Hi, ive been to Goa 7 times, and it is really cheap. The locals are the nicest people you could ever meet. It hasnt rained once when i was there, so thats a good sign
The beaches are nice, but the sea can be a bit rough. Its nice enough to just go out up to your waist for a refreshing dip. Im a strong swimmer, always swimming for miles in a pool, but i am very scared in the sea.
Ive just come back from Turkey, and i can see what the difference is between both sea's.

Nightlife tends to be in North Goa. You can get cheap bed and breakfast deals. Food is really cheap. One example is a restaurant called after7, which is of the best quality. a meal for two with a few drinks is under 30pounds. They import the steak, and it is one of the best meals i have ever had. There was a chef at our hotel who works at a posh restaurant back at home, and he said that after7 restaurant in Goa is actually of michelin (sp) quality. Not sure what it means though lol.
There are a couple of nightclubs, but now there seems to be many kareoke bars and irish pubs etc.

I cant comment too much on Gambia, but i have heard people feel intimidated when they go out at night. The sellers are very harsh, and some people dont like it.

Mexico seems really nice too, never been though.

The weather in Phuket in Feb should be excellent - the early 30's Centigrade. The sea will be calm so swimmings OK from the beaches and the water will be like a warm bath. Phukets main resort Patong is very lively and quite built up. Kata and Karon are smaller resort with excellent beaches but are still lively with bars open to the wee hours in high season. Hotel standards are generally high, better than the Med for example and there are loads of hotels to choose many with large pool areas.

Eating out is the order of the day, so most people go room only or B & B. Meals for two in a tourist standard restaurant were ranging from 600 to 1,000 baht when we visited this March - we were getting 50 baht to the pound, the rate has improved since then.

Phuket involves flying into Bangkok (approx 12 hrs) and then an internal flight to Phuket. Most resorts on Phuket are less than an hour from the airport. As the flights are scheduled you can go any day and for any duration. The destination also lends itself to multi centre holidays so you could combine with say Bangkok or another beach resort for example. We DIY Phuket with other destinations, our hols tend to work out around £650 to £850 pp for a two week plus holiday based on 3 to 5 star properties, B & B with private transfers in high season. (Feb is high season in Phuket).

Hi, me and hubby ( pre kids) went to cancun in march about 1999 and absolutely loved it !! we were in our early 30's then and though we were all inclusive, still went downtown most nights, very safe then ( don't believe anythings changed) on the bus, cost about 37pence no matter how far away your hotel was !! Really great atmosphere in town, never felt uneasy anytime, great bars, especially senor frogs !
Also, we went to jamaica this year with our 8 yr old daughter and some of the people we met went to montego bay for a night or 2 out and said it was fantastic !!
For me, both mexico and jamaica have something for everyone, we are going back to mexico march 2010 with our daughter, though cetainly not having the wild night life we did in '99 !!
good luck in your search !!
juby

If you dont want such a long flight you could also look at Egypt (Red Sea )- sharm El Sheikh is the most popular resort but there are other options too such as Hurgharda or El Gouna .

Guaranteed sunshine practically all year .

Just a note on Mexico in Feb - double check that it doesn't coincide with the US Spring Break. We were there at the same time on one occasion and Cancun was hell - full of very drunk and very loud American teenagers (who can't drink in the US, so use Spring Break as an opportunity to do a year's binge drinking it would appear) - made a remarkable difference when we were there again in October

I think the spring breakers descend upon cancun in march and april time, we are going to playa del carmen this time as its a quieter resort, may be worth checking out, as the nightlife there still sounds good, maybe not quite as wild as cancun !
let us know what you decide !
cheers,
juby

Carribean looks nice but I'm not sure that I want to be locked in an All Inclusice resort for entire 2 weeks because of the fear of being mugged.

I can't speak for the rest of the Caribbean but I think any fears about being mugged in Cuba are groundless as long as you take the same precautions as you would at home. It's as safe as they come for tourists and hassle from street sellers just isn't an issue. However, if the AI tourist resort isn't your thing then you do need to be careful about where you stay because in some places there really isn't anything outside of the gates of your resort hotel because they many of them have been built outside of the main towns - lovely beaches etc but not much to escape to if the AI experience starts to pall.

February would be a great time to go to Cuba, still very hot by our standards but without the high humidity that can be excruciating from June to late October. And it's well outside of the tropical storm/hurricane season too. So this means that mozzies aren't really a problem either.

Night life in Cuba away from the hotels doesn't really get going until late on - many a night out is just starting at 11.00pm! However, karaoke is not really a feature of Cuban nightlife - there's too many professional bands and singers playing live in bars etc. For the first time ever I came across a karaoke bar this summer in Barracoa - hugely popular with the locals who were all belting out the latest salsa hits but don't expect a European playlist, much less an English one. I think that food and drink is very reasonable cost wise but don't expect necessarily a great deal of choice. Away from the tourist hotels you won't find any imported alcohol brands. The Cubans know how to party and party hard and if you are into latin/salsa music there's no better destination but you'll find very little nightlife away from the hotels that caters for tourists looking for the tastes and sounds of home.

For the first time in 5 years I experienced tummy problems this summer but I think that this was more likely a result of getting dehydrated rather than something I ate. Taking Immodium to deal with the 'runs', taking rehydration salts and drinking plenty of water put me to rights very quickly. Cuban cuisine relies heavily on the deep fat fryer and bugs simply don't survive the cooking process!

The big drawback with Cuba is of course the transatlantic flight - 9 hrs in cattle class can be a pain - but depending on where you stay, transfer times can be surprisingly short.

SM