# What Caribbean destination is best for first visit?



## Karen G (Dec 19, 2007)

What island and resort would you recommend for a couple--age 25 and 27--for their first visit to the Caribbean? They want to spend time on the beach, snorkel, go sightseeing if there's anything to see, have nice restaurants and night life, and be in a safe, clean area.

They would travel around the end of February, beginning of March.


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## gmarine (Dec 19, 2007)

Aruba would be my first choice. Plenty of nightlife, great beaches and snorkeling and very safe. 

Bahamas is a great choice especially if you go to Atlantis. St Maarten is another good choice.


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## qlaval (Dec 19, 2007)

Another vote for Aruba for the same reason.


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## Cathy in Boston (Dec 19, 2007)

Aruba times three.  English is spoken everywhere, US currency is accepted almost everywhere, friendly people, great beaches, lovely hotels and timeshares, wonderful restaurants, casinos if you enjoy that...they've got it all!


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## gretel (Dec 19, 2007)

I vote for Aruba too!  It is the only island I travel to with my kids without my husband.  It is safe (you still follow normal precautions), has nice resorts, great beaches, perfect weather, and fun nightlife.

If a more tropical locale is desired, then consider Maui or the Big Island, Hawaii.  Bermuda is also nice but may not be warm enough.


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## caribbeansun (Dec 19, 2007)

Questions like this tend to solicit a random splattering of "I like this place, it's the best" kind of responses - everyone will have their perfectly valid reasons for liking one location over another, unfortunately their reasons may not be important to you.  You will hear from the Aruba crowd, the St. Maarten crowd, the Cayman crowd and so on.

All of what follows should be considered to be safe provided you use normal precautions and clean subject to the accommodations you select and areas you travel to - every place will have good and not so good.  If speaking english is important you'll get that in each place as well.  Some places will give you a more sanitized version of their original culture as a result of the influx of foreign tourists - if it's important for you to experience a different culture you'd be well advised to steer clear of what follows since they've all struggled to retain their cultures under the economic weight of the tourist industry.

- Aruba meets all of your stated requirements although a bit light on snorkeling and a days worth of sightseeing will cover the whole island.  Nightlife is okay, plenty of casinos in the hotel district.  We found the beaches very crowded.  We found the average age to be north of 40.

- Cancun meets all of your stated requirements provided you can trade into one of the Royal Resorts, after that the accommodations can get a bit tricky.  It has the most superior site seeing of the 4 listed if you are interested in Mayan ruins but also has other interesting options available.  Swimming can be a challenge given the strength and size of the waves.  Beaches are crowded but not quite as bad as Aruba.  Cheapest of the 4 listed.  You will find many people your age and younger.

- St. Maarten meets all your requirements however the accommodations might be a notch lower depending on where you are able to trade into.  Site seeing is limited but the island has many, many fine beaches some of which will have almost nobody on them.  Quite a mixture of age groups and depending on the TS you stay at you can get one extreme or the other.

- Grand Cayman meets all of your requirements however is lacking on  nightlife.  Site seeing is about a day or so worth similar to Aruba (really depends on what you want to do), has the best snorkeling of all of the locations listed, has amazing diving if you are game to give that a try.  Has excellent beaches as well and if you are on the east end they are pretty much empty.  Most expensive of the 4 listed.  A reasonable mixture of ages but mostly north of 30.

Personally, I think you'd enjoy any of these but only you know how much relative importance you place on the key elements you've listed.  My observations reflect only our personal experiences having visited all of these locations and of course may not be representative of what others may have encountered.

Enjoy!



Karen G said:


> What island and resort would you recommend for a couple--age 25 and 27--for their first visit to the Caribbean? They want to spend time on the beach, snorkel, go sightseeing if there's anything to see, have nice restaurants and night life, and be in a safe, clean area.
> 
> They would travel around the end of February, beginning of March.


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## Cathyb (Dec 19, 2007)

St. Maarten offers two countries in one  -- St. Maarten is Dutch and St. Martin is French and all on the same island.  On the French side you have nude beaches and great restaurants and on the Dutch you have casinos.  English is spoken and can hop a ferry to St. Barts where movie stars go or to Anguilla for where Brad and Jennifer visited.  Aruba is my second choice.


