By Tom Gannon (of Lynn Travel Inc), Your Resident Travel Advisor and Travel Blogger
The Caribbean islands are very resilient. They had a two-strike count on them from hurricane Irma and the Pandemic, but have used the time to rebuild and in some cases, invent themselves.
From informal conversations, residents seem to be looking for something different from the basic islands that are visited on a majority of mega-ship cruises and package tours. The most popular islands have been Puerto Rico. St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Aruba, Barbados Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos, St. Lucia, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. The latter two for their number of all-inclusive resorts. What has turned some people off is what is referred to as a “12 K day” in St. Maarten but refers to other popular islands as well. This means at least four of the biggest cruise ships dock in Philipsburg on the same day “unleashing” at least 12,000 people on the tiny, 37 square mile island.
While some of the following islands may be visited from time-to-time by cruise ships, there is not the intensity mentioned above. People looking for a change are investigating the following: Tortola (BVI), Bonaire, Curacao, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Granada, St. Barts, Anguilla, St. John (USVI) and Antigua. What distinguishes these ten destinations are smaller hotels, a degree of exclusivity, more villa accommodations, more cultural infusion (meaning you know you have left the United States), some of the best beaches in the world, and often unique cuisine.
People in the past have turned to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic for two major reasons; the number of all-inclusive resorts and beautiful beaches. Since most travelers, don’t leave the guarded grounds of their resort, they are, generally, not affected by crime or disease. The old joke speaking of the island of Hispaniola home to Haiti and the Dominican Republic is: how do the germs from Haiti where yellow fever, cholera, typhoid and malaria exist, know to stop at the border between the two countries.
For those looking for an all-inclusive resort in one of the safest and most beautiful Caribbean islands, I recommend Antigua, in the Lesser Antilles, a part of the nation of Antigua and Barbuda. The 108 square mile island is home to 80,000 people and is known for its crystal clear, blue water and soft sand beaches created, in part by the ring of coral reefs surrounding the island. While water is in short supply, the impact has not made a dent in the tourist industry. Rationing, desalinization, and rain water containment are helping. Travel blogs, now, are referring to Antiqua as the Caribbean’s “hottest” destination.
Covid-19 has shed a light on this island paradise and made it even more popular because of the spaced-out hotels, low density and amazing beaches. What is so special about the beaches? Antigua is not impacted by the trade winds. An island like Aruba has 11-13 mile per hour winds, increasing to 30 at times blowing all the time. That tends to churn up the water and make it murky. Add to that excessive coral and broken shells and it becomes difficult to get in and out of the water on Eagle/Palm beach, considered Aruba’s best, where the high-rise, four- star hotels are located. Different fates can be found on other popular islands.
The other reason for recommending Antigua is that many of the best hotels are now all-inclusive. On most islands a dinner for two with drinks, tax and service is well over $200. A person can expect to pay $35 for the buffet breakfast and at lunch the hamburger or salad with a pina colada or beer is over $40 with tax and service. These prices were verified by research on the websites for Hilton and Hyatt properties.
Antigua now boasts the following all-inclusive properties: Royalton, Pineapple Beach, Carlisle Bay, Cocobay, St. James Club, Verandah, Curtain Bluff, Heritage Bay, Galley Bay, Hammock Cove, Curtain Bluff, COCOS, Keyonna Beach. These can all be booked as hotel and air packages through Travel Impressions, one of the Apple Leisure Group family of brands. Apple was listed in top ten travel agent and customer friendly companies during the Pandemic.
Mexico’s beach resorts will deserve their own column. Other areas to consider for a beach vacation are: Cartagena, Colombia; Belize; Corn Islands, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; Liberia, Costa Rica; and San Blas, Panama. I personally would limit my exposure to the first four to a visit on a cruise ship. The Pacific coast of Costa Rica is very popular with American’s and features Westin, Marriott and Four Season resorts. The San Blas islands of Panama are a newly developing destination, that so far are disease and crime free.
Comments