Carribean every time have a good look at Cuba some good deals going there

The Caribbean is nice but you do have to research. Not been to St Lucia but relatives have and found it expensive.
The things you are looking for, soft sand blue sea, etc are in abundance but check reviews and ask questions to make sure that the hotel you are planning on has the facilities you want. I read one complaint the other day where the hotel only had three bars, but only one was open outside of meal times and it was outside, which made it inaccessible during bad weather. What was bad was that the bar was the only supply of all drinks, hard and soft.

Other possibilities are the South and East Coast of the DR, the kids can body board on some parts of the east coast whereas Bayahibe is more protected and is softer sand. Very good wide choice of hotels with plenty of reviews in the areas.

In Cuba we went on the Playa Pesquero which is Atlantic Facing but was still white sand. It was a common occurrance whilst there to be swimming in the bay and watching a thunderstorm with daytime lightning show over to the west, but it hardly ever reached us. Not sure of the current prices but we had a day snorkelling on a cat and a dolphin "experience" coupled with an amazing meal all for about £40 each.

The kids may like Xel Ha and Xcarat in Mexico. Both have web sites, but Xel Ha is cheaper and you put on a life jacket and can snorkel or float down the river with the large fish and giant turtles.

We used to use Eclipse for the Caribbean holidays, but they went off a bit last year and are disappearing later this year of early next year. I could not get a good price last year for anything that "grabbed me" so out of desperation I contacted the Caribbean Warehouse. I was put of by the fact that I had to phone rather than work out an internet price but have not regreted the call. They appeared very knowledgable and took all my daft questioning and dithering with no pressure at all. They put my mind at rest, suggested alternatives that they recommended ( it was one I was looking at anyway so I know they were on the ball) and told me exactly where I stood on prices/offers so there was none of the you have to sign today stuff. I changed my mind a couple of times and eventually ended up in a different country.
We saved a lot of money on the Eclipse prices, let alone the first choice prices and we actually holidayed with some people on a first choice holiday who had exactly the same holiday as us. No, I did not tell them how much we paid, but it may be worth you checking out the alternatives before making a decision and booking

Thanks for the info. I'm afraid we will be 'stuck' with using Virgin to book our hol as we are planning on using tesco vouchers to pay towards the hol. So does anyone know of a good AI in the Carribean that will accomodate 5 (2 adults, 3 kids?) this is the problem that we always have, fitting us all in one room as the cost virtually doubles when we start looking at getting 2 rooms and as we are only able to use Virgin then our choices are even more limited. We do have our eye on the Almond Smugglers Cove at St Lucia as they will take 5 of us and the price isn't too bad, not much more than we were going to pay to go to Turkey AI, the hotel does have good reviews, but it has been said that the beach is just a small cove with dark sand and it also has a long transfer from the airport.
Can anyone enlighten a little more about St Lucia or recommend somewehre else in the Carribean going through Virgin that would be suitable for our family of 5? thanks

Good Luck with your search. We always ended up with two rooms sometimes linked.
It may be worth checking the link I mentioned just to get advice and a price. You may save enough to make the Tesco Vouchers superfluous and if not at least you know Virgin aren't ripping you off.

Twinkletoes,

no contest for me either. As much as I like Turkey, especially Icmeler, it's the caribbean for me. I've been to St Lucia, you won't be dissapointed. More information on this thread.

Darren

Hi Thanks for the help, I've just found another hotel that would fit us all in, but it's in Barbados now! just outside St Lawrence gap with a much shroter airport transfer, Sandy Bay beach club? Anyone know it? So any info on Barbados anyone?

One important question what time of year?? do your checks on the weather as the european summer is the worst weather in the carribean.

Hi Qartaman, As my original post states we would be visiting late May/early June. I have noticed that the weather dosn't look any hotter than it would be in the European holidays spots and prob more chance of showers in the Carribean, also the days seem to be shorter, I noted the sunset times, why is this? We were hoping for long lazy days on the beach! In view of all this, do you all still recommend the Carribean?

Any advice on the Dominican Republic? It seems quite cheap to go AI here?

We did Bayahibe in early June. It did have a tropical storm for a couple of days but we tripped to Santo Domingo that day and so were fully occupied. It started late in the afternoon and finished the next evening, but it was still hot!
I had rained much more in May which brought mud and what have you down the rivers but it was clearing up by the time we got there.
I put my min/max thermometer on the sand for a while as I thought it was hot. It registered 54C, but the sunbed was only 43C. There are some very good AIs in Punta Cana and Bayahibe, but there are some "not so good ones".
We went to Cuba which is slightly further North and facing the Atlantic, in the second half of June and it was hot there as well.

