Caribbean Island from LAX
 

What Island would be a good vacation spot for 4 days from Los Angeles? I have been to Hawaii many times and would like to go away on a long weekend to a Caribbean Island. I don't want to spend an entire day flying. Please help!!

If you fly out to jamaica at 11 p.m. you will arrive at 7 a.m. the next day. you can depart at 4 p.m. and arrive back in l.a. by about 9:30 p.m. The bahamas might be quicker but i am not sure.

I've travelled between SXM and LAX and it was one LONG trip both ways. Although I did it for only a one day stay in LAX, I wouldn't suggest it for a weekend getaway (even a long one).

I would suggest looking into the western Caribbean / Mexican coast, which would be a relatively short trip.

Otherwise, try the more northern islands of the eastern Caribbean and fly at night (as tpon suggested).

Good luck!

I love the Caribbean, and am also
required to fly out of LAX. It is a long
and difficult trip to most islands, no
matter how you cut it, but, that being
said, there are some options. Since
you only have 4 days, you will probably have to do the "red eye".
There are a lot of options to do this,
e.g. American to San Juan (with a
stop in Ft. Lauderdale/daily service),
and for example you can be in the BVI (British Virgin Islands - my faviorite) by 2-3 p.m at the latest. You can also fly a red-eye to JFK and connect to Barbados and additional islands non-stop early a.m. and be in your location by early p.m. with some beach time. There is a red-eye on US Airways to Philadelphia with connections to various islands non-stop e.g. Aruba, St. Martin, San Juan, Barbados, on a daily basis and others (Turks and Caicos, St. Kitts, Grenada) on certain days only. Your return flight will be in the afternoon, so you could have 3 full days in the Caribbean. I have done this several times, but have always had at least 5 days, 4 nights. One other option, which gets you to your location in one day door to door, is Grand Cayman on American. You can be there for dinner, and leave
in the early a.m. without the red-eye option. Also, the flight from Miami
(which is a non-stop from LAX) to
GC is very short. Hope this helps.

There is also a flight from LAX to SXM (St. Maarten) which makes stops in Dallas and San Juan. Same aircraft all the way, however, so there are no connections to deal with.