College Friend Vacation in Caribbean
 

2 friends and I are looking to get away for the holiday season. We're thinking to leave after Christmas and stay for the New Year. I understand that this is peak time but we don't really mind tourist crowds. We're seniors in college and have a high tolerance for noise. Our budget is ideally $1200. We're open to AI's. Is this reasonable for that time of year? If not, what's a more reasonable budget?

Outside of our budget we're pretty much open to anything. We just want to be able to go to the beach and the bar. What locations do you recommend? We've been to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, so if possible we'd like to avoid that.

Thanks in advance :)

<Our budget is ideally $1200.>

For each person?

How many days?

Where are you leaving from?

Does that amount need to include airfare, lodging, food, everything?

The week between Christmas and New Years is not only the busiest week of the year in the Caribbean, it's the MOST expensive. So quite honestly, even if your $1,200 budget is per person and only for accommodations it is quite low and NOT REALLY REASONABLE for that time of year. You probably will need to double it at the very least FYI - most resorts have minimum stay requirements during Christmas/New years so at the very minimum you'll be looking at a week long stay - some resorts will require 10 days, others 14 days.

The Dominican Republic and Jamaica have the largest concentration of All Inclusives and are among the more "budget friendly" destinations but you've seem to rule those out. You might want to reconsider that decision considering your already low budget.

If you are dead set against the DR and Jamaica you should probably concentrate your search to Cancun, Playa del Carmen (just south of Cancun) and Cozumel - three areas noted for budget friendly All inclusive Resorts.

You might want to look from "package deals" on your airline of choice's website or on travel sites like Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia. They may be the best sources for deals in your budget range.

While Mexico is cheaper, you still aren't going to find a nice place that cheap because it's over the Christmas holidays. Even the budget place often double their room rates those weeks.

The cheapest place is double that per person, and most places require Christmas and NY to not break it up.

Your budget works best in summer and fall

PS also make sure of age restrictions, many places require 25 or older as trying to avoid a spring break type crowd