Gabriel_Moreno

Hello all,
My gf and I are looking for a place in the Carribean that can accommodate these certain things. Our ideal place is a small cabin/bugaloo/hotel with a nice beach near by, great snorkeling (that can be done for hours) and we'd like to be able to ride our bikes around town and check out markets or vendors and visit local restaurants too and oh yeah, the price has to be reasonable too. Small town would be great kinda away from the hustling and bustle. We haven't traveled around in the Caribbean much but we were hoping this eutopia of ours might exist. Has anyone out there visited a place like this or close to this? We like to visit somewhere in mid May 2012.

1.Great snorkeling
2. Good beaches
3. Bike friendly, just for cruising around town
4. Moderate price range

Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read this!!
-Gabriel

fishee

i posted a very similar request last month and I'm heading to bonaire and curacao.... Also fits the EU part of your request : )

http://www.fodors.com/community/cari...lingdiving.cfm

fishee

On another note -- Caye Caulker would be great if you're willing to take a boat out for the snorkeling. Small boats take you out to several locations for a 4-6 hr trip for $40/pp. The snorkeling with sharks, rays, fish, etc is really quite amazing and an incredibly low price given the time.

blamona

What's moderate price to you? That would help to have a figure.

Moderate in Caribbean can be more than moderate in States, so numbers help

Gabriel_Moreno

Together for flight and room we have 2200 for five nights.

fishee

If you don't live in a hub city, that might be tough with airfare. You might be interested in Playa Del Carmen or Cozumel, flying into CUN. I believe people rent bikes or some property rentals offer them in Cozumel. Condumel or Miramar condos on Cozumel were around 125/night and I snorkeled right off shore of these properties but it's an iron wall (vertical reef) and it's not nearly as spectacular as Belize.

On Belize, Caye Caulker -- Mara's is oceanfront at $40/night, each room has its own deck and hammock and bike rentals are around $25/wk. But air can be expensive to BZE and you have to purchase a $116 r/t flight to get from BZE-Caye Caulker (or take a ferry that takes around an hour for around $50 (?) with cab fare from BZE-dock-BZE)

Neither island has beaches though (and neither locale is in the Caribbean forum but Mexico and Central America.... )

ejcrowe

If you can find a good flight deal into St. Thomas (STT is the airport code), you can then ferry over to St. John. Stay "in town" at Cruz Bay and walk to restaurants, music, boutique shopping,etc. (You don't even need a bike because it's small enough to walk easily.) Stay in a place like Lavender Hill, a condo style place that's a short walk just up the hill from Cruz Bay. The beaches on St. John are amazing, and the snorkeling is about as good as it gets in the Caribbean without heading south to Bonaire.

wliwl

St John fits the bill, but you definitely won't be biking anywhere - way too hilly and dangerous. You rent a jeep and hit different beaches everyday (they are part of the National Park Service). The only thing is that it is a very expensive island - in spite of not being "fancy."