Caribbean recommendations?

Kate61487

Hi ladies, hoping you can help me out.  H and I have been procrastinating planning our vacay this year. We know we want to go somewhere tropical and relaxing. We loved every minute of our Hawaiian honeymoon; but weren't planning on spending that much this time around; or flying quite so far. I'm hoping you ladies can give some recommendations based on Caribbean islands you may have visited?

I've started looking into St Maarten, St Lucia, and Grand Cayman a little bit, and I've just read so many conflicting reviews I don't know what to think.

We know we want to spend at least 50% of our time relaxing on a beach. We'll probably do some adventure-y things like snorkeling and such, but neither of us is really big on hiking or any particular activity. We're not big drinkers and I seriously doubt we'd spend any time in a casino or night club (which I've read is part of the appeal of St Maarten). We also have to consider flight costs from Chicago. Anguilla is supposed to be amazing, but the flights I've found are over $1700 per person so that's out unless we do a day trip from St Maarten.

Any recs for islands, hotels/resorts, sites to book flights, etc would be greatly appreciated! We're looking at going the week of August 20th also, if that makes a difference.  And now I'm off to bed; I'll check back in the morning :-)  TIA!

abbalish

I've never been to any of the places you're considering so I don't really have any input on specific things to do. 

But, definitely check out the website bookit.com for package deals.  We used it when we went to Puerto Vallarta earlier this year and got a great deal on flight/hotel.  But do some shopping around - when I was looking at the Bahamas recently, I looked at Expedia as well and some hotels were way cheaper on Expedia, and some were cheaper on Bookit.

AdeleDazeem

Obviously I have to recommend Bermuda.  Equal parts lie on the beach and snorkeling.  We also swam with dolphins, visited forts, ate a yummy restaurants, and saw the crystal caves.  Beautiful beautiful island.

Mrs.B6302007

We loved St. Lucia.  We stayed at the Sandals Grande.

http://mrsb6302007.weebly.com/st-lucia--july-2--20-2007.html

tpender13

Since you don't have your heart set on any one place, could you keep your eyes open for a Groupontype deal? I don't pay too close attention to the travel deals, but they often seem to have great summertime deals on warm destinations.

HappinessByTheKilowatt

St. Thomas is my absolute favorite Caribbean spot, and you get easy access to St. John and St. Croix. When I was there we shopped, rented jetskis, took a trolley tour, laid on the beach, etc. Magen's Bay is stunningly beautiful. The locals were very, very nice as well. I enjoyed the Bahamas and St. Maarten as well, but I thought St. Thomas blew both of them out of the water.

aleighk1

We stayed at Couples Negril in Jamaica for our honeymoon. It cost $3800 for 7 nights, including airfare and it was an all-inclusive. 

Meegles4

I agree with TPender. I stalk Travelzoo weekly e-mails for deals and we scored a great 4 night getaway to Cabo that way. I attempted to do the same for our HM, but because we had more specific dates and location, it was harder. But, if you're flexible on dates and location they run really great specials. It's also perfect for procrastinators since it's usually last minute type stuff. Our deal was booked in December for February travel.

pillsburyaj

We went to Antigua last year for our vacation. We stayed at Cocobay. We booked through luxurylink.com which is like a auction-style website for these amazing places all over the world. We got a 5 night all-inclusive place for $970 total and it was hands down the best vacation I've ever had.

ootmother2

I love the East End of St. Croix

S6ix

Grand Cayman is wonderful for sitting on the beach and snorkeling, and it is easy to have a fun time there without going to the clubs or anything. You can swim with stingrays or just snorkel off of the big beach; I think it is seven-mile-beach or something? It has been a few years since I was there. The non-resort hotels have kitchenettes in them for cooking in your room. That will save a ton of money right there.

Blueyed228

We stayed at Sandels Regency La Toc in St Lucia and absolutely loved it.  The resort has beautiful beaches and pools and then we did a few excursions like ziplining.  They offer free snorkling at the resorts and there are tons of boat tours and scuba places.

