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Topic: Somewhere warm
| Author | Message |
| wineaux | Posted – 12/13/2007 11:18:57 PM | show profile I've never had the opportunity to go somewhere warm when I live in a cold climate, and this year it looks like we might be able to pull it off. Kid free!!!!!!!!!!! Where would you suggest? The husband wants to go to St. Martin (sp) I have no idea. I lived in So. Cal for so long (now in the NE ) so I don't know where it is cool/fun/hip to go if you are a 30 something couple and want to be romantic and have some sun-lovin' fun in late winter. I just want pretty water, lovely, loungable beaches and some good food. I just want a place where you can utterly do nothing in a great climate. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions. |
| Janetblueyes | Posted – 12/13/2007 11:43:09 PM | show profile Yay Wineaux! Sounds like a lot of fun. I'm a big fan of all-inclusive resorts because you don't have to worry about bringing a ton of money as everything is paid for in advance. The food tends to be good although not terribly imaginative at these resorts, but most of the booze is top shelf brands. You can stay and play at the resort and still take tours to get a feel for the culture and life of the country. Some all inclusives are strictly for couples only--Sexy Time! In my experience, Dominican Republic: Affordable, quite rural, wonderful people, great windsurfing in Sosua. Jamaica: Kind of touristy (especially Montego Bay), but the people are the friendliest in the world, (next to Ireland), great beaches and interesting culture. Negril and Ocho Rios are great. Puerto Rico: Old San Juan is gorgeous and the beaches are beautiful and surfing in Rincon can't be beat. Bahamas: Outstanding beaches, good gambling, kind of touristy but most of the islands are getting that way. St. Maarten: Expensive--both the Dutch and French sides, but the hotels and dining are awesome. Bermuda: (only a 90-minute flight from JFK), pink beaches, great golf and shopping, charmingly British but pricey. Stay at the Southampton Princess if you go. Turks and Caicos: Voted the best beaches in the Caribbean by one of the travel magazines and is absolutely stunning. Kind of expensive but worth it. If you're into the all inclusive thing, Sandals resorts does it right. Beaches Resorts are also a good. Have fun planning your trip! |
| Mag Girl | Posted – 12/14/2007 9:50:16 AM | show profile Negril has one of the prettiest beaches I've seen. I really liked St. Lucia too. |
| Printingman | Posted – 12/14/2007 10:42:27 AM | show profile | email poster For me and its just my opinion I would never go to one of those "touristy" spots with sunburned guys from Ohio wearing black socks and flip flops. How about Rio de Janeiro? Stay at the Caesar Park or Ipanima Hotel. You have to be careful in Brazil but I assume you have to be careful anywhere you go these days. I do hear Dominican is nice as well Costa Rico. I surf so anywhere there's waves is a plus for me. |
| catlondon | Posted – 12/14/2007 12:35:09 PM | show profile Bermuda is lovely, but the water may be a little colder than you want this time of year. If I remember correctly, it's a golfing rather beach destination during the winter. But the sand really is pink. Cancun is supposedly back on track after the hurricane and lots of the hotels upgraded during the rebuild and they could use the business to get back on track. white person can feel superior to the tourists from Ohio. I've never been, but I've heard that camping at Cinnamon Bay on St. John's is absolutely the best. |
| anewstart | Posted – 12/14/2007 12:39:27 PM | show profile A suggestion That's wonderful Wineaux! What about the Dominican Republic? FYI, I'd suggest staying away from Sandals Negril, I've heard some nightmare stories... |
| pholiday | Posted – 12/14/2007 2:04:21 PM | show profile I suggest Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica. It would be a great getaway if you and your spouse want low key serenity that is close to nature. It is fairly inexpensive and has wonderful culture. Let me know if you would like more info - I have the names and numbers for some bungalow owners there (reasonable price, security, pool on site, 5 minutes from beach and tons of monkeys!) |
| diana_mattos | Posted – 12/14/2007 2:11:20 PM | show profile PUERTO RICO! Hi, Wineaux! This may be a biased ipinion but...TRY PUERTO RICO!! Nowadays with JetBlue flying to 3 (count them...3!!) of the island's airports, it's obscenely cheap to travel there nowadays. Much like their new tourism slogan goes, EXPLORE BEYOND THE SHORE. PR boasts an amazing rain forest, different climates (colder on inside of island, warmer on coast), scuba diving (check out the flourescent bay on the Southwest of the island!), beautiful beaches, hiking, the awe-inspiring Camuy Cavern system, etc. I could go on and on, as I love my country! Try JetBluye's websites for cool deals there. Good luck and have fun! |
| catlondon | Posted – 12/14/2007 2:52:18 PM | show profile Sorry, wineaux, but you want to snorkel (or least I want you to ) and I don't think Costa Rica is that great for snorkeling. Go for the clear, blue water and swim with the fishes. |
| Righter | Posted – 12/14/2007 2:57:47 PM | show profile | email poster pholiday... I'm thinking of honeymooning in Costa Rica the first week of November next year. Do you know if this is a good time? I'm going to enable my email so if you have any information I'd really appreciate it! Thanks! |
