A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

[LynahFan]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

The search for a Caribbean locale to plant my arse for a week next year resumes.

Beaches at Turks and Caicos definitely out (after hearing from a friend who was there last week & reading more reviews) and Turks and Caicos most likely out too as reviews say that there's nothing to do there other than the beach/water. I believe another poster may have alluded to that too.

I've convinced our fellow travelers (Finally!) to rule out all-inclusives and just find a good locale. Thank God! Now there are limitless possibilities instead of about 8 choices in the entire Caribbean.

Now looking for an island that's preferably not flat and that has good scuba and snorkeling options. Also want the option of hiking (hence no flat islands) and possible zip-lining etc.

Definitely Out:
Jamaica (no reefs)
Dominican (cholera)
USVI (just went there)
Martinique (French)
Anguilla (flat and cool)
Grenada (no reefs)
Mexico (other family members have been there a few times and don't want to go back)

Possibilities:
BVI
Puerto Rico (probably not, but keeping options open)
Antigua
Caymans (been there already and a flat island(s), so doubtful)
St. Lucia
St. Kitts
Belize (This one's tough as one family member has medical conditions that make it hard to go there)
Monsteratt


Anyone been to any of my possibilities? Thoughts?

No St. Maarten? Or is that too French, too? St. Maarten is great - easy airport access, plenty of varied options, from big resorts to local dives, good beaches/diving, not flat, etc. Don't know about ziplining - not really my thing.

I've been to BVI and Caymans, too - Caymans definitely too flat; not much there besides the water. BVI is my favorite spot in the Caribbean, but I go for the sailing and snorkeling. I would think that each individual island is too small for staying on land - you could do all the hikes on the island you're on in a day or two, and then be back to sitting on the beach (talking to Wilson), so unless you're willing to island hop every couple days your landlubbers will probably be bored.

[LynahFan]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

Anyone have suggestions on Ecuador? It looks like I'll be there for work for 4 days the 3rd week of April. Flying into Guayaquil, then drive to Salinas on the coast.

I hear the Galapagos are nice...

[Gurtholfin]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

No St. Maarten? Or is that too French, too? St. Maarten is great - easy airport access, plenty of varied options, from big resorts to local dives, good beaches/diving, not flat, etc. Don't know about ziplining - not really my thing.

I've been to BVI and Caymans, too - Caymans definitely too flat; not much there besides the water. BVI is my favorite spot in the Caribbean, but I go for the sailing and snorkeling. I would think that each individual island is too small for staying on land - you could do all the hikes on the island you're on in a day or two, and then be back to sitting on the beach (talking to Wilson), so unless you're willing to island hop every couple days your landlubbers will probably be bored.

My pops has an unreasonable dislike for the French (from his travels in Europe when he was stationed in Munich) and it's just not worth trying to change his mind. I personally have no feelings about it one way or the other.

We're trying to please a number of people on this trip, so some places are just eliminated off the bat.

As far as diverse hiking, doesn't need to be as we probably wouldn't do it more than once. The majority of this trip will be in and around the water. It's just nice to have a break with something else interesting to do in the course of a week. Plus, the mountainous islands are just prettier.

I'll look into St. Maarten though since a couple of you mentioned it immediately.


Oh yeah, and the other thing about Grand Cayman is that it's horribly expensive to drink there, so the whole vibe of a nice rum beverage on the beach kinda gets soured by worrying about the drain on the bank account.

[bigblue_dl]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

The search for a Caribbean locale to plant my arse for a week next year resumes.

Beaches at Turks and Caicos definitely out (after hearing from a friend who was there last week & reading more reviews) and Turks and Caicos most likely out too as reviews say that there's nothing to do there other than the beach/water. I believe another poster may have alluded to that too.

I've convinced our fellow travelers (Finally!) to rule out all-inclusives and just find a good locale. Thank God! Now there are limitless possibilities instead of about 8 choices in the entire Caribbean.

Now looking for an island that's preferably not flat and that has good scuba and snorkeling options. Also want the option of hiking (hence no flat islands) and possible zip-lining etc.

Definitely Out:
Jamaica (no reefs)
Dominican (cholera)
USVI (just went there)
Martinique (French)
Anguilla (flat and cool)
Grenada (no reefs)
Mexico (other family members have been there a few times and don't want to go back)

Possibilities:
BVI
Puerto Rico (probably not, but keeping options open)
Antigua
Caymans (been there already and a flat island(s), so doubtful)
St. Lucia
St. Kitts
Belize (This one's tough as one family member has medical conditions that make it hard to go there)
Monsteratt


Anyone been to any of my possibilities? Thoughts?

