Beautiful beaches in Barbados, but because most are public you will hounded by the locals selling their wares right at your lounge. Other than this, we loved this island.

Hi
Late reply here... my vote would be Costa Rica too. I just pop in and out of these boards sporadically. LOVE Costa Rica - have been to St. John, sailed VI's, Cancun, Costa Rica (3x)and am planning Anguilla. Have fun,
Leslee

If NYCTiger is looking for beaches as good or better than St. John or Anguilla, he's not going to find them in Costa Rica. The beaches there are bigger versions of the ones in St. Lucia. Costa Rica is excellent for the activities though. Zip lines, rainforest hikes, etc.

In the Caribbean, St. John's is the one that comes closest to your criteria. (Sorry) For more local flavor, you may want to try a British Virgin Island, such as Peter Island or Virgin Gorda.

Also look into St. Barts. Very hilly, decent beaches, excellent small boutique resorts and excellent restaurants.

Thanks for all your help guys!

I think we're going to do Grenada and the Grenadines, but not this trip (we'd like to save that for a trip when we have more than a week). So I might be back next year looking for great tips on where to stay/eat there!

For this trip, since it's relatively brief, we've decided to try something a bit different and go to Los Cabos in Mexico and stay at Las Ventanas al Paraiso. Not the Caribbean, I know, but it's supposed to be a nice hotel and Cabo is a quick 2.5hr flight from where we currently live.

Thanks for all the great advice!

NYCTiger,
Ventanas in Cabos is absolutely gorgeous!

Sounds like you will find everything you are looking for at the Jaguar Reef Lodge in Belize. Goto www.jaguarreef.com. It sits on the Carribbean and the Rainforest (including Mayan Ruins) is at the back door. There is excellent snorkeling (as good as the north side of the Caymans), hiking, kayaking, tubing in caves, & much more. The lodge has a variety of tours available every day & great guides. You are in a small group on the tours which makes it even better. The place is very very nice (not plush but excellent) and the people are wonderful. Everyone we spoke with there raved about the value -- you got sooo much for your money! There are several packages - we got the activity one. A week is not enough time to do everything. We just got back last night & my hubby says it is the best trip he has ever been on.

Have you considered St. Barts? We're going in May after considerable research with much of the same criteria as you. It has beautiful beaches, the best restaurants in the Caribbean and is not "americanized". While it has the reputation of being expensive, I have found some very reasonable prices. To read more go to:
http://www.sbhonline.com/