OK, so, we're looking for something different for June next year, somewhere in the Caribbean basin. If you don't know already, we've kind of 'been everywhere" in the Caribbean.
We have been on over 30 cruises throughout the Caribbean and stayed on probably a dozen islands for land visits. Probably not interested in an a/i, although that is a possibility, I guess. NOT interested in roughing it at all.

REQUIREMENTS--
NON-STOP air from either Ft. Lauderdale or Miami is an absolute MUST==or, even better--Orlando or Tampa
MUST have a/c and good internet
An island having a casino is a plus.
LOVE great food.
Nude beach is a plus, not a requirement at all.

Places that are OUT
St. Maarten/ST. Martin--just because
Anguilla--would just be looking at SXM and wishing we were there
Aruba--been there, done that
Jamaica--been there, done that
Yucatan--Not interested in getting shot on vacation
St. Lucia--No, not sure why
Bahamas--No.

Possibilities--
Belize -- No idea, never been there.
Costa Rica--Ditto.
Curacao--Never stayed there, visited there several times on cruises
Antigua--Maybe
Guadelupe--Maybe? Can you get by there without any French?

Thoughts??

From what u listed where u haven’t been I’d say
Costa Rica
Curaçao
Both r beautiful
Lots to do in CR as larger
Curaçao is a lovely island , fun to drive around to different beaches , and up the mountain, some snorkeling from shore
We stayed at Avila hotel. Could walk into the town but also many restaurants to walk to

I really don't know anything about Costa Rica. Any suggestions there?

Me too Carol -- it's been a while since we've travelled to Caribbean and want to try something new! After 4 winters in FL (no more FL for us, sold and back to New England, with other travel on tap!) Wondering Turks & Caicos?!

Though I've only stayed on the Pacific (not Caribbean) side of Costa Rica, when I arrived there, my first thought was "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!" Where we went - Santa Teresa - was really hard to reach (kind of the story of my life, since I like remote places), but there are plenty of easier places to reach with big-name resort hotels and access to beaches, mountains, rain forests, cloud forests, etc. Such a beautiful place, with lots of progressive and green policies, and lovely people, that make it so appealing. Here's my blog post about our trip: Costa Rica

Eva--yeah, Santa Teresa looks way too hard to reach to me! I will look at it more though. Thanks.

CURACAO!!!

LB--what do you like about Curacao? It's definitely in the mix. Where do you stay?

Guadeloupe is a wonderful island. You can get by with no French. It has everything from waterfalls and jungle/forest/volcano hiking to big open beaches. And shopping. And food.

If Guadeloupe is on your list, then Martinique should be as well!

Zanshin---thanks for the reply. I have always heard that Martinique is not friendly at all to those who don't speak French. Albeit only on cruises, we also never got a good 'vibe' from Martinique.

Stay on the North side of Anguilla and you will not be seeing SXM.
You may never return to SXM after several days in Anguilla.
No hustle and bustle like in SXM.

Clifftops--I honestly think I would be bored on Anguilla.

Carol... I would say the French islands, Guadeloupe or Martinique. Big enough to have a variety of activities, variety of experience (quiet or busy according to your needs). Don't worry about not speaking French. If you want something and they want you to have it they'll find a way to communicate. In most restaurants and bars you'll find people with enough English for you to get by. Don't know about direct flights from your part of the world but I'm sure you can find that out.

Grenada is also a good option. Less of a language barrier, again big enough to have some variety. Americans are very well received there because of your rescue of the island from communism back in the 80s.

Yes, I need to look at the flight situation, to see what is available. Thanks.

I suppose you can get by on Guadeloupe with out speaking French, but it would be difficult. My wife speaks French so we did not have a problem, but the people on Guadeloupe and Martinique think they are French and many have the French attitude on speaking French. (Yes, I know they are French citizens.) Why bother if other places are available.

Rob--thanks for your info. We decided to just go back to St Maarten/St. Martin..

I think the same, on my list and we live in Tampa area is Grenada I think the have ns from Miami, we have been to Curacao and plan on going back and Costa Rica as well,

we went to Dominican Republic for our first time last November, never thought I would but there is a really kicked back place las terrenas we loved it you can find tons of options from small boutique hotels on sea or airbnbs just tucked back a little from beach, Las bellenas Beach was awesome, and the price is right! Happy hunting

Yes and Yes. Shoal Bay Villas on Upper Shoal Bay Beach.

Carol,

Took a trip to Antigua in 2014 and stayed at Galley Bay when it was less expensive than now. A really cool island, lots of beaches, British naval history, nice capital town. Not the reefiest place in the Caribbean but it was a great trip.

