andabanda

I would like to get recommendations for our Christmas vacation. Last year we went to Vieques and absolutely loved it. It has beautiful and fairly uncrowded beaches, awesome island vibe, good rentals. This coming Christmas it would be nice to have a similar atmosphere with the opportunity to play golf. Your suggestions are really appreciated!

RoamsAround

You'll find some pretty good golf courses on Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, the Dominican Republic, Barbados, Anguilla, Antigua, Nevis, St. Kitts and St. Lucia.

cmcfong

Bermuda also has beautiful golf courses, but the weather is likely to be cooler than those islands noted above.

WWK

We go to Providenciales in Turks and Caicos almost every year a few days after Christmas. The beach is spectacular and pretty uncrowded in front of our condo/hotel, The Venetian. There's an OK golf course across the street. Our son-in-law plays almost every day. No "awesome island" vibe, but the beaches on the island - Grace Bay and Taylor Bay- make up for it. And so do many of the restaurants!

andabanda

Thank you all!
I will look into these options. Anguilla looks fabulous.With Bermuda and Turks and Caicos my concern is the weather .WWK, how did you find the weather in Turks just after Christmas? Some 15 years ago we had two amazing trips to the Beaches Resort when our kids were younger and the all inclusives were convenient.(and their prices were a lot lower, lol) I'm sure Grace Bay changed a lot since.
Thanks again!

WWK

We've been going to Turks every Dec/early January for the past five or six years. We've had gorgeous weather every time - low to mid 80s in the days, light jacket or sweater weather by late afternoon/early evening. I hope I didn't jinx us since we're going back again next year!

Jimmie

I'm going to put in a plug for Nevis and the golf course at the Four Seasons. It's lovely. Two caveats: Nevis doesn't have white sand beaches -- the sand is more of a golden color. And it certainly won't be cheap at Christmas. But it's a beautiful island with a lot of charm.

Tabernash2

Upscale Casa de Campo, @ the Dominican Republic, has good golf courses. I think there are three. Also nice beaches and shopping. "Golf villa" rentals often include a cook/housekeeper, and a golf cart.

Also, on St Croix, The Buccaneer has a golf course and three beaches. Very nice property.

andabanda

Great info; thank you all!
I will do my homework. If we are looking for a laid back place, white beaches, and island vibe, which one of the above would fit the bill the most?

Tabernash2

Probably not Casa de Campo. It's mostly very wealthy people who have retired there to play golf. Not so much an island feel.

St Croix, yes.

But for endless white beaches, someplace else maybe. Anguilla?

RoamsAround

If white sand beaches are a high priority for you then cross off St. Kitts, Nevis and St. Lucia off your list- beaches there are shades of gray, brown and even black.

Providenciales, the one island in the Turks & Caicos with a golf course, has blinding white sand beaches but could be cool at Christmas time and early January - average daytime temperatures are in the high 70's to low 80's F. Lowest temperature ever recorded in Dec/Jan was 62 F. Highest temperature in same period was 87 F.

Anguilla has 35 white sand beaches plus a very nice golf course operated by the Cuisinart Resort. You can get an idea of Green Fees here: http://www.cuisinartresort.com/view....tID=51&pID=502

Barbados, St. Thomas, St. Croix and Antigua will have light golden sand beaches (usually an acceptable alternative to those seeking "white sand") and the island vibe you are seeking. Of these Barbados and St. Thomas won't be as laid back as St. Croix & Antigua.

WWK

As I said in the post above, we go to to Turks almost every year a few days after Christmas. Weather has been delightful and if anything almost too hot during the day, with cooler temps by late afternoon. No island vibe, but it's hard to beat a destination with gorgeous white sand beaches that is only a 3 hour trip out of JFK. Anguilla is great, but used to involve at least one connection from the East Coast.

andabanda

I would like to report back that I just booked a villa in Chalk Sound Turks and Caicos. Anguilla would have been the first choice but everything was already booked in our price range. There is always next year and I have to do the bookings earlier. Really looking forward to Turks and Caicos.
Thank you all for the input, it is really appreciated.
If you have any tips, must visit restaurants, bars, day trips, please let me know. I am very excited to plan this. Our group consists of two parents and 3 or 4 young adults. (early twenties)

WWK

LAS BRISAS in Chalk Sound is very family friendly and has good food that everyone will enjoy.

I assume you'll have a car, so on the other side of the island check out:

MR. GROUPER- casual, fresh fish, great drinks, really good food!

DA CONCH SHACK- very casual beachfront restaurant

SOMEWHERE CAFE- casual Mexican

for upscale:

COCO BISTRO

BAY BISTRO

SEVEN at SEVEN STARS

also: beach barbecue night at either BAY BISTRO or SEVEN STARS

FrankS

If you are on Chalk Sound, you gotta do the pirate tour. Thats a fun trip . In fact if I were on Chalk Sound, I wouldn't waste a day golfing. Chalk Sound is incredibly beautiful and its a long drive to something that really isn't much of a golf course.
I can reach most of the Par 4s with an iron

andabanda

Thank you. It will be a lot of fun to prepare!