Post by fortnightlily on Jan 3, 2023 10:36:29 GMT -5
There are three of us, me, DH, and 9 year old DS. I really want to go somewhere tropical with good snorkeling for beginners. We like to go to the beach, but also to explore historical sites, shopping districts, or nature. Like to eat good food, but not big drinkers/nightlife people. Looking to go the first week of April. I'm having trouble deciding where to go. Would happily take specific recommendations for hotels/resorts/restaurants/excursions.
Option 1 - Key West (should we fly directly there? Or fly to Miami/FLL and drive, maybe split the trip amongst multiple islands?)
Option 2 - Puerto Rico
Option 3 - Cocoa Beach, FL and Kennedy Space Center
Option 4 - any other Caribbean or Gulf FL destination?
I wouldn’t do Cocoa Beach or anywhere on FL panhandle if you’re looking for nature hikes or interesting cultural sites. We just did Kennedy Space Center last week, and it was good for about a day (but wildly overpriced).
Before I read your list, I was going to recommend Aruba or Bonaire.
I'd recommend option 1. We went to Key West two spring breaks ago and really enjoyed it. We stayed at the Hyatt Residence Club Key West and I highly recommend that resort. It was beautiful. I choose option 1 for you because the keys will be warmer than central Florida and we visited Kennedy Space Center three years ago for a different spring break and thought it was just meh. You'll need to do some advanced planning for Kennedy Space Center, which I did not do enough of (I just did a basic peruse of their website and missed the important stuff apparently), and then what we wanted to do was sold out.
For Key West, we flew into Miami, did an Everglades tour (which was so fun!) then drove to Key West and then flew out of Key West airport. It was a good way to do it. Key West is substantially more expensive than Miami, but the drive is long between the two. Regarding splitting your stay between multiple islands, I tend to not do that because I hate packing up and moving, it takes a lot of time and energy. If you do the Key West route, feel free to message me because we saw some awesome stuff there that I can recommend to you.
I've never been to Puerto Rico and have been to Naples area many times but I don't know that it's great for snorkeling.
I think you need to read about the water in Key West at that time of year. I think I remember that spring break time isn't really great for snorkeling there...like it's rough or something at that time.
We've been to Naples area and while the beaches are beautiful, they are not good for snorkeling.
I'd think about something like Cozumel, Cayman Islands, or St. John or something if not too expensive!
Post by keweenawlove on Jan 3, 2023 12:19:29 GMT -5
We did a "snorkel" tour to Icacos in Puerto Rico and it wasn't great. Where they took us there was no reef and only a dock with a few fish. I'm sure there's better places to go elsewhere but we were disappointed because the tour we took raved about how good it was.
Puerto Rico was awesome for a mix of city, historic sites, and nature though. And no passport needed if that's an issue.
Post by InBetweenDays on Jan 3, 2023 15:39:17 GMT -5
We just booked Belize for spring break. Great historical/cultural sites and nature in the Cayo district and great snorkeling along the beaches (Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Placencia Peninsula, etc).
We just booked Belize for spring break. Great historical/cultural sites and nature in the Cayo district and great snorkeling along the beaches (Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Placencia Peninsula, etc).
Fun! H and I split a week pre-kids in the jungle at Ian Anderson's and Ambergris Caye. The snorkeling was unreal and I can't wait until my kids are old enough to do something like that with them.
I would suggest Tulum, MX or Cozumel. Incredible snorkeling, you have the Mayan ruins to explore, amazing underwater caves, shopping in Playa del Carmen, etc.
St. John is my favorite place and always my suggestion for a tropical location. It will be warm/nice weather. St. John is a small island but tons of beaches/snorkeling and hikes. There is a pretty cool hike to see old petroglyphs that we enjoyed. There are a decent amount of restaurants and yummy food as well as some shops but again it’s a small place. You could also spend some time on St. Thomas if you want more shopping, etc. Our last trip we stayed in St. Thomas for a day on the beginning and end of our trip because you have to ferry over to St. John. That gave us more time to make the ferry as well as some time to do stuff on St. Thomas.
If you have any questions about St. John let me know.
The food is excellent, the city has a gorgeous old centre that reminded me of Havana, the canal is really interesting and apparently the beaches/snorkling are great too (coming from Jamaica, beaches werent on my list of things to do so we spent our time in other areas).
We just booked Belize for spring break. Great historical/cultural sites and nature in the Cayo district and great snorkeling along the beaches (Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Placencia Peninsula, etc).
