Where in the Caribbean would you return for a Land-only vacation?

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, ssb said:

I’m Interested in your idea of History .  Everything is relative . 

I grew up in the Roman capital of England,  that was sacked by Boudica in 69 AD. The Roman remains were turned into  a castle around 1100 by the Normans. 

 My school was established by Henry 8th in 1539.

 During the English Civil war the parliamentarians beseiged the town.   The nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty " refers to the cannon on the top of St Mary's church in the civil war. The same church that I attended in my teens. 

That's my idea of history.  

 

[ssb]

6 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I grew up in the Roman capital of England,  that was sacked by Boudica in 69 AD. The Roman remains were turned into  a castle around 1100 by the Normans. 

 My school was established by Henry 8th in 1539.

 During the English Civil war the parliamentarians beseiged the town.   The nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty " refers to the cannon on the top of St Mary's church in the civil war. The same church that I attended in my teens. 

That's my idea of history.  

 

Now that is History and you have such great relativity to it . Sure you are into ancestry then . How far back there does your family go ?  

Edited August 16, 2020 by ssb

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, ssb said:

Now that is History and you have such great relativity to it . Sure you are into ancestry then . How far back there does your family go ?  

No idea about my family - not really that bothered.  My father was from Wales, so probably his descendants were driven there by the Normans back around 1200, but not much in the way of records in those days! 

We did once own a house that was built around 1525, with an extension built in 1679. Horsehair and plaster on the walls -  you don't see that combination anymore! 

[K32682]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

I grew up in the Roman capital of England,  that was sacked by Boudica in 69 AD. The Roman remains were turned into  a castle around 1100 by the Normans. 

 My school was established by Henry 8th in 1539.

 During the English Civil war the parliamentarians beseiged the town.   The nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty " refers to the cannon on the top of St Mary's church in the civil war. The same church that I attended in my teens. 

That's my idea of history.  

 

 

It's one of the distinguishing features between Americans and the British.  The British think 100 miles is a long way to drive while Americans think 100 years was a long time ago. 

[HBE4]

12 hours ago, K32682 said:

 

It's one of the distinguishing features between Americans and the British.  The British think 100 miles is a long way to drive while Americans think 100 years was a long time ago. 

 

 

100 miles is just a trip around the corner for me! 😀

[HBE4]

On 8/15/2020 at 3:38 AM, wowzz said:

Not from the UK. Flights to Sri Lanka take 45 minutes longer than flights to Aruba.  

Holidays to Sri Lanka are far cheaper than to Aruba.  

 

I randomly checked a few hotel prices in Sri Lanka and it definitely has Aruba beat on price.

 

How's the food? I'm a meat-n-potatoes guys.

[wowzz]

28 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

I randomly checked a few hotel prices in Sri Lanka and it definitely has Aruba beat on price.

 

How's the food? I'm a meat-n-potatoes guys.

Food is fantastic, but definitely not meat and potatoes.  Think lots of spices,  rice and fresh fruit.

[navybankerteacher]

15 hours ago, wowzz said:

I grew up in the Roman capital of England,  that was sacked by Boudica in 69 AD. The Roman remains were turned into  a castle around 1100 by the Normans. 

 My school was established by Henry 8th in 1539.

 During the English Civil war the parliamentarians beseiged the town.   The nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty " refers to the cannon on the top of St Mary's church in the civil war. The same church that I attended in my teens. 

That's my idea of history.  

 

I grew up in the Dutch-Anglo-American port where the Hudson River forms the Atlantic Ocean (which river remains the “edge of the wild” - to use Tolkein’s term - separating the civilized coastline from what is sometimes referred to as “O land” — filled with places like Ohio, Oakland, Oklahoma, Omaha, Oregon, Oneonta, Oswego, and Opeleika).

 

My school was established by Samuel Morse’s major investor (who profited far more from the introduction of the telegraph than did Morse). 

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Food is fantastic, but definitely not meat and potatoes.  Think lots of spices,  rice and fresh fruit.

 

 

That's probably better for my waist line.

[HBE4]

10 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

I grew up in the Dutch-Anglo-American port where the Hudson River forms the Atlantic Ocean (which river remains the “edge of the wild” - to use Tolkein’s term - separating the civilized coastline from what is sometimes referred to as “O land” — filled with places like Ohio, Oakland, Oklahoma, Omaha, Oregon, Oneonta, Oswego, and Opeleika).