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## johnmfaeth (Dec 19, 2007)

I strongly agree with Caribbeansun's posting. Her's are great choices. I would add St. Thomas and St. John in the US Virgin Islands to the list. And they do not require passports if they don't have them. Lots of great snorkeling, activities and food. 

Furthermore, being US possessions may be more comfortable psychologically for them.

But islands listed are absolutely wonderful in their own way.

I would avoid, as not meeting your parameters...

Jamaica - not safe, confined to resort
Dominican Republic - resorts typically very distant from other times, bad roads 
Bahamas - can be chilly in winter - April/May much better time.


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## LGinPA (Dec 19, 2007)

*Another vote for Aruba!*

Here's my 2 cents:

Another reason for Aruba, is that they drive on the right side of the road, and their infrastructure is real good, making self exploration by car much easier. (Ok, that may be 2 more reasons!)

I just thought of another one.  I think there are many more non-stop flights to Aruba from major cites than to most of the other islands.  Your air fare may be less.  For us that's an issue since there are 5 traveling.  Of course we did go to Antigua last year, and got non-stop from Newark for a bit under $450.  But don't go to Antigua first.  Stick with Aruba.  

From a personal standpoint, I feel much more 'at home' and comfortable in Aruba than the others mentioned.


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## Kal (Dec 19, 2007)

Of the 28 Caribbean islands we have visited, St. Maarten is hands down our very favorite.  Lots to do, excellent beaches, lowest shopping prices in the Caribbean and most importantly the "Gourmet Capital of the Caribbean".

Go Here and see the answer to "_Why St. Maarten?"_


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## stmartinfan (Dec 19, 2007)

How adventuresome are they?  Have they traveled much at all before?  Are they comfortable exploring and being in environments different than their home?  That would make a difference for me in where I'd send them.  

I love St. Maarten and have gone there more than a dozen times with our kids, now teenagers, but it wouldn't be where I'd send someone new to traveling outside the U.S. who isn't at all adventuresome.  It doesn't feel like being in Florida - and that's why we love to go there.

Except for the challenge of driving on the wrong side of the road, Grand Cayman does feel more like being in Florida - while still offering lots of wonderful beaches, activities, etc.,...just not quite as "exotic" for someone who's never ventured anywhere.  It's not boring, and I know a young co-worker who went there for her honeymoon loved it.  

Aruba is probably somewhere between the two.


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## Karen G (Dec 20, 2007)

stmartinfan said:


> How adventuresome are they?  Have they traveled much at all before?  Are they comfortable exploring and being in environments different than their home?  That would make a difference for me in where I'd send them.



I'd say they're fairly adventuresome. One of them is my daughter and she has been to Mexico many times, plus one time on a mission trip helping to build a house there. She's also been to London, other parts of England, Paris, and many times to New York City on vacation and for business.


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## ajlm33 (Dec 20, 2007)

*Yet another vote for Aruba*

Put my vote down with all the others for Aruba for all the same reasons. Been there the past three years, and look forward to going back again next summer.


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## Cathyb (Dec 20, 2007)

ajlm: Has Welk gone to points now???  If so, does it include even the first phase that was built years ago?


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## carlrocky (Dec 21, 2007)

*Kal, Great viewpoint!!!!*

Hey Kal.......That was a great pitch on St. Maarten. Ive been to Aruba 4 times and just loved it staying at a new resort each time. But you sold me on trying St. Maarten. Thank you for your viewpoint!!!!!!!!!:whoopie: :whoopie: :whoopie:


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## Karen G (Dec 21, 2007)

Thanks so much to everyone who has responded and to all the great information.  My daughter and her friend are kind of leaning toward St. Maarten but Aruba sounds great, too. They are starting to look for airline flights and fares and want some more advice from you experts.

They'd be flying out of Las Vegas and last night we had just a few minutes to start looking at airlines/flights. Most of the flights we saw went through New York and that seems like a roundabout way to get there.  Any suggestions?

