My wife and I spent 5 nights at Caneel Bay in May/June of 2004. We absolutly loved Caneel. However, we don't really have a point of reference, as neither of us had ever been to the Caribbean before. We're looking to go back to the Caribbean soon, but I'm having trouble picking another destination. I've been doing extensive research on resorts all over the Caribbean, but it doesn't seem that any of them offer all of the things that we loved about Caneel. We loved the fact that there were 7 beautiful beaches, all of which were uncroweded and had awesome snorkeling. We loved the vastness and beauty of the resort. We loved that our room was right on the beach. Is there anywhere else in the Caribbean that can complete with Caneel in these areas? I don't care about the rooms/service/food/price as much, although they are not totally trivial. If there is anyone out there who has been to Caneel, and loved it, but has found other resorts that they love just as much, please let me know! If not, we're going back to Caneel. Thanks.

I guess that I'd have to say (for exactly the reasons that you mention) that we finally like Caneel even better than Little Dix-- but LD is a close second, and there are things that are even better about LD. You may want to read my earlier posts comparing the two. Then, if you think you might be interested in LD and Virgin Gorda, I'd be happy to answer any other questions not covered on other reports. We've been to the Caribbean a lot, by the way, and for what we're looking for, nothing beats Caneel (though we thought the food was mediocre and the rooms weren't terrific).

It's tough to compete with Caneel Bay in terms of setting -- although plenty of resorts can compete on rooms/service/food/price. I agree with Poss that Little Dix would be a good option with a few days of rental car or taxis to some of Virgin Gorda's amazing beaches (Savannah, Baths, Spring Bay, Mahoe Bay)for snorkeling. Maybe visit Biras Creek one day to check out if it's worth a future visit. You can also always split your time between Caneel and LDB if you want.

I loved Little Dix. Room was on the sand. Not a lot of glitz but beach basic...

Thank you very much for your responses. It is great to get such good information so quickly. Little Dix Bay is certainly one of the resorts I've been considering. My only hesitation about LD is that I've heard the snorkeling is not nearly as good as Caneel, and you're limited to only the one beach at the resort, although I've there are plenty of great off-resort beaches. I'd love to the split between Caneel and LD, but I don't think I can book it that way through AAVacatoins (have to book with AAVacations so I can use my freq flyer miles). I was also looking at Jumby, but I've heard snorkeling at Jumby is really not very good, and that is what we like to do most. At this point I'm really leaning towards going back to Caneel, but I'll keep researching your reccomendations as they come in. Thanks again.

I learned how to snorkel at Caneel, this was after we had been to Little Dix. Little Dix has lots of beach excursions, and their one long beach is lovely. I have no clue how the snorkeling is. We went back to Caneel at least 4 times-the sea life is amazing---now we go to Jumby. Jumby really has no off the beach snorkeling-a few starfish, a few needlenoise, a ray---that is about it.
Caneel will spoil you if snorkeling is your number 1 priority. Go back!

Red Stripe: Did you read my trip report from Virgin Gorda? (December sometime) Snorkeling (our main passion) is somewhat better at Caneel, but it's better than we thought it'd be at LD. PLUS: we really did enjoy that nifty amenity of being dropped off at various other snorkeling beaches for however long we wanted. I'd heard abt that, and wasn't sure if it were "real":-- but it sure was. We had very very good snorkeling, not always off the beach at LD (only to the left is good), but lots of other spots around the island. Rooms were much better than at Caneel (I know you said you didn't care all that much abt accommodations). Grounds were very nice, tho we do finally prefer the expanse of the Caneel property. Virgin Gorda is definitely as splendid an island as St John (which we adore).

Peter Island

NO, but Petit St. Vincent in the Grenadines might come close. Very private cottages, two snorkeling beaches, windward and leeward, extensive grounds on a private island (the island is the resort). See www.psvresort.com and www.scubamom.com

p.s. Little Dix grounds are a far cry from Caneel's. The rooms are strung out behind the beach. Behind the rooms, the grounds are ordinary. You just don't get the variety of views that you get at Caneel.

poss: Yes, I did find your post on LD vs Caneel. Thanks. So snorkeling may not be an issue when staying at LD, as long as you're willing to hop around to the off-resort snorkel spots. That might be fun. I won't take LD off the list quite yet.

xkenx: Thanks for the tips. at first glance PSV looks beautiful. Unfortunatly, AAVacations doesn't seem to offer an packages to PSV. I really need to book through AAVacations so save myself a few thousand dollars by using my frequent flyer miles. But I will keep PSV in mind for next time maybe. Thanks again.

