My husband and I would like to take a trip to celebrate the end of busy season at work (he is an accountant) and a needed break for this mother of a "vivacious" two year old. We will be using airline miles...so all we need to figure out is where to go and where to stay.

Background:
*avid snorkelers
*love luxurious beaches
*interested in exploring but would also like to relax a time or two
*enjoy good food
*like good service and hospitatlity
*romance and adventure

Where would you go and where would you stay!

Excited to hear from all you "Caribbean Foderites" out there!

Three other bits of information:

1. We have about 7-10 max to travel
2. We are looking to go anywhere between the end of March-beginning of May
3. We would be interested in island hopping if that seemed like the right thing to do.

Thanks!

Using airline miles for travel within the next few months may be a little limiting, as frequent flyer miles have become notoriously difficult to redeem. You may be better off seeing which islands are available in that time frame, put a few itineraries on hold, and then check around for resorts on those islands.

That said, it seems that a place like Biras Creek on Virgin Gorda would be a good place to start. It's a member of the Relais & Chateaux group, so you'll get great food and wonderful service. The resort is pretty sprawling, so you could hike or bike just on the resort, but the island offers other opportunities along those lines. VG offers some of the best snorkeling in the region and has several very nice beaches, but I'm not sure how nice the main one at Biras is. www.biras.com

Guana Island would also be great for you--beautiful beaches, very good snorkeling, hiking trails all over the island, one main beach that is beautiful and a handful of others that you must either hike or take a boat to, very good food and hospitality. It's not a resort, so you won't be waited on hand & foot, but anything you wish to do can be arranged--massage on the beach, private castaway picnic, sunset sail, etc. It's a private island just off the coast of Tortola. www.guana.com (I honeymooned there last year and couldn't have been more pleased.)

Caneel on St. John or Little Dix on Virgin Gorda would also be good fits for you, as well as Peter Island.

I agree with ejcrowe, first pretty much BVI's would fit the area choice--and also agree that your biggest concern is about using the miles. We use AA awards, I booked our upcoming April trip in July 04, and had a difficult time booking our July trip to Caymans(another good choice for you) in Jan05. They really do limit the seats. It depends on the amount of flights out of your city to the carib also. Bigger city=more choices!! I suggest picking some dates and destinations, call the airlines and see what they say. Good luck--somewhere there is a beach chair with your name!!

Remember that hotel rates drop after Easter, which this year is early (late March), though watch out for some resorts who always leave their season change date at April 15th, no matter where Easter falls.

May is normally a great time to travel, as it is not too hot yet, and schools are (mostly) still in, so rates are very reasonable and deals abound.