Carribean Vacation Ideas

TimNJ

Planning on taking the wife in late Feb. I have never been down that way and am looking for ideas (places). Not into night life partying, just relaxing by the beach and would like a place where the strangers aren't three feet away, i.e. crowded. Also, temperature must be 80 or above. Budget about $3000 (air & hotel). Any ideas welcome. Thanks.

DecksEtc

Ask Teetor.

Teetorbilt

My favorite place is Abaco, Bahamas. When do you want to go? 3K is going to be a tight squeak in season (winter) but very possible in off season.
Can you run a boat? Where I go, this is the same as a rental car. There are a lot of small islands clustered together and boats are the way to get around.
Feb. puts you in season and 80 deg. may or may not be there. I'm betting more on not. For 80's, you're going to have to go farther 'down island' where it's more expensive and 'not so nice'. In the Cayman's, a #1 at BurgerKing will tear up $16.00.

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mdshunk

I understand that hotel rooms in Aruba are pretty cheap now! Not exactly Caribbean, though.

ABLE1

Personally I have been on a number of cruises. Best way for a newbie to get to a lot of different places and find what you like. My main interest is snorkeling and/or scuba After searching in this manner for a number of years I have determined that I really need to spend some serious time in Cozomel, Mexico. Not sure if you can do for $3k, I guess it depends on the number of days. What ever you decide have a great trip. Always think of it as an adventure and it will be a blast.

Les

TimNJ

Teetor, we prefer laying on the beach and all day and then being able to take a hot shower afterwards. The Mrs would definitely not go for a "Teetor vacation" which I'm going to guess would consist of a WHOLE LOT of fishing!!!

md, isn't Aruba where that high school girl disappeared??? I have also heard you don't get sunburned in Aruba...just sandblasted by the wind blown beach sand.

TimNJ

I have been browsing through expedia for some different packages in different islands and $3000 for air & hotel is doable at 3-3/12 star place. I know what we spend on food will be above and beyond and pricey$$. Just not sure what are the +'s and -'s of different locations. Time = 7 days.

Cole

I have been to Cancun 5+ times and still cant get enough.

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Teetorbilt

ABEL, My last cruise (with TCBA) went like this;

7 Hrs. out of Miami a crewmember falls down a ladder and suffers a serious injury (possible broken back). Ship turns around and steams back to port. CG intercepts and transfers injured to helo. Lost time 14 hrs.

Arrive in Grand Cayman (late). Most early excursions are cancelled, my dive is afternoon. Jitney breaks down on way to dive center, make dive anyway but everything is rushed. Have time to chug ONE Red Stripe before going back to ship. Crank it up for Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

Jamaica; Castro is visiting and the natives are restless. Travel is limited. We do get to the Enchanted Gardens and later climb Dunn River Falls but it all was rushed because of that damned ship.

If you are a chow hound or gambler (I'm neither) it might be a way to go. For me, it was days of boredom with 4 hr. segments of same as work.

I will go next year, sneak in my own booze, take a dive and a good book. The absolute best part is no cel phone! I'd go for that alone.

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bergenbldr

Tim, i'll give you my take on the two places in the carribean ihave personally visited the bahamas and barbados. Lets start with the bahamas ,us currency is accepted at par or one us dollar=on bahamas dollar,familar fast food resturants and other convenieces abound,this is a place that caters to tourists from the u.s.a., who arrive by air or by sailing from nearby florida,as i did. I agree with teetor with a boat being the best way to see this place as it is many separate islands few of with are connected by bridges or causeways. In comparison barbados has retained much more of its british colonial culture ,this is still a major destination for british tourists /holiday makers, and resorts there reflect this.We stayed at an all inclusive resort,turtle beach in christ church. While i have no complaints about the rooms or hotel staff ,the food was not quite what i would have expected at a five star resort.If you decide venture outside your resort A hired car or taxi is the best way to explore the island,narrow roads and driving on the left side of the road make renting a self driven car not a good option. Barbados also much further south than the bahamas this makes for warmer winter temps an a longer flight about 4 hours from nyc.

ABLE1

Yes, that can happen. We had a young girl (passenger) found to be at the bottom of the pool as we were leaving Miami. Waited off shore till she could be transported to hospital. Turned out she survived ok.

Short trip to Grand Cayman due to 2 months ago hurricane, just recovering.

Agreed it can be a problem, but if you consider it a adventure..................................... well it ain't all that bad. Nothing is perfect. I don't do the Gamble thing either and the 24 hour pizza can be a bit much. Even with all the food intake on the last cruise I cam back with a 3 pound loss. Didn't last long.

The one other place that I would like to go back to was St. Thomas. A place to spend some more time.