We took our kids to Belize last August splitting the week between San Ignacio for the jungle, adventure and ruins and Caye Caulker for relaxation and fishing. We didn’t really snorkel because my kids have snorkeled so many places and just weren’t terribly interested. The water right off shore was super calm though so I’d imagine it would be good for beginners. And my DS was catching tons of fish off the pier so I imagine there’s lots of fish to see.
Post by InBetweenDays on Jan 4, 2023 15:18:41 GMT -5
keweenawlove, and mrsGreeko, we're still trying to decide where to stay on the coast (we have a placed booked near San Ignacio). Leaning towards Caye Caulker or Placencia Peninsula. I think San Pedro/Ambergris Caye may be busier than we're looking for? Placencia Peninsula looks gorgeous but Caye Caulker means we could visit San Pedro for a day trip since there are some fun things to do there.
mrsGreeko, do you mind sharing where you stayed on Caye Caulkner?
keweenawlove, and mrsGreeko, we're still trying to decide where to stay on the coast (we have a placed booked near San Ignacio). Leaning towards Caye Caulker or Placencia Peninsula. I think San Pedro/Ambergris Caye may be busier than we're looking for? Placencia Peninsula looks gorgeous but Caye Caulker means we could visit San Pedro for a day trip since there are some fun things to do there.
mrsGreeko, do you mind sharing where you stayed on Caye Caulkner?
Do you care more about snorkeling or beaches? The beaches weren't great on Ambergris or Caulker but snorkeling was super close. Like a 5 minute boat ride. We were able to kayak there from where we stayed in San Pedro. We didn't make it to Placencia but from I found, it looks like really nice beaches but a long boat ride to the reef.
keweenawlove, and mrsGreeko, we're still trying to decide where to stay on the coast (we have a placed booked near San Ignacio). Leaning towards Caye Caulker or Placencia Peninsula. I think San Pedro/Ambergris Caye may be busier than we're looking for? Placencia Peninsula looks gorgeous but Caye Caulker means we could visit San Pedro for a day trip since there are some fun things to do there.
mrsGreeko, do you mind sharing where you stayed on Caye Caulkner?
It’s not in the “action” so you will want to rent a golf cart or bikes if you stay there. My kids mainly wanted to hang out on the pier. My older girls read and napped and occasionally got in the water to swim or snorkel a bit. My son fished for as many hours as we’d let him every day. He’s obsessed with fishing. He pulled in a ton of snapper, some puffer fish, a bonefish, and some others just from the pier. He and DH also did a fishing charter one day and my DS caught a huge permit an that was the highlight of the trip for him.
The ATM cave near San Ignacio is so so so cool, not to be missed if your kids are old enough for it. My DS was 10 when we went and I probably would go if your kids are 8 or 9+.
Post by InBetweenDays on Jan 4, 2023 15:56:28 GMT -5
OP - sorry to hijack your post!
Thanks mrsGreeko and keweenawlove. Good to know that one area is better for snorkeling and the other for beaches. We'll need to decide what we prefer (I know we want to avoid huge resorts/all inclusive places). And we have booked the ATM cave tour (kids will be 14 and 16)! Also doing a Mayan cooking class and likely visiting one of the ruins. I can't wait!
I've never taken a cruise and always been a little reticent about it, but maybe I should give it a shot. It does feel a lot easier, logistically...
I’ve done 3 cruises. Once as a family with a kid. We went before Covid in 2019 when she was 11. She really liked it a lot and had a good time. Cruising is not my favorite but it was a nice way to easily see a few different places and something different for my kid to experience. Personally I’d rather choose a place and explore but a cruise can help you figure out a destination you may want to explore more in the future.
We did carnival and went to Dominican Republic, San Juan, St. Thomas and turks and Caicos. I loved turks and Caicos and it made me want to go back. We did some snorkeling excursions and a fun stingray excursion.
Personally I was always a bit of a germaphobe and cruises made me feel a little worried. I don’t think I could do it now with Covid and being worried about getting sick and stuck in my room.
Post by keweenawlove on Jan 4, 2023 20:28:35 GMT -5
For anyone in this tread looking at Belize, we stayed at Ian Anderson's (https://www.cavesbranch.com/) and it was one of the coolest places we ever stayed. We stayed in a canopy view treehouse and did an excursion into the caves where we climbed waterfalls inside the cave.
We are going to the Keys this year! I booked our flights and lodging in like September, haha. We are flying direct into Fort Lauderdale (had 100k Southwest miles to use) and spending half our time staying in Homestead, Fl so we have easy access to Everglades and Biscayne NP. Then we are spending on night on Key West because it is STUPID expensive but we need to be there to catch our early early boat to Dry Tortugas NP. Then we are moving to an airbnb in Duck Key for the remainder. Primary purpose of our trip is to check 3 more NPs off our list.