WHICH ISLAND? HELP!
 

My family and I are planning a Caribbean vacation, probably in February 2006. First, I need to know if this is a good time of year to be visiting. It will be me, my girlfriend, and my 16 year old daughter. We want to go to an island with:
1) GREAT BEAUTIFUL BEACHES. This is our top priority. We would like to go to a classic beach, with sunny skies, warm weather, palm trees, soft sand (not rocky), and bright blue green water.
2)Activities such as snorkeling
3)Some golf
4)Good shopping and restaurants

ADIVCES AND TIPS WOULD BE APPRECIATED!!! Thanks

February is the height of the season in the Caribbean & you'll probably definitely have great weather.

The Four Seasons in Nevis has golf. There's also Mahogany Run in St. Thomas. Be aware room rates are going to be higher then.

I don't know what the state of the golf course at Mullet Bay in Sint Maarten is.

troll?

Bill..who knows? ;)

I wouldn't say troll. I'd say yet another who seems not to have done any research.

To the OP, a little more info would be helpful for those who might be interested in helping.

We are a group of travellers here, who will happily give advice about our personal experiences...but we are not a travel *service*. You need to do some research before posing such a broad question.

Can you tell it's cold here ;-) !

Marion

To caribdreamer5 - There are literally hundreds of places that fit your very broad description. The first thing you should do is get a good Caribbean guide book and read about the various islands. Second, use the search feature on this forum to read more about those particular islands that interest you. The key is research - do a little bit before you post your questions.

caribdreamer5,
A good guide to the Caribbean is the book called "Caribbean For Dummies" by Frommers.

hi5, i'll start you out with a list i found of top 10 dandy caribbean golf courses: 1-10:
la romana , dominican republic
four seasons piney beach, nevis
royal westmorland, barbados
tierra del sol country club, aruba
dorado beach , puerto rico
tryall club, mobay, jamaica
carambola, st. croix
treasure cay golf club, abaco, bahamas
links at safe haven, grand cayman
provo golf club, providenciales, turks and caicos
i got this from a site called jerseygolf. so its just their opinion. of those - barbados, puerto rico, st.croix & jamaica meet your other criteria. as does st. thomas.
martinique also has robert trent course & superb french influence dining.
fodors has an excellent book to check out all islands. or start with above list and just type the island into your search engine and their official web sites will come up. you will see one or 2 that really appeal. thats when we can best help you out more with specific information. {which side of island, which beach, which restaurant, etc.} also some idea of what type lodging you prefer, where you will travel from, how long you can stay, and what your budget is. remember almost nobody comes back from any of the islands saying it was a bad trip. enjoy the planning. bet the 16 yr old would think it way cool to help with your computer search for the "best" place.

Hmmm....

Great Beach - Grand Cayman, Turks and Caicos (you can rent ocean/beachfront condos andsimply walk out your patio door to the beach an ocean). Grand Cayman has the incredible seven mile beach along with Smith's Cove, Spott's and Rum Point to name some of the best.

Snorkelling - Grand Cayman. Many, many spots to snorkel off shore (Cemetary's Reef, Paradise Reef, Eden Rock, Smith's Cove, Govenors Mansion and don't forgot stingray city in the centre of North Sound - snorkel and swim with the stingrays).


Golf - Grand Cayman - Links of Safehaven 18 hole course and the Hyatt's Executive Course. Not sure how the condition is since Ivan last year but you can check on that).

Restaurants - Grand Cayman - Cayman is known for their restaurants, second of course to the beach & water. Many expensive, moderate and inexpensive and fun places to eat. I can recommend a few if you choose Grand Cayman for a vacation.

Noticing a trend? I like Grand Cayman. It's very family freindly as well.

Enjoy.

Lori

Re Cayman, the Links at Safehaven is not open again since Ivan, but I think they had lots of Business Interruption insurance... the course looks great... drove past today, sprinklers runnings, looks superb... I think they will be opening for high season, so fine for Feb 2006.

I have played the Links many times, and it is great for all levels of golf, multiple tee boxes, and quite breezy to make the golf varied.

Other than the White Witch in Mo Bay, it is my favourite Caribbean course.

