OT - While I was MIA...

[Reb72]

where I've been for the past week...  hope I didn't miss anything 

[Cat_Scratch]

Is that Puerto Rica?

[Reb72]

21 minutes ago, Cat_Scratch said:

Is that Puerto Rica?

Grand Cayman

[Frosty4024]

Nah...Just some hella storm that put in work on Central Louisiana and East Texas...

[Pops]

15 hours ago, Reb72 said:

Grand Cayman

Cayman Islands are beautiful but definitely the priciest islands in Caribbean and think you can get better value away from 7-mile Beach

BVI is my favorite Carib destination

[maxchoboian]

1 hour ago, Pops said:

 

BVI is my favorite Carib destination

What do you like about it, compared to other Caribbean spots?

[Pops]

2 minutes ago, maxchoboian said:

What do you like about it, compared to other Caribbean spots?

Lots of nice resort options at varying price levels

easier connections than the rest of eastern/ southern Caribbean 

small islands bunched together (I'm not a sailor but would be ideal for a Moorings charter which has a base in Tortola)

grest diving -- I think most of us older guys will remember the deep because of Jaquiline Bisset's wet t-shirt scene decades before the internet -- that wreck (the Rhone) is right off Peter Island

did my honeymoon at Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda (and I've hard all the jokes)

went with the family right after the '08 crash with no destination in mind (my wife is a retired FA so we can fly standby) -- caught a flight to St Thomas, caught a ferry to Tortola, and found Peter Island Resort (it's a private island) in a ferry brochure and basically asked them to match the rate at Buccaneers Cove on Tortola, which they did -- one of best vacations ever

have live on west coast pretty much whole adult life and have been to HA maybe five times (usually for someone else's reason -- like wedding or business) and have been to Caribbean/ Bahamas 25x +/-.  Not exclusive to BVI, but waters are much nicer than mid-pacific also

[AztecPadre]

17 hours ago, Reb72 said:

Grand Cayman

Caymans are a must see but just once.  Over priced IMHO.  But mos def a must see. 

[AztecPadre]

41 minutes ago, Pops said:

Lots of nice resort options at varying price levels

easier connections than the rest of eastern/ southern Caribbean 

small islands bunched together (I'm not a sailor but would be ideal for a Moorings charter which has a base in Tortola)

grest diving -- I think most of us older guys will remember the deep because of Jaquiline Bisset's wet t-shirt scene decades before the internet -- that wreck (the Rhone) is right off Peter Island

did my honeymoon at Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda (and I've hard all the jokes)

went with the family right after the '08 crash with no destination in mind (my wife is a retired FA so we can fly standby) -- caught a flight to St Thomas, caught a ferry to Tortola, and found Peter Island Resort (it's a private island) in a ferry brochure and basically asked them to match the rate at Buccaneers Cove on Tortola, which they did -- one of best vacations ever

have live on west coast pretty much whole adult life and have been to HA maybe five times (usually for someone else's reason -- like wedding or business) and have been to Caribbean/ Bahamas 25x +/-.  Not exclusive to BVI, but waters are much nicer than mid-pacific also

Now I can see why your a trump supporter.  LOL I kid I kid. 

[NorCalRuss]

48 minutes ago, Pops said:

Lots of nice resort options at varying price levels

easier connections than the rest of eastern/ southern Caribbean 

small islands bunched together (I'm not a sailor but would be ideal for a Moorings charter which has a base in Tortola)

grest diving -- I think most of us older guys will remember the deep because of Jaquiline Bisset's wet t-shirt scene decades before the internet -- that wreck (the Rhone) is right off Peter Island

did my honeymoon at Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda (and I've hard all the jokes)

went with the family right after the '08 crash with no destination in mind (my wife is a retired FA so we can fly standby) -- caught a flight to St Thomas, caught a ferry to Tortola, and found Peter Island Resort (it's a private island) in a ferry brochure and basically asked them to match the rate at Buccaneers Cove on Tortola, which they did -- one of best vacations ever

have live on west coast pretty much whole adult life and have been to HA maybe five times (usually for someone else's reason -- like wedding or business) and have been to Caribbean/ Bahamas 25x +/-.  Not exclusive to BVI, but waters are much nicer than mid-pacific also

Where-what resort ( all inclusive ) would you recommend to go to In BVI? I've been to Cancun about 10 times and usually stay at Riu Cancun. I like it because relatively short flight that lands at 6 am so you don't lose a day travel and the great beaches-water and multiple options to eat and drink all included at resort. We usually pay about $1200 there for a week all inclusive stay and flight. Hard to beat that. We were going to do the 7 day southern Caribbean  cruise of Puerto Rico in June but canceled due to my job laying everyone off in August. I lived in Hawaii so I like the beaches there as well. Just took family in Feb.