 

My school was established by Samuel Morse’s major investor (who profited far more from the introduction of the telegraph than did Morse). 

 

Sounds like the old fur trading post of New Amsterdam, back when land was purchased from the local population.

 

Best $25 real estate investment ever.

[Capt Guy]

Anguilla is opening this week, kind of . . .

https://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/anguilla-to-begin-welcoming-tourists-from-friday

[SelectSys]

2 hours ago, Capt Guy said:

Anguilla is opening this week, kind of . . .

https://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/anguilla-to-begin-welcoming-tourists-from-friday

 

Makes sense.  I will expect more and more of these kinds of solutions to be put forward as opposed to blanket bans on travel.  For example, do you really want a complete shutout of the 330,000,000+ people in the US that have never had any exposure to COVID? 

 

We'll see this first in tourist dependent areas and later spread to more and more locations as disease management becomes more sophisticated nuanced and agreements between governments are made.

 

Bottom line is that tourism is going to be slower and more expensive in the near term.  If you want to travel internationally, get ready to pay more and deal with the administrative complexity.  

 

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by SelectSys

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

Sounds like the old fur trading post of New Amsterdam, back when land was purchased from the local population.

 

Best $25 real estate investment ever.

Actually, I believe that at current rates of exchange it was more like $26 — but you are indeed right in identifying the transaction as pretty damn good (for the buyers and their descendants).

[navybankerteacher]

27 minutes ago, SelectSys said:

 

...

 

 For example, do you really want a complete shutout of the 330,000,000+ people in the US that have never had any exposure to COVID? 

 

 

 

 

If the alternative to a limited, yet effective, shutdown is another several million infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths - yes such a shutdown is a good idea.

[SelectSys]

3 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

If the alternative to a limited, yet effective, shutdown is another several million infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths - yes such a shutdown is a good idea.

 

Are you suggesting that these tourists would return to the US and cause more local infections?  If someone goes to another country without the being sick, they aren't a risk to that population.

 

Regardless of what you and I might think, expect to see more policies like the one listed.  

[c-boy]

On 8/16/2020 at 6:10 PM, K32682 said:

 

It's one of the distinguishing features between Americans and the British.  The British think 100 miles is a long way to drive while Americans think 100 years was a long time ago. 

things move fast south of the border, try keepin' up. 

[Aplmac]

On 8/17/2020 at 1:56 PM, SelectSys said:

 

Makes sense.  I will expect more and more of these kinds of solutions to be put forward as opposed to blanket bans on travel.  For example, do you really want a complete shutout of the 330,000,000+ people in the US that have never had any exposure to COVID? 

 

We'll see this first in tourist dependent areas and later spread to more and more locations as disease management becomes more sophisticated nuanced and agreements between governments are made.

 

Bottom line is that tourism is going to be slower and more expensive in the near term.  If you want to travel internationally, get ready to pay more and deal with the administrative complexity. 

 

Gradually, we are seeing more visitors

here on the island of Barbados.

Nice to see y'all returning to our shores

Flights come in quite often now and inevitably 2 or 3 Covids get picked out

and isolated locally. 

People on those flights sitting near to such identified, get monitored

for the next week or so, and the local health authorities

DO go around to their places and conduct further tests!!

 

Must say they have it fairly well worked out

so we can benefit from some small degree of tourism economy

while keeping this wretched Covid-19 curse down to a low roar, locally

so we don't get any community spread

but it takes a bit or work to get it all done!
Then again NOTHING is ever easy!

 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 7/22/2020 at 4:49 AM, Mapleleafforever said:

Cuba hands down, no contest. Best beaches in the world by far...

 

Sounds like you haven't traveled much.

 

In the Caribbean, Cuba and Jamaica would be the last two I would return to.

 

I like the Bahamas for convenience, but Antigua, St Barts, St Kitts, BVI and Curacao.

[Mapleleafforever]

52 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

Sounds like you haven't traveled much.

 

In the Caribbean, Cuba and Jamaica would be the last two I would return to.

 

I like the Bahamas for convenience, but Antigua, St Barts, St Kitts, BVI and Curacao.

I stand by my statement. Cuba has the best beaches in the world, that's my opinion. Been to all the places you mentioned, no comparison in my book. I mentioned beaches only, not resorts. 

