Hi,

I've been awol since I started a new job and am dealing with the real estate madness in S. Louisiana post-Katrina. That is not as important as my next task which leads me to you learned fodorites:

My husband and I, along with my best friend and her husband, would like to take a 5 or 6 night trip to somewhere in either the Caribbean or Mexico. We would like to go in Nov. or perhaps Feb. This is in the extremely initial stages of planning as we've just started kicking around some ideas.

More about us:
1) We're all in our mid-late 20's
2) We're not wild and don't need crazy nightlife, although we would like to have a couple of drinks at night
3) We want a good beach
4) We'd like to do something like a zip line or other interesting activity
5) We'd like to have something besides just the beach to do (e.g., some type of activity that has interest like the ruins of Tulum)
6) We don't want to spend an obsene amount of money (thinking a budget of $4k for 5-6 nights from the SE U.S., including airfare and everything.)
7) My husband and I work way too much

I like the idea of the Mayan Riviera or perhaps Jamaica because we could do things like zip lines and exploring cultural sites (tulum for example). However, the idea of huge all-inclusives scares me because I don't like buffets at all, EVER (I know that sounds snobby, but I have this thing about food that just sits around). I was looking at the Ritz Carlton in Rose Hall, Jamaica and perhaps doing the All-inclusive option, but read some nasty reviews on Tripadvisor and was wondering if anyone had first hand experience. Also thinking of Royal Plantation and doing the Royal Plan as they have an auction on Luxury Link.

Basically, I want to go somewhere that we can relax, eat good food, drink good wine and beer, lay on a pretty beach, and do something like zip line or snorkeling, as well as being able to go into a unique town (I thought about Curacao for this). Lastly, a spa and awesome pool would be good, too.

Is this impossible? Please give me feedback and feel free to suggest some destinations that may not fit my specs perfectly but that you think would be great.

Thanks!

Mah,

Long time no see.Hope that all is well.You sound like my husband and me..we are always busy and I am looking forward to getting away and relaxing!

I have been researching Grand Cayman lately for a trip in May.

It sounds like it may be the place for you.It has some nightlife but not crazy,great snorkeling(have heard the best in the Caribbean),have heard that the food is wonderful.(I have heard that the food is as good if not better than Aruba..we loved the food in Aruba!)

Other activities are Stingray City,the Turtle Farm,Botanical Gardens,Butterfly Farm,Hell (A place that looks like what Hell would..you can send a postcard from there postmarked from Hell lol),Pedro's castle.

Also the beaches look amazing.

Our family of 6 has found that we can do this trip for 5 nights for around $3550 for the flight and a condo on 7 Mile Beach and maybe $2000 spending money.

Good luck searching!
Christie

November will be a better time to go than February because you'll get low season rates.

Wow. Christie seems so well-informed on a place she has never been to. My last time to Cayman I was amazed at all the zip lines transversing the island. I was reminded of the the Amazon.

Brett,
As you can see...I stated that I HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING GRAND CAYMAN.And Mah also stated that "some destinations may not fit perfectly but that we think might be good."

Thanks for the suggestions...keep them coming!

It's nice to hear from you Christie too. I'm glad that you're going to Grand Cayman ( I just watched the Firm and was thinking how pretty it looks).

As far as your GC suggestion, it would be good but we really wanted to something involving beach and something else like zipline or jungle tour. I am open to additional options but we did turks & caicos last may, and while that was fun, we want something besides just the beach as we go to destin, florida during the spring/summer, too.

Laby- you're right about the NOv/Feb rate differential. It probably will be Nov. but we were hoping to find something reasonable in Feb as we get some time off for Mardi Gras.

you may want to consider Costa Rica.

I completely understand.Our last vacation was to St John which is lush and mountainous.That is why this trip is GC for the snorkeling.I hope the next trip will be Negril...Idle Awhile looks nice.The Port Antonio area also looks nice!

Christie

Which area in Costa Rica? My good friend stayed at the 4 Seasons and loved it but we don't want to be that isolated or spend that much money.

1st place that entered my mind when I first started reading your criteria was the Mayan Riveria. It has everything you're looking for. The beaches in that area are breathtaking. The town of Playa Del Carmen is great to have dinner, drinks, shop, people watch and listen to music. Much more downscaled than the party atmosphere of Cancun. The Tulum ruins as well as the area of Chitzenitza (I'm not even going to pretend that I know how to spell that correctly) are really a great way to learn the history/traditions of the Mayan people. It doesn't take as long to get there as other destinations and it doesn't break the bank. We have found it so reasonable, that we normally take a bigger vacation once a year and the Riveria is some place that we go to for long weekends in between. I wasn't happy with the place we stayed last year and the resort we stayed at previously has been getting knocked pretty hard on other travel forums so I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending a resort. I'm starting from scratch myself on this question.

Mexico would be great but we don't want to stay at a huge huge all-inclusive. I don't mind the AI concept, it's just the 2000 room places are not our style.

Do you have suggestions for the Riviera Maya? Maroma looks great but too expensive for what we want to spend. I was thinking of trying to do the skyauction for Royal Hideaway, which gets rave reviews.

mah:

There ar lots of fans of the Royal Hideaway here and hopefully you'll get some feedback from them.

You might want to look at a site that I discovered.....differentworld.com that has some wonderful photos and descriptions for properties in Mexico.

I am intrigued by Maroma as well, but their prices keep rising. Take a look at Ikal del Mar at the differentworl site. The rooms and the spa seem very special.

Of course, I'd like to see you in a wonderful villa in Jamaica ;-)

I know you enjoy the planning and agree that November will be much more affordable than February.

I would steer you away from the Ritz Carlton/Rose Hall...lots of kids and not a great beach.

Good luck !

Marion