Saba Island

[Gurtholfin]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

Saba Island

LOL

Okay, maybe not THAT mountainous...







Beaches don't look all that inviting either...

[bigblue_dl]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

LOL

Okay, maybe not THAT mountainous...







Beaches don't look all that inviting either...

Yeah, no beaches. We were considering it for our honeymoon, but we decided we needed some beaches. They say the skubadiving at Saba is pretty good though.

[jmh]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

Possibilities:
BVI
Puerto Rico (probably not, but keeping options open)
Antigua
Caymans (been there already and a flat island(s), so doubtful)
St. Lucia
St. Kitts
Belize (This one's tough as one family member has medical conditions that make it hard to go there)
Monsteratt


Anyone been to any of my possibilities? Thoughts?

My wife and I had our honeymoon in St. Lucia last June and it was fantastic. We chose to do all-inclusive plans because we expected (and were correct to expect) that we wouldn't want to do any thinking about where to go to eat or anything like that, but the hotels we stayed at had a la carte options as well, as I would assume would be the case most places. The island is definitely not flat; we didn't want to go hiking but we did a zip-lining tour and it was a lot of fun. It's really more rocky than beachy, but the nicer hotels will have their own beaches or access to beaches, and you can presumably go snorkeling or scuba diving from those.

How many travelers are you? I'd put in a good word for a resort called Cap Maison where we spent the second half of our honeymoon. Our one-bedroom suite had a nice full kitchen and a dining room that could seat 8 people; these were almost entirely superfluous for us, but they also have two-bedroom and three-bedroom suites where you could comfortably have 6-8 people share one suite (not cheap but I would imagine reasonable if shared among a group) and then go to a local grocery store and do some of your own food prep.

Man, now I want to go back.

[Gurtholfin]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

My wife and I had our honeymoon in St. Lucia last June and it was fantastic. We chose to do all-inclusive plans because we expected (and were correct to expect) that we wouldn't want to do any thinking about where to go to eat or anything like that, but the hotels we stayed at had a la carte options as well, as I would assume would be the case most places. The island is definitely not flat; we didn't want to go hiking but we did a zip-lining tour and it was a lot of fun. It's really more rocky than beachy, but the nicer hotels will have their own beaches or access to beaches, and you can presumably go snorkeling or scuba diving from those.

How many travelers are you? I'd put in a good word for a resort called Cap Maison where we spent the second half of our honeymoon. Our one-bedroom suite had a nice full kitchen and a dining room that could seat 8 people; these were almost entirely superfluous for us, but they also have two-bedroom and three-bedroom suites where you could comfortably have 6-8 people share one suite (not cheap but I would imagine reasonable if shared among a group) and then go to a local grocery store and do some of your own food prep.

Man, now I want to go back.

Yeah, the wheels are turning fast now as there are three of us looking at it today/right now and it's trending towards St. Lucia, St. Martin (Dutch side ) and dark horse Bonaire. Texts are flying... FUN!

There are at least 7 in the group and possibly 11.

the resort in St. lucia that you mentioned looks fabulous but it may be slightly out of budget. We'll see.

[jmh]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

Yeah, the wheels are turning fast now as there are three of us looking at it today/right now and it's trending towards St. Lucia, St. Martin (Dutch side ) and dark horse Bonaire. Texts are flying... FUN!

There are at least 7 in the group and possibly 11.

the resort in St. lucia that you mentioned looks fabulous but it may be slightly out of budget. We'll see.

Yeah, I took a look back at the website for the first time since we booked the honeymoon and the prices are a bit more than I remembered now that I'm looking about it with a more budget-conscious eye. My recommendation for St. Lucia in general still stands though, it's just a breathtaking place.

I'm trying to upload a picture I took but it won't work.

Edit to add: I've heard great things about St. Maarten too and I don't think you could go wrong if you went in that direction either.

[Gurtholfin]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

Yeah, I took a look back at the website for the first time since we booked the honeymoon and the prices are a bit more than I remembered now that I'm looking about it with a more budget-conscious eye. My recommendation for St. Lucia in general still stands though, it's just a breathtaking place.

