need caribbean island advice
 

Hello friends! My teenage son and I are going scuba diving in Cozumel in August. We want to spend several days to a week on another Caribbean island while we're in the area. We are open to any suggestions. We want to do some diving, lots of snorkling, and I think all-inclusive would work best for us. We don't love crowds and aren't looking for a lot of "night life." Also, cost is an issue - although I do like a little luxury now and then. :-)

Any advice would be much appreciated!

If by "another Caribbean Island" you mean one of the islands in the Leeward or windward chains perhaps you need a little geography lesson. Cozemel is an island, all by itself" off the coast of the Yucatan Pennisula of Mexico on the very western edge of the Caribbean. It's literally more than a thousand miles to the main islands that make up the Eastern Caribbean.

On the Yucatan Penninsula you'll find Cancun, Playa del Carmen and other resort areas along what is known as the "Mayan Riveria" or "Riveria Maya". There are a host of all inclusive resorts (many quite reasonably priced) all along the Caribbean coast line which stretches some 30 to 40 miles south from Cancun but there are no "islands". The only island nearby is Isla Mujers which is off the coast a bit north of Cancun.

Hope this helps.

We are traveling from Northern California. Since we're traveling all the way to Cozumel for a diving event, it seems like the perfect time to extend the trip further east, recognizing that it is quite a distance to the nearest "other caribbean islands." I guess "in the area" is a relative term. :)

We are definitely not interested in the Yucatan peninsula. What we're looking for is something more like the Turks and Caicos or Anguilla. I just don't have any experience with the Caribbean (other than Jamaica) so I would love to get tips from people who do.

Thanks for your assistance.

K

You could also consider Ambergris Caye off the coast of Belize. Excellent scuba diving, and a completely different vibe than Cozumel.

It would be about five hours by bus to the border, then either another bus or a transfer across the border into Belize. From there, you can continue by bus or you can hop on a plane and be on Ambergris in less than 30 minutes.

I think you may have to return to the States to get to most of the eastern Caribbean islands from Mexico.

Thanks Jean - I will check it out...

It will be very difficlut to get to the Turks & Caicos or Anguilla from Cozemel. For the Turks & Caicos you first have to make your way back to Miami or Fort Lauderdale where you get a connecting flight to Provo. To reach Anguilla you'll have to go via Miami where you catch another flight to either San Juan or St. Martin. From San Juan American Eagle has one flight a day to Anguilla but you'll probably have to overnight there or have an extremely long layover. If you elect to fly into St. Martin you can either fly (7 minutes) or take a ferry (25 minutes) to Anguilla.

Really, as Roams pointed out getting to any of the Eastern Caribbean islands from Cozemel is difficult and time consuming. You are planning a a trip to places that are anywhere between 1,000 and 1,500 miles away. To put things in perspective that's like flying from Texas to New York and takes big planes. To visit the Eastern Caribbean islands from Cozemel you'll almost always have to route yourself back through a US Airport.