By NAN News Editor – News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. May 27, 2016. It’s less often talked about but seen widely in many Caribbean & South American nations – sex tourism! People want to know where is prostitution legal in the Caribbean. So where are the top destinations for sex tourism in the Caribbean? Here are the top four:

Some tourists travel for the “big banana” as promoted by this local Caribbean singer in song at a tourist hot spot.

1: Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is seeing a rise in sex tourism, especially female sex tourism. It is estimated that anywhere from 6000 to 10,000 female work in the sex trade in the Dominican Republic, and many cross over from Haiti as well. The Dominican Republic’s sex tourism trade may be so popular due to its relative accessibility from both the United States of America and Europe. According to the sex tourism global guide, tourists seeking sex can find it in the following areas in the DR:

The Metropolitan Area: the cosmopolitan capital and its surrounding beaches.

The Eastern Plains and the East Coast: home to the world-famous all inclusive hotels of Bavaro and Punta Cana, and the major resorts of Casa de Campo and Cap Cana.

The Eastern Cibao and the Bay of Samaná: a beautiful bay often described as a “Paradise on Earth”

The Western Cibao and the North Coast: the second largest city, the highest mountains in the Caribbean, and the popular beaches of the Atlantic Coast.

The Enriquillo Valley and the South: the most secluded area of the country, almost untouched by tourism, with a unique scenery and wildlife.

Both male and female homosexual activity is legal in the Dominican Republic. Same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples. The age of consent—regardless of sexual orientation—is 18.

2: Cuba

In Cuba, jineterismo is a category of illegal or semi-legal economic activities related to tourism in Cuba. Prostitution is a way some Cubans use to get out of Cuba, having sex with a tourist for help getting out of the island. These activities include prostitution and pimping, as well as other forms of hustling, such as selling black-market and counterfeit goods. The term derives from the Spanish jinete (“horserider”). A jinetera is Cuban slang for a female sex-worker.

The United States Department of State defines jinetero as: “Street “jockeys,” who specialize in swindling tourists. Most jineteros speak English and go out of their way to appear friendly, by offering to serve as tour guides or to facilitate the purchase of cheap cigars, for example. However many are in fact professional criminals who will not hesitate to use violence in their efforts to acquire tourists’ money and other valuables.” The Justice Minister of Cuba reported that the government convicted 224 people for pimping activities in 2012. It was previously reported that many tourists, particularly from Canada and Europe, travel to Cuba in order to have access to prostitution.

Since prostitution is illegal in Cuba you will need to pay the doorman (10-20 CUC). This is totally normal and the doorman will accept your payment happily 90% of the time. Leave the girl outside and ask him discretely. If you are a bit shy you can also just give the girl your room number, wait there and let her do the talking. If you don’t pay the doorman directly wait until she is escorted to your room. Don’t let her do the payment unless you want to risk spending the time alone…

Needless to say: don’t fall into deep sleep afterwards if you have valuable stuff in your room. Normally the doorman will come knocking at the end of his shift to pick up the girl.

Areas Frequented:

Western Cuba (Pinar del Rio, Havana, Matanzas, Isla de la Juventud): the capital, the rolling hills of Pinar del Rio and an off-the-beaten-path island with good scuba diving add up to an exciting region

Central Cuba (Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Santi Spíritus, Ciego de Avila)

Eastern Cuba (Camaguey, Las Tunas, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Guantánamo)

3: Jamaica

Jamaica is a caribbean country where prostitution is illegal but widely tolerated and is a frequent choice for sex tourism. Female prostitutes solicit from their homes or join customers in their hotel rooms or private homes. A number of prostitutes dance in adult night clubs and a percentage of them are from other countries. These imported prostitutes work in the more sophisticated night clubs in Kingston, which cater mainly to tourists, foreign workers, diplomats and affluent locals. Other clubs have mostly local prostitutes, some of whom have regular day jobs.

Massage parlors in Jamaica sometimes operate as fronts for brothels. These are well advertised in local pornographic magazines and in official newspapers.

Gay prostitutes can be found working in hotels as entertainment coordinators. Blatant male prostitution is rare, since the homophobic nature of the country makes male prostitutes generally conduct their business in more subtle ways. Still, some male prostitutes have been seen soliciting in the streets.

In the tourist areas of Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, prostitutes, and other citizens, sometimes solicit themselves in the hopes of gaining a connection via their client, with whom they will later travel to a developed country. Sexual favors are often the result and money will be exchanged. Some of these result in long-term relationships.

Areas frequented:

Cornwall County: the western region consisting of the parishes of Hanover, Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Trelawny and Westmoreland.
Middlesex County: the central region consisting of the parishes of Clarendon, Manchester, Saint Ann, Saint Catherine and Saint Mary.
Surrey County: the eastern region consisting of the parishes of Kingston, Portland, Saint Andrew and Saint Thomas.

4: Barbados

Prostitution is illegal in Barbados, but brothels with women from Guyana, the Dominican Republic, and other Caribbean islands operate in the country.

Barbados, like many other Caribbean nations, is a major stop over for girls traveling from South American and Caribbean nations to Canada, the USA, and Europe. Barbados is also a destination country for women from Guyana, the Dominican Republic, and other Caribbean nations, and thus a place for sex tourism . Most will come to Barbados to work in strip clubs and brothels.

Red Light Districts

Barbados’ Red-light district is located at Nelson street.  Almost 50 percent of sex workers in Barbados are Guyanese. There are also some street prostitutes around The Garrison at night after 9 p.m., as well as at Club Rolexx.