My husband and I travel a lot, but very rarely to the Caribbean and we decided that is what we are going to. We have taken more city or active trips. Last time we went on a beach vacation was in Greece for our honeymoon and we only did the beach .5 days of a 12 day vacation. Before that, I think it was in the year 2000 when we went to Atlantis for 3 nights.
Anyways, been looking at sites, but we don't have a lot of time as we want to go either the last weekend of Feb or 1st weekend of March.
We want an island that is not too commercialized (we hated Atlantis). We don't want an all-inclusive as we are picky about food and hardly drink. We do like fine dining, but more local flavors as we are adventurous. Don't want filets and lobsters. We also don't care about nightlife. We like to wake up early, see the beach at sun rise, do stuff all day, then go to bed after dinner so maybe 10 PM.
We will want good beaches, nice snorkeling and diving sites, preferably other nature based attractions such as hiking, kayaking, etc. Maybe some cultural sites.
We like nice hotels and are not opposed to larger properties if they are the best value, but not if they are like zoos. Like more understated elegance, rather than Vegas style glitz.
So-- any suggestions for hotels? Don't care so much about price point as we are staying for 3 or 4 nights, so looking for all suggestions.
Re: Recomend a Caribbean Hotel
Check out Caneel Bay on St. John.
St John is such a beautiful island--tons of snorkeling and beaches. You can also take boat trips to the BVIs-check out the baths on Virgin Gorda,etc...there are some good snorkeling sites around there as well. There are hiking trails on St. John as well.
I have never been but I have heard that Nevis quite nice and not too touristy.
You could also check out the Spice Islands--beautiful area. I did a tall ship type cruise that stopped at Bequia and that island was lovely and quiet. Also, St. Vincent is supposed to be really nice. Check out the cotton house on mustique if you want luxury.
Other options to consider would be Anguilla or Barbados.
Not in the Caribbean, but I would suggest Belize for you. It's really got everything you're looking for. Wonderful snorkeling and diving. Great land activities. It's not built up at all (at least when I was there in 2006). I can highly recommend Hamansi resort:
http://www.hamanasi.com/
It's really great for a shorter vacation in Belize because you can access both the water and the land activities easily. And it's in a quiet little village.
Here's my TA review (my name is Dushman on there) for the details:
http://tinyurl.com/nrygze
Also, you should look into St. Lucia. Again, a great mix of land and sea activities (although the snorkeling is nothing compared to Belize). Beautiful island. I can't recommend the resort we stayed at for a couple (although it was nice resort). I think I would look in the Soufriere area there. There are supposed to be some terrific places.
Thanks for the recs!
Rose-- Belize does sound great (as does the place you recomended). We will email them and see if there is availability!
St. Lucia and Anguilla also sound like we should explore!!
Thanks again!