Les

RYANINMICHIGAN

I like Saint Maarten. I have been to several Island and it is by far the best. The food is incredable and you can get a beer and a pack of cigs @ the bar for $2. How can you go wrong? And there are little beachs everywhere with hardly anyone on them.

TimNJ

bergen, I am going to check out your places and ryan I have heard different opinions on Dutch vs French St Martee(i)n. have you been to both? Original plan was week in Kauai, HI...Sheraton, air, and rental car $3000. Nice I thought. The trouble is Dec. has been the month from h*ll. Started with my motherinlaw having open heart surgery the first of the month. She is having a very hard time with recovery and hasn't been home yet. She has been shuttled back and forth between hospital and re-hab. The week before Christmas I end up taking my mom to the emergency room with heart problems and she was in for 4 days. The same day she is released, my motherinlaw is admitted from the rehab center into the same hosptal my mom just left. I think they waived as they passed each other. I spent Christmas weekend back and forth to the hospital.My wife doesn't want to be anywhere too far away in case something happens and we have to make a quick return. A 4hr flight to the carribean and in the same time zone is better than 8hrs to HI and having a red eye flight home under the present circumstances.

Mike Finley

I've spent some time around the Carribean...St. Lucia, the Bahamas, the Keys, Cozumel, Cancun, Grand Cayman, San Juan... etc...

I would have to say if you have never been to the Mayan Riviera then you should really consider it. If you want to relax, get away from the crowds, this is an ideal and pretty unspoiled place. Because of hurricane Wilma last year, your $3000 will go really, really far down there. Cancun was hit the worst and down south of Cancun where you should really go, like Akumal. Playa Del Carmen and Tulum, they are suffering from people thinking they were hit too, but the area was barely touched and about 100% back to normal, so you can book really good values right now. You fly into Cancun (Can you say some of the cheapest air fares to get to the Caribbean!) and drive south to sleeply little towns, friendly locals and great hidden beaches. Lots of Europeans love this place so don't be offended by a few beautiful topless women walking around. Accommodations range from super luxury all inclusive (rare) to small gorgeous boutique hotels with 10-20 rooms on the beach (more common) to condos or homes.

The Mayan Rivera stretches from Cancun down to Tulum (Tulum used to be a hippy hang out, so you will still find people sleeping in a tent pitched right on the beach in some places, a few minutes down the beach you will find a tiny 5 star beach restaurant/hotel/bar - I loved stumbling onto these places, you order a couple of beers or some of their signature drinks (it's always 2 for one it seems in Tulum) and stretch out on one of their hammocks strung between two palm trees on the beach) , the area in between such as Akumal is a gorgeous paradise to relax, get lost and just mellow out. There's really only a couple of beach bars, the Vida Loca which you might have to yourself, a couple of other tourists and a few locals is awesome. Much of the best to be had is hidden down there, if you don't know where it is ahead of time you won't ever know it is there. You go down a little sand road that suddenly hits the beach and there will be a gorgeous little restaurant with a thatched roof on the beach with 6 people in it, pure white sand and unbelievable colored water. This is where Jacques Cousteau sparked the sport of scuba diving, if you are into diving. We have hired a local with his boat to take us out fishing, then had his brother cooked up the barracuda we caught in his little restaurant on the beach. That's about as fresh as it will ever get. There are Cenotes which are spring fed natural pools of water, you can swim in them or relax. There is a guy named Gary from Texas who has an all day barbecue on Sundays down there, right next to his own private Cenote and right on the beach of course!

I've spent a bit of time down there and know some of the best hidden places, so message me if you get serious about going there, it's a magical place to get away and just mellow out.

Cenote


Akumal Beach


Beach at Tulum, you can see the Mayan ruins at the top of the cliff


Keep in mind these are the crowed places! You can have entire beaches to yourself. If you want privacy for you and your wife there are plenty of places like that down there.

If you want to see what it all looks like go to Google and click on the image search instead of the web search and type in, Tulum, Tulum beach, Akumal Beach, etc...

Teetorbilt

Mike is right on! I have a friend about 60Km. south of Cancun that runs a fish/dive service. I rigged his newest 36' PowerCat and he got it there just in time for the hurricane last year. Beautiful place but not an island.

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RYANINMICHIGAN

If I remeber St. Maarten is only 30 sq miles. I have stayed on both the french side and the Dutch side. The dutch side is better because US dollars are the norm. The french side is Euros so you lose out, the food on the french side is better so if you go dinner there take cash they will do a one for one on cash. I like it becuase the whole island is safe to wonder around. Unlike Mexico where you need to pay attention. I speak spanish and have been to Mexico city and the interior of mexico 20+ times, and I will not wonder around. Saint Maarten is nice, queit if you want or you can go to Oreinent Beach where stuff is happening.