kfb

My boyfriend and I are looking to take a week long vacation anywhere where there is sun, sand and beautiful water. Our dates are fairly flexible, although the summer is probably best. Does anyone know where we can get the best bang for our buck? Ideally I'd like the entire trip to be under $1000 if possible. Am I crazy?

kfb

I meant under $1000 EACH. thanks!

Diana

Late summer is cheapest - Sept. and Oct. and least crowded, but then there's that pesky hurricane season.

Cheapest airfare/hotel combos:

Bahamas
Cancun, Mexico
Punta Cana in the Dom Rep.
Jamaica

Kristen

My husnad and I got a great deal to Aruba last September. Air and 5 nights hotel at the Radisson (great resort) for $1600 total. So a week would probably be under 2k. It was a great trip.

You could also probably get a good deal to the Bahamas.

Patty

Try the Caribbean side of Mexico. Beautiful white sand beaches and blue water, good value for your money. Look in areas south of Cancun along the coast, like Playa Del Carmen, Akumal, Tulum, or even Isla Mujeres which is an island a short ferry ride from Cancun.

BlueSwimmer

My husband and I rented a great house in Cozumel in June a few years ago. It was hot, but we spent most of the time in the water. I think the company we used was called Cozumel Vacation Villas, and the house was Casa Quetzal. We went with another couple, and I think each couple paid about $500 total for their share of the 2BD, 2BA house. It wasn't on the beach, but in the town. We had our own cute little pool, daily maid service, and a lovely shaded patio. We rented a jeep and drove to a different beach each day, picked up empanadillas from the local shop around the corner for breakfast each day at about 25 cents each, and had a blast. We found cheap airfare through a package deal company by asking for an air-only special.

On another note, I've seen a lot of articles lately about the fact that the government of Barbados is trying to promote tourism with lots of cheap deals and packages.

Overall, we find that renting a condo or house with a kitchen cuts down on your expenses enormously, since you can eat breakfast at home and take sandwiches for lunch on the beach. We always take a collabsible soft-sided cooler on our Caribbean budget vacation for our beach lunches. Seeing the grocery stores and markets of the islands is an added cultural bonus.

Good luck!

kfb

Thanks! these replies are great. I'm working on it!

liza

Don't know where you fly from, that matters, but it's certainly doable in Jamaica and I'm sure some other islands as well.

All inclusive I don't know much about but if you can get there for $400 each (easy for us from the midwest) then you have $1200 for lodging and spending money. Wioth lots of neat places to stay in the $35-100 range, that's not too hard...food and drink are cheaper than the US if you do it right.

lonelyplanet.com has a b board that's geared more to budget travel.

eileen

Second the suggestion of Playa Del Carmen -- check out the Shangri-La Caribe -- rooms go for about $150 - 200 a night with breakfast and dinner included and we really liked the ambience of this resort. Also, air was reasonable to Cancun -- about $300 and this was in the winter. The beach is beautiful at the SLC.

mm

Hi kfb,

I just did some poking around on Expedia and for the May timeframe I came up with several week long, air-included vacations in St. Thomas ranging from $800 to $950 per person vacations. There are plenty of choices.

MM

connbear

Try Maho Bay camp on St. Johns; camping is not in tents in sleeping bags, but on beds in structures in a beautiful setting. They have decent enough food at a restaurant in the place. It is ecologically oriented place too, with a beautiful beach, and easy access to other places you might visit.

Kristen

Forget to tell you that we got our Aruba deal as a package through USAirways Vacations....

anna_k

You should be able do an all inclusive in the Dominican Republic for that. We had a great time a few years ago at the Riu Melao in Punta Cana. Check out http://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com/ for tons of information and resort reveiws.

dmotl

Well, other Fodorites can call me on this but I think the least expensive tourist class Carribean destination is Isla Mujeres. A small island 10 miles from Cancun. During the summer rooms with
A/C and refridgerator go for $35-65.
Food is very inexpensive and Norde Beach is world class.
Plus very friendly locals.
Visit www.islamujeres.net

dmotl

OOps that should be
www.isla-mujeres.net

SusanLynne

KFB: I don't know where you would be flying from, but on the east coast there are some good packages available through GWV Travel or TNT Travel. We've used GWV twice (once for Aruba the other for Anguilla) and each time went without a hitch. Good luck in your search, and yes, it is possible to have a Caribbean vacation on a budget!