Author Topic: What are your favorite vacation spots in North or Central America?  (Read 3761 times)

justajane

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What are your favorite vacation spots in North or Central America?
« on: September 08, 2015, 08:53:53 AM »
So, we are trying to come up with a place to go for our 10th anniversary that is coming up in the next year. We are very flexible on time and even locale. Here are some of the ideas we are batting around.

-- an all-inclusive somewhere in Central America. The pros to this is that we don't have to worry about meals and such. I love complexes with very large pools and easy beach access. The cons are expensive and long flights. I'm also not thrilled about dealing with a foreign locale and language issues. Not for this trip, at least.

-- Going farther north to Canada. If I'm not swimming, I despise the heat. Some places we've thought about: British Columbia (Okanagan Lake or Vancouver), or Novia Scotia (downside to this is its remoteness, but it looks absolutely stunning). The biggest con to this is that, even if there is a lake or swimming, we might not want to spend much time doing that. I'm not a badass when it comes to cold water. I would love more suggestions about places in Canada.

Also, my husband and I both love to swim in calmer waters. For our honeymoon, we went to St. Lucia and stayed on Marigot Bay. It was perfect, because the bay made swimming so calm; yet you still had the incredible view that an ocean provides. I tried to google "best swimming coves" or "best swimming bays" and had trouble finding comparable locales. Anyone have any suggestions?

Also, we would alternately love a place with lots of culture and also great beaches. Miami comes to mind. That way we could alternate hanging at the beach and exploring museums and such.

Anyway, we are open to all suggestions in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Hawaii would be my first choice, but it's just too far for our purposes. We have to think of childcare for our kids and likely might only get 5 nights.

Feel free to share your perfect vacation. There might be things we haven't thought of. Thanks! 
« Last Edit: September 09, 2015, 07:24:55 AM by justajane »

Left

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Re: Suggestions for a 10th anniversary trip? Best swimming locales?
« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2015, 08:58:01 AM »
with or without sharks?

i like Fiji myself... or the more local florida keys, but you pay for the stay instead of airfare

hot springs/ozarks arkansas isnt bad for lake,river but im an ocean guy stuck in the mid west

justajane

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Re: Suggestions for a 10th anniversary trip? Best swimming locales?
« Reply #2 on: September 08, 2015, 09:15:24 AM »
with or without sharks?

i like Fiji myself... or the more local florida keys, but you pay for the stay instead of airfare

hot springs/ozarks arkansas isnt bad for lake,river but im an ocean guy stuck in the mid west

I would prefer without sharks, if possible :), but I know they are unavoidable sometimes.

We've been looking at the Keys. Any particular suggestions for the best islands or beaches? We might be able to use my MIL's timeshare points, and they can be used in Marathon and Key Largo. This would defray the costs significantly. Lots of places farther north around Naples too. I only know the Panhandle of Florida.

Tony H

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Re: What is your favorite vacation spots in North or Central America?
« Reply #3 on: September 08, 2015, 02:23:13 PM »


Feel free to share your perfect vacation. There might be things we haven't thought of. Thanks!


My favorite vacation spot is Zihuatanejo in Mexico.  What a place!  The link below is a very good site about the city and the possible accommodations.  They have everything from small quaint places to 5 star hotels. 

Actually you can get by very inexpensively or spend a ga-jillion bucks. Your choice. 

http://www.ixtapa-zihuatanejo.com/info/english.htm

Left

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Re: What is your favorite vacation spots in North or Central America?
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2015, 02:45:25 PM »
I like sanibel,Florida but I don't go there often, just twice so I don't have a lot to say about it. I liked spending time with family so the beach may not be as impressive as I remember it to be but it was a nice beach how I recall it

West coast has fewer sharks, the continental shelf drops too sharply for them

Vancouver, Canada or Maine would have nice leaves for autumn colors if you are looking in that time of year.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2015, 02:56:16 PM by eyem »

Gerard

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Re: What is your favorite vacation spots in North or Central America?
« Reply #5 on: September 08, 2015, 05:22:49 PM »
If you want somewhere fairly pretty in Canada with cool-ish summers and fairly warm water for swimming, you might want to try something on the Northumberland Strait, in either New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island. The water is shallow enough that it gets to a nice temperature by mid/late summer.

wordnerd

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Re: What is your favorite vacation spots in North or Central America?
« Reply #6 on: September 08, 2015, 05:37:47 PM »
I love Costa Rica, and it's pretty easy to get to, affordable, and beautiful. I think the Guanacaste coast has good AIs and bays, but I didn't actually make it there when I visited Costa Rica.

lakemom

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Re: What is your favorite vacation spots in North or Central America?
« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2015, 06:16:17 PM »
Key West, FL
Anywhere in Michigan on the west coast (Lake Michigan), Saugatuck, Manistee, Traverse City been to all and all are fun.  This would be best late July through mid August (the lake is COLD even in late summer)
Dale Hollow TN/KY...stay in a houseboat.

We've done all of these in the past 5 years sometimes with kids sometimes without. 

aperture

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Re: What is your favorite vacation spots in North or Central America?
« Reply #8 on: September 09, 2015, 07:23:35 AM »
Quote
My favorite vacation spot is Zihuatanejo in Mexico.  What a place!  The link below is a very good site about the city and the possible accommodations.  They have everything from small quaint places to 5 star hotels. 

Actually you can get by very inexpensively or spend a ga-jillion bucks. Your choice. 

http://www.ixtapa-zihuatanejo.com/info/english.htm

+1 - We honeymooned at the Westin in Ixtapa - was beautiful (and totally outside our budget; but we were young and had credit cards - alas).  10 years later we stayed affordably in Cabo in a B+B there that was 10 blocks from the beach.  It was great - would use TripAdvisor to zero in on specifics once you choose a locale.  Look also at VRBO and switch between the two - you can get reviews on specific units in a condo complex for instance.  Best wishes. -A

justajane

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Re: What are your favorite vacation spots in North or Central America?
« Reply #9 on: September 10, 2015, 01:00:36 PM »
Thanks everyone! You've given me more to think about. I hadn't seriously considered Mexico, but I found out this week that an airline does chartered direct flights to Cancun and other places. This would be quite convenient and might make me lean towards Mexico instead of Costa Rica or the Dominican Republic.

eyem - Now why didn't I think of checking out New England or Canada in the Fall? That's a brilliant idea, especially since Fall is my favorite season.

As you can see, I'm still all over the map. I wish there were a place that wasn't too hot yet still had warm waters, had gorgeous beaches, yet in a metropolis that had lots and lots of culture and diversity. But alas, this particular combination doesn't probably exist.

Gerard - I'll have to look further into the Canadian choices you suggested. Thanks! I looked into Novia Scotia but was intimidated by how much plane travel and driving we would have to do to get to the most remote and most beautiful parts of the province. Unfortunately, we would only have about five or so days. 

Argyle

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Re: What are your favorite vacation spots in North or Central America?
« Reply #10 on: September 10, 2015, 01:33:52 PM »
English is the official language of Belize, in Central America.  It's got beaches and is known for eco-tourism, and is reportedly gorgeous.

Blazin

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Re: What are your favorite vacation spots in North or Central America?
« Reply #11 on: September 10, 2015, 01:41:30 PM »
We recently went to Nicaragua and loved it. The people are amazing/friendly and the country is beautiful.  More inexpensive than Costa Rica, and good public transportation.    There are volcanos, all sorts of wildlife and yummy tropical fruit.