We stayed a couple days in Antigua, prior to a cruise that left from there, several years ago. For this year, we decided to just go back to SXM..

Can't go wrong on SXM......:-)

Agreed.

I’d go back to Antigua and stay at keyonnabeachresortantigua.com

Seems like casinos are all in St John’s around the cruise port. We have never stayed there.

We like nice beaches and good restaurants and things to do while on the islands.

We also like Safety while staying on any island and usually stay on British islands because of this, although crime has gotten worse everywhere.

So I’d look at Barbados too but not the south coast. Stay on the west side of island north of Bridgetown.

Look at these for 2024 on. Alan

Turks and Caicos

Antigua is lovely with beautiful landscape, British, so language isn't a problem; however driving is on the left side like in England. Can't remember name of place where we stayed but it had a beautiful view of the Island of Monserrat.

Not sure about non-stop flights from your area. But you wrote that you did go there.

Margarita Island

Some of the places I would have recommended just had hurricane damage.

Was also looking for same recommendations, thank you for making the thread and everyone for their replies

Since this thread has been resurrected, I'll add one more place that hasn't been mentioned... Montserrat. Doesn't fit Carol's requirements but maybe for others. Last month, I went to Monserrat for the 3rd time. All arriving by boat but you can get flights from Antigua. Montserrat is the most wonderful place, beautifully green except for the bits damaged by the volcano. Very little to do but, if you like peace and quiet in the Caribbean, I don't think it can be beaten.

The people are incredibly friendly. An example... Before we arrived, we had tried, but failed, to contact the tour guide we had previously used 12 years ago. When we were in C&I we asked if the customs inspector knew him. She did, and yes he was still working. She asked other staff if anyone had his number, someone did and they called him for us. No reply. Oh, well we thought that was the end of it. Two minutes later as we were walking back to the dinghy dock, she came running after us (always worrying when officials come running after you) but she just held out her phone and said "I've got Joe for you". Imagine any C&I person doing that for you, in any other country in the world! Montserrat is wonderful.

We ended up back in SXM in June 2023 and 2024. However, in a recent development, Eric's brother purchased a condo in St. Croix, so we will be headed there the end of this week for a week long stay. We've never been land based there, so it will be interesting. Look for reports in the USVI forum!

Nobody has mentioned Bonaire, it ticks all of Carol’s boxes: good restaurants, casino, nude beach.

We've been to Bonaire twice on a cruise. It might work for others, but it's entirely too quiet for me. I'm not sure there's a nude beach there anymore either, as I think that resort was sold? Anyway, a good friend of mine once said "A big night on Bonaire is going out for a pizza. A REALLY big night is going out for a pizza and a BEER!" For someone that is a huge snorkeller or diver, it would work, but not for me.

I think you will find St Croix quiet as well.

I really like Costa Rica, but with the forewarning there are significant travel time after you land at the airport. When you book a house in some areas, it comes with a cooking staff. You pay for the food and tip everyone, but it is a really cool feature. We were in Manual Antonio, and there were so many monkeys there. Funny story, a monkey came into the outside kitchen / bar area, opened the bar beverage fridge, and took a can of coconut cream. I stole it back from the monkey, threw it back in the refrigerator. That monkey was not to be outdone -- he came back real quick, opened up the bar fridge, and took another can of coconut cream and was gone before I could take it back. They went up the tree and were trying to get the can opened, and then the can fell from the tree, and the can did burst open and was spraying cream of coconut. That team of monkeys were on the ground in about 3 seconds, but there were so many monkeys already on the ground enjoying that treat. The monkey scared away the littler monkeys, and all enjoyed the treat. The original monkey theft was shaking the can to get out all the contents. Another quick story, we hired a cook and they did cook for a group of us, but they left a lot in the outside kitchen because there just was not enough room in the fridge. Then everyone left, we were going to go when I saw all that food. I told my husband the monkeys will be here in no time, and he laughed -- until the monkeys started coming. I had already started moving everything into our air conditioned bedroom, but went into high gear throwing things in there -- they got bread and tortillas but we replaced those items.

Thanks for the cute story! I think that would be a little TOO close to nature for me!

Not every area of Costa Rica sees monkeys. There are plentiful birds in other areas. The biggest drag is the travel time after you land, SXM you land and you are there. Santa Teresa is a surfing crowd, and you get around with 4 wheelers or ATV's. Last time we were there the roads were all dusty (not paved) and you needed to wear dusk masks on your ATV.