My boyfriend and I live in NYC and are looking to getaway for about a week at the end of July. We would love to go to Hawaii but it's too far and too expensive for this trip. So we are considering the Caribbean. I have been to DR, Bahamas (16 yrs ago) and most recently Jost Van Dyke and St. John (which I loved). I would like to go somewhere new where we can have a similar experience as we would in Hawaii. By that I mean, we love HI b/c it has SO much to offer. Beautiful beaches, amazing cuisine, lovely people, limitless activities, nightlife, wildlife, great weather, relaxation and fun. It is exotic, yet it still has all modern conveniences. We also love that you can travel and explore almost ALL areas of the islands safely and easily. And it doesn't have such a "touristy feeling". Among other wonderful reasons. I think that we would like to go horseback riding and try ziplining as well. I would also like to avoid any place that would be super humid or have tons of mosquitoes.

We appreciate nature, but would also like somewhat upscale accommodations. I know some resorts are astronomical, but I was hoping to find a deal b/c it's off-season. Maybe on Priceline. We were considering Costa Rica, but apparently it's their rainy season. What about Harbour Island in the Bahamas?

I would love to hear suggestions from you seasoned travelers about your favorite destinations. If you love Hawaii and were going to the Caribbean, where would you go?

Thanks and I can't wait to read what y'all have to say!

If you are looking for an off-season deal in the Caribbean, don't look to Priceline. Rather, look for a packager that will give you accommodations and airfare, or look for a good deal at a hotel and then search for a good airfare deal (Air Jamaica, JetBlue, or Spirit are good bets for somewhat cheaper airfares, depending on the season and sales). Air Jamaica Vacations often has some deals to the Caribbean in the summer.

But I don't think you'll be satisfied with the Caribbean if you are comparing it to Hawaii. While St. Lucia and Dominica are lush, they don't match up in terms of offerings, though St. Lucia has a lot to offer. Also take a look at Aruba or Curacao; they offer a lot and have the advantage of being outside the main hurricane belt.

I agree with Doug that you won't find anything exactly like Hawai'i in the Caribbean. And keeping in mind that I've never been to HI but that I've read many people's comparisons of their love of HI and the Caribbean, I'll go out on a limb and suggest you investigate the island of Grenada.

Grenada will be very lush during July and the island overall is quite mountainous, but not as dramatically so as St. Lucia or Dominica. However, if you're a beacah devotee, Grenada beats the other two hands down. It's a volcanic island so you'll find beaches of all colors and sizes, from the two mile long white sands of Grand Anse to the dark sand coves of La Sagesse. While traveling to Grenada may take some extra effort, once you're there you'll find great values in all price ranges. Not lots of Americans vacation there--the tourists are more British and European. The infrastructure is good without being overly touristy--you'll find good medical care, good roads, great restaurants, and a full range of accommodations from villas to beach resorts to small inns to dirt cheap guesthouses.

Take a look at www.grenadaexplorer.com for more info. You could also top my two trip reports to this island for more reading if you're interested.

If you're interested in a villa, check out www.SpiceIsleVillas.com. I've rented from them twice with tremendous satisfaction.

For a small, extremely secluded, and inexpensive beach hotel, consider La Sagesse. www.lasagesse.com Beautiful beach, good food, gorgeous surroundings. But very off the beaten path.

For romantic, rustically-luxurious seclusion, take a look at La Luna. On a small but lovely light sand beach with decent snorkeling offshore. Small and intimate, pricey. Restaurant with really good but expensive food. www.laluna.com

For a mid-range beach resort, take a look at Grenada Grand or Coyaba. Sorry, don't know the websites off hand.

For ultimate high end beach resort, take a look at Spice Island beach resort. Sorry, don't know the website for this place, either.

Grenada offers good hiking and beautiful waterfalls. There are spice plantations, rum distilleries and an unusual chocolate factory to visit. You can ride a tube down the river, take a daysail, or fly to sister island Carriacou for a daytrip for those days you don't want to laze around the beach. Grenada offers some of the best of what the Caribbean has to offer in this respect, and all with a great West Indian vibe.

We have been to Hawaii 3 times, and will go again in August. We have also been to the Caribbean a few times (Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, and Aruba). We both both Hawaii and the Caribbean, but they are different from one another in many ways. If you want to, I would suggest looking into the more lush islands like St. Lucia, St. John, etc...But IMO, Hawaii and the Caribbean are 2 very different kinds of islands.

We've been to Maui and Oahu as well as many Caribbean Islands. We are not Hawaii lovers. In fact, we did not care for Hawaii and would not return. However, of the Islands we've been to, St. Lucia most resembled the lushness. St. John and Jamaica also had some similar charaterics.

