i am planning a trip to the caribbean the first week of june. i will be going with my wife for our anniversary. so far i've only been to two parts of the dominican and also to san juan. i'd like some place quiet where i don't have to be restricted to a gated resort. i want to spend 75% of the time relaxing at the beach and the other 25% exploring the towns and restaurants without feeling unsafe, or even renting a car to drive around the island. nightlife would be good but not mandatory.

i'd like to keep airfare (flying out of b'more or DC) and 5 nights at a hotel under 3,500 for the both of us. so far i've been looking into the cayman islands and both virgin islands. i'd like to avoid the bigger resorts such as atlantis. large hotels such as the marriott or starwood are fine. i'm open to both meal and non-meal plans. i'm not all that into fine food, so a location that has common eateries such as pizza and some fast food would be good.

does anyone have any suggestions for me?

thanks.

Sounds like Marriott Aruba to me!

Does your wife have any preferences?

no. i make all the decisions in this house.

and she makes all the $.

aruba was fantastic for us by the way. enjoyed it a lot. may go back one of these days....

loved St. John's, the Westin, the restaurants were awesome, shopping good, snorkeling great but rent a car before arriving for simplicity.