Are there several airports on the island and, if so, which one would be the best?


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## Kal (Dec 21, 2007)

I like Aruba but the Divi winds drive me crazy.  Winds blowing continuously at a constant 18-20 knots always in the same direction makes life at the beach very uncomfortable.  That comes with the island location in the Tropics.  All the trees are leaning in the same direction at an angle of about 45 degrees.


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## Kal (Dec 21, 2007)

carlrocky said:


> Hey Kal.......That was a great pitch on St. Maarten. Ive been to Aruba 4 times and just loved it staying at a new resort each time. But you sold me on trying St. Maarten. Thank you for your viewpoint!!!!!!!!!:whoopie: :whoopie: :whoopie:


 
Thanks!  Actually, I wrote that piece almost 3 years ago and after visiting the island for a total of 8 weeks since then I wouldn't change a word.  Matter of fact as I compare notes with others who have visited various Caribbean islands, the write-up is spot on.

Have you checked out my St. Maarten images *Here*?


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## x3 skier (Dec 21, 2007)

If they have not made reservations, one way to get a sample of most of the islands is to take a cruise. Sort of a smörgåsbord of the Islands. Next time they can pick one they like best.

Cheers


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## johnmfaeth (Dec 21, 2007)

Miami is a big hub for AA flights to the Caribbean. Continental uses Houston as a hub, Delta has Atlanta and US Airways uses Charlotte. Those may be better connecting points than NY/BOS/PHIL from Las Vegas.


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## stmartinfan (Dec 22, 2007)

From your description of your daughter's travel experience, she'd probably enjoy any of the islands.  I agree with the comment about the winds in Aruba; enjoyed our trip, but I ended up with the top of my head sunburnt because my beach hat kept blowing off!  

Grand Cayman will be a closer/quicker flight than either Aruba or St. Marten.  From Minneapolis, we've had to connect via Newark, Atlanta and Miami different times to get to St. Marten, or change planes in Puerto Rico, which they should try to avoid!   We have overnighted in Newark and Atlanta on the way, which allowed us to catch the early a.m. flight to the island giving us amost another full day.  This year, Sun Country from Minneapolis is doing nonstops to St. Marten, so that's working well for us.


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## caribbeansun (Dec 22, 2007)

I would suggest you use a combination of www.sidestep.com and www.kayak.com to research flights - each site has slightly different information and kayak has flight duration information which tells you the best connections.


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## Kal (Dec 22, 2007)

Karen G said:


> ...They would travel around the end of February, beginning of March.


 
Is the planned travel for 2008 or 2009?  If 2008 and you're looking for weekend flights it will be extremely difficult at this late date as choice Caribbean flights fill up quickly, long in advance.


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## Larry (Dec 29, 2007)

Have to vote for Aruba. We own in St. Maarten and Aruba and go to the Caribbean for the beaches and warm weather during the cold winter months in NY. We like St. Maarten but just got back and the traffic is worse than ever. Most of the really nice beaches are away from the timeshare resorts so you have to sit in traffic sometimes for up to an hour each way. I live in NY and don't want to spend my vacation in traffic jams which I can do at home. We still like St. Maarten which is much prettier than Aruba, but love Aruba where most of the timeshare resorts are right on some great beaches were you just role out of bed and you're on the beach. 

In addition the weather is almost always consistently better in Aruba than St Marteen with very little rain. St. Marteen is very lush and pretty but I always have a couple of days or more of rain whenever we have been there. You spend a week on vacation and although nothing is guaranteed Aruba's weather is about as close as you can get to guaranteed sunshine almost every day. I actually like the trade winds in Aruba which during the winter is like outdoor air conditioning to cool you off from the average 82-85 degree temperature.


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## Karen G (Dec 29, 2007)

I want to thank everyone for the great suggestions.  My daughter and her friend have decided to go the Grand Mayan, Riviera Maya, in March.  Airfare availability was a big factor as well as  being able to get a unit somewhere for the time they wanted.

They want to try for St. Maarten or Aruba someday, though.


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