My wife and I are planning our first visit to the Caribbean for Christmas 2010. We would appreciate suggestions for a location and welcome any additional advice you may have.
Our dream vacation would include the following,
Quiet location, spectacular beaches,safe low crime area, kitchenette,grocery store nearby so we could prepare most of our own meals, small resort,room or villa near the water.
We are both very active seniors with good mobility and our planned activites would be,
IN ORDER OF PRIORITY
#1 Snorkelling, #2 beach combing #3 car rental for day trip explorations/picnics
We are sociable but prefer not to party and the fewer people the better. (2 weeks/ $1,000 to $1,500 week in the budget for accomodations) Is it more expensive at Christmas in the Caribbean then in April/May Is the weather still excellent at Christmas? No preference on location really.

Christmas is probably the most expensive time to vacation in the Caribbean. Prices double and sometimes triple for rooms that at other times of the year would go for much less. If you can travel in the low or shoulder season which starts at the end of April and goes right through mid-December, you'll find much more reasonable rates.

If you do decide to go at Christmas, you need to plan way ahead.

Oh, and yes, weather in the Caribbean is typically gorgeous in April, although high season rates are in effect usually until the end of April/beginning of May.

Yes, it's more expensive in the Caribbean during Christmas vs. April/May. In fact, the weeks around Christmas and New Years are often the most expensive of the entire year. Many resorts/hotels also have minimum stay requirements.

If snorkeling is a high priority for you consider islands such as Virign Gorda, St. John, Bonaire. You'll find islands in the USVI's and BVI's have good to very good snorkeling. Avoid the volcanic islands such as Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, St. Lucia as snorkeling on these islands is only "fair" at best.

You can research the weather for any given destination during Christmas at www.wunderground.com - click on the trip Planner, enter the airport code for the island you are considering and your planned dates of travel. You'll find detailed records showing what actual weather conditions were on that island for every day for the past 10 years during that time period.

Your budget of $1,000 to $1,500 per week is somewhat low for Christmas/New Years but you should be able to find places if you are willing to make some concessions regarding location of the hotel in proximity to the beach and type of accomodations.

Virgin Gorda in British Virgin island more laid back with some spectacular beaches.

naillbay resort have some suites and apartment which will be perfect for you, which comes in your price price.

Check out http://www.nailbay.com

the apartments/suits also comes with full kitchen