cpwisconsin

Hi,
I am looking for any information that anyone can give me. I am planning on booking a trip at the beginning of June 2007 and I am curious if anyone has been to Long Island at this time of the year and can tell me what the weather is like?? I read one review about there being terrible mosquitos??

I am planning on doing the all inclusive at the Stella Maris resort and then an extra 2 days at Cape Santa Maria resort. Any information on the all inclusive packages?

A_Traveller

Obviously no one can predict what the weather will be like during the one week or so you'll be visiting but you can expect daytime temps in the mid-80's F. with lots of sun and occasional brief passing showers. Mosquitos are a function of weather conditions rather than time of year. They are more active after periods of heavy or prolongued rains or if there are light or no breezes. They are also more active at dusk in areas around standing water and on or near the beach. Avoid using perfumes or colognes as the sweet smell attracts the bugs.

MaryPPP

ttt

PamDoering

I just got back from a week at Cape Santa Maria Beach Resort. The gnats and mosquitoes at this time of year were only bad at sunset and then come night time you can lay out and star gaze without fear of being eaten alive. I got the meal plan that included breakfast & dinner and I don't believe my sister & I were able to eat enough to warrant the cost so when I return I will not get a meal plan. There were other people at the resort who had stayed at Stella Maris before coming to Cape Santa Maria & preferred CSM over Stella Maris because of the beach...incredibly breathtaking water with no undertow and powdery soft sand so no need for water shoes.

virginia

hi pam

kellybeaches

PamDoering,
Our next vaca will be to CSM! Glad to see a post on it. Do you have any pictures you can share? How bad was it getting there? Would you recommend flying through Miami or Nassau? Did you rent a villa? If so, would you recommend staying on the first or second floor? How was the food at the resort? Were there any kids there? Did you do any boating daytrips? Sorry for the hundred questions-just excited to see someone who's been there-it seems like a pretty remote place. Thanks!

PamDoering

Please call me Pam. I don't log on very often but my good pal, Virginia, is a regular and will keep me up on when I should respond! It wasn't bad at all getting there. We flew from Philadelphia into Nassau (2 hours, 45 minutes max) and then an hour later caught Southern Air plane (very small...4 seats and bench space for 3 people) which took us to Long Island (an hour trip...) because they fly you into Deadman's Cay first at the Southern end and then a 10-15 minute jaunt up to Stella Maris at the Northern end where the resort is. We did not rent a villa...we got one of the bungalows. There are 2 units in each bungalow. We had 2 queen sized beds and then there was a small attached room with 2 single beds which was a complete and total surprise to us. Only drawback was no cooking facilities but didn't phase us much at all. The drawback with the villas is that right now they're doing construction on more villas so you'd have to put up with construction sounds. (One of the days we were there we had the sound of the water pretty much obliterated because of a bulldozer moving sand but the rest of the time it was hammering and that wasn't nearly as annoying.) If I were staying in a villa, though, I'd probably do the first floor for easy access to that incredible beach!!! The food wasn't as incredible as our experience at Palm Island last year but that was 5+ star so we got awfully spoiled, but it was good. VERY PRICEY, tho. There were kids there...babies right on up but not too many to annoy you (and I'm a mother of 2...both grown - 22 & 26 years old) so please don't take any offense at that comment. Somehow or other other than at mealtime we didn't seem to see them. We felt like we had the place all to ourselves! There are boats you can hire out for fishing excursions or for exploring purposes. Unfortunately, I was unable to take advantage of them...I had 2 surgeries this year with another scheduled for next week so I had to baby myself physically. Ticked me off because I would have LOVED trying the bonefishing as I think fishing is a very therapeutic pasttime. I think I'm just going to have to return, eh? As I said, I'm kind of new to Fodor's so I've asked Virginia to please give the novice instructions on how to post pictures or do you want them e-mailed to you?

