jackiehammond

be off of the west coast? It would have to look exactly the same with its beautiful turquoise water though. I'm so jealous of all of you who live on the east coast and fly out of atlanta, miami, or only have to take a short flight to get to the beautiful caribbean. can't we trade? you guys can have hawaii? i prefer the caribbean. sorry; it's just i was looking into flights to turks and caicos and from arizona and it's another long layover overnight (like my st john trip) in the airport.

hope everyone is having a great day!

xkenx

Try taking a redeye to Miami, then an early flight to an island. You'll be on the beach by the middle of the day.
Or fly to Miami in the evening and stay overnite at the hotel @ Miami airport or one of the inexpensive hotels just outside the airport, then take that early A.M. flight to the islands.

jackiehammond

hi xkenx,

thanks so much for your recommendation. i just wish i could get a direct flight from phoenix to miami.

thanks again for your post!

AdrinaBlue

Yes, I love the Caribbean as well but you should give Cabo San Lucas a try. Its has amazingly beautiful blue water, sunny skies and very warm welcoming people. Its truly the west coast answer to the Caribbean and I am pretty sure there are direct flights from Pheonix to SJD airport.

jackiehammond

hi AdrinaBlue,

thanks for your post! i never thought about cabo. i'll check it out. thanks, again!

blamona

Jackiehammond, I feel for you!
Sometimes on long excursions I break it up. For example, if i were living where you do, I would actually spend a night or 2, (with a full day) in Miami. South Beach can be fun, definately good people watching. Fortunately, the fight to Turks after that is only 1 hour 15 min.
Cabos is not the Caribbean, but I've got to tell you it's pretty cool. The water is not turqouise like the Caribbean, but I've got to tell you I loved it there.
Have you considered the Cook Islands? Absolutely gorgeous water there, rivals Turks. Also Moorea and Bora Bora have the water you crave.
I will probably be beat up for this, but I'm not a huge Hawaii fan. I'll take the Caribbean any day over it.
I've got to tell you though, as awful as the getting there seems, I think Turks and other Caribbean Islands are "worth it."

CaliNurse

JackieH, great recs from Blamona and Xkenx. We did that on flights from and to West Coast, breaking up the trip both ways with a stopover in Miami. All the hotels nera the aiprot run frequent sahuttles. The Hampton Inn & Suties was fantastic!! I'd never been out of Miami airport, and it was a nice precursor to tropical atmosphere.
If you go again to St Thomas or St John, there's a decent, basic motel (BW Caribe) right across the street and up a short hill--easily walkable-- from STT airport. We stayed there on previous trips after a late arrival. A definite island feel --then woke next morning, refreshed and ready!
On latest trip we met folks who thought the long flights and expense from W. Coast and SW to Caribbean (vs Hawaii) were well worth it! They preferred beaches and more laid-back feel of St John.
Personally, I love both--it'd be like a parent choosing the favorite child to pick one over the other.

JAGIRL

hey Jackie
I wish we were on the west coast too

Have you any idea how expensive it is to get off any of these Caribbean rocks to go anywhere in the world?
Just try hitching a cheap flight to Europe from Jamaica! <font color="red">Impossible! </font>

VegasM

I agree with you Jackie!! I live in LV - originally from PHX and can't get a direct flight ANYWHERE it seems like! I wish we were much closer. I love Hawaii and all but no comparrison to the caribbean IMO :'(

jackiehammond

hi blamona,

GREAT recommendations! the cook islands look wonderful. i've been to bora bora and it's my favorite. hawaii doesn't hold a candle to it IMO (sorry if i'm offending anyone!), but i felt stj was a close second. spending a day and night in miami is probably the best bet. thanks, again!!!

hi CaliNurse,

thanks for your post! i appreciate your detail and thoughts. a night in miami would seem the way to go.

hi JAGIRL,

i didn't realize you had such trouble getting flights out of the caribbean. well, at least you can relate! wish i had some advice to help.

hi VegasM,

you really can feel my frustration! you would think that since vegas and phoenix are such big cities that we wouldn't have this problem! i agree that hawaii doesn't compare to the caribbean.

