I am entirely overwhelmed! I am trying to plan a very important surprise trip for 6/05 or 7/05 that would potentially involve 4 adults and 3 small children (6, 4, and 14 months). We have been to the BVIs before and St. Johns, so I would like to (but don't have to) try something new. We are very interested in snorkeling (although it must be "easy" and accessible for young, not-so-strong swimmers) and a quiet atmosphere, while still having access to good local restaurants and local adventure/outdoorsy activities. We are interested in staying together as a group, so all-inclusives with kid clubs and babysitters are not of interest to us. I also don't want someplace too touristy and definitely not crime-ridden/scary. I am interested in renting a villa and would consider going back to the BVIs, but the villas I've seen look so dangerous for small kids -- beautiful, yet perched on hills and cliffs with drop-offs, dangerous pools, etc. Ditto for St. Lucia -- beautiful scenery, but not too kid friendly of an island in terms of housing and terrain that is too challenging for tikes. I've heard Grand Cayman is touristy and not very pretty. NEED YOUR ADVICE!

There are many villas in Treasure Beach on the South Coast of Jamaica that might suit. See the community Web site
for background on the area at www.treasurebeach.net; check Blue Marlin/Coquina, The Buccaneer and
Unforgettable on www.jamaicaescapes.com

Have you looked at Beaches Turks & Caicos. Great snorkeling, super water.

Snorkeling doesn't get much easier or accessible than on St. John. I do agree with you that many of the villas are not kid friendly. Possibly consider one of the villas 'off the hills' in Coral Bay offered by Windspree:

http://www.windspree.com/

I suggest Coral Gardens at Turks&Caicos, Beaches is all inclusive, a hike to the reef for snorkling and Beaches is crowded. CG is a small resort, clean and accomodating staff especially for families with small children or people with special needs. Right off their beach is the snorkling reef, calm gentle warm waters easy enough for kids. They also have 2 pools, a beach side cafe and resturant. The suite included a kitchen, sitting area separate from the bedroom. We also enjoyed St. John at the Westin although we spent most of our time exploring the island away from the hotel. Good luck.

How about the Riveria Maya - we stayed in Akumal (about 1 1/2 hours south of Cancun) two years ago - best snorkeling we have ever experienced - the condo we rented was on Half Moon Bay and you could snorkel right out front - however you had to travel to Akumal Bay - (within walking distance - but we drove since we had a car) for swimming because Half Moon Bay was very rocky. There are villas and condos on both bays - so you can choose which you would want to stay on. Also within walking distance is Yal Ku Lagoon - AWESOME snorkeling - it was like being in an aquarium - great for kids - very calm and sheltered. There are only a handful of hotels in Akumal but there are several villas and condominiums. There are several good restaurants and the area is not the least bit touristy. Another nice thing is that you are within driving distance of several attractions - Tulum, Coba, Xel-Ha, etc. A great website to check this area out is www.locogringo.com. An added bonus - this was one of the cheapest vacations we were ever on - the villas and condos are very reasonably priced - and it is usally pretty east to get cheap airfare into Cancun.

Thanks for all of your responses! Turks & Caicos look promising. Drawbacks - the villas I've found don't look nearly as nice as ones I've found on other Carribean islands (relative to price). Ocean Club and Coral Gardens look okay, but not not overwhelmingly nice from their pictures. Are these nice places? And is there stuff to do (other than snokeling) in T & C? How expensive is T & C.? Has anyone been to Barbados? Is there even any snorkeling there? Anguilla and Tobago are also places I don't know anything about. I think snorkeling resort areas in Mexico are out for now. For some reason, my husband is not interested in this area, and since this trip is a surprise for his birthday, I'll stick with the Carribean for now and save Mexico for a different trip, hopefully!

How long will you be there?
T&C has many wonderful kid friendly restruants. Both OC and CG are nice places, we stayed at Coral Gardens. There really isn't much other than beach activities at T&C, it is still a developing island, however, their restruants are established and uses fresh ingredients and menues.
Having also been to St.John, it is hard to find an island that duplicates that 'feel'. If I was traveling with small children, I would go back to St.John or another US island, even Florida gulf coast like Sarasota or the keys. Draw back to traveling to T&C is the extra time spent going through customs.

Grand Cayman is not super-touristy once you get out of Seven Mile Beach area. You could rent a villa on the north side, and it's very safe, crime free, and not see a single person on your beach the whole time of your stay. There is SO much to do on GC, especially compared to Turks & Caicos (boring if you are looking for more than one good snorkeling spot - Coral Gardens is about it)On Grand Cayman, you can snorkel from nearly every beach you find, PLUS, you can:

*Take a glass bottom sub ride, see shipwrecks in the harbor.
*Swim with gentle, tame stingrays.
*Stroll thru the Queen Elizabeth II Botanical Garden - look for the famous Cayman Blue Iguanas!
*See the Blowholes (holes along the shore where water whooshes up) and drink from a chilled coconut.
*Go to Hell (a place where the rocks have formed into flames)
*Visit the turtle farm (you can buy one for a few bucks and set it free)
*See Pedro's castle (historic building, not really a castle)
*Go shopping - duty free! in Georgetown
*See the sharks being fed off the shore at this restaurant in Breakers (darn the name of the place escapes me just now)
*Relax in a hammock at Rum Point as the sun sets in front of your eyes...

having been to Bahamas, TCI and GC, I'd pick GC hands down.

Thanks for your input on GC. Sounds great! Actually, nearly everything does, which is part of the problem. Right now, I am leaning towards Barbados. It appears that there is some snorkeling there after all, although I'm not so sure how great it is. Barbados sounds like it will have something for all age groups involved (very active 60 year olds to 1 year old). Our main interest is the beach and snorkeling, but I don't exactly want to keep everyone on the beach all day in June either. We were in St. John 2 Junes ago and really had to be careful not to get fried by the sun.