[mom says]

1 hour ago, Mapleleafforever said:

I stand by my statement. Cuba has the best beaches in the world, that's my opinion. Been to all the places you mentioned, no comparison in my book. I mentioned beaches only, not resorts. 

Ah, but have you been to Barbados or Antigua? Great beaches there, and as much as I like Cuba, I wouldn't rate their beaches amongst the best in the Caribbean.

[SelectSys]

3 hours ago, Aplmac said:

 

Gradually, we are seeing more visitors

here on the island of Barbados.

Nice to see y'all returning to our shores

Flights come in quite often now and inevitably 2 or 3 Covids get picked out

and isolated locally. 

People on those flights sitting near to such identified, get monitored

for the next week or so, and the local health authorities

DO go around to their places and conduct further tests!!

 

Must say they have it fairly well worked out

so we can benefit from some small degree of tourism economy

while keeping this wretched Covid-19 curse down to a low roar, locally

so we don't get any community spread

but it takes a bit or work to get it all done!
Then again NOTHING is ever easy!

 

Thanks for this view from the perspective of a country receiving and managing incoming tourists!  It is very much appreciated by me.   Good luck to you and your country in these challenging times!

 

[Aplmac]

1 hour ago, SelectSys said:

Thanks for this view from the perspective of a country

receiving and managing incoming tourists!  It is very much appreciated by me.   

Good luck to you and your country in these challenging times!

 

We've had to be near-draconian, but with a velvet glove

and a persuasive female Prime Minister.

 

It hasn't been easy, and it isn't easy now.
And it will be like this for the next year or so, unfortunately.

 

About 2-3 months ago

we hurried created a hospital with isolation facilities

in the scenic North of the island. 200 bed capacity.
'Les Miserables' get sent there when the test comes back Positive!

So we can handle y'all!

 

Rockley beach -top
Hilton Beach -below

[evandbob]

1 hour ago, mom says said:

Ah, but have you been to Barbados or Antigua? Great beaches there, and as much as I like Cuba, I wouldn't rate their beaches amongst the best in the Caribbean.

 

Gold Coast in Barbados was very nice, like Aplmac's pics above on the Caribbean side, Atlantic side way too rough except for world class surfers (google Bathsheba and Sam Lords). 

 

Been to Antigua twice, Galley Bay had the nicest beach out of the many we saw there;

 

Jamaica's Negril and Doc Caves beaches are fine;

 

I saw pics of beaches from western Cuba away from Havana on both the north & south shores that looked wonderful, someday maybe we'll get there; 

 

Grenada had Pink Gin Beach where LaSource used to be, thought that was even nicer than Grand Anse;

 

Sint Maarten has Orient Beach, not the optional section, the regular beach is nice.

 

Dominican Republic has Punta Cana and Bavarro Beaches, very nice

 

Wasn't impressed with St Kitts beaches although Carambola was okay.  Marriott's kind of poor, even with the breakwater.  The beach facing Nevis has very coarse sand. One or two black sand beaches there for a change of pace.

 

Same with Curacao, meh.

 

Cancun beaches have fine sand that rarely feels hot under one's feet and absolutely aqua blue ocean.  Playa del Carmen's Hotel Zone/Playacar can be nice if seaweed free.

 

Someone mentioned seaweed at Coz, well that's happening more often there and elsewhere throughout the Caribbean as water temps keep rising, more and more fertilizer gets into the ocean and the sargassum keeps growing.  Depending on tides and winds it could show up one day and be gone the next - or be there day after day or not at all. Sint Maarten, Bahamas, Punta Cana, PDC and others have seen outbreaks, as well as Miami's South Beach.  Some have seen it everyday cruising on a southern TA sailing.  Red drift algae is also a problem at times on both of Florida's coastlines.

 

I guess I can't narrow it down to just one beach......but I found most of the above by staying on the islands rather than during quick ports of call on a cruise.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

4 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

I stand by my statement. Cuba has the best beaches in the world, that's my opinion. Been to all the places you mentioned, no comparison in my book. I mentioned beaches only, not resorts. 

 

The best beaches in the world aren't in the Caribbean, they are in the South Pacific, Malaysia and Thailand. Maldives get an honorable mention.

[Aquahound]

When it comes to "best beach," "best" is on the eye of the beholder.  My best beach is on a particular backcountry sand bar in the lower Florida Keys that is only accessible by boat.