St John would be my choice. However you would have to ferry to St Thomas for golf. St John offers great beaches...great snorkeling...great/safe environment...shopping...great restaurants. I think it's a can't miss.

Glad you got some answers to your questions. Now you have a starting point for places to check out further. I don't think the OP is the troll here.

Carrybean, could you please explain "troll" as I've seen the term but am still not sure what it is or how it fits, especially when I see the writer of what seems a legitimate question referred to as a possible one.
Also, what does "OP" stand for? Other Person? Opining Person?
Thanks.
ps is Carry really your name, or just a fun take on "Caribbean"? It's cute.

A troll is someone who posts a questions that is designed to create controversy or one that, as suspected in this case, because of it's vagueness serves no real purpose. The Troll is not really looking for answers but trying to see how many responses the quest will get - something like "trolling (as in fishing) for answers.

OP = Other Poster

OP is actually "original poster" , no ?? As in the original poster of the thread was accused of being a troll .....?? Which I do not think he/she was .

A reference to "other poster" could be any one of us .

Thanks Sunny and Faithie for the explanations of both terms.
"Original poster"--that makes sense. When seeing it, I thought of that song a few yrs back about "O.P.P." and that defintely was NOT the meaning of the abbreviation in that song!
Caribdreamer, I've been to only one place for any length of time (St John) and the others too breiefly to have helpful opinions (MOntego Bay Jamaica, Cayman Is 7 mile beach, and Cozumel) for a day each off a cruise. St John would fit the bill for great beaches and snorkeling and shopping/restaurants, and my daughter, then 16, loved it (she loves shopping!) but as Brutus said, there's no golf course on the island.
ButI've no other island to compare it with. The idea for guidebooks to narrow down your interests is a good one. The "Dummies" series ARE great, even tho' I feel like one when I read them!! (-:

I use OP to mean original poster. Carrybean is just a play on Caribbean & I've lived down here since 1982.

OP is "original poster" and as this is aparently his 1st post to call it trolling is premature I think. I would give him the benefit of the doubt. That being said Aruba would also fit that description. There is a fairly new course designed by Robert Trent Jones jr., beaches as described, and a wonderful selection of shops and restaurants. So to the "OP" how about a reply? That would seal the deal. :S-

I stand corrected on the definition of "OP" -Original Poster makes more sense. Anyway the jury is still out about the OP being a troll. I note that even after comments pointing out the vagueness of the question OP hasn't come back with any clarifications or specific desires thus making it difficult for any of us to offer meaningful help. That, by the way, is another trait often demonstrated by trolls.

I thought this might have been a troll post because of the curious timing of it. It was posted about the time when another one that was done as a joke-troll-post was getting losts of hits. I thought this might have been a copy-cat post to piggy back on that one. Hey, it's happened before!

-Bill

That's funny , I thought perhaps you were the troll , looked like you did not post often on the Carib. forum , I was suspicious etc., lol ! Oh well , alls well that ends well . So , no-ones a troll !!!

Well, we still haven't heard from the OP (original poster ;-) ) and although *I* wasn't very helpful, many were.

I guess I'm just too OLD-fashioned, but a post here means a *please* and responses should merit a *thank you*.

Marion

fathie,

I have been a little more active on this board lately because I am starting to get excited and anxious for my first trip to St. John in June!!!!!

-Bill

I'm with you on that one Marion. Perhaps the OP is busy now. In general though a thanks goes a long way. :-)

Marion, agreed about the "thanks" to folks who take time to write a response!! It's also nic e to go bck and let ppeople know if their advice helped, even if it's mopnths later, but this is ahrd to do as sometimes the original posts are hard to find.
So, adding let me add another thanks, this to Carrybean , for explaining both the Op and his/her (????) name.
Bill, I know what you mean!! I too have been here on and off, recently off, then back on, \ since first trip 2 yrs ago to USVI, then off for a long time while planned trip to CR (which hasnt yet happened) and Europe.
Thanks to all who continue to give great hints for us relatively inexperienced or newbie Carib-goers --including Caribdreamer ?

Thanks for your post Calinurse.

This board is very easy to navigate. There's no need to find your original post to give a trip report...just start a new post :-) !

Marion

"Carrybean , for explaining both the Op and his/her (????) name."

