The southwest beaches of Anguilla are being replaced, by nature and at some places by dredging sand. Shoal bay East is fine, and although I did not go to Savannah Bay my last trip, a poster on another forum describes it as being terrific. I was in Sandy Lane in November 2008, and it was definitely worth it. Barbados is busy, is built up and has some industry. Anguilla is quiet, and the major industries are tourism, fishing and boat building. I have never been to the DR. Both AXA and Barbados have great restaurants, but I think Anguilla's are better, the beach is whiter and softer and the ocean bluer. Barbados has better shopping and siteseeing, a cave to explore, and higher elevations, motorized watersports and a submarine. Anguilla nightlife includes Elvis' bech bar and Bankie Banx's Dune Preserve, in addition to johnno's and Pumphouse

I live in the Dominican Republic and visited CDC last year and I must say that the resort has an excellent schedule of activities especially for children and teens. As I live in Santo Domingo (the capital) wanted to take advantage of the many activities outside the resort that are available to see the eastern side of the country- so my family and I decided to take the Catalina Island and Palmillas Beach excursions which are two spectacular islands of the country located just 40 minutes away from the hotel by boat and offer activities such as Snorkling, Kayaking, Fishing, Sailing, Scuba, etc.. We had the best time ever.

Another activity we did was the Zipline excursion and the Boogies Adventure, both awesome, but if you decide to stay at the hotel I assure you that you will only stop if you choose to: from Dance lessons on the beach where the entire family can learn our countries' meregue dance, the equestrian center, shooting center, tennis and golf, and many more. My only advise is that if you decide to leave the hotel on your own, you ask the hotel’s frontdesk so they can recommend a transfer service to take you around.

We went to sandy lane last year and the resort is exceptional. I think when people complain that its not worth it, it's probably bc they are paying at least 1200 a night for a regular room in season and it is a very expensive hotel. But it is exceptional. The beach is beautiful.

That being said, I don't think I have found a better beach or better restaurant than in Anguilla. But the islands are very different. barbados is much larger and more developed. ANguilla has a real laid back feel to it.

If i were to return to one right now, it would be anguilla, but i would be happy to return to sandy lane as well.

Hi, we live in Boston and have spent both winter and summer vacations with our family at Casa de Campo. This year we spent our winter holiday at the recently renovated resort and had a wonderful vacation. The sports and activities are great and all members of our family were happy with their favorite sports, including improving their golf skills on the amazing Teeth of the Dog and Dye Fore golf courses, playing tennis with each other and also being challenged by playing with a junior pro. We got to try all sorts of new sports and activities, including horseback riding at a working ranch where our experienced guides took us on a ride through the ranch where we watched beautiful horses grazing in the open fields, my kids went skeet shooting, and we all played donkey polo for the first time ever.

There are many excellent restaurants on the property and our favorites are The Beach Club by Le Cirque where we had a private gazebo just for our family as we watched the ocean and fully enjoyed our Le Cirque menu choices and La Casita, at the Marina where we happily enjoyed the wonderfully prepared local fish and baby lobsters with a view of the water and the boats docked at the Marina. We also like to go up to Altos de Chavon to eat outside at Le Piazzetta, a fun Italian restaurant looking over the Chavon River. Sometimes when some of us want to go work out with at the gym and others prefer some relaxing time at the spa, we meet for lunch or dinner at the newest restaurant at the resort, La Cana By II Circo.

The beach is beautiful and has sail boats, kyaks, water paddle boats and our favorite - the banana boat! Every time we go to Casa de Campo everyone in the family goes on the boat trip to Catalina Island where we all have a great day on the soft sandy beach and warm clear water.
As we were walking along the beach, my son said to me, "Mom, there are so many happy families here at this resort, let's tell our cousins to come with us to Casa de Campo"

My opinion of your 3 choices:

DR is the most "touristy" and has the most to do, with long stretches of beaches, but most stay confined to the AI or the surrounding properties. It has water activities, and is the most budget of your choices. My personal has the worst food of your choices. It has one of the best gold courses in the world-Teeth of The Dog. BUT if you stay in Punta Cana, it can be a 2 hour drive to La Romana for that course.

Barbados has a little bit of everything, it's a huge island. You can explore, golf, etc. Sandy Lane is gorgeous. As for worth, that's relative. We can't answer that for you. For me, Barbados overall is nice, but I'm spoiled and have seen the best beaches of the world. I'd pay those prices for a little shack in Maldives, would be worth to me. Consider your expectations, sounds to me (this is not a cut down) but if you have certain expectations, especially because of the price, will affect your notion of "worth it." For example, in DR you'll get a lot more for your money, in Barbados, it's a lot more upscale for the money. Only you can decide what something is worth to you. Overall, Caribbean is an expensive destination, and DR is the least expensive island to go; I find Sandy Lane to be on par with other similar priced resorts in the Caribbean. It has gorgeous, fairly expensive golfing, close to Sandy Lane.

Anguilla has no water activities, except for sail trip to small cays, or day trip on your own to St. Martin for the day. (If brave maybe even St. Barth.) Motor sports are actually against the law there. My opinion again, it has the prettiest beaches of your choices, the best restaurants in the Caribbean. But be warned, golf there is extremely expensive--think $450 plus taxes and tip a round per person.

Going back to "worth it" again. For me, Anguilla is one of my favorites and worth it. If you've never been to any of the above, they all might be worth what you pay.

Thank you all for your help. We are still trying to decide or come up with a different destination. It sounds like we want the beaches and food of Anguilla, the golf and prices of DR and the activities of Barbados!

Our friends own a golf villa at Casa de Campo, and we visited them in Feb 2010. It is a beautiful and huge property.

Our friends have a cook, so we ate in most of the time, except for our last night at the beautiful beachside restaurant, and one night there was an event at the clubhouse to watch a football game. They had a very nice buffet spread and cocktail service.

The beach is lovely, we watched a polo game one day, rode bikes all over, the guys played golf, and we generally lounged around my friends' pool and gorgeously landscaped patio.

I have lots of pictures, if you want to see them. I will e-mail them if you want to post your address.

I just noticed your screen name is jewelhawg, which is funny because my friend's business on the DR is two jewelry shops he owns.

He specializes in amber, crosses, and jewelry using authentic Spanish coins. He designs and creates the pieces. I have a picture of the everyday coin pendant I purchased, and the cross I considered. No advertising on this forum, or I would post his website. I could email to you, though. He and his wife have been in business for 30 years there.