However, Hawaii is far more commerical and touristy than many of the Caribbean Islands. Also way more expensive.

hummmmm, hate to sound sarcastic and maybe unfair adn this is not meant to be but if someone wants a "Hawaii experience" they really should go to Hawaii and that experiece depends on the island one chooses there as well. If one wants to enjoy the Caribbean and all its differences from Hawaii, then go to the Caribbean.
When finding that spot without the notorious no-see-'ems be sure to let me know! Other than on windy days, think that you'll find them on every island - I have (well, maybe not Aruba since the strong winds there blows them and everything else to Venezuela!) .
Don't know that your wishes will be found on priceline but you might try luxurylink.com

I'll second ejcrowe's comments about Grenada. What you get in Hawaii is a tropical America. What you get in the Caribbean is the culture of the particular island. IMO most of Grenada blows away most of Hawaii for sheer tropical beauty-more lush, more flowers, more birds, melodic tree frogs lulling you to sleep at night, warmer ocean water.

Funny you ask that. Check out the title of my review on tripadvisor below!

I guess it really depends upon which island and where on the island you stayed in HI, but comparing north shore Kauai to the Caribbean islands, absolutely St. Lucia. It's like a "mini Kauai". We did a week on Kauai (princeville on north shore) and a week in Maui (kapalua ritz). We preferred Kauai hands down over Maui, due to the lushness and remoteness of the Napali coast (which we hiked-best travel experience we've had to date!). Unfortunately, it's not the easiest place to get to from PA -and not even on the radar w/kids, so we've been doing the Caribbean ever since (which we have fallen in love with!). Hands down, the south shore (make sure you stay on the south shore-it’s much more mountainous) of St. Lucia is the closest we've found to Kauai, although I haven’t visited Grenada or Dominica as other posters have said they’re similar as well. Below are my comparisons for St. Lucia vs Kauai north shore:

similar:
-Lush (rainforest, etc. although I didn't see any zipline places there-I’ve only heard of ziplines in costa rica, but if you like heights, see my note below)
-activities- you can do boat rides on both-both are great. We hiked the Napali Coast on Kauai, and climbed the Pitet Piton on St. Lucia. Napali Coast was hands down both the most magnificent, rewarding, and hardest hike I've ever done. Petit Piton was the most scary thing I've done (I was trying to overcome my phobia of heights-it didn't work too well But the pitet piton was VERY challenging too-straight vertical climbing up tree roots. You can do rainforest hikes in both as well as horseback riding with waterfalls (although the ones in st. lucia are much smaller than kauai-you can swim in both)
-Mountainous (the pitons are magnificent -we stayed at stonefield villas right at the base of the pitet piton-if you're looking for a similar, closer experience to Kauai, this is it.) Here's my review:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR..._St_Lucia.html

differences:
St. Lucia -Easier to get to/ it’s A LOT CLOSER to the east coast!!
Much poorer - HI seemed pretty wealthy in island standards to us, and I have to say it was nice still being in the US
Culture- a lot of island culture-very friendly, warm, and giving people-we loved them! Hawaii everyone was also nice, but they definitely come from different backgrounds/history -a luau is very different from the fish fry in St. Lucia (although both are wonderful-and the fish fry is a must do!)

If you want to check out my trip pix-they’re here. Let us know which island you decide on!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLan...share&Ux=0

I do love Hawaii - I obsess about Kauai. I have also been to about a dozen Caribbean islands and my favorite - and one that I feel sort of integrates that Hawaiian feeling into it's surroundings - is Nevis. The island is in harmony with nature. It's like it was created for total inner peace. There is no stress there. It was very romantic with many good restaurants. The locals made you feel totally at home. The monkeys were fun. The island was polished enough that you didn't feel like you were in the middle of nowhere, but so very safe. And, St. Kitts is only a ferry ride away for an additional island.

Not necessarily an island, but it sounds like you want a place in Mexico. I love Playa del Carmen. It is located close to so many activities....parks, ruins, cenotes, etc. It is a great little town with friendly people. There are amazing restaurants. You can take a ferry to Cozumel. If you want something a little less touristy...try Akumal. I've heard amazing things about Costa Rica, but haven't been there. Try the Latin America forum.

You mentioned not wanting to go to Costa Rica because it is the rainy season. I just wanted to let you know that July and August are a great time to go because it is the off season which means less visitors but it is lush and green and beautiful. We went the last week of July and first week of August and the weather was great....just an afternoon shower sometimes or rain at night while you are sleeping. If you are interested at all in CR you should read more on the Latin American forum. There is tons of info. Sorry...I haven't been to Hawaii so I can't compare but CR is frequently compared to an undeveloped and more rustic Hawaii. It was our best vacation ever.....beaches, rainforest, ziplines, volcanoes, hot springs, hanging bridges, monkeys, toucans, horseback riding, etc.

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