We did our first time to the caribbean in march. As I'm sure you are doing, we trawled all the reviews and must have spent hours on research.

In the end I think it boils down to what you want out of the holiday. For me, there seemed no point in spending 11 hours on a plane to sit by a pool for two weeks, we could do that much closer to home. We wanted to see a bit of what there was about, so this needed to be factored into our plans.

We opted for Playacar in Mexico which for us was spot on. So much to see and do, the memories of which will stay with us forever. The hotel was also wonderful and to be honest it was the perfect holiday, if only we could afford to do it every year!! Our girls were 7 and 9 when we went and just this week our youngest had her photos in school for show and tell- it made just as big an impression on them.

If it helps we stayed at the Iberostar Tucan and did the Royal swim with the dolphins at Puerto Aventuras, the day out to Coba (included the mayan village and cenote), Tulum and a day at Xel Ha to snorkel. The rest of the time was pure R&R, no shortage of good food and cocktails on the all inclusive

Whatever you decide I'm sure you will have a great time

Pam

Iberostar Tucan reviews HERE

Pippy

Hi Satsuma,

We've just booked our first family holiday to the Caribbean and I did lots of research.

Basically you need to set your budget and then decide between the "Hispanic" and "West Indian" islands. The first thing to note is that the "Hispanic" islands are considerably cheaper, especially if you're going all-inc and are therefore very tempting. You can briefly sum them up as"¦

Dominican Republic - Cheapest of the bunch, has some nice hotels (eg Iberostar Costa Dorada, Riu Merengue etc.) and has mostly shrugged off it's hotel food hygiene problems of the past. But be prepared for people to look down their nose when you mention it, it's definitely still viewed as the poor man's Caribbean. A few tummy troubles also still appear in reviews and you need to take the dreaded malaria tablets which don't agree with everyone.

Mexico - Cancun is party town and has some good hotels. Playacar is more relaxed and has the highly rated Iberostar Tucan/Quetzal. Lots to see, though may be a long way away, eg Chitchenitza and I think malaria protection is recommended if you go off the beaten track. The beaches come in for a little criticism, but otherwise the only downside I saw was that the American college crowd descend on the place in the holidays and it can become like a frat camp.

Cuba - I decided this was the best of the Hispanic bunch. Mainly European and Canadian visitors, superb beaches at Varadero, friendly people and some highly rated hotels such as the Iberostar Varadero & Playa Pesquero. You have to change your money in-country and a fairly long transfer from Havana to Varadero were the only downsides, but an all-inc. package at the Iberostar with Virgin flights was very reasonable and I very nearly chose this.

There is also Margarita, but I've just never really liked the look of the place, though of course that's not to say it's not worth a look.

We visited several of the "West Indian" islands as a couple and I would say that the most inexpensive is Jamaica. Plenty of choice of all-inclusive resorts, including three Beaches (Sandals' family friendly chain) which looked good. Jamaica has lots to see and do, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it for a first trip, as the hassle you get outside of the hotel is way higher than I've received on other islands and could put you off the region for life.

I much prefer the eastern chain of islands, such as St. Lucia and Antigua. Add to that Tobago, Grenada and Barbados and you've got the main players in that region. Not a lot to pick between them, but all-inc. like for like I'd say Barbados is the most expensive but probably has the most to see and do. I particularly liked the look of the Almond Resort chain, which have 3 hotels on Barbados and one on St.Lucia. Although the new St Lucia hotel gets great reviews, we've been to the island twice, so we eventaully plumped for the new Almond Casuarina Beach on Barbados. Slight worry that's it's still being built and the opening date keeps slipping but I'm sure it'll be fine .

If your budget is high (actually, make that very high), the Grenadines look absolutely fabulous. True desert islands, in fact I think they shot Pirates of the Caribbean around them.

By the way, December is a great month to go and there are some good bargains to be had in the 3 weeks before the Christmas rush when prices go loopy. It's also much drier/less humid in the December to April period which means less mozzies, in fact we never had a problem with bugs at all when we used to go during that period.

Wow guys thanks so much for your really helpful comments. Thats given my head food for thought

I really like the sound of Mexico, Cuba and also Barbados, my hubby had the chance to go to Jamaica 2 years ago with work and we were looking into that, what worried me was lack of things to keep the kids occupied.

Thanks to Pam for your tips also, I will look at Iberostar Tucan in Playacar seeing as you both mentioned it as being good. Also Barbados and the Almond chain.

I think we are looking into booking last minute as hubby works away from home and won't be back til beg of Dec, so will keep my eye on the bargains.

What travel advise is there for Mexico, Cuba and Barbados? Will we require visas?

Again thank-you for taking the time out to help its very appreciated

Hiya

No visa required for Mexico, just a few forms to be filled in which you have to hand to customs and passport control as you enter.

I think your main consideration will be vaccinations +/- malaria tablets. Vaccinations need to be done a minimum of two weeks before and the malaria is a matter of choice. We did, as we wanted to go into the jungle, but in actual fact I don't think any of us were bitten at all in the whole fortnight!!

Pam

Hi Satsuma,

Just wondered where you plumped for in the end.

Hey we have actually plumped for Mexico RIU Tequila, unfortunately we can no longer go in December but plan for the 2nd week in Feb...really looking forward to it, have read lots of reviews and am happy. Think Jamaica will be next on the list though

Hey Pam what Vaccinations will we need?

Hiya

Sorry, I've only just picked up your posting!! Us adults needed the diptheria, tetanus and polio booster, plus Hep A and Typhoid. The kids just needed the last two, however still had two jabs as the adult Hep A and Typhoid is combined whereas the kids one isn't. We then had a booster after 6 months for I think the Hep A, which now gives us immunity for something like 20-25 years. It was 10 but has been upped recently.

Just don't leave it too late to get them done. We nearly had problems as we had misleading literature from the doctors. Do it a good four weeks before. They are all free on the NHS and just go to any pharmacy for your malaria tablets.

Have a great time!!

Pam

Keepupwith,
I have had jabs for Dom Rep so think I'm covered for Mexico. We have a few people in our party that have never been to Caribbean. Can you confirm what jabs, they will need. We are going to Riu Tequilla too!
Thanks
Lorraine