amandalacey

My family tasked me with finding a location for our family to travel for about a week in Thanksgiving 2013. I'm in my late 20s and my boyfriend will be coming, my brother is 30 and my parents are in their 50s.

We're looking for a place that has great beaches and some easy swimming, some nice snorkeling, perhaps botanical gardens or some rain forests, and some nightlife. We don't really like clubs or casinos, but would like to be able to go out to eat and have some drinks. Also looking to stay away from the cruise ship crowd and would like something that isn't "too Americanized." For reference, my parents have been going to Culebra for years and love that scene, but we all agree that we'd like slightly more nightlife and variety for this trip. I've also been to St. John and loved that, been to St. Thomas and thought it was just ok.

We'd like to stay in a villa/house and have a moderate budget - hoping about $500 a plane ticket and $500ish total per night for the villa. We're also coming from all over - Massachusetts, Connecticut, and North Carolina, so we're hoping for a destination that is relatively easy to get to. We're open to chartering a small flight from a larger island if need be, but would like travel time to be under 20 hours for all. Also since it will be November, we want it to be warm enough to swim and stuff.

At any rate, the more I read, the more confused I get about possible destinations! I know that there are tons of great options, but I'd really love some feedback from those who have been to several places and might be able to give insight on the best spot for us.

So far I've heard great things about:
Tortola
Barbados
Turks and Caicos
Virgin Gorda
Nevis

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!

RoamsAround

Maybe this will help narrow your choices:

It will be difficult to get to Nevis from the Northeast US with your travel budget of $500 per person - think more in terms of $650 to $800 per person and some in your party could end up having to overnight somewhere on route. Also, Nevis has no snorkeling to speak of so if that's high on your list of activities you'd be wise to look elsewhere. Not a lot of nightlife on Nevis although you will find some entertainment at a couple of the beach bars.

Virgin Gorda is also difficult to reach but if you are willing to charter a plane from either San Juan or St. Thomas it might be possible to get there in the allotted time and for your particular travel budget - check with Air Sunshine or Cape Air for charter info (they also run regular commuter flights). If the travel logistics work for you than Virgin Gorda would be perfect as it has everything you are seeking and more (except no real rainforest - dry forests, yes, rain forests, no!)

Getting to Tortola i not going to be any more difficult or costly than getting to Virgin Gorda but it is nowhere near as nice an island as Virgin Gorda. If you are going to make the effort to go to any of the BVI's concentrate on Virgin Gorda, you'll be glad you did - you can always visit Tortola for a dar trip while you are there.

By the Turks & Caicos I assume you mean Providenciales - it's the easiest and least expensive island in the chain to reach from the US. There are wonderful beaches, good restaurants, very good snorkeling and no cruise ships. he T&C's are not noted for a wild nightlife but you will find some evening entertainment if you look around.

Can't really comment on Barbados as it's one of the few islands I've yet to visit.Should be easily accessible for everyone in your party and hit most of the "must haves" on your list.

Lastly, you should be able to find a rental villa or condo in your price range on any of the islands you are considering but for that price at Thanksgiving don't expect lots of "beach front luxury" - you might have to make a few concessions and look at beach access or properties that are more inland.

blamona

You asked the same question last week. Accommodations sound doable if willing to be a couple of blocks from the beach and rent a car to get around. (I know of 3 bedroom places in TCI around $350 -$400 nightly)

Air budget not so realistic. It's the busiest air week of the year, you can't fly domestic for that price during Thanksgiving.

If you can up it to about $700 for air, you'll have a better match.

Keep on mind that some of these prices might get you there, but eating and going out is going to cost you to so yu might have to budget it for that too

The more economical islands are Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Mexico. You can also check out Roatan Honduras, while will cost more, accommodations will be less, and restaurants are cheap.

Delishbajansauce

Perhaps do more research about the Bahamas, Barbados does meet almost all of the activities on your list, except great snorkel. With regards to deciding on the Villa for your choice of destination, visit VRBO .com or Homeaway .


Good luck