We love to travel. We have been to aruba,jamaica,cancun,riviera maya, and many other none caribbean related places. I have been looking for 3 months to plan our upcoming vacation next march. we are both turning 40. It is during spring break, on the 15th. the date is the birthday and unchangeable. We like good food, good people,some nightlife(not the wild kind)all inclusives, and a swim up bar. We love excursions to interesting places. Our budget is around 3000 for the two of us for air and AI. We are looking for something with a wow factor. We are considering barbados, st maarten, and are open to suggestions, just not any of the places that are taken over by college spring breakers.

I'm doing the same research for my 40th birthday April '08. We've been to several Islands and wanted somewhere we haven't been and in the same price range you stated. We really enjoy Mexico and have been several times, but not a destination I would want to go to during Spring Break time. After researching, we considered Curacao and Antigua, but found the distance too far and over the set budget. So we ended up picking Puerto Vallarta. I understand that it's not a hot Spring Break destination like Cancun, and has great nightlife, bars and resturants. We are looking at Dreams. It is an AI with a 3 pools. One has a swim-up bar and is set on a cove, so the beach is supposed to be better there than other hotels. It's a 10 minute/.50 cent bus ride into town.

There is also another resort called Priemer Villa, which is adults only. A little more expensive, but it would not have any type of springbreakers at the actual hotel. By the time we go in April, I think the spring break season will be over.

I would definatly look at a destination that is more expenisve, so spring breakers couldn't afford to actually go there and/or pick an adults or couples only property. That way you'll ony have to deal with springbreakers when you leave the property.

You mentioned your budget and time of year for your trip, but I did not see any indication of where you are travelling from or how long a trip you want to take, both of which are important factors in determining how far your budget will go.

I agree with KVR's advice that to avoid the college spring break crowd you should choose a more upscale destination and/or a more expensive resort within a given destination. But, given that you are traveling during peak season, you may find that your budget will be a constraint depending on the length of your trip.

Maybe look at St. Lucia, although some of the AIs and the travel there can be more expensive. I think the island tends to attract more of a couples (honeymoon, anniversary)or family crowd than spring break college crowd. It is a beautiful island with lots of interesting excursions.

The Domincan Republic and Mexico may be worth considering too because of the abundance of AI choices and good value for your money. You may be able to get into a more upscale resort there than somewhere like Barbados, which has less AI options and is more expensive overall.

Another consideration is that many islands that would be good choices for avoiding spring breakers do not have any/many AI resorts.

We are coming from delaware, flying out of either philly or baltimore. We can push the budget up alittle if needed.I dont like to fly more than aruba distance. thanks for you info so far.

It's a pain to get to the west coast of Mexico from Phila.
If you can bump up your budget, check out the adults only new Iberostar Paraiso Grand. You fly into Cancun and it's about 25 minutes outside Cancun toward Playa del Carmen. It's top of the line with butler service, gourmet food, etc. No spring breakers here
You may also want to check out Secrets Capri in the Riviera Maya and Excellence which is there too. These are also adults only all inclusive resorts.

We think alike, we are actually going to riviera maya and staying at the grand next week. so looking forward to it.We travel a decent amount. The birthday vacation is going to try to take my mind off of turning 40. hence the wow factor. I was looking for a new and different island. We almost went back to europe but decided against it. Thought an island with european influence would be neat.We like the all inclusives because they are easier.But we always leave the resorts and eat out as well. We don't like to have everything close at 10opm but are not into the cancun nightlife type of scene.thanks.