| wineaux | Posted – 12/14/2007 3:14:19 PM | show profile Goodness! So many choices! I really appreciate all of your suggestions, so thanks to you all. I have decided to avoid Sandals, as I was told by a few friends to stay away for various reasons. Someone yesterday told me to check out Panama, and that it's much safer than people say. I def. want to check out Puerto Rico. And, we def. will be snorkeling, so I would like a place to do that. I would LOVE to do Costa Rica...I think it may be too far. Fiji wold have been right up there if it were closer. Anyplace that Jet Blue goes would be a front runner, since we have miles from them b/c husband uses them for all of his business flights. I better start doing my homework! |
| astrahook | Posted – 12/14/2007 5:51:29 PM | show profile mag girl, im with you. 7 mile beach and bloody bay in negril are about the nicest beaches in the world. Granted my mind was clouded with thc, but the photos confirmed that |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 12/14/2007 7:43:46 PM | show profile Mexican Riviera...AWAY from Cancun...anywhere south of there towards Belize... Bequia and Nevis are small and lesser-known Caribbean islands but a few of my friends love them. Nassau did not do a lot for me. Nor did Cabo San Lucas -- wayyy too touristy. Antigua is lovely, elegant, has lots of history..Nelson's Dockyard, etc. The all inclusive thing can be fun; Club Med? If you enjoy sports and very good food (and meeting some fun people, NOT all wearing black socks and sandals) it might be worth a try. There are many Club Meds (Clubs Med?) to choose from. Los Roques, small, quiet islands off the coast of Venezula, are pretty and undiscovered; the flight to Caracas is not that far from NY. Several friends also love Aruba, although I have never been. Also, consider whether you want to be surrounded by fellow NYers and/or Americans...Some islands are known to be very popular with certain groups. Los Roques, for example, gets many Italians....Guadeloupe gets more French visitors. |
| Cyrus | Posted – 12/14/2007 9:55:06 PM | show profile I second the rec for Puerto Rico. The weather's great, beaches nice, people are friendly and Old San Juan has nice restaurants. Odd thing, though, is you may find yourself on relatively turbulent flights. I, my wife and infant daughter were just there 2-3 months ago and both legs were some of the bumpiest flights I've ever been on. I'm not a super FF or anything, but I've logged about 10K or so this year alone, so I'm used to bumps. To address another comment, you don't want Beaches if you're looking to be somewhere kid free. We literally just got back from one and liked it because our daughter had so much fun, the beach was nice and the staff was wonderful. But Sandals is the way to go if you want kid free. Turks & Caicos has great diving, according to friends who dive. I'm also a great fan of Hawaii, but you want Kauai rather than Maui, Oahu, etc if you want quiet. Maui's great, but Kauai's more unspoiled and quiet. It's obviously high season there now, so it's expensive until April. The Mayan Peninsula of Mexico is also nice and Puerta Vallerta has great food and culture too. PV is nice in that you won't need a rental car. We spend 2 weeks a year in Mexico and were most recently on the Mayan Peninsula. It was great in terms of scenery, etc, but I'd preferred to have driven less. Hope this helps, Cyrus ------ Cyrus Afzali Astoria Communications www.astoriacomm.com |
| questoo1 | Posted – 12/15/2007 12:52:55 PM | show profile st. martin is the way to go if its just the two of you. it definitely a notch more high style then alot of the other islands. Its low key, great restuarants, less family oriented then alot of the others mentioned. |
| wineaux | Posted – 12/15/2007 2:25:19 PM | show profile Questoo...can you recommend a hotel/resort in St. Martin? And, for Puerto Rico, Cyrus and Diane? I think I'm narrowing it to those two. Although, after looking at every other place people suggested, it wasn't easy. So many choices! My head hurts. I might be over thinking it! |
| wineaux | Posted – 12/16/2007 4:15:29 PM | show profile a narcissistic :bump: |
| questoo1 | Posted – 12/16/2007 6:20:37 PM | show profile I stayed at the grand case in st. martin - it was definitley plush, and given the tame environment of the island no need to even go that high end (some islands have a bit of a rougher edge to them so I wouldn't skimp in those instances ie Jamaica, Dominican republic). San Juan PR is really nice though for more tropical beauty and low key atmosphere I think you are way better off in Rincon (the horned dorset hotel is about as nice as it gets). In San Juan I've stayed at the Ritz which is always nice. |
| keltoi2 | Posted – 12/17/2007 6:43:49 PM | show profile TO further muddle the choices, let me add: British Virgin Islands--a bit touristy, but fun, and good snorkeling Belize--Second largest coral reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef Turks and Caicos--co-worker just went there and she and her husband want to move there (more than half-seriously) Peter Island--If you've got major moolah Anguilla--I hear it's nice |
| crimedog | Posted – 12/17/2007 7:26:21 PM | show profile Heading to Barbados but Havana's a great choice. |
| Cyrus | Posted – 12/17/2007 8:56:02 PM | show profile San Juan hotel We stayed in the Ritz Carlton. While not cheap, it wasn't prohibitively expensive. Ritz is often perceived as a bit of a "stuffy" brand, but their service is absolutely top notch. ------ Cyrus Afzali Astoria Communications www.astoriacomm.com |
| questoo1 | Posted – 12/18/2007 6:15:33 AM | show profile I 2nd that cyrus, its a really nice hotel. While the beaches in san juan are lackluster, there is something to be said for being poolside within 15 minutes of arriving at airport. |
