Saudi Arabia

Let it snow,

let it snow

Dubai’s famed indoor ski slope is about to get some Gulf competition. Saudi developers say they plan a “snow village” inside a new mall in Riyadh.

A statement on the company’s website says the latest snow-in-the-desert attraction will be part of an entertainment area in the mall, which is scheduled to be opened later this year in the Saudi capital.

Dubai’s slope opened in 2005 and recently added penguins as a tourist draw.

Mexico

Cabo resort offers layaway plan

Travel funds in short supply? Villa del Palmar at the Islands of Loreto near Cabo San Lucas has a solution: the Layaway Vacation Plan.

Travelers can reserve a minimum three-night stay, make interest-free payments over a six- to 12-month period and, when the vacation is all paid up, enjoy their getaway without facing a hefty bill at checkout.

Details at http://villadelpalmarloreto.com/offers/loreto-layaway.

Caribbean

Ferry service planned

The eastern Caribbean may soon have an inter-island ferry system.

A British investment company says it plans to lease a 367-foot, “wave-piercing” catamaran to Barbados-based Fast Caribbean Ltd., which hopes to begin transporting people and goods between Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Trinidad this year.

The private ferry system will be based in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

Airports

Namaste! SFO opens airport yoga room

Stressed out by flying? Travelers in Northern California can now find their inner calm in the Yoga Room at San Francisco International Airport.

The quiet, dimly lit studio officially opened last week in a former storage room just past the security checkpoint at SFO’s Terminal 2.

Airport officials believe the 150-square-foot room with mirrored walls is the world’s first airport yoga studio, said spokesman Mike McCarron.

Grand Canyon

No more plastic water bottle sales

Disposable plastic water bottles soon won’t be sold at the Grand Canyon. The National Park Service says plastic bottles make up about 20 percent of the park’s waste and 30 percent of recyclables. Visitors can fill up reusable containers at water stations, though the ban doesn’t keep them from bringing disposable bottles into the park.

Texas

Big Bend is

one ‘dark park’

Big Bend National Park officials has been designated as an “International Dark Sky Park” and one of 10 places in the world certified to have especially dark night skies favored for stargazing. The International Dark-Sky Association says Big Bend has the darkest measured skies in the lower 48 states and is the largest park in the world with the designation.

Only four other U.S. parks and one in Scotland share the “gold tier” level, which means the area skies are free from all but minimal light pollution.

Miami Herald wires services