droots

Our family of four (all adults) is planning a Xmas 2007 trip. Thought about Hawaii, but the threat of rain after a long East Coast flight is daunting. Australia and the Great Barrier Reef are just too far for such a short trip. We have been to the Caymans and loved it. Is there anywhgere else in the Caribbean we should consider? Beach snorkeling, diving and great food are a must. Not too concerned about cost, and resorts are not that attractive as we'll likely rent a condo for 7-10 days. Any thoughts would be very appreciated.

A_Traveller

St. John (USVI's) or Virgin Gorda (BVI's) - both have very good to excellent off-beach snorkeling, access to scores of terrific dive sites, lots of rental villas and plenty of very good restaurants.

virginia

droots, you should look at turks and caicos. easy flight from east coast. flat and scrubby like caymans. a few good beach snorkels, excellent excursions for snorkel, 7000' walls w/ gigantic fans and sponges to dive, some of the best restaurants in the caribbean. other than northwest point the condo's are mainly in resorts of a sort. they don't all have activities but they do have restaurants.
grace bay beach is stunning. colors of water hard to describe but kind of tourquoise. huge reef protects the beach so calm for swimming. very laid back place, not much shopping or culture, not much nightlife either if that is important to you.
look at:
www.provo.net
www.wherewhenhow.com
www.turksandcaicostourism.com
art pickerings provo turtle divers is a great company to go with.

LvSun

We are heading to Bonaire - people tell me the snorkeling and diving is better than GC. Will let you know.

droots

Thank you all so much! I hope others chime in, but I am very much looking forward to the Bonaire report.We've heard the snorkeling and diving are excellent.

poss

We found snorkeling on Bonaire to be much more difficult access than on St John, Virgin Gorda, Grand Cayman. Nice, but lots of scrambling, so less well suited to oldsters.

marbleheadguy

a traveler is right recommending st john in virgin islands. Its my favorite.

hands down---you get the WHOLE package.
Bonaire way too difficult.

Rent a a condo from a wide variety of firms on St. John.

I use these for my "all adult" friends:

1st: gallows Point Resort at www.gallowspointresort.com

or: Viva Vacations
or Windspree
www.windspree.com
www.vivacations.com

At Gallows you get access to great food, snorkeling and dining. Avoid on site restaurant in my opinion-way overpriced and pompous. Dining at Stone Terrace a 1 minute walk. Panini Breach restaurant same. Fishtrap Restaurant (awesome!) same. La Tapa 2 minutes away. Avoid Lime Inn now for the fact its simply old and worn out.

Want best BBQ in Caribbean? Joe's BBQ across from post office 5 minutes from Gallows.

Diving and snorkeling?
Snorkel off Gallows...
Diving? take low key watersports at Wharfside Village complex again-1 minute from Gallows.

If you want the whoile package tied together then check out Caneel Resort or Westin Resort Condo.Villas, although Caneel is killer for everything.

Finally--why hassle yourself with passport restrictions and non US protection traveling outside USA?

America's Paradise is St. John.

I also like Puerto Rico.
Check out www.gotopuertorico.com
Great beaches, dive sites and historuy...same USA protection.

StanKase

I hate to be always bashing VG, but after 8 full days there less than a month ago and having snorkeled from Australia, Asia and 15-16 islands in the Caribbean I must tell you 75%++ of the coral around VG is dead or dying. There are 3 nice resorts with good to very good food but if snorlkeling is important than St. John-Caneel Bay is still alive and well!!
Snorkeling in Bonaire since Hurricane Mitch is not very good (we were there in Feb. 2005). I personally do not think T&C is nearly as good as St. John but I have NOT been there since 2002. It was good, just not, great then or in 1997 or 1998.

mhcatl

Just a few suggestions... (I'm a diver and pretty much plan my trips around that activity).

Aruba (not much snorleing in front of the hotels),
Bonaire (food may not be as good as Aruba or TCI
Turks and Caicos, good choice, or
Belize.

TXgalinGA

St. Croix- it has everything you're looking for! We stayed at Pelican Cove Condos- very nice and upscale!! We were amazing at just how good the food was. we honestly didn't have a bad meal! It was a wonderful place to spend the holidays. i hope to do a TR soon.

StanKase

The Belize suggestion is a good one. We have stayed at 2 different resorts both well off-shore on small islands. One is closed for renovation and will open 12/07-Lighthouse Reef Resort. It is a terrific place. Good snorkeling, not off the beach, but they take you in a 18 ft. motorboat to different spots ad give you 30-40 minutes in the water. I assume they will continue to do that.The other is Blue Marlin, which we did not particularly like. Caye Caulker folks talk very highly of for snorkeling and diving.
But, at the 2 we stayed at the food was good home-cooking, not fine dining.
Another idea I have mentioned on this forum is Anthony's Key Resort on Roatan, Honduras. It is one of the Bay Islands and the Barrier Reef stretches from Belize down to Honduras but the reef has greater variety of corals off Belize. At Anthony's Key the snorkeling is NOT off the beach but hey go out 2 times a day snorkeling on a very comfortable boat for almost 2 hours each trip with 1 hr. +/- in the water. The diving is great and they let you go up to 3 times a day, if you can handle it, and 40-50ft. down it is as good as Bonaire, in my opinion. The resort is all-inclusive and this March we are paying $1750/person for 7 nights. The food is 1 step-up from home cooking but not like Caneel, Little Dix, Peter Island or Biras Creek (dinners only are really good).
The cabins are up-scale rustic and the Superior cabins have A/C.But, need to go March-May and bring 50%+ DEET for late afternoon and evenings.