Lordy

Hi there,
we will finish our cruise in Fort Lauderdale and will have a week before we need to fly back to LA for our trip back to Australia.
We did a cruise 2 years ago that went to Grenada, St Maartin, Martinique, Dominica, St Thomas etc and loved it.
We then went to Mexico and unfortunately, got the tail end of a storm and bad weather.
This time we are going to ports in South America and Mexico.
We will have time in Florida before and after our cruise.
We are looking for warmer weather, great scenery, shopping, eating out, seeing the sights nice beaches etc.
It will be from the 16th of Jan - 23rd of Jan.
My husband and I are in our 40's.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Donna
Australia

qwovadis

www.atlantis.com

New Providence Paradise Island Bahamas

great beaches shopping casino vibe island hotel

close to Miami good sales specials right now.

Happy Hunting,

schmerl

You need to go further south than the Bahamas to enjoy beaches in January.
Consider Grand Cayman, Barbados, or Aruba. All will be warm in January and have nice beaches, good food, and shoppping.

KVR

Islands close to Florida; Turks and Caicos, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Bahamas and Cuba. Spending time in the Florida Keys would be a good option also. In January though maybe a little too cool for some destinations.

StanKase

The weather in January in south Florida can be 80 or 65 as a high temperature, you just never know. It's an iffy season/. That said the Bahamas withim 200 miles+ of Florida may only be 4-6 degrees warmer from the lower numbers I mentioned except for the Turk and Caicos.Barbados is a lovely country with nice beaches, lush areas to drive through, a number of nice beaches at the many hotels and a resonable number of good restaurants. The only thing it does not offer is good snorkeling if you happen to like that sort of activity. But Australia has North America beat by a mile+. Calebreza Charters (if my spelling is correct) does a very nice 5+ hour sail/snorkel but reservations via email are generally required. I would pass on Cuba unless you want to see the poverty and go where the US government does not have relations with the country for tourism.

Lordy

Thanks for your replies.
we did go to Paradise Island many years ago and stayed near the Atlantis resort. I remember paddling in the water but it was not very hot weather.
I think I will do some research on Barbados, as a couple of people mentioned that island.
We are not into snorkelling or diving and just prefer to swim and enjoy the beach, so this is not a major problem.
How far a flight is Barbados?
What about Turk / Caicos?
We are going to George Town Grand Cayman as part of the cruise this time.
Look forward to hearing from you with more ideas and thoughts.
Donna

BellaClaire

Barbados flight will be around 3 1/2 hours from Miami...Turks and Caicos is 1 1/2 hour.....Barbados sounds like it wil have what you want...Turks and Caicos is stunning - not a lot of shopping though....

Lordy

Hi again,
what is the weather like in January in Barbados?
How about Turks / Caicos?
The shopping does not matter too much. I am a bargain shopper not really after brand names as such. I like souvenirs from the local area.
We are really after nice beaches, swimming,hopefully good weather, good food, going for a drive, seeing the sights etc.
I will do some research in the near future to look at the options.
Thanks again
Donna

schmerl

WE have been in Barbados the beginning of January and weather was nice and warm. We were on the beach all day and swimming in the ocean.