You might look at CocodiMama on Eleuthera www.cocodimama.com, for MILES of deserted beaches, beautiful pink sand.

It's a VERY laid back island, and CocodiMama is one of the nicest in the area.

Have a great trip.

Dear Red Stripe,

I can't comment on the Caneel vs. other places as I've never stayed at the resort. But I do know it's hard to beat St. John for natural beauty.

I'm really posting to say why don't you use your frequent flyer miles to get your flights to whereever you are going and pay for the hotel you want. If you do the numbers on how much you are "spending" for each mile you redeem for a hotel stay, you'll see that it's a ripoff (or at least my research has shown that). You get much more bang for your frequent flyer miles if you use it for the flights. It also gives you much more flexibility to go where you like!

Now I've never been there, but based on what 've read on this forum, and especially if PSV appeals to you, take a look at Palm Island Resort in the Grenadines. It's a private island resort and I'm almost positive that I've seen AA packages there. Guana Island in the BVI might also be of interest to you, but I don't think you can get an AA package deal there...

Thank you for the reccomendations. It doesn't look like AAVacations offers packages to CocodiMama, Palm Island Resort, or Guana Island. As for using FF miles for vacation packages being a rip-off, I don't see that being the case with AAVacations. 125 miles is basically equivalent to $1, regardless of whether or not it is applied to flights or flight/hotel packages. I'll end up paying much more out of pocket if I only use miles for the flight. This is because I have quite a few miles, enough to cover the flight and a good portion of the resort costs. If I found a place I really wanted to go that is not offered by AAVacations, I would ordinarily just pay for it, but I did my taxes last night...not good.

RedStripe, unless you have a gazillion miles available to you, using miles to buy rooms is not a good deal. For example, at Caneel, 100,000 miles gets you $800 worth of room, or $200 for each 25,000 miles. But 25,000 miles is what it costs to fly RT anywhere in the US, usually ranging from $300 or so, on upwards if you had to pay for the tickets. So using miles for flying is a better deal. Petit St. Vincent is less expensive than Caneel when you add up room, food, taxes. Just a thought if you want to try something new.

After staying at Caneel a few years ago, the following year my husband and I stayed at Peter Island Resort, BVIs. We felt that it had a similar feel to the place but the service was better and so was the food! (not that we had a bad experience at Caneel) The grounds are beautiful and it is quiet. and like Caneel (taking the ferry to St. Thomas), you can take a ferry over to Tortola if you would like to do more sight-seeing, shopping, etc. They do have beachfront rooms, but we stayed in the oceanview rooms which IMO were just as nice. Also what we did was we flew in on a Saturday into St. Thomas and took their ferry directly to Peter Island. They offer this service on Tuesday and Saturdays (not sure if changed since 2 years ago). Good luck with your search! - Susan

I'd love to hear more abt the comparison between Caneel and PI. Are the PI grounds as large and various? I.e. can one walk for a long time among handsome, winding paths? Are the views comparably handsome (the nice height-- which Little Dix, e.g. does not have)? And mainly the snorkeling: My impression was that the snorkeling at Peter Island doesn't quite match the quality at Caneel. Or does it? Thank you! (and aren't these luxurious "problems"!)

Poss:
I know I have answered some of your questions before comparing the two resorts; It's great you’re doing as much homework as possible.
The resort area at Peter Island is comparable in terms of size (the resort only takes up a fraction of the 1800 acres of island) but that’s where the comparisons stop. The grounds at P.I are beautifully manicured with many paths.
The views (especially for sunset at the “Loop” on top of the hill/mountain) are incredible.
In terms of quality snorkeling, although you might have more options directly off the beach at Caneel, P.I seemed to be more unspoiled (White Bay).
Unfortunately when it comes to thriving sea life, healthy coral is needed; I saw a lot of dead coral at Caneel. Don’t get me wrong you will still see plenty at Cannel, especially Sea Turtles because they feed on sea grass. I just feel I saw more at P.I.