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Caribbean…what’s your best choice?

Lumpy

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Not sure what island…what’s the best and worst? My lady and I are plotting for late January early February. Probably outa LAX. Whatchya got?
 

DaytonaBabe

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Depends what experience you are looking for? Gorgeous, desolate beaches? Shopping and nightlife? Fancy restaurants or shacks on the beach? Resort life or VRBO? All inclusive?


I would absolutely advise against Nassau no matter what. Total shithole.
 

skiracr

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We went to the sandals Antigua for our honeymoon. Off the charts awesome! People are wonderful, town is great, never felt unsafe. Great food, great boos! All inclusive!
 

C-Ya

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Not sure what island…what’s the best and worst? My lady and I are plotting for late January early February. Probably outa LAX. Whatchya got?
Gonna need a little bit more info in order to set you in right direction……..

What do you want to do?

Describe your perfect vacation?

Ive been to almost every Caribbean island. Each one offers a different experience. What type of experience are you looking for?
 

04-24Stealth

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We stayed at the St James club on Antigua for our honeymoon it was epic. Been there and St Maarten would go back to either place again.
 

jet496

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USVI St. Thomas- Megans bay, Then day trip to BVI St. John
We stayed on St John & did a day trip to Jost Van Dyke on some boats we rented. Went to Foxy's & the Soggy Dollar bar on Jost Van Dyke. St John is a cool little island with great food & town. It was expensive back 10 years ago so I imagine still is.

I never stayed on St Thomas so maybe that is the way to go as Inland Air Balance mentioned, with day trips to the surrounding islands. Might not be so expensive.
 

Backlash

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Treasure Cay, Bahamas. From there, you can island hop around to other "Out islands." The island is slowly recovering from Hurricane Dorian. I would also recommend you stay at the Bahama Beach Club in TC. 😎
 

DrunkenSailor

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Turks and caicos is probably the prettiest place I have been in terms of postcard beaches. The club bed... I mean med on this island is probably the craziest party resort I have ever been to outside of the zoo in negril (headonsim II jamaica).

Harbor island in the Bahamas has pink sand beaches and is out of a post card. Small island not much to do but eluthera is a boat ride away.

Grand Cayman has a ton to do but has gotten really built up. See the the turtle farm and rum point and buy jewelry/watches. The barefoot man is the islands weirder version of jimmy buffet you will hear him in most shops I think he still plays live at the wydham every week. Avoid the trip to hell. Little Cayman is way slower. The Brac (Cayman brac) is the land that time forgot. Our flight was delayed because the lawn mower they use to mow the runway was broken...

St Martin and martinque for the food. French cuisine at its finest but big money.

Puerto Rico for the history, the music, the nightlife and the food. The fort is beyond epic. Stay at el convento for the night your doing the fort tour its the old convent built by the Spanish engineers who built the fort. 3 foot thick walls and all.

St Thomas is cool for no passport. Busy island lots of cruise ships etc... St johns is way slower. Avoid the sugar plantation tour.

Antigua is a very poor island. Most of the resorts are all inclusive so very little money gets spread around the island. The old harbour is worth the trip. Sail week is an old money spectacle.

The Dominican republic is a shithole.

Wherever you go talk to the cabbies find one with a good personality and hire them for the day. Let them show you their island. Get out of the resort.

On my list to do is Staniel cay in the bahamas. A couple of members here have done this trip and it looks epic. I also want to do cuba. When the kids get outta the house I want to charter a sailboat for a week or two and cruise some islands with the wife. I've got some time there though.
 

Lumpy

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Thanks for all the replies everyone...this will give me a little direction and home work. Thanks again! Very helpful!!
 

TeamGreene

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We went to the sandals Antigua for our honeymoon. Off the charts awesome! People are wonderful, town is great, never felt unsafe. Great food, great boos! All inclusive!
Did you leave out the 'b' or is the 's' supposed to be 'ze', inquiring minds, if it's the former we need pics.
 

Ziggy

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Arrrrg, shiver me timbers matey😊
 

skiracr

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F
Did you leave out the 'b' or is the 's' supposed to be 'ze', inquiring minds, if it's the former we need pics.

F-n auto correct. Booze! Lol there was lots of boobs as well 😜
 

dave29

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Palm Island, Moustique, Bequia.
 

