Question for the women or world travelers,...

[SHAGGY]

I am trying to think of a place to take the wife for a, "surprise", vacation this summer. She loves the sun and the beach and does enjoy snorkling but dont scuba and dont really have much interest in it. I had considered Cancun or Playa Del Carmen because it was so close to either DFW or Bush airports, but I'm really open to most suggestions. I had thought of the Atlantis Resorts in the Bahamas because their web sites really look nice. We have cruised to Jamaica and she really wasnt all that impressed, but she did enjoy the Cayman Islands and also enjoyed Cozumel. I think the lack of feeling of security was the biggest downfall with Jamaica. Some of the things that I'm looking for would be have a spa in the Hotel-resort for her, have scuba opperators nearby, have beautiful and clean beaches and clean hotel with great staff. It dont have to be a 4 or 5 star Hotel to please us just nice, clean and have friendly staff. I guess bottom line is I want it to be something that makes her say WOW most every day that we are there, and that it gives her warm memories for years to come,... Since she was diagonosed with MS and its getting worse,... this will probably be our last fun and worry free vacation and I want it to be unforgetable for her because it will be unforgetable for me no matter where we go.

shaggy

[dallasdivergirl]

you might consider Aruba. they have beaches & diving. also Roatan has the beach in front of Henry Morgan's. one of the places next door to that has a really nice pool & condos overlooking.

[caroln]

I would recommend Akumal in Mexico. It's maybe an hour south of Playa del Carmen. There's awesome snorkeling right off the beach there. The whole bay has good snorkeling--we've seen a ton of turtles every time, and lots of other stuff too. I think you see just as much snorkeling there as diving in the immediate area. The beach is lovely there and there's a fun little town too. During the summer you have a chance of seeing a turtle nesting on the beach at night which is a really magical experience.

[Monkeylemon]

Also investigate St. John, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. It's incredibly beautiful and there are some very nice places to stay. The many beaches are amazing, and the diving/snorkeling is fantastic.

[CompuDude]

There's Hawaii to consider as well, and you don't need a passport.

The warmer water locations are pretty neat, though.

[rox@ucf11]

you dont need a passport for any of the us virgin islands St. John, St. Thomas and I cant remember the other island

[maggs_the]

Cancun would be my suggestion if there should be plenty or more for HER to enjoy. You're diving options are a little more limited but there are certainly dive ops around. The water is beautiful and the beaches are great and you're not far from very much of anything. Easy enough to get there too.

[SkuaSeptember]

This would be my choice of where to go and where to stay.
Elbow Beach Club Resort - Bermuda luxury hotel by Mandarin Oriental
The diving may not be the most challenging in the world,but topside is very romantic.

[diversteve]

What about Virgin Gorda in the BVI's? Beautiful beaches all over. Quiet, peaceful, and there's several nice resorts. Little Dix Bay Resort or Mango Bay Resort are on beautiful beaches. I think Mango is the more reasonable of the two.

Little Dix bay is amazing though, on it's own bay, great views, there's snorkeling just offshore in flat calm water on the reef, we saw turtles dive for the bottom every time we went in there with the DiveBVI boat. It's 5 stars and priced accordingly but I still remember it and we only went there for drinks one afternoon.

DiveBVI will pick you up there, they're one of the best diveops I've ever used. Since you are going to do some diving, they go to the best sites off Norman, Cooper, the Dogs etc., but they're so close you'd be back for lunch. And there's the Rhone wreck, great dive and I don't like wrecks.

A couple miles away are the world-famous Baths, another excellent snorkeling spot. A fun non-dive activity is a day sailboat charter. Some do trips to Anegada, Tortola or Jost Van Dyke - the other BVI's There's also at least a dozen really nice beaches you can drive to (rent an SUV) that you may have to yourselves on arrival. There's a watersports rental place near Leverick Bay but not a lot of other things to do. Not much shopping in town, it's pretty small. The whole island has less than 4000 people.

Several remarkably good restaurants on the island, the Rock Cafe is a must do, great food, ambiance - nestled in among the boulders near the Baths. And don't miss the Friday night Buffet at Leverick Bay Yacht Club, everyone goes, locals, tourists, sailors etc. Good food, a band, beach dancing etc. It's a great time.

We stayed on VG two years ago in a villa. I never even closed the door to my room or the house. Left cash, laptop, video gear etc. in plain sight. All that ever happened was the maid neatened up my money every day. The property mgr. didn't even have keys to the main door.

Downside is that it's a little harder to get to. In the summer the flights to Tortola taper off (or stop) so you fly to St. Thomas and take the ferry over. They're fast ferries though so the trip takes around an hour or two. My friends left VG on the 8am ferry for a 1:30 return flight out of STT one Saturday. They made it with time to stop for lunch. You can also do inter-island trips over to Tortola or even St. John daily if you plan it right.

You mentioned MS also. A lot of VG is vertical so that's maybe an issue..
For example the condos at Little Dix are at least a hundred feet above the bay. The walk down to the Baths is a little taxing as you start on top of the hill. (actually it's the walk back up that's probably the problem..)

hth,

[rye_a]

For an easy trip Playa is great. If you're not the kind of couple that likes to eat all of your meals at your hotel there are LOTS of great restaurants and plenty of fun shopping/strolling for the wife.

If you do go don't miss dinners at the Basic Hotel on 5th and a special (read: expensive) dinner at Chicago's.