Does such a place exist?
 

I have been able to successfully plan vacation from Costa Rica to Scotland to India. But planning this "simple" family vacation has me pulling my hair out. I thought I could find this place in the Caribbean. But, it ends up being more than we want to spend right now. So... here goes.

I'd love a place where I could relax while my hubby and children (12 and 10) could be active. Ideally a beach and a fun pool would be involved. But, I would still like to be in a beautiful, upscale , but somewhat moderately priced, environment. If there was a quaint, historic town nearby that would be icing. Does this fantasy exist?

Beautiful, upscale, and moderately priced do not usually fit well together but you might come close with some of the Mexico coastal resorts or in Belize.

My first thought was Puerto Vallarta, where we're headed next March with our family. Then I thought Ixtapa and Club Med. Don't know if either fits what you're looking for, but the Club Med vacation we had with our kids when they were about the ages of yours was the most memorable of their lives.... so far. ;-)

How about Cozumel with a 2 day side trip to Chichen Itza?

I was going to suggest Belize and Mexico also, or maybe the Virgin Islands? I'm not sure of your budget. How about the Florida Keys? Where would you be traveling from?

Yes! It exist!

1) Find a budget flight to Cancun - Spirit, Jet Blue USA 3000, etc.

2) Take the 30 minute ferry ride from Cancun to Isla Mujeres.

3) Rent a condo - we rented a luxury furnished 2br/lr/kit/ba/balcony and AC for $100/night steps from North Beach.

Me, wife, 2 kids flew from DC, ate out a few times, stayed 7 nights all for about $2000.

CHECK IT OUT!:

http://www.isla-mujeres.net/


p.s. Do NOT stay in Cancun, even if you see a package that "looks good". You will spend four times as much and only get a fraction of the experience. Stay on the Island.

San Diego? La Jolla north of it, great beaches.

Yes, Harbour Island, Bahamas. Try some of these websites.

www.myharbourisland.com
www.eleu.net
www.coralsands.com
www.romorabay.com


Coral Sands would be a good bet, right on the beach, nice pool, great food, historic town a short walk away, great snorkle spots, 2 dive shops on island, fun water sports with Valentine's Dive shop. Family oriented resort so your kids will probably meet other kids their age to hang out with.

Have a GREAT time.

How about St. John?
Relax on the beaches, but kids can be active snorkeling, etc. Good downtown area.
For the moderately priced bit - you could stay at the Maho Bay Camps...at www.maho.org
These are like upscale tents, (with real beds!) which are affordable and have their own private beach. They also offer activities, iincluding craft classes, windsurfing, etc.
You should check out their website.

How about the panhandle of Florida? Beautiful beaches, water, and lots of activities

If you want to go more basic, Galveston has nice resorts like Moody Gardens, the San Luis, and the Galvez. There's great Victorian architecture you can tour like the Bishop's Palace, and The Strand is full of cute restaurants and good shopping. Moody Gardens is a great place to take kids - they have a rainforest pyramid, aquarium, a white sand beach they've built, 3D IMAX theater, a paddle boat ride, etc. There's also a Schlitterbahn water park there now.

The water at the beach isn't very pretty if that's of concern to you - it's got a lot of sediment in it, but we loved it as kids. This might be a good option for you since you're watching your budget.

In Key West, we stayed at The Marquesa and really liked it. They have a Conch Train that tours the island, neat museums like the Mel Fisher treasure museum, as well as great architecture and the Hemingway House. We had good snorkeling and sailing on the island.

You say that the Caribbean was too expensive for you yet a number of posters are recommending Belize, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, St. John etc. which are all in the Caribbean.

Tell us where you live, when you want to go, and what your budget is.

Another vote for Mexico. I would recommend staying about an hour out of Cancun, in the Playa Del Carmen area. The beaches are beautiful, you are closer to the Chichen Itza (sp?) and Tulum. Playa del Carmen offers shopping/restaurants, etc., but on a much smaller scale than Cancun. You can also catch the 20 minute ferry ride over to Cozumel.

Even though it's in the Caribbean, I've found it one way to go when I wanted to take a vacation like you are describing and not break the bank.

ttt

Another vote for Isla Mujeres! Love the island!

Love Key West but does the Marquesa take kids?

Good point, GoTravel - we don't have kids, so I didn't even think about it. I checked the website, and kids have to be at least 14. You'd have to look around for another place to stay in the Keys.

Barbados.

Don't stay on the south coast; stay on the west coast. Luxury resorts at reasonable prices -- at certain seasons. Proud people trying to build their country, no beggars, safe. Buses go everywhere and hotels arrange expeditions, or you can sit by the pool or on the beach the entire time.

The only downside is the flying time -- 3+ hours from Miami.

super,
The OP may be under the IMPRESSION that a Carribean vacation is more expensive than a US vacation. The numbers of posters who have suggested it have discovered that it CAN be much cheaper than Florida, Texas, etc.

I'm not sure the OP is paying any attention to this thread?

Thanks for all your suggestions! I have to save this thread for the future. I looked into Barbados. But, the flights were too expensive. I found the same with those wonderful Bahamas places. We're planning Mexico next year as a huge family vacation and I'll be sure to check out Isla Mujeres and the other suggestions.

Key West is great. But, we've been before and wanted to try something different. Same goes for the pan handle I've heard Galveston is painfully hot in August.

We're flying in the second week of August from NYC and would like to spend around three grand.

Should I give it up and look into non- beach vacations or someplace we can drive like Maine?

Have you looked into Siesta Key in Florida on the Gulf side? I don't think it's technically Key West. We stayed at the Sea Castle a few years ago and it was great. It's right on Crescent Beach, which has beautiful white powder sand and clear aqua water - it reminded me of the Caribbean. It has a kitchen so we saved money by buying groceries and eating there for breakfast, lunches and a couple of dinners at the grill on the patio. There is shuffleboard and a pool on the premises, and you could rent kayaks and catamarans by the hour on the beach plus great shelling. In August, the resort is about 1,200 for the week. You can find some other condo type places on rentalo.com. We flew into Tampa which wasn't that expensive on Southwest (there are deals as low as $120 for a roundtrip flight for August) and rented a car; it's about an hour south. We mostly spent the days on the beach, but we did do one day at Busch Gardens since it wasn't that far.

If you want to do something where you can drive, have you considered Cape Cod? My parents live in Plymouth, which is right before the bridge to the Cape, and it is a very cute town with lots of history - trolley cars, plimoth plantation, plimoth rock, Mayflower replica, whale watching, etc. You can find a bunch of different homes for rent on a weekly basis for $800-$2000 a week on vrbo.com at different beaches or near the harbor. There are other places on there too on freshwater lakes that are nice. Other places that are nice actually on Cape Cod are Falmouth, Hyannis, and Sandwich.

Good luck!

August is tough for what you're looking for. I used to live in New York and we never considered going anywhere at that time of year because we had paradise right in our backyard - Long Island Beaches. My sister still lives there and she goes to Block Island every summer.

You also have Cape Cod, Bar Harbor, the Outer Banks, etc. The East Coast is fabulous then and you want to go to Barbados?

I live in California now and in August, we would have to choose between Lake Tahoe, Bandon in Oregon, or Victoria in British Columbia as three of our favorites.

Also, a few years ago we went up to Mackinac Island in Michigan and really enjoyed it. We also spent some time on Lake Superior and enjoyed the National Lakeshores, the historical sites on the Keweenaw Peninsula, and the National Parks on the Canadian side.

Good point supercilious.
Cape Cod would be perfect. Stay in Chatham for an upscale, historic town and nice beaches.