Caribbean/Mexico/Bahamas

crabcake

crabcake

But wait, there's more...
Where would you go if you're looking for a nice, white sand beach, peace/quiet, some local activity but less worried about touristy/bar-hopping stuff and more about R&R ... Turks & Caicos looks nice ... Cayman is pretty ...

Any specific area and/or resort recommendations?

TIA! :cheers:
 
AK-74me

AK-74me

"Typical White Person"
crabcake said:
Where would you go if you're looking for a nice, white sand beach, peace/quiet, some local activity but less worried about touristy/bar-hopping stuff and more about R&R ... Turks & Caicos looks nice ... Cayman is pretty ...

Any specific area and/or resort recommendations?

TIA! :cheers:
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I just got back from St. Thomas which was nice, but sounds too touristy for what you are looking for, St. John is a 15 min. ferry ride away though and is slow pace and a nice place to just relax.
 
J

jaybeeztoo

Guest
crabcake said:
Where would you go if you're looking for a nice, white sand beach, peace/quiet, some local activity but less worried about touristy/bar-hopping stuff and more about R&R ... Turks & Caicos looks nice ... Cayman is pretty ...

Any specific area and/or resort recommendations?

TIA! :cheers:
Click to expand...

The Bahamas was great, but go to Freeport. There are some really remote places that offer loads of privacy. (I think it was called the Buckaneers Club that we ventured too. It was closed for the season, but it looked so awesome. It had the straw huts on the beach. That's all I remember :lol:) Things in the Bahamas are so expensive, but when we ventured to The BC, we passed more locals and found food much cheaper.

We stayed at the Xanadu which was a wonderful hotel, but you will have to rent a mini bike to get places. It's too far to walk. Freeport offered a GREAT time and I didn't find it too "touristy". Granted, it's been 14 years since I've been there....

Just watch out for the ladies that want to braid your hair and take you on a time share tour. Actually the tour wasn't so bad. We got a free lunch, couple of drinks, t-shirts and two excursions out of it. We did the booze cruise and horseback riding. The booze cruise was so much fun.

I really believe that was the best vacation ever!!
 
J

jsouthan

New Member
AK-74me said:
I just got back from St. Thomas which was nice, but sounds too touristy for what you are looking for, St. John is a 15 min. ferry ride away though and is slow pace and a nice place to just relax.
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I agree with you... St. John is very quiet. For us it was TOO quiet. We stayed on the east end of St. Thomas and it was very quiet there, too. I think you can find less "touristy" places wherever you go.

Last summer we went to the Bahamas. We went to Freeport and stayed across the harbor from all the big resorts and stuff. It was only a $2.00 ferry ride across to the restaurants and stuff if we wanted to go there for an afternoon or night.

I don't think you can find a bad place to stay in the Caribbean, IMO.
 
J

jsouthan

New Member
Oh, one more thing... check the airfare before you decide, if that is a factor. Some islands are WAAAAY more expensive to get to than others.

Have fun! :cheers:
 
ohstate

ohstate

Member
If you don't want to be overrun with tourists, avoid islands with large cruise ship ports. We like the British Virgin Islands, in particular, Virgin Gorda. It is pretty quiet. If you don't need a ton of shopping/gambling/nightlife, it is great. We've been at least 5 times so far. Lots of little resorts plus you can rent houses w/ pools as well. Little Dix Bay, Biras Creek and the Bitter End Yacht club are the 3 major resorts. Nightlife is mostly restaurants and a few bars that have bands (but not every night).

BVI Welcome Magazine - British Virgin Islands
 
crabcake

crabcake

But wait, there's more...
RoseRed said:
Negril, Jamaica
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That's one of my preferences! :biggrin: But Turks and Caicos is sitting at the top of my list right now, and they have several airlines that fly there, and the resort we're looking at is only a couple miles from the airport.

Does anyone know what islands are more expensive to fly to? We have a timeshare week we're can use somewhere, so the airfare is going to be the biggest chunk of the cost most likely. Depending on how steep it is, it might drive me from one to another. :shrug:
 
RoseRed

RoseRed

American Beauty
PREMO Member
crabcake said:
That's one of my preferences! :biggrin: But Turks and Caicos is sitting at the top of my list right now, and they have several airlines that fly there, and the resort we're looking at is only a couple miles from the airport.

Does anyone know what islands are more expensive to fly to? We have a timeshare week we're can use somewhere, so the airfare is going to be the biggest chunk of the cost most likely. Depending on how steep it is, it might drive me from one to another. :shrug:
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Have you checked into any package deals that includes airfare?
 
RoseRed

RoseRed

American Beauty
PREMO Member
crabcake said:
I am ... trying to see what's going to be a better move ... use timeshare/buy airfare, etc., or just go with a package deal somewhere. :yay:
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When we went to Montego Bay, we did the Sandals package deal. It was about 3k.
 
J

johnjrval424

New Member
We've been to each of the places mentioned here. We've been long-time Bahamas fans (both Freeport and Nassau) and visited St. Thomas, Acapulco, as well as other caribbean destinations.

We also owned a timeshare and would ponder the same question - is it cheaper to use the timeshare than do a package deal? It really does depend on the airfare and availability. With what you pay for maintenance fees these days for your timeshare (probably over 400+), you want to use that as much as possible.

We just recently came back from Miami and during our visit went, by car, to the Keys. Absolutely gorgeous! There were places along the way that had white sand beaches, the water was as clear as a bathtub and relatively remote. You should try Duck Key where there are a couple places to stay but no high rises and very few tourists (the Florida Keys prohibit high-rise development). The area was beautiful and, if you need something, you can always drive to Marathon or Key West which has everything you would ever need while down there, and the drive ain't bad either. You could actually fly into Miami and drive to the hotel...

If you really want to try the three destinations you suggested, then I would lean towards Bahamas because airfare tends to be a little cheaper. You could fly to Ft. Lauderdale and catch a commuter plane over.
 
whome20603

whome20603

...
Outside of the States, I've been to Cozumel and Cancun (Mexico), Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), Grand Caymen (Caymen Islands) and Negril (Jamaica). I would have to say the Caymen Islands would be best for R&R. It's a lot less touristy and they have a 7 mile white sand beach that's breathtaking. The sand is softer than I've ever felt. It would be great to rent a house on the beach, wow. I'm not sure on the airfare though, I'm sure it's not cheap. We went there on a cruise but I'd venture to say that's too busy for what you're looking for. I've looked up Turks & Caicos and I imagine that is unbelievable. My DREAM vacation though would have to be somewhere in the Fiji Islands...AHHHH...
 
J

johnjrval424

New Member
Nupe2 said:
Going there in June. Any suggestions, recommendations? Also, did you notice any decent golf courses (just in case, although you probably don't have the addiction)?

:popcorn:
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There's only one golf course on St. Thomas. I don't know about St. John. I believe the course on St. Thomas is Magen's Bay Golf Course - we play but we didn't go to this one (we were on a cruise ship and didn't have time).
 
crabcake

crabcake

But wait, there's more...
Mikeinsmd

Mikeinsmd

New Member
crabcake said:
I've always wanted to go to Hawaii to see Pearl Harbor. :smile:

I'm scouting through the different resort locations now to come up with something. I found one little boutique sort of place that has only 50 rooms on an island in the Caribbean/Bahamas area, then accidentally closed down that page. It was PERFECT! :tantrum:
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Should still be in your browsing history.

Barbados. Flying fish sammich with bajan spices... :yum:
 
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