My family are desert rats and we have a simple requirement for a little r&r trip we're hoping to take in March -- water! We'd love to go to a beach and only a beach, with maybe some little things thrown in on the side. We don't want to do tours, go out for extravagent dinners and shows, hit the clubs. We just want some peace and water.
So, with that in mind and taking into consideration we have 2 young children and not a lot of money, where would you suggest? We're open to staying in the States or going international and we all have a bunch of frequent flyer miles which we'd love to use for the air travel, if possible. The places we're considering: Costa Rica (although I think there are way too many "distractions" there -- volcanos and rain forests and beaches, oh my! ), Roatan Island off Honduras, Hawaii, panhandle of Florida (like Seagrove, Santa Rosa area).
We are off to Kauai in a couple of weeks. We rent a cottage in Poipu for about $800/week - it has 2 bedrooms / 1 bathroom. The swimming in Poipu is excellent - nice beaches, lovely water.
Flying from Albuquerque is difficult - this trip we are flying to Phoenix on Southwest, spending the night, then getting an 11:30am flight on Hawaiian from Phoenix to Honolulu, then onto the Big Island (after that we go to Kauai). Flying back we are doing Kauai - Honolulu - Los Angeles and spending 2 nights there - just to avoid an overnight flight. This is the real downside of going to Hawaii from here (you are in Albuquerque, right?).
But I still love Hawaii for the weather and swimming. Plus it is not that expensive of a vacation. And not many distractions - on our first trip we did a bit of sight-seeing, now we just go walking and swimming every day.
A little further - but the southwest coast of India has beautiful beaches. We were there in November and the water was very pleasant. You can check websites for "Kerala beaches". We stayed in a 3-bedroom, 3-bath apartment for $75/night but it was not near the beach. But accomodations are cheaper than many places (especially the States near the beach) so you might find it a better bargain to go halfway around the world. This area was not hit by the tsunami. This is just one website - I am not recommending it - it shows a few pictures. http://www.hotelskerala.com/kerala/beaches.htm
For myself I'd prefer Hawaii, as Pauline has suggested. However, the long and difficult flights can be a real pain with young children.
If you're in the US southwest, my first thought for a shorter flight, inexpensive beach vacation would be Mexico, avoiding the higher trafficked tourist spots. There are amazing deals offered.
ellen
Posts: 2998 | Location: mahwah, new jersey, usa | Registered: 10 December 2003
As for the beaches of the Panhandle of FLa-- You pretty much have to stick to those in south Walton county--like Seagrove, Seaside adn Grayton. On either side of those you get into lots more people and significantly less beautiful beach. Grayton is SO beautiful and peaceful if you can afford a beach house there, but a little bit hard to get to.
I love going down there--it's about 2.5 hrs drive from Tallahassee.
Thanks for thoughts and advice. We decided against Hawai'i, mostly because some friends are moving there in April and we'd be strung up if we missed them by a month. India is too far for a short trip like this, although it is definitely on my list and we've spent a bunch of time in the FL panhandle in Seaview and Grayton and the like, so I think we've decided on a border town in Mexico, which we can drive to, called Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point for all you 'zonies out there). We're not going during spring break, so I'm hoping it will be nice and quiet, all the while admitting it's not "really" Mexico.
Roatan is a great place but their isnt much in the way of beaches. If you are a diver the place is great. Id recommend the southern mayan riveria or Isla de Mujeres.
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