Please Help :)
 

Hello Everyone.

I am new to this site, but have read many informative posts and appreciate any help you might offer. I have spent a limited amount of time in the Caribbean, with a brief stint in the Bahamas (Freeport), Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. My girlfriend and I are now looking to travel to the Caribbean in mid-late April and wanted to get some feedback on several of the islands we are currently contimplating.

We are looking for complete relaxation (isn't everyone?), but also enjoy an active lifestyle. So, diving, hiking, swiming, biking, etc are certianly important (she likes to shop). We are in our mid twenties, so it would be nice to hang around with some people our age, but not a necessity.

Our current picks are:

San Juan
Antigua
St. Martin
Virgin Gorda

We will be traveling for 5 days and would like to keep the trip reasonabley priced. Any feedback would be great including suggestions not listed.

Thank you!

Dave

I forgot to ask about "sail week" in Antigua in late April. Has anyone been to Antigua during this week? If so, how was it?

I know that last year, Antigua had won ‘Best Wedding Island’ from Caribbean World, so there is a lot of focus on a honeymoon market. It has also won some awards for Best Beach destination. Which means people your age.
Where are you looking at staying?
Antigua has a Rainforest Canopy Tour that is open seven days a week from 8 am to 6 pm, I think. You might enjoy that. Although the shopping doesn't have the major places, I enjoyed it. The other good news is that we loved touring the island.
We were there for the sailing week in the month of Feb. Maybe it's smaller, I'm not sure. We were glad we chose that time though as it was fun sitting on the beach and watching the boats.

Knowing:

Thank you for the response. I wasn't sure where we would stay in Antigua. It appears they have several nice areas. Hawksbill looked reasonable. Do you have a suggestion? Which side of the island did you stay on?

I am not too worried about the shopping (the girlfriend might be). Was is mostly boutique-type shopping?

Saling Week is late April - early May. It looks very interesting.

I have some freinds suggesting St. Martin. So, thats another option.

Hawksbill's accommodations are not what I would call luxurious. They are like cabins with ceiling fans,and no TV or AC. Which isn't bad, but just so you know. For a young couple such as yourselves you will probably think they are rather nice and I think you would be happy there. We stayed on the NW side of the island.
The shops in downtown St John have some bookstores, drugstores and a cigar store as well as some unique places to shop. The other place that we shopped at was Heritage Quay. Lots of t-shirts.
Let us know where you decide.

IUHoosier- my fiance and I will be honeymooning in Antigua in mid-April, so I don't have any helpful advice at the moment, but can share what our thoughts were in picking the island.

We started thinking about Curacao and then expanded to the US and British Virgin islands... honestly, I think my fiance got fed-up with me and just closed his eyes and pointed. We're really excited about Antigua now though! Of the options you listed, it's my opinion that Antigua might be the best deal money-wise (we did consider Virgin Gorda and St Martin and I've heard food on those islands is VERY pricey). The travel agent got us a great deal at The Verandah, which is virtually brand new eco-resort (so sadly no reviews on here yet). I'm a bit anxious about it, but my fiance likes *new*.

We're looking forward to the all-inclusive, so we can just relax with some drinks on the beach after the wedding but will most likely do the canopy tours Knowing recommended, a day trip to either Montserrat or Barbuda, and either a sunset catamaran trip or one of the circum-island ones.

I haven't looked yet, but I'm really hoping we coincide with the yachting regatta week. We don't sail but I think it'd be fun to watch and/or take a lesson. I'm a big shopper like your gf, but I'm willing to give it a rest for the week- not sure if she'll feel the same way!

Hope this helps! Who knows- maybe we'll see you there :-)