General Caribbean vacation question (not dive-specific)

[lunula]

Since I know a lot divers spend time in the Caribbean, I thought I might ask if anyone has a recommendation!

High-level: My mother-in-law wants to take the family on a 1-week vacation in the Caribbean to celebrate her husband's 80th birthday. This includes 11 adults and 5 kids (ages 3, 5, 7, 14 and 17). She is looking for 6 rooms and wants:

• All-inclusive (or close to it)
• Things to do for kids and adults and not remote (easy to plan and get to activities)
• Must have options for live music in the evenings (the birthday boy loves live music, no specific kind)
• Somewhat easy to get to - she rented a villa on Peter Island in BVI a few years back and it was lovely; however, we had to take a flight, then a short regional flight, then a drive, then a ferry and another drive to get there.
• Villa-situation is ideal so we have common areas and can easily mingle amongst ourselves. Potentially resort with suites that have 2-3 bedroom options would be fine so we can "kind of" stay together.
• Would prefer to stay away from huge hotels
• Selfishly, I would like good diving options. Four of us are certified divers and 1 more said he'll try and get certified prior to going depending on where we go (he's gone diving a few times, but not certified).

I know she has a lot of asks and she wants to move quickly (looking at the last full week of July 2018 to do this). I would love to go to Cancun or Belize, but Cancun seems like mostly huge resorts and we couldn't find anything in Belize that wasn't pretty remote. I think she'd consider anything - she has a lead on a place in Antigua at the moment, but I was hoping to maybe give her another option or two.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Dogbowl]

Since I know a lot divers spend time in the Caribbean, I thought I might ask if anyone has a recommendation!

High-level: My mother-in-law wants to take the family on a 1-week vacation in the Caribbean to celebrate her husband's 80th birthday. This includes 11 adults and 5 kids (ages 3, 5, 7, 14 and 17). She is looking for 6 rooms and wants:

• All-inclusive (or close to it)
• Things to do for kids and adults and not remote (easy to plan and get to activities)
• Must have options for live music in the evenings (the birthday boy loves live music, no specific kind)
• Somewhat easy to get to - she rented a villa on Peter Island in BVI a few years back and it was lovely; however, we had to take a flight, then a short regional flight, then a drive, then a ferry and another drive to get there.
• Villa-situation is ideal so we have common areas and can easily mingle amongst ourselves. Potentially resort with suites that have 2-3 bedroom options would be fine so we can "kind of" stay together.
• Would prefer to stay away from huge hotels
• Selfishly, I would like good diving options. Four of us are certified divers and 1 more said he'll try and get certified prior to going depending on where we go (he's gone diving a few times, but not certified).

I know she has a lot of asks and she wants to move quickly (looking at the last full week of July 2018 to do this). I would love to go to Cancun or Belize, but Cancun seems like mostly huge resorts and we couldn't find anything in Belize that wasn't pretty remote. I think she'd consider anything - she has a lead on a place in Antigua at the moment, but I was hoping to maybe give her another option or two.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I would think Riviera Maya would be your best bet. Not necessarily Cancun proper but anywhere south of Cancun down to Tulum. Lots of AI resorts there that are great value. Lots of activities for young and old, including eco parks, Fifth Avenue in Playa del Carmen, Mayan ruins, beaches, cenotes for snorkeling or diving, ocean diving or snorkeling, etc. Can’t go wrong there for a big multi-generational family vacation. The evening show at Xcaret is a must-see. Wonderful music, dancing, story - just all-around great show. Otherwise, the resorts will have live music and shows in the evenings.

In terms of 2-3 bedroom suites, some resorts will have that - you’ll need to shop around. I’m not sure what your budget is, but Banyan Tree Mayakoba has 2 and 3 bedroom villas at the very high end.

Villas - Banyan Tree Mayakoba

Diving is decent all along the Riviera Maya, but excellent if you take the ferry to Cozumel as a day trip. Cenote diving is wonderful but not necessarily appropriate for beginners.

Other than “would prefer to stay away from huge hotels”, the Riviera Maya ticks all of your boxes.