Had some great diving trips in Red Sea also for those that like to dive. Dunno if that's really an option with how the region is now. 

[thc6795]

I loved Punta Cana and Barbados. Great beaches and of course golf courses. I did not enjoy Jamaica at all.  We stayed at the Beaches Ocho Rios Resort. Now this was about 10 yrs ago. It was like staying on a compound. At 11pm the gates shut, it was damn near impossible to get back on the resort after that. The crime was so heavy back then. Really the resorts fault they refused to put any money back into the community. I did enjoy the Bob Marley tour. Although I thought our driver was going to kill us driving to the plantation. Still love Appleton Rum to this day.  

[Pops]

7 minutes ago, thc6795 said:

I loved Punta Cana and Barbados. Great beaches and of course golf courses. I did not enjoy Jamaica at all.  We stayed at the Beaches Ocho Rios Resort. Now this was about 10 yrs ago. It was like staying on a compound. At 11pm the gates shut, it was damn near impossible to get back on the resort after that. The crime was so heavy back then. Really the resorts fault they refused to put any money back into the community. I did enjoy the Bob Marley tour. Although I thought our driver was going to kill us driving to the plantation. Still love Appleton Rum to this day.  

Have been to Jamaica a few times and concur it is the armpit of tropical destinations

First visit was on spring break from grad school in '89 and a 6'4" buddy and I were walking home late from the bars when we got accosted by what appeared to be a skinny teenager who said "Give me all your money" -- we were both hammered, but no one did anything for about 5-Mississippi, then we told him that we're going to need to see a weapon or to bugger off, which he did

We probably had $10 in our pockets, but were offended by the presumption of this kid shaking us down with no weapon or backup

My last trip there was last year and we stayed at place next door to the airport in MoBay and had to evacuate the water daily for "bad water" leaking from the adjacent sewage plant

[Pops]

25 minutes ago, NorCalRuss said:

Where-what resort ( all inclusive ) would you recommend to go to In BVI? I've been to Cancun about 10 times and usually stay at Riu Cancun. I like it because relatively short flight that lands at 6 am so you don't lose a day travel and the great beaches-water and multiple options to eat and drink all included at resort. We usually pay about $1200 there for a week all inclusive stay and flight. Hard to beat that. We were going to do the 7 day southern Caribbean  cruise of Puerto Rico in June but canceled due to my job laying everyone off in August. I lived in Hawaii so I like the beaches there as well. Just took family in Feb.

Had some great diving trips in Red Sea also for those that like to dive. Dunno if that's really an option with how the region is now. 

I believe best 3 resorts in BVI are Little Dix Bay, Bitter End Resort (both on Virgin Gorda) and Peter Island Resort -- they are all well above your Cancun budget range, but worth a splurge especially if you can catch a time for a great deal, which they'll do when they need to (like my 80% discount at Peter Island).  Tortola is the most populous of the BVIs, but I've never stayed there -- my impression is that's where 75% of the places to stay are, but none of the top 10%.  Of my 3, Bitter End Resort is the only one I haven't stayed at, but I've visited and had lunch there -- it seems a bit more affordable than the other 2 with a lot more resources on water sports if that's your thing.  Little Dix has a sister resort on St. John (USVI) called Caneel Bay, which is probably best resort in USVI

I like the Mayan Riviera, but like to get outside of Cancun when going there -- Cancun is just such a big city, but you can drive 30-60 minutes and get your remote tropical vacation at a number of places along the beach, including villas and very affordable resorts that are pretty close or maybe even better than Cancun pricing.  If you get a chance to go back, I'd recommend trying to get closer to Tulum, which is a very worthwhile tourist attraction (best ruins I've seen in western hemisphere).  Best part about that area for me is the short connections from DFW -- Belize has similar connections with a much more rugged/ tropical feel than Cancun IMHO (stayed at a place there called Hamanasi last year)

Have never dove the Red Sea, but it's on the bucket list -- my favorite diving local is South Pacific (see more sharks on every dive than you would in a career in Caribbean or Hawaii)