If you are travelling with three small children and comparing Cayman to Barbados, think about the flight times and connections.

Cayman is well over 1000 miles closer to the US than Barbados.... those 2 to 3 hours (at least) of time saved each way on air travel will go a long way to helping you enjoy your trip... small children and long aircraft rides are not a great combination (and I have three small children who I travel long haul with... not easy)

I'll add my two cents...I'd recommend taking a look at The Buccaneer on ST. Croix. They have family-friendly accommodations, a two nice beaches, a pool, golf, tennis, access to good restaurants in Christiansted and a good family package in the summer. And you could snorkel off their beach or go to Buck Island which is beautiful. I hear what you're saying about St. John. St. Croix doesn't compare in beauty but I could never get myself to try a villa with young children--between the dropoffs and the pools I would never relax! Mine are old enough now that we may try it soon but my kids prefer the Buc.

There are a lot of family friendly things to do on Barbados.....but I really didn't think the snorkeling was all that great. It was nice to see sea turtles.....but the variety of fish was average. The snorkeling in GC, however, is amazing.

Wow. I had crossed Cayman Islands off the list because I read it wasn't too pretty of an island and can get very touristy. But I did not consider the longer flight to Barbados. And I've been hearing that the snorkeling is so mediocre in Barbados. I guess I'll have to do some research on GC. Any suggestions? What area of the island is the best for family friendly R&R and fun?

I would recommend the 7 mile beach area. If interested, there are many nice condos around. The northern part of 7 mile beach is quieter, but the best beaches are around the Westin.

A brand new condo opening is the Meridian, so I'm sure the units will be beautiful. The new Ritz should be open by then, but I would think the beach would be crowded, like the Hyatt.

According to Caribbean Travel & Life, Cayman is the top snorkelling destination in the Caribbean.

As regards your particular family group, I would recommend somewhere with the service of a resort (including concierge, kids activities, restaurant etc), but with beachfront condo accommodations.... I think I know of one, but have to let someone else name it

As regards kid friendly activities, for kids of that age, beach, beach and more beach (and pool) is about all you need.

The Seven Mile Beach area is pretty touristy, but still nice, but you can do "Cayman without the crowds" elsewhere on Grand Cayman (or even Cayman Brac or Little Cayman)

If you are considering GC, and wish to avoid the crowds, but still be close to activities, then you should look into the northern section of 7MB. The middle and southern sections are the most crowded, and not too bad in our opinion. But if you want a little solitude, yet still close to lots of great restaurants, and several amazing snorkel sites, you need to grab a condo on the northern section of 7MB. Keep in mind that you will in fact pass the more touristy areas as you drive north along the strip that parallels 7MB. You will see everything from shopping plazas, fast food chains, and the many condos and resorts. But once you set foot on the beach, you'd never know the touristy areas exist. Seven Mile Beach is gorgeous, and the water is several shades of turquoise. We don't exactly enjoy seeing the KFC's & Burger Kings, but 7MB will make you forget very quickly. And again, once you get to the northern section, you will have very UN-crowded sections of beach. You will want to rent a car so you can get to all the different snorkel sites around the island. Grand Cayman is safe, easy to get to, easy to drive around, world class snorkeling & diving, and some of the best restaurants in the caribbean. The one downside to GC is that it is pricey. The US dollar is only worth .80 CI. Eating out can get expensive, so condo's help save a few bucks as you can eat breakfasts & lunches in, and even a few dinners. I think your kids would love it there.

Thanks again for all of your responses. Having just returned from Duck, NC, I am so looking forward to another Carribean trip! Duck was great, but nothing compares to the warm, calm Carribean waters! It sounds like I definitely have to do more research on Grand Cayman. I have to admit that one reason I was so interested in Barbardos was because a lot of the villas/condos come staffed with a cook and housekeeper. I really don't want our vacation to become me trying to supervise young kids with a lot of water around and trying to cook and clean all of the meals. Does anyone know if it is customary to have cooks in GC? I would imagine it is very expensive, though.

If you like the idea of a villa with cook then you might want to check out Moon Dance Villas in Negril Jamaica. My sis-in-law stayed there with her 2 small kids & loved it. You get your own cook & bartender plus housekeeping does laundry. That is great considering you will need clean bathing suits & clothes for the little ones. She said the staff even watched the kids while she & her hubby walked the beach. When they got back the staff had made the kids ice cream drinks. The beach is excellent & you can take tours to see the local scenery. Dunn's River Falls would be interesting to the older kids & adults. Sis-in-law said that they went snorkeling on a glass bottom boat. While the adults were in the water the boat crew showed the kids how to see the fish in the boat bottom. You could even switch off staying with the kids if you wanted. Moon Dance is in a good location on the beach & the villa has a pool.

We were in Negril in May & loved it. The people were very friendly & it never seemed unsafe. There are guards that patrol the beach to keep you safe from hassles. That is mainly hustlers trying to get you to buy something or take a tour. Just remember wherever you go that it is a real place where life isn't always like Disneyworld. You will see some poverty & the like but I found the Jamaican attitude was wonderful.

If Grand Cayman is still in the running, you should consider the Reef Resort on the east end. It offers a variety of condo combinations that provide ample room for families traveling together, there is a restaurant on site so you don't have to cook your own meals, and there's good snorkeling right off shore. I'm not certain about the website, but it's something like www.thereef.ky and you can read lots of reviews at TripAdvisor.com. Hope you find the perfect place for your family!