CaribbeanSoul

We find it fairly easy and tolerable from Seattle. Connecting in Houston (Continetal), Charlotte (USAIR), Newark (USAIR) or Atlanta (Delta) on a red eye and we are on the beach by 2 PM! It makes for a long night/next day....but totally worth it! We have, virtually, no interest in the Hawaiian islands.

christiegr

jackiehammond,

We are looking forward to moving to Arizona to be closer to Hawaii (Kaua'i). So when you said you guys can have Hawaii...I'll take it!!

Though we love the Caribbean also.

Christie

jackiehammond

hi CaribbeanSoul,

i thought i had a long trip from arizona...seattle is even farther! thanks so much for that flight info. i didn't even think of us air or connecting through houston. i appreciate your post!

hi christie,

i hope you enjoy arizona! it definitely has its benefits. since you like hawaii, we took a direct flight on continental, i believe, to maui from phoenix. it was nice to get there so quickly (5 1/2 hours, i think). i've been to kauai, as well, but i flew from california, so i'm not sure if there's a direct flight there. if you have any questions about arizona, i'd be glad to help (although i've only been here a few years myself). thanks!

caribtraveler

Hi Jackie.
I also recommend breaking up the trip. We've done it and I live in the Northeast!! Some of the islands we went to I couldn't get a non-stop flight from Newark (would have been a long layover) and with our active toddler, it would have been a pretty brutal travel day.
I can't believe there's no non-stop from Phoenix to Miami. That does suck.

We've usually spent the night in Coral Gables (truly lovely area of Miami) or at a Miami Airport hotel. Be ready to hate that airport by the way. Every time we go through it, we swear we'll never do it again...but darn it, it's a major gateway to the Caribbean!

Enjoy the planning for the next trip!

blamona

jackiehammond:
If it makes you feel any better, even we southeasteners (word?) sometimes have to break it up or take all day getting there! Anything below Antigua (for example, Nevis, Grenada) can take all day! Returning from Grenada usually requires a 7am flight with 7 hours in Puerto Rico, followed by 4 hours on plane for Puerto Rico. But so worth it!
Do you have a direct flight to NY? There are direct flights to Provo from NY, even Boston and Philly.

christiegr

jackiehammond,

Thnaks!I do have one question about Arizona. If you know anything about Tempe or Queen Creek? I found a nice house in Queen Creek and it sounds like a nice little community. My husband will be working in Tempe. I will be flying out there before we make a decision on where to live.

Also do you know what the crime rate is like in Queen Creek?

Thanks for your help!

Christie

jackiehammond

hi caribtraveler,

thanks for the useful info! i'll make sure if (no..WHEN) i plan my next caribbean trip that i look into coral gables and not have high hopes of the miami airport. thanks, again!

hi blamona,

wow, i thought breaking up the trip from the northeast was surprising, but from the southeast, too? makes me feel not so bad. not sure if have a direct flight to ny...i believe so. that is something i'll look into. i just felt like that was backtracking a bit, you know what i mean? thanks so much for you post!

hi christie!

here is what i know about queen creek. i know someone's parents who bought a long time ago in queen creek and got a lot for their money. i recall her saying that there was one long road to get there though. it's not very developed as compared to chandler, which is another city close to queen creek (with a great mall, btw...chandler fashion square). unfortunately i don't know about the crime rate in queen creek, but it can't be very high, since it's not a big city. awahtukee is also a nice small town...a little pricey though, but not as much as scottsdale (in some cases). stay away from the southwest area (tolleson, avondale...hope i'm not offending anyone!). you can get great deals on houses, but it's not a great area. south glendale is not good either. north glendale (north of the 101) is nice, but too far from tempe. tempe is basically a college and airport town. the best living choice close to tempe would be scottsdale, but i'm not sure about your budget. south scottsdale has a certain feel to it though (has great shopping and restaurants)...it has turned into kind of like a hollywood, in my opinion. north scottsdale is beautiful. mcdowell ranch in scottsdale is really nice. fyi, traffic sucks in the phoenix area, for the most part. where are you moving from? i hope i could help out. please let me know if you have any other questions.

christiegr

Jackie,
Thanks!We are moving from NC (20 minutes south of Raleigh).

I have heard that Scottsdale is like Hollywood which means I would not like it there (no offense to people who do).

We now live in a small, rural town that is growing by leaps and bounds though.I grew up in Raleigh, so I prefer smaller towns with less traffic now.

I have heard that Chandler,Ahwatukee and Queen Creek are great areas from others.I guess that I will be checking in out when I fly out there.

Thanks for your help.

Christie