Can anyone recommend an island that offers great value AND:

- Not too expensive to fly to (from Newark,NJ)
- Good to great beaches
- Better than decent snorkelling
- Good dining options
- interesting excursions...could be cultural,sport or adventure

Our family of 4 is looking to travel this summer. To date we have visited St.John, St.Marten,Anguilla, Saba,Tobago and Nassau.

We do not want nightlife(other than good restaurants), or anything too glitzy. Loved St.John, Tobago and Anguilla...did not particularly care for Nassau and St.Marten.

I know you've posted in the Caribbean forum but if you are looking for the best value for your money, I would recommend Mexico. There are always lots of relatively inexpensive flights to get there. You could visit Chichen Itza or Tulum for a cultural experience.

You might look at Negril, Jamaica or Playa Del Carmen, Mx. These will probably be the cheapest flights. (You fly into Montego Bay and Cancun, you are lucky coming from EWR there are lots of direct flights). I second the previous poster's suggestion of Mexico. We took our family of 4 to Puerta Vallarta (direct flight from EWR on Continental). We were at a great resort in Nuevo Vallarta and I couldn't believe how much less expensive it was than the Caribbean, and when you are feeding two teenagers this is a concern! Even on the resorts the drinks were $3 - 5, less than half the price of what we usually pay in the Caribbean and we were feeding all four of us dinner at area restaurants for around $50, including drinks. Not sure if PVR is what you want but there were some great excursions -- ziplining, boat trips etc. Snorkeling was just okay though.

The best value and bang for your buck will undoubtedly be found in Mexico, probably the so-called Riviera Maya.

But prices all over the Caribbean go down in the summer, so you could go virtually anywhere and get infinitely better value for your money than now. Food throughout the Caribbean, however, is expensive.

I'd also look at Curacao and Grenada (but both are expensive to fly to). You might also like some places in the British Virgin Islands (look at Virgin Gorda especially for good snorkeling and consider staying at Guavaberry Spring Bay). You can fly into St. Thomas and then take a ferry to Virgin Gorda (via Tortola) or fly right into Beef Island.