Pirates of the Caribbean- Tortuga

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drSix

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Oct 13, 2013
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Okay,

So I am watching Pirates of the Caribbean, again, and look at Wiki to see if some of the locations are real or not. I find out that Tortuga is in fact an island off the north coast of Haiti. Naturally, I want to go there and do some swashbuckling and rum drinking.

I can't find much on the place other than you used to be able to take a flight from Port au Prince, but no longer can. Some sites there is nothing there, no accommodations or restaurants, others say there are a few small mom and pop hotels.

Is there anything there? Anyone been there? How do I get there? Do I want to get there?

Now that I have the thirst for pirate knowledge, any good historical books you could recommend for me on the real pirates of the caribbean?


Now this site says Carnival is putting a cruise port there...
 
M

Marcion

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Nov 22, 2014
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Well, let's say your country had a zombie problem. The first thing you want to do is round them up and ship them off to an island because everybody knows zombies can't swim.

Why do you think they stopped scheduled flights to that island? Exactly.

Anyway, word around the campfire is that treasure was hidden away in the cavernous region of Bahia de San Lorenzo.
 
D

drSix

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Oct 13, 2013
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I did read that it is a stopping point for drug running, and that their are mansions there for the drug lords.
 
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ju10prd

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Pirates used to hang out on the Bay of Samana and in Parque Nacional Los Haitises you will find 'Cayo Willy Simons', hideout of the infamous pirate and the caves of San Gabriel and Remington were temporary homes of pirates Cofresi, Jack Banister and Jack Rackham.

People often say the people of Samana are a law unto themselves and you will notice that many of the family names are English.

I am sure books on their exploits in these parts are available. I recall reading one about how the British Navy had to take control of Tortuga to eliminate the pirate threat and protect their interests in the Leeward Islands especially St Kitts and Nevis.

Another well known home of pirates of the Caribbean was Harbour island and Spanish Well is the Eluethra chain in the Bahamas where they hid awaiting Spanish galleons passing by.
 
T

Timotero

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Feb 25, 2011
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How about "Caribbean" by James Michener. A good read of "historical fiction" for anyone interested in an entertaining book about the area. The scope covers maybe a thousand years or so, but he does cover the pirate era. captain Henry Morgan (of the spiced rum fame), Sir Francis Drake, etc.
 
jstarebel

jstarebel

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Oct 4, 2013
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drSix said:
Okay,

So I am watching Pirates of the Caribbean, again, and look at Wiki to see if some of the locations are real or not. I find out that Tortuga is in fact an island off the north coast of Haiti. Naturally, I want to go there and do some swashbuckling and rum drinking.

I can't find much on the place other than you used to be able to take a flight from Port au Prince, but no longer can. Some sites there is nothing there, no accommodations or restaurants, others say there are a few small mom and pop hotels.

Is there anything there? Anyone been there? How do I get there? Do I want to get there?

Now that I have the thirst for pirate knowledge, any good historical books you could recommend for me on the real pirates of the caribbean?


Now this site says Carnival is putting a cruise port there...
Click to expand...

There is nothing there for the average tourist. A couple of churches, on old school, and a few people live there. Fishermen and their families. No electricity, or internet. Nothing on the island was developed when I was there in 2010. we pulled into a nice secluded cove, dropped anchor and waited for a weather window to continue east. Really pristine beaches without people. I don't think it's changed much.
 
O

OntarioMike

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Mar 4, 2014
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I do not log in very often, just read the postings. But I like this thread, and I also have always liked seeing the real story the movies show. I've seen shows about Tortuga, and lots of others, but I found this one on the History Channel here in Canada very interesting. Here is the link for Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkqsJH8NM28 . You may have to copy and paste. Hope it works for you.
 
D

drSix

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Oct 13, 2013
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Cool!

There is a wreck in Monti Christi that a team of Archeologists are working on. They come a couple times a year, and are always looking for divers. They've sadly always come when I've been at work. One of these days

Tile Wreck Monti Christi

I'm kinda of surprised there isn't more 'pirate' tourism or wreck diving on the island. What a cool place to go real treasure hunting, especially with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies being so popular. Or, maybe there is and I just don't know about it!
 
C

ctrob

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Nov 9, 2006
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zoomzx11

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interesting video of reef off Cabarete. Amazing how few fish. Was it always flat like this or has it been beaten down by anchors and suffocated in algae? I expected more fish life. Most of the metal seems like new wrecks other than the old style anchors. . I dove lots of the Spanish treasure fleet wreck sites in the Keys and there was never any metal. Ballast was always round river rocks not flat tiles. thanks for posting the video
 
F

Fredo

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Mar 17, 2013
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zoomzx11 said:
interesting video of reef off Cabarete. Amazing how few fish. Was it always flat like this or has it been beaten down by anchors and suffocated in algae? I expected more fish life. Most of the metal seems like new wrecks other than the old style anchors. . I dove lots of the Spanish treasure fleet wreck sites in the Keys and there was never any metal. Ballast was always round river rocks not flat tiles. thanks for posting the video
Click to expand...

Here is more on what lay's bellow the Cabarete waters:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eric_hertsens/sets/72157652341587246

from vila tainas site: Treasure Spotting Cabarete, Dominican Republic
 
D

drSix

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Ching Shih was a prominent pirate in Qing China who terrorized the South China Sea in the early 19th century. She commanded over 300 junks manned by 20,000-40,000 pirates.[2] Another estimate has Cheng's fleet at 1,800 and crew at about 80,000[3][4]— men, women, and even children. She challenged the empires of the time, such as the British, Portuguese and the Qing dynasty. Undefeated, she would become one of China and Asia's strongest pirates, and one of world history's most powerful pirates. She was also one of the few pirate captains to retire from piracy.

Ching Shih is featured in numerous books, novels, video games and films.

She was Mistress Ching in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
 
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