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Beaches, Rainforest, Waterfalls- Can I have it all?

Beaches, Rainforest, Waterfalls- Can I have it all?

Old Apr 15th, 2014, 01:11 PM
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Beaches, Rainforest, Waterfalls- Can I have it all?

Hello! I am planning a 7-10 day vacation for the Caribbean sometime in the july-september time frame. I am a 23 year old recent college graduate and will be traveling with my 27 year old boyfriend. We love beautiful, picturesque Caribbean beaches, as well as snorkeling! We also would like to have lush, rainforest surroundings and beautiful scenery. We plan to do some hiking. A pretty waterfall that we can swim under is a sort of bucket-list thing for me and a definite plus! We are coming from the east coat USA.. traveling on a moderate budget, want to AVOID all inclusive resorts, and would prefer islands a little less "touristy."

I've been having some trouble finding islands that combine volcanic, lush scenery with pristine beaches... Any good compromises out there? So far I have been considering combining a 2-3 day Puerto Rico- El yunque exploration with a 5-7 day St. John beach exploit... thoughts on this? I also absolutely love the idyllic beaches of Turks & Caicos. Anguilla seems to be very picturesque as well. I've seen Grenada mentioned frequently on here... It seems to have the waterfalls and scenery, how is the beach situation? St. Lucia seems to have beautiful scenery, but not sure about the beaches there either. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!! (side note: I've done Mexico several times, don't want to return, I feel Jamaica may be too touristy, and same for dominican republic,,, thoughts?)


1.) Island suggestions with white sand beaches, rain forests, waterfalls?

2.) How do St. John beaches compare with those of Anguilla, Turks & Caicos?

3.) Combining St. John with PR-El Yunque?

4.) How does Grenada suit my wish list?
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Old Apr 15th, 2014, 01:13 PM
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Also, Dominica seems like an incredible place to travel to.. Any affordable ways to combine Dominica with a better beach destination?
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Old Apr 15th, 2014, 01:54 PM
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You are going to have to make some concessions.

First off Anguilla and the T&C's are very flat, arid scrubby island - they have incredible white sand beaches but you won't find any rain forests & waterfalls.

Second, finding an island with rain forests & waterfalls means you need a mountainous/volcanic based island - these will not normally have white sand beaches. Those are found on the flatter coral/limestone based islands.

Dominica is an eco-tourist's delight - it's 290 sq. miles of rainforest with literally hundreds of water falls and more than a hundred miles of hiking trails but beaches are dark sand and just OK - it is not a "beach lover's destination.

Grenada is an interesting choice because it does have some dense rain forests, waterfalls and a section of lowlands with some decent light golden sand beaches. It's a little difficult to reach.

St. Lucia is a mountainous island with rain forests, waterfalls and some smaller dark sand "cove like" beaches. The only "white sand beach" on the island is man-made.

St. John has some extremely pretty beaches - light golden sand rimmed by palm trees and other natural vegetation and calm waters varying in color from bright turquoise to deep blue. 2/3's of the island is a National Park so there's plenty of hiking opportunities. The island is a bit arid so won't look as lush as Dominican but most people will be happy with the vegetation and call it a lush island. It's a somewhat expensive island but you can find simpler accommodations to fit many budgets - sorry you didn't give a dollar range for your accommodation's budget and without a point of reference we don't know what a "moderate budget" means to you.

You did say you want to avoid "All inclusives" and you'll be please to know you can easily do that on just about every island.

Combining Puerto Rico with St. John wil give you access to the rainforest & waterfalls you crave (in PR) and some very picturesque beaches (STJ)however you are going to add to your travel costs flying between those islands (you'd actually have to fly from San Juan to St. Thomas then take a ferry to St. John) and that may make combining both islands a bit over your "Moderate budget".

Good luck figuring out which island will meet your desires.
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Old Apr 15th, 2014, 02:44 PM
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You get 2 islands for the price of 1 on Guadeloupe. One side is lush, green, rainforest with volcano and waterfalls, pretty fishing villages, Jacques Cousteau underwater reserve, a huge national park with trails. The other side of the island is flat, dry with beautiful beaches, not quite T&C standard but beautiful nonetheless. Great infrastructure on the island, being part of France is pretty well off by Caribbean standards. Lots of budget rustic accommodation, fab supermarkets with produce from France makes catering for yourself easy. A little knowledge of French is very useful..Probably have to fly via Miami.

Grenada could also tick most boxes, it has a rainforest interior, Grand Etang and the gorgeous Grand Anse beach. Friendly people too, not sure about budget accommodation. But its not to the standard of Guadeloupe for rainforests/trails etc.