I'm trying to upload a picture I took but it won't work.

Edit to add: I've heard great things about St. Maarten too and I don't think you could go wrong if you went in that direction either.

I honestly think it's gonna come down to those two. Both look amazing. The peaks on St. Lucia make for an almost South Pacific look.

I have a fair amount of influence on the process, so I should be able to steer us to one of those two.

Bonaire looks great under the water but is less than appealing topside.

[Gurtholfin]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

So out of nowhere Antigua has become a frontrunner.

In doing further research, I'd be okay (relatively - it's still pretty darn great) with it even if it wouldn't be my top choice.

At least I was able to head off the Bahamas suggestion that came up over the weekend. Nothing overly wrong with the Bahamas, but if I'm making the effort to go, I wanna go further than that.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

So out of nowhere Antigua has become a frontrunner.

In doing further research, I'd be okay (relatively - it's still pretty darn great) with it even if it wouldn't be my top choice.

At least I was able to head off the Bahamas suggestion that came up over the weekend. Nothing overly wrong with the Bahamas, but if I'm making the effort to go, I wanna go further than that.

Some of those outer, underdeveloped Bahamian islands and cays can be quite pleasant - Cat Island, San Salvador, Long Island, Exuma, etc. If you're looking for more of a village, certainly not the place to go, but if you just want to crash on a nice beach and make stiff rum drinks at the honor bar in a low-key resort compound...

[alfablue]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

So out of nowhere Antigua has become a frontrunner.

In doing further research, I'd be okay (relatively - it's still pretty darn great) with it even if it wouldn't be my top choice.

At least I was able to head off the Bahamas suggestion that came up over the weekend. Nothing overly wrong with the Bahamas, but if I'm making the effort to go, I wanna go further than that.

I'm a huge fan of Puerto Rico, but that's due to a natural bias..

Of the islands you've suggested- St. Kitts has one mountain- and it's quite large. One of these trips there, we will do a hike. St Lucia is very spectacular, whereas Antigua is pretty flat- how that gets in quickly is interesting.

One suggestion that is also biased- why not a cruise? If you take one out of San Juan, you can visit 5 of the eastern islands in one trip. A quick look at itineraries has St. Thomas, St. Croix, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Grenada. You can do different things of each island. Others go to Dominica and Barbados, too. If that doesn't satisfy a specific island itch for everyone, something is wrong.

Granted, I am biased for that, too- pre-Frozen Four, we are cruising out of New York for 5 nights.

[Gurtholfin]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

Some of those outer, underdeveloped Bahamian islands and cays can be quite pleasant - Cat Island, San Salvador, Long Island, Exuma, etc. If you're looking for more of a village, certainly not the place to go, but if you just want to crash on a nice beach and make stiff rum drinks at the honor bar in a low-key resort compound...

If it's me and my wife and kids, that would be perfect and I actually like the Bahamas. When we go to the Keys and this may sound odd, Lake Superior, we look for just those qualities. It's also why St. John was so appealing to us compared to St. Thomas.

With the larger group dynamic though, we'd most certainly end up in an all-inclusive very touristy area in the Bahamas. They were looking into Atlantis.

[Gurtholfin]

Re: A Thread for Travel: Trips/Advice/Ideas

I'm a huge fan of Puerto Rico, but that's due to a natural bias..

Of the islands you've suggested- St. Kitts has one mountain- and it's quite large. One of these trips there, we will do a hike. St Lucia is very spectacular, whereas Antigua is pretty flat- how that gets in quickly is interesting.

One suggestion that is also biased- why not a cruise? If you take one out of San Juan, you can visit 5 of the eastern islands in one trip. A quick look at itineraries has St. Thomas, St. Croix, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Grenada. You can do different things of each island. Others go to Dominica and Barbados, too. If that doesn't satisfy a specific island itch for everyone, something is wrong.

Granted, I am biased for that, too- pre-Frozen Four, we are cruising out of New York for 5 nights.

I get seasick. In addition, I like to be up early and walk the beach at sunrise and have the option of grabbing my snorkel at any moment and get in the water. I'd go crazy confined on a ship.

I believe that where we are looking at on Antigua has some topographical features - SE corner. From photos, there are high spots nearby. From reviews and sat images, there is abundant snorkeling right off shore and there is a sheltered bay for kayaking, etc.

Did you like the island on its own, not necessarily comparing to other destinations?