debating between whether to go to turks and caicos or tortolla during late january. looking for opinions either way. thanks

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The Turks and Caicos are several small islands with somewhat similar characteristics and Puerto Rico is a large islands that has a variety of characteristics. Since you are debating about them you must know something about them. It all depends on what you desire. I don't think anybody on this forum know what you are looking for so they can't give you an opinion based on your requirements.

actually Puerto Rico is also a group of islands but it is south and is in the Caribbean as is Tortola. The TCI are many Atlantic islands located north of the Caribbean. The further south one goes the warmer it is and late January would not be warm enough for me in the TCI. <BR>Very different experiences and island destations. What do you want? MLK's birthday is one of the prime times for Caribbean travel and prices so plan accordingly.

How warm does it get in Jan in T&amp;C? How about Tortola? I heard that Tortola isn't that nice anymore since it is very commercial -- is that true? What area of Tortola should we look into as far as lodging?<BR><BR>I would like to:<BR><BR>play tennis - take lessons<BR>snorkel<BR>go on boat trips<BR>shop (not a priority)<BR>eat at nice restaurants<BR><BR>Can you recommend moderately priced hotels in these areas?<BR><BR>thanks<BR>

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Tortola is far from very commercial (and, as a result, the shopping is very limited). In fact, it's one of the least commercial islands in the Caribbean (also one of my favorites for that and loads of other reasons). For boat trips, Tortola is about the best place in the Caribbean since there are numerous other islands a short ride away.<BR>Check out bviwelcome.com for info.

Can anyone recommend a resort in Tortola - -not too expensive, but with the availability to take tennis lessons (my girlfriend doesn't play tennis and taking a lesson would seem to be the only way to play).<BR><BR>thanks

IMO I wouldn't head to Tortola expecting wonderful beaches like you would find in the T and C. They just don't have them. Maybe you would enjoy Virgin Gorda more since there are the nice beaches and moderate resorts on some, Nail, Maho, Leverick Bays and others. Not much shopping in the BVI but a boat trip to St. Thomas will get you that. If on VG, you could hook up with the tennis program at Little Dix.

My wife and I stayed 7 days at Long Bay Resort on Tortolla about 3 years ago. We drove all around the island and there are many very beautiful and very empty beaches. We went in mid-late APril so it may have been quieter than normal. <BR>Long Bay has an excellent tennis program. I am an avid tennis player and the pro (an Aussie, former satellite tour player) was quite good and the tennis program very well organized. <BR>Perhaps the best beach on the island is the one right in front of the hotel. For the entire week we were there, there were never more than 4 or 5 other couples on a 400yd stretch and several days there would only be 1-2 couples.<BR>

maybe you've made up your mind. For the sailing Tortola is hard to beat. For great places to stay on a beautiful beach with excursions to the reefs for snorkeling it's Provo. On Tortola you'll spend more time driving around on a hilly terraine and there are a few nice beaches but the beaches on the northshore like Long Bay can be very rough and rugged with no swimming. Not much snorkeling from the beaches at all. You have a few beaches on Tortola - Cane Garden (very crowded) and not the best when it comes to water pollution, Smugglers, Brewers and Long Bay on Beef Island (not to be confused with Long Bay on Tortola). From Tortola you can easily ferry to st. Thomas for a day of shopping if you want but there isn't much shopping but more than Provo. Tortola has a couple of good restaurants as does Provo but more casual places are the norm. The cruise ships are now making Tortola a regular stop and the crowds on cruise ship days can really jam up the few nice beaches. Hope this was helpful and not too late<BR>I would prefer Frenchman's Cay to Long Bay Beach Resort anyday because Long Bay is just too big, overpriced and &quot;resorty&quot;. Long Bay is part of Peter Burwash International and does have some tennis but not limited to guests only.