St Lucia has some very nice beaches, they might not all be white sand but that doesn't mean they are not beautiful in their own right. In the north the beaches are lighter sand, and in the south, they are darker. Check out Reduit Beach, the sand is light. The Pitons are spectacular. Snorkelling is not bad around Anse Cochon and Anse Chastenet.
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Old Apr 15th, 2014, 03:22 PM
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I believe it depends exactly where you go on Jamaica if it is "too touristy" or not. Certainly not all the island is.
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Old Apr 16th, 2014, 04:39 AM
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Or you could just go to Kauai, and have your wishlist. Problem is the long flight times to get there from the east coast.
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Old Apr 16th, 2014, 07:33 AM
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Interesting comment above. I hadn't thought about it, but it's true your wish list sounds a lot more like Hawaii than any of the Caribbean islands. Rainforests, waterfalls, etc. are typically found on larger islands where there are inland mountains, etc.
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Old Apr 16th, 2014, 08:23 AM
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@suze...

Yeah, I don't think anything in the Caribbean comes close to Kauai. It was truly the most epic landscape I've ever laid my eyes on....just breath taking. Picture the Grand Canyon but lush with waterfalls....just wow!!
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Old Apr 16th, 2014, 01:06 PM
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I know I know. I love Hawaii.

I'm no expert on geography but I thought it took mountains to make rainforest. Like Jamaica is a large enough island where you have the mountains, the lush jungles, loads of waterfalls, etc. Many of the islands are tiny, flat, not really lush at all.

I've only been to St. Thomas, St. John, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica, and only Jamaica even is in the ballpark for what they are requesting.
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Old Apr 16th, 2014, 01:58 PM
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I'm also on the east coast, and have been looking for very much the same thing. I think Grenada is perfect for you, as it seems to be for me. It has a main volcano with a large lake in the volcano's crater, as well as many waterfalls where you can swim (google seven sisters waterfall - it seems to be the most popular). The entire interior of the island is rainforest, with lots of hiking and the like, and there are monkeys you can see that were brought over from Africa centuries ago. There are also many beaches, with the biggest/most popular and beautiful being Grand Anse beach, which is white sand and has many of the island's hotels along it. There are only two true all inclusives (a sandals and a VERY upscale resort called Spice Island), although many of the other hotels offer all inclusive packages that are a good deal for those days that you choose to hang around the hotel/beach/pool. The majority of the hotels are on the south end of the island near Grand Anse beach and St. George's, the capital. The vast majority of the hotels are small, family-run operations with just a few rooms, and many have stand-alone villas as rooms. Check out tripadvisor's rankings for hotels and restaurants in your price range.
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Old Apr 16th, 2014, 02:32 PM
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Sorry, one thing I forgot to mention about Grenada - there are direct flights from Toronto and New York, and I think a couple of the other major airports on the east coast (you'll have to check). Check out Caribbean airlines if you're in Toronto or NYC - expedia and other similar sites don't seem to search them.
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Old Apr 16th, 2014, 05:15 PM
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I agree that Jamaica will have what you are looking for. Nice lush topography and nice beaches. Nothing like T & C, but for a lush Island it does meet your criteria. There are really nice boutique non AI hotels in Negril/7 Mile Beach. You can go to YS Falls and Mayfield Falls, which is way less touristy than Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios. Mayfield Falls actually has a "nature walk". You walk a trail to the start and then walk through the water to the falls.
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Old Apr 17th, 2014, 01:35 PM
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Thank you very much for the feedback! Our budget is under the 3000 dollar range so Kauai may be pushing it. I have been to Oahu and loved it so definitely hope to return someday. Hawaii is beautiful! The best flight deals I've found for St. John include a connecting flight in Puerto Rico so the PR/STJ trip may be our best bet. I've also found a lot of affordable villas in STJ.

I will definitely look into the Jamaica, Guadeloupe & Grenada options as well! Thank you!
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Old Apr 17th, 2014, 01:37 PM
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@Odin

Will we be totally helpless in Guadeloupe with no french at all?
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Old Apr 17th, 2014, 01:40 PM
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I believe you will find Jamaica (Negril specifically) to be more affordable and easier to get to than St John.
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Old Apr 17th, 2014, 03:54 PM
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I agree with Suze with that having been to both. Jamaica was less expensive and easier to get to. You'll get more out of your $3,000 there. Food/drinks in the resort areas of PR is outrageous.
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