 

[hammet]

Beaches @ Turks and Caicos

 

[AdivingBel]

Based on your list of criteria, I would go for a nice Caribbean cruise. Not the best diving, but it's available and with a bit of planning you could find some valet ops rather than the cruise ship vendors. You get to see different islands with lots of stuff to keep the non-divers entertained and really, really easy planning (and very elderly friendly). Any single island is going to get boring for the group or it's going to get really expensive i.e. Grand Cayman. Do a dive trip when you have divers. Just IMHO, YMMV. Enjoy the "famliness" of you family outing.

 

[Dogbowl]

Based on your list of criteria, I would go for a nice Caribbean cruise. Not the best diving, but it's available and with a bit of planning you could find some valet ops rather than the cruise ship vendors. You get to see different islands with lots of stuff to keep the non-divers entertained and really, really easy planning. Any single island is going to get boring for the group or it's going to get really, really expensive i.e. Grand Cayman. Do a dive trip when you have divers. Just IMHO, YMMV. Enjoy the "famliness" of you family outing.

This is also a great option!

I’m going to add that if you plan it so that your ports include Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Roatan, you can get excellent diving!

 

[lunula]

Thanks, everyone! I think a cruise is off the list of options simply because there are no real common areas where we can just hang out together and not be flooded by a bunch of strangers. She was looking at them originally, and I thought the same thing, but she was concerned about where to gather and didn't want to have a situation where we have to coordinate, "We'll meet here at 8:00am for breakfast" and "meet here at 9pm for drinks," etc. She felt that smaller ships would be more conducive to organic "gathering" - but are typically not interesting for children and it's pushing the budget considering you can easily drop $5k-$8k per person.

Will definitely take a look at Riveria Maya, the Banyan Tree and Beaches @ Turks and Caicos!

 

[mi000ke]

We have met a couple of large/extended families who were looking for a similar situation and who stayed in our condo building on 7 Mile beach on Grand Cayman. They rented several condos, and their "common area" was either one of the condos (they all have 3 br, living room, large lanai) or the beach (never crowded and easy to claim a lot of chairs in one area of the beach/pool). Lots of non-diving things to do, live music, good restaurants. Not all inclusive, though and not inexpensive.

 

[All Star Liveaboards]

The Cuan Law is a luxury liveaboard that would check almost all of your boxes.

It is an all inclusive liveaboard with diving and non-diving options.
The trip includes accommodations, all meals, beverages, diving and shore excursions.
We would be able to schedule shore excursions and try to find locations with live music.
You could decide as a group how many dives you would like to do during the week. We also have kayaks, hobie cats and other water toys.
We are able to assist with travel arrangements and hopefully make your trip as stress free as possible.

If you are looking for something more resort based, our friends at Small Hope Bay on Andros Island in the Bahamas would be a perfect fit. They are an all inclusive resort with diving packages. There is also a kids care center at the resort.

www.allstarliveaboards.com

 

[DavidFL]

Grand Cayman comes to my mind after looking at the post. I have made three trips there with groups of divers; we tend to stay away from the main resort area in these condos Grand Cayman Hotels & Beachfront Rentals | Turtle Nest Inn that include rental car(s), but in your situation I would be tempted to find a place on seven mile beach, but it will be relatively expensive. Direct from Atlanta on Delta.

 

[KeithG]

Thanks, everyone! I think a cruise is off the list of options simply because there are no real common areas where we can just hang out together and not be flooded by a bunch of strangers. She was looking at them originally, and I thought the same thing, but she was concerned about where to gather and didn't want to have a situation where we have to coordinate, "We'll meet here at 8:00am for breakfast" and "meet here at 9pm for drinks," etc. She felt that smaller ships would be more conducive to organic "gathering" - but are typically not interesting for children and it's pushing the budget considering you can easily drop $5k-$8k per person.

Will definitely take a look at Riveria Maya, the Banyan Tree and Beaches @ Turks and Caicos!

I also suggest a cruise ship. $8k per person seems to be VERY high end, maybe you need to look at different ships?

You will still be flooded by a bunch of strangers at a land resort - unless you book the whole thing. If it is small enough for you to book it all, you will likely find that it does not have enough breadth of services to keep everyone interested.

A cruise ship has a different set of distractions every day. You can rush off the ship and take a tour, wander off the ship and stroll about, or just relax on the ship. Eat early, eat late, watch a show, turn in early. Lots of options. You will also most likely discover that not everyone wants to be together ALL of the time.