Where should I vacation in the Caribbean?

[Guest]

The wife and I are looking to spend a week in the Caribbean this spring, somewhere like St Lucia, St Martin or Jamaica (my pref). Have any of you been and/or have the low down on where to go and stay and do in that area? We are looking for a smaller hotel, less touristy place and a more chilled time with adventure stuff to do, like snorkeling, zip lines, nature hikes and, of course, drinking on the beach and doing nothing. We really want really nice beaches, that is important. I am researching but looking for the real world experience. Drop the knowledge if you got it!

[chpthril]

We did a Carib cruise a few years ago and had a blast. I love the floating hotel idea and waking up at a new port every day

We sailed from San Juan, and hit St Martin, St lucia, Barbados, St Thomas, and one more I cant remember.

I would spend time at any of these places again but cant help on hotels etc.

We did snorkeling, bike tour to private beach, horse back ride through the cain field country side, sailed an America's Cup boat, rain forest/waterfall hike.

[G-MONEY]

Jamaica, Ohco Rios Sandles is the Chit!!!!!!

It's exactly what your looking for. A smaller chill hotel right on the beach with tons of stuff to do.

http://www.sandals.com/main/ochorios/or-home.cfm

[Dan and Christy]

I would give any of the Sandals resorts a try. We did the Grand St. Lucian for our honeymoon and loved it. We will definitely be going again. The all-inclusive resort is plenty worth it.

[Lunchbox]

Cozumel Mexico really impressed me on our carib cruise... I would definitely go back there...

[Guest]

Sandals does look nice, I was looking at that as an option. We usually stay away from chain hotels, my experience in them in the past has been less than positive, but Sandals does look nicer AND I believe they are a "no kids" hotel? I am surprised at the price, however, 371 a night for what looks to be the cheapest room. I am used to Mexico and Central America prices, that is much higher. I understand that the Caribbean is a more expensive. Hmmm, I will keep looking and check out the other locations of Sandals in the caribbean. Thanks for the info! If anyone else has any other advice let me know!

[dogbert]

If you're not set on going to one of the islands, there's a small Omni hotel surrounded by high dollar condos that's right in the town of Puerto Aventuras. It's a neat little harbor town with a couple of restaurants, a sports bar and a some charter boats that will take you fishing or diving. It's on a private lagoon that's protected by a shallow reef and has some of the best snorkeling. The hotel isn't that big and you definitely won't feel like it's overrun with tourists because its the only hotel in that compound. Beachside rooms have optional jacuzzis. I took my wife down there for an anniversary trip without the kids.

BTW, the hotel restaurant is top notch.

[akdoc]

Hey man,
Try Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands. Went there on my honeymoon and it is very private with great food. You can go take a day trip to the Baths on Virgin Gorda, it was great. Here is the site:

http://www.peterisland.com/

[Guest]

Akdoc,
Thanks, looks like we could do the 5 night package deal in the smallest rooms with food for $557. Not bad at all for such a nice place. Of course my bar bill would get pretty nasty, that is not included. It is a beautiful place and very tempting.

Dog,
The Omni also looks interesting. We are still deciding if we are going to commit to the Islands or go back over to Mexico.

It looks like it boils down to what kind of trip we want to take. From what I have seen so far, if we want to go to the Caribbean islands we have to go all inclusive and stick around the resort to take advantage of what we are paying for. It would get really expensive if we tried to hit a lot of restaurants and other islands. If we want to experience local flavor we should look back to Mexico and Central America for cheaper options. For example, I rented a house in Belize a couple of years ago on Caye Caulker for 110 a night that slept 3 that had a full kitchen and we were able to get snacks and booze from the store and hit all the local restuarants and island hop and not spend too much cash. As you can probably tell, I am leaning towards the second option, just have to convince the wife of the same. She is coming around now that we see what our caribbean options are.

Thanks again for the feedback and keep it coming if you know of something that sounds up our alley.

[dogbert]

You might consider going down to Costa Rica. I've had several friends say it's really nice and low key.

[Guest]

Dog,
Yeah, Costa Rica rocks, we went last year, got married there. It was laid back and has what we are looking for, just want to try another place this year. We are just going to do more research on the Caribbean and see if we can find what we are looking for. I also talked with the wife last night and she is leaning more towards giving the all inclusive thing a try, so we may come back to that. Those Carribean island beaches are really beautiful.

[Lunchbox]

Costa Rica is great... We went down with about 8 other people and rented a house insanely cheap... The people are nice down there and it's really beautiful...

[dogbert]

Dog,
Yeah, Costa Rica rocks, we went last year, got married there. It was laid back and has what we are looking for, just want to try another place this year. We are just going to do more research on the Caribbean and see if we can find what we are looking for. I also talked with the wife last night and she is leaning more towards giving the all inclusive thing a try, so we may come back to that. Those Carribean island beaches are really beautiful.

I haven't been to the islands, but I will tell you that the Omni is the best place I've stayed at. Everything you'd want to do is right there, except for maybe a jungle tour (probably not advisable for safety reasons). There's golf, swimming with dolphins, fishing, diving, snorkeling and a great Tiki bar right on the water (part of the hotel).