Where should we go?
 

Tossing around ideas for next year's vacation, probably the last week of February, and would really appreciate ideas!

Our last 4 winter vacations have been Mexico (Playa del Carmen), Dominican Republic, BVI and Costa Rica... so, now, we're looking for somewhere that's a combination of our favorite parts...

Good beach -- doesn't have to be the Caribbean white sand/turquoise water but we like warm water and my son has to have some boogie-boarding time. We don't care about chairs or umbrellas or anything like that (prefer one without, if we had a choice.) We would love an opportunity to snorkel.

Interesting town with at least a little local flavor. We don't want Cancun or a row of gargantuan all-inclusives filled to the brim with Americans.

Some potential for exploration/adventure. Costa Rica was amazing for hiking. I dive in the Caribbean. We loved the ruins in Mexico.

My husband has to have some sort of fishing. :)

Ideally, we would like good food. This has been the most difficult point. I'm a chef, trained in Paris, so we really don't need to eat great French food (or Italian or Japanese or whatever) during vacation. We definitely don't want to have to "dress" for dinner. I'm an adventurous eater and want to eat what the non-tourists eat.

If it's not obvious, we don't want an all-inclusive. We don't need luxury or pampering. We will be taking our 10 year-old -- who doesn't need TV or Disneyworld. We're quite comfortable renting a car and we're not fazed by crazy drivers or the threat of bandits...

I'm hoping someone has a brilliant suggestion!

La Paz, Mexico
Zijuatenejo, Mexico

Playa Carrillo in Costa Rica. Nice beach, very little tourism, it is a lot like CR was before the tourist started coming in droves. Fishing is awesome, my husband captains there for several months during dry season and is already counting the days until he goes back. You can fly into Liberia which is just about 2 hours from Carrillo. Check out the Hotel Guanamar for a nice little beach hotel.

How about Honduras - the ruins of Copán, jungle adventure near La Ceiba if you like that sort of thing, and finish with some time on Roatán for great diving and fishing. My trip photos with travelogues linked are below if you're interested. Happy trails!

http://flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

Panama might fit your needs. Some great hiking, nice beaches, Panama city is even fun for a couple days.

Bocas del Toro is awesome, and are the San Blas islands.