Tamalewagon

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St. Kitts, Nevis and St. Croix are my favorites. Antigua was so-so and I thought St. Thomas was seriously lacking.
 

Instigator

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Bareboat BVI
This is the Best of them all!!!!
 

grumpy88

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Any thoughts on st Lucia
We liked it . We stayed at a sandals . Long travel each way though . I would definitely take a helicopter from the airport each way next time though to the resort . Long ride . We traveled all over the island and always felt safe .
 

Mr. C

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Wasn’t a fan of St. Thomas. We were right in the heart of it though. Seemed like Santa Monica to me. Loved St. John & St. Croix We had to fly to Florida and transfer to get there. I can’t wait to go back.
 

USClb41

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BVI on a charter boat if you can, Cow Wreck bar on Anegada is the best bar on the planet... Beaches on Turks and Caicos is great
 

Instigator

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BVI on a charter boat if you can, Cow Wreck bar on Anegada is the best bar on the planet... Beaches on Turks and Caicos is great
White Bay and Great Harbor on Jost Van Dyke are hard to beat too.
Soggy Dollar, Foxy's, Hendos, Sidneys Peace and Love, Gertrudes, Ivans, I could spend a whole month there and never get tired of it.

 

Boat 405

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MPHSystems

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This is the Best of them all!!!!
I’ve only been a couple times thought my wife grew up on a boat in the Caribbean (in-laws are cruisers)

Luxury cats’ safe awsome I just find I enjoy myself more when I spend less money. I’m a sailor at heart and enjoy sailing a sloop. The other thing is that sailers are different than partiers. A 10 year old sloop will be in better condition than a 3 year old cat in charter service.
 

MrsBeerrun

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Laid back, quiet Jost Van Dyke for the win. Nevis is fantastic resorts beautiful, nice beaches, monkeys are thieves. St Vincent kinda of like TJ. St Marteen has great spots, the airport thing is fun for an afternoon. Curacao was okay. Aruba is desert, beautiful beaches..not tropical at all. Skip DR, nasty, dangerous. Whatever you choose enjoy♡
 

spectra3279

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What ever you do. Do not. I repeat DO NOT go to the nude beach on st. Thomas. I wanted to pore sulfuric acid in my eyes after 2 minutes. 90 year old men and women should not be allowed on nude beaches
 

C-Ya

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There are 2 things that make a Caribbean vacation more fun. (If you are not bringing your own boat)

A rental boat

A golf cart

Only the Bahamas offer the two together.

In Belize, you can only get the golf cart. In the BVI, you can only get the boat.

Many other places, you will need an Intl Maritime License if you want to rent a decent boat. St Maarten comes to mind with this, unless you want to be stuck in Simpson Bay in a POS.

Forget about the Mediterranean unless you have a license. (Power Boat)

Many places will rent you a sailboat, but cannot (by law) rent you a power boat that has more than 5hp. French Polynesia comes under this type of jurisdiction.

Mexico does not have boat rentals in general.
 

H20 Toie

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Only place I really dislike is Jamaica
If you stay at a nice resort and don’t go anywhere it’s fine
Other than that way better places to go

Key west rocks and not the hassle of other countries
 

Lumpy

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Roosky01

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Took your advise...all booked. Rental car or golf cart? What other info/advise you have would be appreciated!
Golf cart all the way. It's awesome to be able to burn around that entire caye on your own and on your own schedule. This is who we used and they were great!


You have to do this cruise! It's a must do...

 

Lumpy

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Golf cart all the way. It's awesome to be able to burn around that entire caye on your own and on your own schedule. This is who we used and they were great!


Not even sure you could rent a car on Ambergris?
Thanks!!!
 

fat rat

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Is Jamaica any good?
We went to Negril for over 20 years . Always enjoyed, stay clear of the cruise ship ports, lots of shady things going on. Negril is not a port town. Enjoy 7 mile beach, Bloody Bay and don’t forget Ricks, always a party going on there.😎 we never had a problem!
 

C-Ya

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Took your advise...all booked. Rental car or golf cart? What other info/advise you have would be appreciated!
Bring water shoes. Ambrigris Cay is surrounded by sea grass that is hard on bare feet. You can rent a Panga boat for the outrageous price of $700 per day. Which is probably only a hundred bucks less than the total value of the boat. I declined.

The golf cart cruising is 5 star. Plenty of places to go. Drinking and golf carting is perfectly legal too! Lol
 
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