Paul

My wife and I are traveling between mid-june and mid-july. We are flying stand-by and looking for the "hawaii" of the caribbean. We want to stay at a very nice hotel, I have read that during the off-season you can get some real bargains. Good food and good drink are priorities. Other priorities are nice beaches, very little hassle by the natives, good snorkeling, and excursions to other islands. We are both teachers so a break from the kids will be nice. We love Maui, so something similar would be wonderful! Thank you very much for any advice you can send my way!

Deborah

I go to Hawaii every year and nothing compares to Maui. It is truly beautiful with the most activities anywhere of anywhere I have been. Last June we went to the tranquil island of Anguilla. Great beaches!(35 in all to explore) good snorkeling, superb food, and has the nicest 'natives'. A few excursions are to off-shore cayes as well as St. Barts and St. Martin. CusinArt Resort & Spa is nice as well as Malliouhana. Good luck and have fun wherever you go.

waggie

I've been to Maui, too, and I think you've got apples and oranges when trying to compare Hawaii with the Caribbean. However, based on what you have said, I would suggest either the BVI or USVI. Whichever island chain you choose, you can visit the other by ferry, no problem. St. John is a great place -- good snorkeling, lots of beaches, and plenty of terrific restaurants. Ferry over to St. Thomas for shopping, then ferry to Virgin Gorda, BVI to visit the famous Baths. However, there are plenty of other islands to visit in either USVI or BVI. Caneel Bay and Westin are the two top resorts on St. John, but I would recommend going the villa route with your own private pool. There are MANY villas on SJ and even the "reasonable" ones are pretty nice! <BR> <BR>Grand Cayman is also a great island with superb restaurants, snorkeling, and seven-mile beach, but it is not quite as scenic as the above and there are no other islands closeby for visiting. <BR> <BR>Have fun whatever you decide. I can understand about needing the break from the kids. I'm an English teacher (sub teaching at the moment) and looking forward to school ending here in just two weeks! If you have any other questions, feel free to email me direct.

d motl

I agree with previous message. If you want to compare Carribean with Hawiian Islands you are making a big mistake as you are entering foreign cultures. Are you on a budget? If so, you could find prices more higher than you are used to unless you do the Mexican Carribean--but than you had better be used to people lliving in an entirerly differant economy than you may have seen <BR>

priley

Waggie is right - you cannot compare the two. BVIS would be great. Do be aware, its the start of hurricane season. Although I have never been to St. Lucia, I did read that sections of it are like Polynesia.