I need/want to take the wife on a vacation,

Thinking warm weather, warm water, next fall maybe even next winter, 2022

Need activities for her, she's always on the move, she likes snorkeling, hiking, shopping (browsing really). We both love historical sites.

I'm trying to mix in some scuba dives in a few mornings, so if that's possible, A big plus.

Cozumel, NO.

Bonaire, fantastic diving but little to do for her.

Hawaii, been there twice, loved it both times, and Hawaii is not out of the question for this next trip.

I'm trying to put together a multi-purpose trip, vacation and scuba, which may or may not be the best idea, dunno yet

Who's been to the Virgin Islands?

Puerto Rico?

Bahamas?

Feel free to throw any and all ideas at me.

Regarding Hawaii, we've been on Oahu and Maui,

So maybe the Big island this time?

St Thomas.
Tons of shopping.
I think snorkel and scuba.
Great food.

Keys might have enough for you.

Turks and Caicos is supposed to have excellent wall diving.

Rotan - diving
Andros in Bahamas - diving etc.

Sounds like Grand Cayman fits the bill.

We went to Costa Rica last month. Beautiful beaches, the waters warm, and it's very clean for a poor country. People were nice too. My friend has a nice place on playa grande that he rents for about $180/night.

Bb

I love Aruba. Beautiful beaches and the people are great. There is no “bad part of town” on the whole island. No crime to speak of. I don’t scuba dive but the snorkeling is outstanding. Last time there we took a half day private charter off shore fishing. Caught a couple 10-12 lb mahi mahi. The best eating fish I’ve ever had. Also a 35 lb barracuda, what a blast!
Stay out of the big tourist traps in Noord and Oranjestad, and stay with the locals in San Nicholas. Much cheaper and you get the feel of the local Aruba.

Added to the list, thanks.

Was there 2 years ago, slightly underwhelming for some reason.

Grand Cayman

Did the Keys this April, loved it, all of it.
Never dove, but rumors are the diving is decent to good,
expensive lodging, like stupid expensive,
It would be a repeat trip, so there's that.....

Otherwise grab Mr. Army Ranger from Hunter and do Key Largo, Kinda what started this thread......But with his unknown schedule, hard to commit to any dates.

The diving was just ok, not great for her to snorkel either.

But 7 fathoms Rum....oh hell ya.

pm sent.

Pretty sure that St. Thomas is noted for violent crime. But I'd think if you weren't out and about much after dark you'd be fine.

Spent a week on St. John back in the 90's. Very chill then, can't speak for now. But at that point, it was all about outdoor activities. No real shopping per se. Scuba was good, but I didn't try snorkeling.

LOL

Grand Cayman or St. John.

LOL

Fiji can be great: Islands of Taveuni and Beqa for diving, not so much shopping. Fijians speak english and are friendly and honest. Stay as far away from Nadi as possible. I’ve been 4 times.

One hell of a flight, 2 days each way?

Ok, expedia shows about 20 hours one way,

My ass hurts just thinking about it.

12 hours from LAX. The South Pacific is completely different in many ways from Hawaii or the Caribbean.

Los Barilles. baja Mexico, ( Cabo pulmo plus tons of beach diving). ,Can get some shopping in too in La Paz, todos Santos, Cabo san Lucas , South Africa is good, country conditions ok with a guide, , or Egypt on the Red Sea has some amazing diving too. and head up to Cairo, Alexandria for sight seeing, shopping

Costa Rica, Honduras good diving. minimal shopping. Split, Croatia interesting area too to dive. I dove in Adriatic and was ok but the land stuff, shopping, food amazing

crooked Island Bahamas, Equador decent diving and can explore




Great diving and shopping is a tough combo

I hear Haiti is nice this time of year.....

El Salvador?

Chicago would be closer and cheaper.

Secrets Maroma or the one in Tulum.

I’m headed to Atelier in Playa Mujeres next month. Got the ocean front master suite.

The areas along the riviera maya have plenty of Mayan ruins, snorkeling at isla mujeres, swimming in caves, etc….

Shopping is way down on the list, I just tossed that in among the others,

top 3 in no particular order.....Nice weather, Nice water (bonus points if on the beach) and activities for the go-getters.

I just provided the most economical answer that checks all the boxes.
If you want a good agent to help you, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with the lady I use to book my trips.

Regardless of what people tell you about doing it yourself, there’s a lot of plus sides to using an agent, including saving money.

St. Lucia is a great island. Takes some time to get there.

I also enjoyed Jamaica. We stayed at GoldenEye. It was top notch. Had the best reef I’ve ever snorkeled right off the beach.

feel free to pm me her info, Appreciate it.

You realize that state dept. is requiring a negative covid test for citizens returning from out of country? 72 hours prior to flight.

It's part of the planning, yes.

Nassau.

Nasshole?

There's a saying. If you're on St Thomas, you're 20 mins from paradise.

St John.

Rented a villa on the side of a mountain and 4 wheel drive Jeep from the owner. Every beach you go to, you say "Wow. This is the nicest beach I've ever seen".

English spoken. American dollars.

Highly recommend.

Never!

Stay at home and do what you want, give her all the holiday coin and tell her to go her hardest at the shops.

This isn't a bad idea, either. You can rent one of my units right on the beach.

Michigan’s upper peninsula.

It appears spending your vacation dollars in the USA is out of the question for you guys?

Making America Great Again looks to just be a talking point for hipocryts on this site.

People want to see something different.

You can fly to an American friendly Caribbean island or the US Virgin Islands and stay in a beautiful suite cheaper than you can go to Key West and stay in a hotel room.

Matter of choice. You want to stay on the farm, it's your choice.

Americans have been traveling out of the country for vacations for over 100 years.

I thought it was just old farts that didn’t know how to use a computer that utilized a ‘travel agent’

I’m thinking old people and Love Boat.

No disrespect intended, but that's a very ignorant statement.

And who asked for personal attitudes on this thread?

well well.......Do tell.

If you meant that in an inocuous manner, be well and good luck in your travels. If that comment was meant to be offensive, let me explain.

The unit I was referring to is about 1400-1600 sq ft with a direct view of the ocean from the patio. You can watch the ships and fishing boats leaving the harbor down the beach all day long or just gaze at the "turn" spot of the beach right down in front of you. Just recently completely remodeled and meticulously maintained. When I've put it up for rent over the last 20 years I've owned it, it never takes more than 2 days.

Rent a yacht in Croatia and motor around Dalmatia. You can get anything from ancient history to beautiful blue to water, incredible walled medieval towns and fairly cheap spending.

That sounds fun.

Well first I had to look up "inocuous".......

All I meant was, if you have some type of vacation rentals, in a location that I'm possibly headed too,

Lets talk, 'do tell' me the details, what, where, and how much.... PM is fine .

Load a dozen tanks on board, Scuba Live-a-board.....

Could be epic.

Have you done this? (minus the scuba part).

I suggest Hiking/campingw ith Hapy_Camper

Ok. Will end you a PM..

I have not. Been pricing boats with a couple different companies and looking at specific time periods when I’d be free. I’ve been to Croatia in a few of the coastal towns though and this seems like an even better way to do it.