My girlfriend and i are planning a trip to the caribbean the first or second week of november this year. last year 3 of us were in St. John (loved it) we had a villa.

We were thinking curacao but i here "rainy season" and wonder if we need to retool and if so, which island would have warm weather, less rain, and snorkling off the beach- i may have been spoiled because of st. john-

we were also wondering about villa vs. resort, as for two of us it will be a little more expensive to swing the villa. we were hoping to keep the price around 1500 each including airfare (st john/thomas was almost 700 last year at this time....)

any suggestions? would like to try something other than the us vi and have been to the bahamas and bermuda....(which may not be warm enough....) any and all comments recommendations welcome. thanx

okay my spelling is awful, that would be hear.

I don't know how the weather is as I have heard mixed reviews, but we just returned from Playa del Carmen. I think it's luck of the draw anywhere above the Grenadines at that time of year. I just did a trip report in the Latin American section. Playa is a great town and there are some great AI's as well as rooms. You really don't need an AI with all the great restaurants and I know you could easily do a week for under $3000 a couple with or without an AI. There was not much snorkeling off the beach, but plenty of excursions for about $30 pp.

November is official rainy season in the Caribbean, but the weather doesn't always know that! It is, however, out of season so much cheaper. And "rainy" is relative - for the drier islands it means a daily shower, for the more mountainous islands like Dominica, St Lucia, Tobago, Grenada, it can mean rain for days. ABC islands tend to be in the drier group. Bonaire also has excellent snorkeling as do the BVI. A villa for 2 can be a bit pricey, so AI might be a good idea, and most of those are on the beach.
You might want to have a look at www.destinationcaribbean.net to help narrow your search.

thanx to all. I was trying to find more villa rental sites, i have mostly exclusively st. john sites. i have looked at caribbeanway.com caribbeanvillas.com? are there any others, i'm sure there must be. i will go to the caribbean net.

I also probably cannot use vrbo. although i've had success, my friend has a horror story so i doubt i can convince her to use this tool.

i would appreciate more opinion and ideas. I did look at Breezes on curacao folks have given opinions as has trip advisor. any other suggestions? thanx again

Try www.caribbeandays.com

I have heard Curacao is very nice. Check out the marriott hotel there. That is the one that seems to get raved about.
We liked Aruba, but it is a different world from St.John's lushness. It is definitely a desert with lush hotels, but also good food, and dry weather.
We are going to the Cayman Islands this June and the water there should be just as beautiful as St. John's waters. There are many condo options there as well. You can also snorkel straight from the beach in Caymans. Good luck.

Just be aware that almost any independant rental site is going to be the same. As someone who has a home listed on VRBO, anytime you are dealing with the owner or renter directly, you need to talk to them on the phone and get a feel for who they are. We talk to all our renters. Google the owners name. We did that for someone interested in renting our place and quickly decided that it was not available for them. Just keep in mind that owners are taking a bigger risk than renters. I think you are pretty safe most of the time.