I have to agree with every one so far, carribean all the way. The extra flight time really is worth it and it only takes a day or two to get used to the time difference. Like others have said the time of year you wish to go isnt always the best time weather wise to go to the Carribean but then having said that we went to Cuba in May last year for two weeks and didnt see a spot of rain and it was VERY hot, but then went to the DR in December, supposedly the better time and it rained almost every day but only for about half an hour each day and its dry within another half hour!
As for the kids, maybe the larger islands would be a better choice for you such as DR, Cuba or even Mexico, there are just loads of things to do places to go, adventures to be had!

Been looking at the DR and it seems quite cheap there to accommodate all 5 of us, but how safe is it there? I've heard it's very very poor and the beaches have to be manned by police, how true is this? Especially if we want to go off somewhere away from the hotel?

Twinkletoes,

DR isn't much different than many of the Caribbean islands. Most hotels in the region provide security staff in the holel grounds and on the beach. It just creats a safer place to enjoy yourself, peace of mind more than anything. Many people get put off and are intimidated when they see someone walking down the road with a machette. But it's just a different way of life over there. As long as you exercise the usual precautions, like you would when holidaying anywhere else in the world, you'll be fine. If you flash expensive jewely and cameras around, walk up dark allies at night etc then you'll invite trouble but that's no differnent if you were in Spain the West Indies or indeed in this country.

Darren

I have never been to the DR so I cannot comment on it (first visit in 09) Barbados is a lovely island,I just feel from reading comments on this forum the DR might be better for you with the ages of the kids,as Darren says watch what you are doing dont go where you would never go in the UK and you will have a great time.Read the hotel reviews section and ask away you will get all the advice you need from members, where ever you go have a great time.

the days seem to be shorter, I noted the sunset times, why is this? We were hoping for long lazy days on the beach!

This is because you are so much closer to the Equator in the Caribbean. Dredging around in my memory of geography at school I seem to recall something about the Equator actually being defined as that line where sunset and sundrise are exactly 12 hours apart throughout the year. If you want long days you need to go either to the North at this time of year or to the south during our winter. The Polar 'summer' is one long day - the sun never sets - and equally the winter is one long night because the sun never rises above the horizon.

I live up in Scotland - not in the far north - but far enough north to mean that throughout June and early July the northern sky never gets completely dark. I haven't seen stars for weeks becasue whilst the sun dips below the hosrizon for a couple of hours the sky itself never gets dark enough to see them. And in winter I admire the sunsets over my afternoon cup of coffee! So Cuba in July is always a bit of a shock to my system because I go from 20 hrs of daylight to about 13 at most. And the other thing you'll notice in the Caribbean is that there's no real twilight of an evening or a gradual dawning of the day in the early morning. The sun sets and rises really quickly close to the Equator - in Cuba in July, this means that that it will go from bright daylight to complete darkness in a very short space of time. And vice versa - I can get up in the dark, go to the bathroom for a shower, get dressed and then sit in bright sunshine to eat my breakfast - total darkness to brilliant sunshine in 20 mins! I love the sun but miss our Scottish twilights when I'm over there.

So all in all, I'm afraid that if you want long summer days you need to avoid the Tropics. Or go in our winter when the days will be longer than those you are leaving behind.

SM

Thank you so much SMA that was really very interesting, great of you to explain all of that and ironicaly we have been looking at Cuba! I have been all over the Carribean (not literally though!) these last few days checking things out and Cuba is looking about best at the moment, so any info anyone can give me on this Island would be brill, places to go, things to do or to avoid etc? Will the weather be ok in May/June?

Twinkletoes,

There's a whole thread dedicated to all things Cuba here. I've been to Guardalavaca (Holguin) and Varadero. Both areas will give you a feel of Cuba, Guardalavaca more so than Varadero. The advantage with Varadero is it's only 90 minutes from Havana by coach whereas Cayo Coco and Guardalavaca are a flight away.

Darren

Thanks for that link Dazbo its got answers to alot of my thoughts! Looks like we have settled on def going to Cuba (for now anyway lol), prob the Iberostar Tainos in Valedero, anyone been there recently, not that many recent reviews on here Would you recommend vaccinatons and is it safe to drink the water like it is in Barbados apparantly?

Twinkletoes,

Like many places, the tap water is safe to clean teeth but as it's desalinated sea water, it's mineral content is high so it's not recommended to drink. Many hotels provide bottled water as part of your all inclusive package so water isn't a problem. You don't need any special vaccinations for Cuba as long as you are up to date with them. For further info, refer to FCO's website.

Darren

For further Cuba questions please post in the thread Darren has linked to