TXgalinGA

Hello all! My mom has decided that she would like to take our family on a week long vacation over Christmas and has put the planning in my hands I do understand that I'm a little behind time wise, but I was able to pull off Costa Rica last Christmas in just one month, so this should be doable. Here's our family- mom & dad (both age 56), my husband and myself (27 & 28) and my brother, age 24. So there will be 5 of us traveling. We would like to stay in some sort of condo with a small kitchen for breakfasts and would like to keep the price at about $500/night or less. Beachfront would be SO great!
My husband and I have been to St. Martin and just loved it. Our family has also spent several vacations in Cozumel (about 10 years ago) and we loved that as well. All the men in our family golf, but they do not need world-class golf courses with ultra high green fees. We are also avid scuba divers, and I certainly plan on logging several dives wherever we end up. Ideally, we would like to visit somewhere that has cute towns to go to dinner in and walk around after dark. High end islands such as St. Barts don't really appeal to us. We are all very experienced travelers and love exotic things such as food and activities, but we don't want to have to pay $500 for our entire family every time we want to do something (does that make sense?).
Renting a car would probably be a good option.
And finally, we must be able to fly direct from Atlanta.
Sooo- what islands (or countries) might you suggest I begin looking at? Any example of what green fees might be or the cost of dives? And if you have any lodging recs at all, feel free to pass them along!
Thank you!

publisher

Golf and scuba?

OK

Go to st croix and buvhaneer:
http://www.thebuccaneer.com/golfwalk.htm

or
Carambola:
http://st-croix-hotels.travelape.com...-st-croix.html

St Thomas mahogany run:
http://www.mahoganyrungolf.com/


lifestyle and culture:
www.virginvoices.com

bluefan

ATL to PLS (Providenciales, Turks and Caicos - simply known as "Provo&quot

18-hole golf course:
http://www.provogolfclub.com/

Couple good dive operations:
http://www.provoturtledivers.com/
http://www.caicosadventures.com/ca_index.html
Although not considered as great as Grand Turk, it's supposedly terrific nonetheless...hear French Cay is the best dive spot

all on an island with an incredible beach, Grace Bay, with a wide-range of accomodations and dining (many upscale), but NO real "cute towns to go to dinner in and walk around after dark"

TXgalinGA

Thanks for the quick responses! T&C was top on my list, but no ff tickets available
Keep the great ideas coming!

TXgalinGA

After playing around with airfare, the following 4 destinations seem to have seats available for all of us. Several others do, but would require an overnight layover for the Texas portion of the group.
*St. Croix
*Bahamas
*Grand Cayman
*Cozumel

We have been to Coz and really enjoy it years ago, though I believe there is only 1 golf course and it is very $$$. I know the diving is fab! None of us have been to the other islands, and I know we always enjoy trying somewhere new.
Any thoughts? Or other islands you would like to suggest?
TIA!

publisher

You simply have to experience St. Croix... scuba and all!

Atlanta to St Croix direct i believe with American Airl;ines..

Go to dive spot at "off the wall" 5 minutes from carambola. Cane Bay north shore area..

these guys best:
http://www.divexp.com/dives.html

next door at Cane Bay: Sunset food and beer at:
www.canebay.com

Tell owner Joe Scirto Dan and Maura say hello!

TXgalinGA

St. Croix is looking wonderful, and I've found some really nice condos.... problem though- there is no direct flight from atl to stx . My husband is a pilot and will be non-reving from Atlanta which is why a direct flight is necessary. The rest of us will be coming from Texas...

I've also found ff tickets to Aruba and Belize....

JeanH

The only golf course in Belize is on Caye Chapel, you'd have to fly from where you're staying to play golf. Or stay on the resort on the island. But, then there's no town to wander to.

frankenfish

I just booked a trip last week to st.croix and delta flies there direct. i got a saturday to saturday flight. i believe they fly direct one other day of the week.

anonxx

For excellent scuba diving and golf I recommend Grand Cayman. There are two courses (plus there used to be a Par 3 but I think it closed post-Ivan). Safehaven is around $100 for 18 holes, the nicer of the two courses. Ocean Frontiers (at the Reef Resort on the east end) is a fantastic dive shop. Enjoy!

eileen

Husband is an avid golfer so he's played most of the courses you are considering. Tierra Del Sol in Aruba and Carambola in St. Croix are two of his favorites and also good scuba destinations. In St. Croix there is also a course at the Buccaneer. He was not impressed with the Grand Cayman course and I personally did not like Grand Cayman (too much like Florida), the Cozumel course was good before the hurricane but lots of the island has not recovered yet. I would choose St. Croix, Aruba is kind of like Miami Beach, very built up and Americanized, but that's just my opinion.