van Dyke. Small landing craft will take guests to hidden and unspoiled beaches. On-board naturalists and guest speakers accompany the voyage. Cost: from $1,770 per person, double occupancy, including outside stateroom, all meals and on-board naturalists. Not included: air fare to Puerto Rico and port charges. Contact: Nantucket Clipper, 7711 Bonhomme Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63105-1956. For reservations, call your travel agent.

Moroccan New Year

Visit the imperial cities of Morocco at New Year’s on a 15-day trip that leaves Dec. 29. The trip is accompanied by Doris Bryant, an art docent from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Participants start in Casablanca with an afternoon of sightseeing and a welcome dinner. The group continues on to Marrakech, a city famous for its street vendors, musicians and dance performances. Participants will celebrate New Year’s Eve with a group dinner. Guests will drive across the Tizi N’Tichka Pass to Ouarzazate on the edge of the Sahara and inhabited by nomadic tribes. The medieval town of Taroudant and Fes, the country’s religious center, are visited. A full-day excursion takes the group to Volubilis, Moulay Idriss and Meknes. Rabat, the “White City,” ends the tour. Cost: $3,520 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, transportation within Morocco, hotels, some meals and sightseeing fees. Contact: Distant Horizons, 619 Tremont St., Boston, Mass. 02118; tel. (800) 333-1240.

O Tannenbaum

Shop where Christmastime looks like a picture book at a “Christkindlmarkt” (Christmas market) in Germany and Austria on two 10-day tours, Nov. 25 and Dec. 4. The first tour starts in the historic city of Heidelberg, Germany, and the medieval walled town of Rothenburg, famous for its Christmas markets and carol-singing in the town square. Participants head to Austria to stay in the romantic city of Salzburg, where “Silent Night” was sung for the first time in 1818. A motor coach takes guests through the Alps to Bavaria’s capital, Munich. An entire day is free for shopping on the Marienplatz, where the Neo-Gothic town hall is located. The Dec. 4 tour begins in Munich and takes in Salzburg, Vienna and Freistadt, Austria. From Freistadt, guests cross the Czech border into South Bohemia, known for its old town. An extension to Budapest is available. Cost: $1,375 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, most meals, city tours and ground transportation. Not included: air fare to Europe. Contact: Gerhard Odysseys, P.O. Box 757, Portland, Ore. 97207-0757; tel. (503) 223-2402.

New Mexico History

Explore Native American arts and pueblo culture in northern New Mexico on a five-day tour to Santa Fe that leaves Los Angeles Dec. 27. The holiday season is a time of ceremonial dances. Visits will be made to Acoma, where social dances are held in a candle-lit 17th-Century church, and to the Santa Clara Pueblo, where children perform buffalo and rainbow dances. Participants will visit the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos and Bandelier National Monument to explore the cliff dwellings of ancient Anasazi inhabitants. The trip will be led by Jan Timbrook, senior associate curator of Anthropology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Cost: $1,595 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles to Albuquerque, motor coach transportation, hotels, some meals and entrance fees. Contact: Spectrum Tours, P.O. Box 50608, Santa Barbara, Calif. 93150; tel. (805) 969-9665.

Papua New Guinea

Anthropologist Miriam Kahn, a former research assistant to Margaret Mead, will lead a 14-day tour to Papua New Guinea Jan. 18. Participants will cruise for five days on the Sepik River and its tributaries and visit the Southern Highlands, where the wig men are known for their elaborate body art and massive wigs adorned with flowers. In the land portion of the tour, guests stay in modern lodges. Cost: from $6,995 per person, double occupancy, including air fare, lodging, most meals and transportation within Papua New Guinea. Contact: Smithsonian Study Tours and Seminars, 1100 Jefferson Ave., S.W., Room 3045, Washington, D.C. 20560; tel. (202) 357-4700.

Indian Ocean Escape

A seven-day tour to Mauritius, 500 miles east of Madagascar, is available through March 31. Mauritius’ location offers reef-protected lagoons for swimming and miles of unspoiled beaches. Travelers take part in windsurfing, sailing and tennis. Guests can also combine their stay with a London stopover with no additional air fare costs. Full-day excursions to the capital city of Port Louis and to one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world are available. Cost: from $2,170 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, hotels, daily breakfast and dinner. Contact: Air Mauritius; tel. (800) 537-1182.

Baja Bound

Stay in a monument to the frontier spirit on a working ranch in the outback of Baja, 200 miles south of San Diego. The three-day tour leaves San Diego Oct. 28. The Meling Ranch sits on 17,000 miles of land and is family-run. Guests stay in rooms with no locks on the doors, a fireplace for heat and electricity run on a generator until 10 p.m. Meals are home-cooked and hearty. Activities include horseback riding, lawn croquet or just sittin’ on the porch doin’ nuthin’. Cost: $299 per person, including van transportation, meals and side trips to San Antonio del Mar on the Baja coast and the Sierra San Pedro Martir mountains to see the observatory. Contact: Baja California Tours, 6986 La Jolla Blvd., Suite 204, La Jolla, Calif. 92037; tel. (619) 454-7166.

The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with travel agents or tour operators.