# Favourite sunny vacation spots



## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

My wife and I, along with a friend of ours, is looking for a great sunny destination trip this winter (January). Any suggestions? Also, which hotel / resort did you stay at?

We're currently looking at Belize, but would definitely consider other spots (not Mexico for this trip). I think we're mostly focused on Central America, & Caribbean Islands.

We're all 45 years old. No kids. Not big drinkers, or partiers. Want to spend some time on the beach, snorkel, hike, bike, zip line, see some ruins if possible, preferably a more secluded location, and it would be great if it was mostly adults.


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

Stayed at Westin resort in Maui, Hawaii. Right on the beach and incrediable resort. We fine dined in their restaurant overlooking the pacific ocean and watched the sun set.. (wow) 

Saw where they filmed the beginning of Jurassic Park- and it looks like when earth was first formed. So fresh and pure. 

I'm still breathless from driving on the road to Hana, which is a really famous, "must do" activity. 

The one beach we found on this drive with black rock sand, hardened lava cliffs, turquoise blue water and lush, green vegetation was absolutely stunning.

Hawaii is expensive and the room we stayed in sold for $400 US a night. But we paid much, much less than that.


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## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

Hawaii sounds like it would be a lot of fun. We'll have to check it out some time. We haven't done any overseas travelling before, so we're absolute newbies to this sunny destination stuff. Looking forward to some serious R&R'ing, and interesting sights and activities. 

Out of curiousity, was your hotel room reduced because of the package you purchased, or did you know somebody?


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

We liked St Lucia. Castries is the old town and the beaches are pristine. There is a Holiday Inn right on the beach. We hired a 50' schooner and cruised down the west coast to Les Gros Pitons, 2 volcanic mountains, and swam in the bay.

There are several high end developments if they are offering AI specials. Another AI place is St Martin. We stayed on the French side but travelled to the Dutch side regularly.

Been to Hawaii a couple of times. The main deterrent these days is cost and population.

Never been to Central America.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

mind_business said:


> My wife and I, along with a friend of ours, is looking for a great sunny destination trip this winter (January). Any suggestions? Also, which hotel / resort did you stay at?
> 
> We're currently looking at Belize, but would definitely consider other spots (not Mexico for this trip). I think we're mostly focused on Central America, & Caribbean Islands.
> 
> We're all 45 years old. No kids. Not big drinkers, or partiers. Want to spend some time on the beach, snorkel, hike, bike, zip line, see some ruins if possible, preferably a more secluded location, and it would be great if it was mostly adults.


We are in a similar situation.
The compromise we have to make is that I like to do stuff, visit towns, and be active, wife needs a warm beach to relax.

To make sure we have great beach like weather we are looking south of Cuba, haven't decided yet but Costa Rica seems to be the front runner, I will go anywhere where I can enjoy the mix of local culture and a day or two of down time at the resort.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

San Juan PR has something for everyone beautiful beaches ,night life and you can walk easily around to find lots of interesting things to do.We stay at San Juan Mariott Resort . My second place would probably be Antigua ,Jolly Beach Resort is a nice spot there.
I have seen houses for rent in Antigua for $2500 for entire month including housekeeping so that is definitely the best way to visit the island.Some resorts will charge you that for a week.


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## rgere (Oct 17, 2011)

+1 for Hawaii!
We were in Kauaii for 2 weeks a few months ago. We rented a 2 bedroom condo (with garage) in the middle of 3 golf courses for approx. $1200/wk. It wasn't on the beach but there were 2 only a 5 minute walk away and dozens within a 15 minute drive. It was our first time renting a condo and we loved the freedom and space. There are no buildings on the island higher than a palm tree and it lives up to it's nickname "The Garden Island".


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## DanFo (Apr 9, 2011)

I like Cuba..been there 8 times..suggestion would be Breezes Jibacoa..somewhat isolated, great snorkleing right off the beach 1/2 way between veradero and Havanna so tours are reasonably priced and there is a small mountain behind the resort you can hike up and get a nice view out over the ocean, adults only. Pretty safe to walk anywhere.. Being Cuba the food is great for Cuba...but can't compare it to the buffets one would get on another Island or Mexico. The Domincan is always fun but the resorts I've been to there were huge and all right next to eachother and it's not too safe to be travelling off the resorts on your own especialy at night. I'm not very picky in my accomodations so Cuba gives me the most bang for my buck..I can usually go there twice for the price I've paid to be in the Domincan each time. 

I took a western Carribean cruise a few years back.. it kinda hit a few places (Honduras/Belize/Cozumel/bahama island) I was able to Zipline and tour in Honduras..see the ruins in Laminai, in Belize..snorkle/beach in Cozumel and beach day in the bahamas.. My all in price tours/airfares/shiptab/cruise was under $1350 if your not drinkers you can pay even less..just something to consider.


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## LondonHomes (Dec 29, 2010)

kcowan said:


> We liked St Lucia. Castries is the old town and the beaches are pristine. There is a Holiday Inn right on the beach. We hired a 50' schooner and cruised down the west coast to Les Gros Pitons, 2 volcanic mountains, and swam in the bay.


I'll 2nd St Lucia. We did it last January and had a great time.


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## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

Can't believe we've been contemplating this for a month now 

Anyhow, we finally booked a trip to Cuba. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I was out-voted by my wife and our friend who's coming along. We're staying at the Melia Cayo Coco hotel. Anyone been there? Any reviews?


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## sensfan15 (Jul 13, 2011)

If you got 2 weeks or longer...

Thailand


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## Jon_Snow (May 20, 2009)

Heading home today after 3 weeks in the Baja... been to many tropical destinations in my time, but in terms of climate, this is by far the best... not a drop of rain in 3 weeks, sunny 28 degrees celsius everyday... perfecto. 

Much safer than the Mexican mainland, very little crime at all.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Jon_Snow said:


> Much safer than the Mexican mainland, very little crime at all.


No ****** crime here in PV. Highs of 31 and lows of 21. No rain exected until July. Plus the hills are all covered in green from the summer rains. Cooling Pacific breezes waft over us from 11:30 until 6:30 every day. 4.5 hours from Vancouver on Westjet and 4.75 hours from Toronto (plus any time for de-icing on departure). Same latitude as Hawaii but a lot cheaper.


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