I'm a her (she?) ((a))

Faith,

I thought I'd bury a message to you in this thread, which I assume you are reading.

I lurk on the US board and post about Maine and Boston.

But tonight's controversy is really something.

Just wanted to tell you I agree with all that you said. And as always, you said it with great kindness. I need to learn patience from you ;-) !

It's a scary place to post and the inside jokes/banter are annoying.

I hope Fodor's will consider establishing a separate Hawaii board :-)

Anyway, you spoke eloquently !

Marion

Thank You Marion , my little daughter had an issue with some bullies at school this week ( grade 4 girls ) . She is the type of child who follows no "clique" , rather, does her own thing and is not intimidated by others . This brought out the worst in a group of little girls who wanted everyone to toe the line . Oddly enough I saw a similar thing happen with a group of adults who did not even realize they were doing it . This and the Latin America board is quite tame in contrast . Thank You once again ! Faith . ( P.S. sometimes I need to know when to stop though , I always hear my mom in the back of my head and I bite my tounge so to speak )

Faith,

While you are biting your tongue, I am often (yes, often, folks ) sitting on my hands ;-) !

Little girls can be beastly..but I know you are giving your daughter wise advice !

And she will hear your voice for years to come :-)

Marion

Marion, Fathie

Grade 4??? It appears to be more High School to me! :-)

Faithie, there's no worse pain than feeling your child is picked on or badgered, is there? I think it is almost worse for the parents hearing about it, than for the child.
As for the controversy...no specific comment abput it right now from yours truly, 'cept to say, I thought your reply to my original post -- "Forgive me, it was stronger than me" about "hijacking" a thread, was funny and sweetly teasing and added a bit of much needed non-accusatory humor.
Until now, the most "heated" thread I was aware of was one about Pura Vida in CR. I think you and I both were on that one-- with different viewpoints!! There were definitely some strong replies (from me, for one) but it was an interesting discussion, without snideness or rancor.
Pura vida!!--Calinurse

Exactly , one can have a difference of opinion , and leave it at that . I actually think people mis-read "greatly" the point of that whole thread though . Had absolutely nothing to do with the poor fellow being sick(terrible on vacation ) or dis-liking a destination , that was absolutely A-OK.... More with the fact that he insisted we( L.A. fodorites) should have warned him not to drink the water . (none of the regulars had ever been sick and we did drink the water, so we just said so , along with use your own judgement ) But it turned into a argument of whether he had the right to say he disliked Costa Rica and should say negatives ( he HAS the right and we NEED to know negatives ) Know matter how many times I tried to point this difference out it fell on deaf ears , it was like beating my head against a wall . Incredibly frustrating . Still is as you can see !!! After that , he searched day and night for every little obscure article ( negative of course ) he could find about some crime or bad thing that happened !! Every time I logged on there would be a new post with a link to the article , in the end no-one would reply to them because it became a bit obvious (.... Hopefully it is clearer even to you now .

And , lol , I AM a dreadful and self admitted " highjacker" , incurable ....

Thank Goodness , it was deleted . (sorry Caribdreamer , you know my history lol !!! )

Faith,
My 11 yr old son sounds just like your daughter.He does not follow any particular "click"..he is friends with all kinds of kids.I am just glad that he is his "own person" and does not follow anyone.(might be the high IQ..130)

Last year a kid who is into soccer was really mean to him on the playground.He asked the kid if he could play soccer with the kids and the boy said "no" and as my son (Taylor)was walking away..the kid (Levi)hit him in the head with the soccer ball..so Taylor took the ball and started running with it.When Levi caught up with Taylor..Taylor ended up fighting with Levi and won.While I do not suggest that my kids fight..I do tell them to stand up for themselves.All of this happened while the teachers just sat there.

Would you believe that this year Levi is in Taylor's class and now they get along.

Kids can be so mean,especially around 4th and 5th grade.

Just be glad that your daughter is being her own person.;)

Christie

She is indeed a character , very loyal , strong willed and stubborn .... I would not have a clue where she gets it from !!! lol !!

Sounds like we have twins..adult and kid.;) lol!

All I know is I'd pay to see Faith and Christie have a go! :-) :-)