I have pics and a review in my bio.

runpipparun

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_caribbean-recommendations?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:6ed5888e-b1db-4abe-9583-d7bdb8da4c9aPost:4da3eb69-1ea0-48a1-a7b8-6d6df2952185">Re: Caribbean recommendations?</a>:
[QUOTE]Grand Cayman is wonderful for sitting on the beach and snorkeling, and it is easy to have a fun time there without going to the clubs or anything. You can swim with stingrays or just snorkel off of the big beach; I think it is seven-mile-beach or something? It has been a few years since I was there. The non-resort hotels have kitchenettes in them for cooking in your room. That will save a ton of money right there.
Posted by S6ix[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>My uncle loved Cayman so much that he lives there now with his wife, whom he met while working as a divemaster on a tourist boat.</div>

jemmini6

Ditto on the Puerto Rico rec.  It's one of the funnest vacations I've had!

Also, if you aren't 100% on any island, definitely check out all the travel deal sites.  H and I are going to Roatan in Sept from a Groupon we bought.

Blueyed228

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_caribbean-recommendations?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:6ed5888e-b1db-4abe-9583-d7bdb8da4c9aPost:9e158bb5-aab2-4856-9423-4cd5f9bb9314">Re: Caribbean recommendations?</a>:
[QUOTE]Oh, Blue reminded me. If you stay at any of the Sandals resorts in St. Lucia, you have free pass to go to the other 2 resorts. They're all really different so it's fun to be able to go explore the other beaches and restaurants. The only downside is the drive over, but it's not that bad because it enables you to see more of the island as well.
Posted by rachers1017[/QUOTE]

Yes.  That was the great part.  The Grande has really nice beaches so its great for the water sports, Regency has really nice pool areas and golfing. 

We took a few day trips down to the Grande and enjoyed it.  For us, we liked the set up of Regency better because we got one of the private villas and we liked how it was away from the main area.  But like I said, its a preference thing.  Both resorts are gorgeous and you will have a great time at either.

I suggest getting a butler suite!

Blueyed228

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_caribbean-recommendations?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:6ed5888e-b1db-4abe-9583-d7bdb8da4c9aPost:82e7ef1e-96a4-418b-8af1-d30b46e24ba9">Re: Caribbean recommendations?</a>:
[QUOTE]Definitely get a butler suite. Gah, I want to go back so bad.
Posted by rachers1017[/QUOTE]

We went to Aruba for our 1st anniversary.  H wants to check out the Sandals in the bahamas this year.  The new one that has its own island and is all butler!  We will see what his work sched is like around then.

When we were there, we got the Sandels credit card that gets points and you can use the points for future trips.  Also, did you know if you go 9 times your 10th visit is free?

Blueyed228

I have no idea why my spacing is all jacked up.  Stupid TK.

Kate61487

Thanks ladies!  all these recs are great, H and I have some research to do :-)

I'm swamped at work this morning so I'll barely be checking in, but I appreciate all your input!

aurianna

I'm late to the party:

On cruises I've been to Grand Cayman ('98), St. Thomas and St. Maarten ('11)

Obviously experiences from cruise stops are a lot different than extended stays, but here's our take:

Grand Cayman at the time had really fun snokling with the glass bottom boat. I remember it was my favorite of the ports we stopped at that year (also Key West and Cozumel).

St. Thomas... the beach is beautiful. Also if you go up the mountain and look down you get some really picturesque views. Though, my impressions of St. Thomas were dampened because there were a lot of tourist traps. Tour busses would stop in seedy tourist traps where lots of locals were trying to sell t-shirts (or pictures with a donkey for $5). Attractions there that sounded really good (A tour of Blackbeard's castle!) were really just big giftshops.
But if you just stay on the beach, it's probably really nice. We decided if we ever went back that's what we'd do, along with going to St. John's.

St. Maarten we really liked. It's just neat that it's half French, half Dutch. You get some interesting mixes of cultures there. There's a really cool butterfly garden on the island, and we also really liked the shopping districts (a good dutch chocolate shop and "The Yoda Guy" shop was small but pretty cool). The beach was really nice, and where we were at, was pretty private. (though there's a big nude beach on the French side, so just be aware. Not a big deal for some, dealbreaker for others).
We did have a friend though that rented a car and someone pretty much jumped out in front of it, and my friend got stuck having to make a $10k pay-out. So... make sure you get liability insurance if you rent a car there (or anywhere in the Carribean, probably).

jjswin

Maybe try a cruise so you get to see a little of each island. Since you are not big drinkers you don't have to worry about a crazy bar bill, and the food is excellent on the good lines.

jjswin

Maybe try a cruise so you get to see a little of each island. Since you are not big drinkers you don't have to worry about a crazy bar bill, and the food is excellent on the good lines.