kellybeaches

Hi Pam,
Thanks so much for this information! It sounds like you had a great time. We’ll be leaving out of PHL as well. We’re planning on going next year (‘09) with our 2 little ones and my in-laws (no offense taken on the kids-I totally understand-I just wanted to make sure that people don’t get bent out of shape if there are little kids (aka ours!) running around). Guess we’ll be taking up the whole plane on Southern Air! Did you rent a car while there? Is it even worth renting a car? Were you able to explore the island much? That’s unfortunate about the noise from the villa construction. We’ll be sure to check on the construction status before going. Ideally we would like to rent a villa-that’s what we usually do-it helps having the kitchen with kids. And I guess we would do a meal plan since you said the food is very expensive. I would love it if you could email me your pictures. Please send them to [email protected]. If you prefer to post, you’ll need to upload them to an online photo place like kodak, snapfish, webshots, etc and then post the link on fodors. Good luck with your surgery next week. You’ll need another vacation after this year!

PamDoering

Hi Kelly...I'll be sending over some pictures during the course of the day. They're really high resolution so I'll just do a few at a time. I'm also at work so I have to do it "on the sly"...ha. If I have time I'll try to figure out the posting on Kodak, etc. idea but for now I'll e-mail to you. As far as the flight you don't necessarily have to fly Southern Air. There is also an airline called Pineapple Air and there's Bahamas Air. I don't know how I stumbled on Southern so just do a little research and you'll be able to find a connecting flight. One recommendation...don't stay overnight in Nassau on the way back. We did that because we took the afternoon flight back over to Nassau and there were no US Airways flights out in the evening so we spent the night. I wasn't at all thrilled with it after experiencing the sheer joy and remote feeling of Cape Santa Maria. To go to Nassau was a very rude experience to my calmed nerves. So catch a morning flight (early...8 or 8:30 a.m.) off Long Island and get a connecting back to Philly. That's just my suggestion. We didn't rent a car there, again because of my physical limitations but since we only had a week we were quite content to just chill at the resort. I didn't look into the whole thing enough to see if it was worth exploring so you'll have to look into it. If you're going to rent a villa ask for one closest to the bungalows because the construction is going on to the South end. I told my friend Virginia that next time I probably wouldn't do a meal plan because I'd be happy having a decent breakfast and take advantage of the conch fritters at happy hour and then grab a Caesar salad but it's definitely a different case with kids. They definitely will want to eat more than that! There's also washer and dryer at the resort in the beach house (main building where you'll find the bar and restaurant area). You have to pay for detergent but at least there's facilities to use. It's nice coming home with CLEAN CLOTHES! I would also recommend considering buying a couple of rafts like my sister did. She bought $9 rafts at a pool store and the office has a foot pump. We used them quite a bit and then passed them along to a couple from Toronto and asked them to "Pay It Forward". But they were WONDERFUL to have. You can float along all day and watch the rays and needle fish and get a tan at the same time. Absolutely delicious experience! Let me know if you have any other questions. Oh, and I would recommend booking a year beforehand.

Callaloo

Kelly and Pam, you have no idea how timely this thread is! I just finished booking my own trip to Cape Santa Maria (and had posted here earlier asking how to get there). I am an Out Island fanatic (Eleuthera, Abacos, Cat), and Long Island seems like a natural for us. Cape Santa Maria sounds perfect. We're set for November of next year.

I, too, am coming from the East Coast. We've decided to us AA FF miles from BWI to Georgetown, Exuma, and I've just booked a charter on Island Wings from GGT to Long Island. They are highly recommended, and have been very responsive thus far; the full charter price -- even for just 2 of us -- is not unreasonable. But if anyone's schedule coincides with ours, we'll be happy to share the charter.

I absolutely hate transiting through Nassau, as we did the first time we went to Cat Island; it seems to add a sour taste at the beginning and end of the trip. So going via Georgetown seems a decent alternative, even if it's a little trickier.

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

kellybeaches

Hi Pam, Thank you so much for all of your helpful information! And your pictures are beautiful! I can't wait to go!

Callaloo, you'll have to post a TR when you return, and let me know how it went with the flights. We're planning on going in spring of 09 so we still have a ways. It's just fun to plan ahead! Will you be sailing while there? I always enjoy reading about your sailing trips!

Callaloo

Kelly, the only sailing we plan to do at Long Island is on the Hobie cat! But I will definitely do a trip report ... it's just such a long way off...