Vacation ideas

Crete.

The flight will be more expensive, but it's cheap once you're there. It's beautiful, the food is good, and there's lots of cultural stuff to do (archeological sites to visit, etc). There are vineyards to visit. And you can hike the Samaria gorge. The old Venetian port of Chania is a cool place to stay for a few days. There are many great beaches (Elafonisi, for example). My wife (then girlfriend) and I went about 10 years ago, and it's definitely on my list of places I want to go back to. At the time, a decent room could be had for under $40 per night (we stayed at Pension Lena), although I'm sure it's more expensive now.

You can do Grand Cayman pretty cheap and it's easy to get to. I also love Anguilla, but it's on the pricey side. Also love Turks and Caicos.

Yep. Bahamas the way to go is a condo!!! Our condo had entertainment every night and the BEST bahama mamas. MmmmmM!!!!!

I've been to a lot of islands. Let me know if you think about any of the ones below:

- St. Croix (main cities can be dangerous, beaches are gorgeous)
- Bermuda (conservative, expensive, but lovely - though colder than many of the others)
- Aruba (gorgeous beaches, commercial in the high-rise district, less commercial in the low-rise district)
- Grand Cayman - (gorgeous. I was able to find a good hotel deal, but meals, etc. not cheap)
- Puerto Rico (been a while since I've been there and you can have very different types of experiences from remote to completley commercial)
- Tortola (gorgeous, but you absolutely need to rent a car and the streets are steep and winding. You can fly direct from JFK to St. Thomas and take a ferry over for $40 or so...takes under an hour. It's not cheap. One of my closest friends just moved there)
- Isla Mujeres - a tiny island off of Cancun. (cheap, not too commercial, very quiet - I personally had a great time. You will know everybody there by the end of a week, so it depends if you are comfy with that)

I feel like I am missing some. Either way, I need a vacation right now

VoodooNYC wrote:

Also if Mexico interests you, check out Cozumel, an island off and away from the craziness of Cancun. I've been twice, beautiful beaches and good cheap food options.

We're taking a long weekend to Cancun soon (first time)!! Voodoo, did you fly to Cancun or to Cozumel? I've booked flights to Cancun b/c I wanted to flight non-stop from JFK or LGA, and you have to make a stop for the Cozumel airport.

If you flew to Cancun, did it take long to get to Cozumel and how did you go? (bus to ferry?, cab to ferry?) Thanks!

Parts of Belize are wonderfully relaxed! Ambergris is the touristy area, the rest of the country seems pretty relaxed to me. Very laid back and on "Belize time" and a wide range in price/fanciness of accommodations. If you are willing to put down some $ for a local flight, go to Placencia--cheap rooms in the midst of a lazy village with food, booze, and small dive shops, no car needed. Great snorkeling and diving near the picturesque beaches. Great inland activities of hikes, Mayan ruins, and all kinds of cave stuff (check out Caves Branch).

OpossumQueen wrote: We're taking a long weekend to Cancun soon (first time)!! Voodoo, did you fly to Cancun or to Cozumel? I've booked flights to Cancun b/c I wanted to flight non-stop from JFK or LGA, and you have to make a stop for the Cozumel airport.

If you flew to Cancun, did it take long to get to Cozumel and how did you go? (bus to ferry?, cab to ferry?) Thanks!

Parts of Belize are wonderfully relaxed! Ambergris is the touristy area, the rest of the country seems pretty relaxed to me. Very laid back and on "Belize time" and a wide range in price/fanciness of accommodations. If you are willing to put down some $ for a local flight, go to Placencia--cheap rooms in the midst of a lazy village with food, booze, and small dive shops, no car needed. Great snorkeling and diving near the picturesque beaches. Great inland activities of hikes, Mayan ruins, and all kinds of cave stuff (check out Caves Branch).

We flew directly to Cozumel, nothing like a direct flight! It's really easy to get from Cancun to Cozumel and vice versa, a short cab ride to the ferry is the best way.

And Oh yes, Belize. We stayed on the main island in a place where you stayed in tree houses - it was amazing but a VERY active trip - kayaking, rain forests, hikes up mountains. Loved it but the beaches on the main island are not so nice, better on the Cays.

I couldn't find direct flights from LGA or JFK to Cozumel when we are going

The bf and I also tend to do really active trips and in places that are not very touristy. For this long weekend trip coming up, we kept saying "lazy beach trip" but when it came down to choosing a place, we still went with somewhere that has *stuff* to do like diving, snorkeling, and neat ruins. Belize was amazing for this. It's really easy to just hang out in a hammock and enjoy the nice weather but there are activities a plenty if you want them. Plus, no big resorts except maybe on Ambergris and lots of other visitors who were like-minded. (For the record, I think that what the average Belizian (hotel, guide, etc) describes as difficult, is kind of easy and fun so go for the "hard" trips if you're active.)