Aruba
St. Lucia
Cancun
Bermuda

These are my choices, any thoughts would be helpful. I did take a look at another post that included St. Lucia, Aruba, and Dominican but felt I needed to ask a few specifics for my situation.

I am not overly concerned about arid or lush islands since they both have beauty.
I am concerned about activities! I want a place with things to do and yet laid back and peaceful.
St. Lucia sounds wonderful but I'm wondering if it would be too laid back - not enough to do for a weeks vacation?
Cancun has more than enough but I'm not sure I want disney land in the Carib either??
Bermuda also sounds wonderful but much like St. lucia with not enough to do (albeit more than St. lucia probably).
Aruba sounds like it has a few things to do but if given a preference i would pick the lush setting although thats not a must or i wouldn't consider Aruba.
We are not divers. We want to find places with good snorkling, hikes, and other land or water based activities?

Any help?

Aruba is a very safe,laidback, peaceful, beautiful desert island and has guaranteed weather. There are many activities on the island. You can find websites with a wealth of info. When you land on the island you usually receive a welcoming package right off the plane. I feel that Aruba is more of a couples island. I tend to stay away from any places that would have a gathering of spring breakers. Aruba does cater to families, but not in the Disney sense at all. Aruba has a few ship wrecks for snorkeling, and many excursions in down town Oranjestad. The island is abundant in natural beauty, just not lush greenery, (plenty of cactus though ) Good Luck!

Out of the islands you mentioned, Aruba, Cancun and Bermuda have the most to do. Cancun and Aruba are probably much more crowded and busy and offer more in the way of nightlife. Bermuda offers a ton of things to do and quite onestly, you probably couldn't see it all in one week. There are numerous activities both on and off the water. You won't be bored. Another option with lots of activities would be Barbados.

bosco - would you give me a few examples of things to do on Bermuda for non-divers?

There are a lot of water acivities such as renting a boston whaler and exploring the coves on your own, kayaking, guided snorkeling and sailing trips, glass bottom boat cruises, parasailing. Also try a horseback riding excursion on the beach at sunrise and renting a scooter to explore the island on your own. As far as non water acivities there is shopping in Hamilton, exploring the historical sites in St. George, exploring the Royal Naval dockyard, its shops and museums (lots of unique handmade gifts found here), climbing Gibbs Hills lighthouse, exploring the local art galleries, the Botanical Gardens, the Bermuda Perfumery, the Underwater Exploration Institute, The Bermuda Acquarium,golfing, etc. Check out the Bermuda Shorts website and the Bermuda Department of Tourim website for more information on any of these places and more. Any other questions, feel free to ask.

SOLD

Now are there affordable accomodations on the island???

I second Aruba. It has everything you are looking for. I think a week in Bermuda would be too long. First of all, transportation is a pain, you can't rent cars, have to depend on public transport, or rent a scooter. You could cover the main highlights in 3-4 days. Depending on when you plan to go, water sports could be iffy (Nov-April). Also, hotel rates are very pricey for what you get. Bermuda is very expensive.

Bermuda is indeed expensive, and there aren't any beaches which can match the expansive ones on Aruba.
But for things to do, Bermuda offers at least as much as Aruba (in my experience more).

Aruba definitely offers more in the way of nightlife (casinos, entertainment, etc). It all depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for a total active vacation, you may be best to go with Aruba. For a combination of a relaxing beach vacation with a few days set aside for side trips in a quaint, charming atmosphere, Bermuda can't be beat (as long as your planning on going between June and August). There are a lot of great places to stay in Bermuda - it just depends on what you're looking for - large resort, small, initimate cottage colony, small hotel, kids or no kids, couples only, etc. and your price range. For large hotels, Elbow Beach and the Fairmont Southampton are the best. Small hotels: try The Reefs, Pompano Beach Club or the New Coco Reef and for cottage colonies, there's Horizons. You can also consider renting a cottage. Check out the Bermuda department of tourism site for the websites and see what interests you. The one downside about Bermuda, however, is that it very expensive. The low season is typically not beach swimming weather since Bermuda is off the coast of NC and the high season is more expensive than the caribbean. As far as transit goes, the cheapest way to go is to buy a bus pass for excursions.

Are those your only choices? It sounds as though Belize would fit exactly what you are looking for.

Dear Big Daddy,
We just got back from a 7 day first time trip to Aruba. It was awesome. How much you have to do depends a little on where you stay. Some resorts are a bit removed from activites and you have to bus or cab everywhere. They have a ton of tours for land and water fun. We are not lay on the beach people so we chose to stay downtown at the Renaissance. They have their own private island accessible by a short ferry ride for when we wanted to beach it. Actually there was so much going on we only went there once. Being downtown we had access to all sorts of marvelous places to eat and shop. Good luck with your decision.