Hi.. my husband and I are trying to plan a vacation in mid May to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. We have recently visited Hotel Villa del Sol in Zihuatanejo and Caneel Bay in St. John. We are looking for a Caribbean resort/island that has amazing white sand beaches with good snorkeling. Definitely would like a resort on the beach. Our favorite thing about both places above is that they appeared to be relatively free of tourists and were very close to a little, funky town with great restaurants and local bars. Can you suggest any places that are 4-5 star that fit this same bill? Thanks a lot! susie

Hi Susie,<BR><BR>Nevis or St. Kitts might fit what you are looking for-especially Nevis.<BR><BR>You might try Nisbet plantation inn or Four Seasons Nevis. They are both fabulous and on the beach. The beach at Nisbet is white sand w/pretty good snorkeling just offshore and the beach at the FS (Pinneys beach) is golden sand, not sure about snorkeling here, never tried it!<BR><BR>Nevis is not a touristy island at all, yet it has some great restaurants and fun little beach bars. We are getting ready to go back for our 5th trip there. <BR>

Funny, but I remember a past post where someone referred to St. Barths as "funky." I've heard they got some nice beaches too.

nevis and st. barths sound great... does anyone know what airlines fly to each and what are the snorkeling conditions like? thanks susie

My family and I are making a trip from Chicago to Nevis via San Juan and St. Kitts. We're flying American Airlines. Seem to have pretty good connections. Made our reservations months ago for an April trip. Probably paid to much.......but it's done. <BR><BR>FYI we've done Caneel and Little Dix as well. Four Seasons seems to be a good fit for us.....we'll find out!<BR>

I would also suggest St. Kitts. The island is beautiful without all the people and the town is very quaint. <BR><BR>We are currently looking into Curacao ourselves and looks nice.

It sounds like Anguilla is what you are looking for. They have great snorkeling and diving (sailing, catamaran, sunfish, etc.)at many different places. The dining can be a little pricey but so good and they have a bunch of local music places to listen to calypso/reggae! It's not funky but fun.

Grand Lido Negril. In my estimation, this is the best resort in the Caribb. The town of Negril is small and quaint with neat little bars and good restaurants. Rick's Cafe on Negril's Cliffs is spectacular. See some pics of these sites at:<BR><BR>http://badfam.htmlplanet.com/001BadfamDirectory.html<BR><BR>

St-Barth has a lot of things going for it, but snorkeling is not one of them. Snorkeling right off the beaches is mediocre at best. There are afew decent spots but compared to many other islands the snorkeling is nothing to write home about.