Caneel Bay, Little Dix or Jumby Bay?
 

My wife and I and our young child who will be 8 mos in Feb 2009 are looking to go to the Caribbean in Feb 09. We loved our experience at the Rosewood Mayakoba and want to try one their other resorts. Have heard good and bad about Caneel, Little Dix and Jumby Bay. Any thoughts on which would be best to try? We have been to Cuisinart in Anguilla and Eden Rock in St. Barths and loved them. We are also big FS fans (loved FS Punta Mita) but have not heard great things about FS Nevis and Great Exuma. We want a nice beach where we can relax with the baby and also have access to good food. Thanks.

I have been to all one or more times in past 5 years. Most i since 2003. Great Exuma is beautiful but the food no matter what they do they cannot seem to get it right. Plus it is in the Bahamas and the temperatures could be in the 72-75 highs most days and nights 65-68 or so, plus the ocean would be too cold for swimming, in my opinion. Hard to judge. FS-Nevis is lovely with excellent food but if you are near a holiday or school break there will be dozens of children. The same for Caneel,LD and Great Exuma. The best food in our opinion is LD and FS-Nevis with Caneel having improved to be just a little behind them.
I left out Jumby Bay for based on your family and desires for a location it might not be for you. Temperatures in all places less Exuma should be 78-84/85 highs and 70 lows.See what others say.

If you want things close together and perhaps better food, try Little Dix. But Caneel has 7 tree-shaded white sand beaches with wade-in snorkeling. Great shade for kids' tender skin and beach only a few steps from beachfront rooms.

I have been to Caneel, Little Dix, Jumby, Cuisinart, Eden Rock, and 4S Exumas.

I agree, Bahamas may be a little chilly in Feb. It could be hot-it's on the border for going either way. I love Exumas, and if you were going any other time, I'd say go for it!

My choice would be Little Dix Bay. Virgin Gorda is stunning, and lots of exploring and sailing to other islands can be done. Rosewood actually has a deal where you can split LD with C-may be best for you-they include transfers, and it makes the choice easier for you-since you're getting 2 of the 3! 8-)

At Caneel, there are restrictions on the beaches where children are "welcome"....

I believe that only 1 beach is for Adults only. We love Caneel and highly recommend it.

Thanks. The Caneel/LD combo sounds the best. I did not know they had a package offering both. Has anyone tried it? How do the transfers work?

We did the combined LDB/CB package a few years ago and while it made for an interesting trip we much preferred LDB (and Virgin Gorda) over CB so we would not do the combined trip again. We have made several repeat trips to LDB since. It's one of our favorite resorts.

As for the transfers between LDB/CB it's pretty easy. You make the trip in the CB/LDB launch. Depending on which direction you are travelling you show up at either the CB or LDB boat dock at the appointed time, board the launch and the staff does the rest.

I just got back from Caneel & Little Dix, they were ok, but I didn't really "love" either of them. I wouldn't recommend them for little kids, more for older adults. I have never been, but what about a "Beaches" resort for kids?

Sorry, just realized you have an 8 month old! I didn't think the food was that great at either place. Especially the lobster :( Little Dix was prettier than Caneel. Caneel had a lot of great beaches, but Little Dix's beach was great too :)

We really disagree that Caneel's property is not beatyiful unless they did not have 1/4 inch of rain in 5-6 days for the regional grass does turn brown. But, 4-5 hours after a 2 hour tropical rain we find it actually nicer physically in terms of landscape than Little Dix. The budget for landscaoing at Caneel per Rosewood is 3 times that of LD. But, reasonable people can agree. While I prefer fewer children the kid's campsfor 5 yrs. and up guests tell me are very well run.

Thanks for all the replies. I was doing some more research yesterday,...any experience with the Ritz Carlton in Grand Cayman?

About RC in Grand Cayman. You are going from lush islands to a flat island with little personality, in my opinion. The
snorkeling 10-15 years ago was excellent but know is just o'k.There are 4=5 good but not excellent restaurant restaurants on the island based on our visit 3 years ago with high prices.
I must admit the snorkeling around LD except for the Baths and Oil Nut Bay are not any good any longer due to coral bleaching though it is still good at Caneel but not for too many more years, is my guess, unfortunately.Great Exuma by the way has no snorkeling and Nevis has a little. Hope some of this helps.