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Caribbean Travel RoundupNewsletter - Paul Graveline, Editor |
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(Ed Note: The following items are reprinted with permission from Frank Barnako's Virgin Islands News. For more information check out http://www.clark.net/pub/fbarnako/otr/Paradise.htm/ as Frank also has a local villa to rent. Much thanks to Frank for keeping us updated on the USVI happenings. ).
What's happening Music, music, music. No fewer than a dozen restaurants on St. John are offering live music nightly. Steelpan reggae, rock 'n roll, solo guitar, country/blues, new age jazz, and vocals are to be heard in Cruz Bay and Coral Bay nightspots seven days a week. Among the busiest performers (they appear at several spots during the week) are Chris Carsel and Company (guitar/vocals), and Mark Wallace also guitar/vocals.(1/28/97) Westin may reopen Hyatt sooner Lots of criticism has greeted estimates by the new owners of the St. John Hyatt property saying they'd reopen the facility in the 4th quarter of this year. Now Tradewinds editor Tom Oat quotes a Westin Hotels public relations coordinator saying "further determination" will be made on a reopening date following the deal's closing this month or next. She is reported to have added "I know Westin is doing everything they can to accelerate (reopening)."(1/28/97) New at Caneel This year, guests may have breakfast served in their rooms. By the way, we have learned that Caneel's former Sugar Mill restaurant, open to non-residents at the hotel too, has been rebuilt and reopened under the name Equator. One local, a builder, describes the menu as "very interesting and good", entrees $25-30. (1/28/97) Old club, new name Jerry's Club Eclipse has a new owner, a musician, who promises to offer "relaxation, sophistication and 'fine entertainment'," reports the Tradewinds. Eclipse is in Cruz Bay, across the street from Lime Inn and virtually next door to reggae bar-and-grill Fred's. Eclipse will open Feb. 7th with Broadway's Michelle Bautier booked to "share her amazing voice.(1/28/97) 'Cup fever' spreads to St. John Walking downtown in Cruz Bay, you can buy souvenirs and fund- raising products to support the V.I. America's Cup Challenge. T- shirts, caps, and so on. I've even seen some of the items being worn! Meanwhile, Cardow Jewelers has agreed to donate $100,000, becoming "a major local sponsor" of the grass roots effort. An executive with the Challenge says its training ship, Stars and Stripes, will be "proud" to fly Cardow's flag.(1/28/97) New stores at St. John's Wharfside Village A combination sunglass/cigar store is one of the newest occupants of Wharfside shopping center, and it's joined by a men's and women's stylish clothing store, Club Ryno. Cay Chandler managers Ryno, a branch of the St. Thomas operation, saying "we don't carry tropical outfits" but you will find "fashions from cool to casual to elegantly formal." Shady Days' owner, Will Davis says his store will carry 35 sunwear lines, and the "best lotions under the sun for your skin." He's also laid in "a wide selection of fine cigars and related accessories."(1/21/97) St. Croix art shop focuses on home-grown Kallaloo is the name of a new store on St. Croix selling only souvenirs, crafts, art and other items made by Virgin Islanders. Owner Sonia Jacobs Dow told the Virgin Islands Daily News "It wasn't a matter of creating a niche. It was seeing a void and saying 'Let's fill the hole.'" One St. Thomas shop owner said he was unaware many items are made in the Islands, indicating he'd be willing to offer them at retail of there was a distributor. "There is not one place where the merchants can find these goods," he said. 35-year-old Dow has found plenty to stock her shelves; including mocko jumbie dolls, paints, photographs, and more. She said the store stocks the works of 77 local artisans. (A similarly- focused store, operating as an artists' cooperative, has also opened on St. John in the past year. It's called Island Made, and is located on the South Shore Road, near the former-Hyatt hotel. Its phone number is 809-693-7575.(1/21/97) Clinton visit still making waves During his recent "change of scenery" to the Virgin Islands (One source says Presidents don't get "vacations), President Clinton reportedly remarked to some people he was glad to see the islands recovering from Hurricane Marilyn. Although this winter vacation season looks to be less than sold-out, the chief executive's visit is nonetheless seen as a barometer predicting better tourism weather is ahead. An executive with the island's public relations firm said the President's visit is "an endorsement that you just can't pay for."(1/14/97) The owner of Zorba's restaurant on Government Hill reports his place has been jammed since the President and his family dined with him. The Daily News quotes Jimmy Boukas saying "Saturday night I had tourists coming in and taking pictures of the table and chairs the president sat in." Boukas added "after 10 years of downhill, it's sure a great plus for the island. The most powerful man in the world came here. (1/14/97) Cruzan Rum a winner The Caribbean Week Journal of Barbados has completed its annual Rum Tasting. Fifteen categories of rum are included in the judging, with first, second and third place awards being made. In the "Overproof" (!) category, Virgin Islands Cruzan Rum 151 Gold was a winner. (Tourism note: some of the best prices on rum, beer and liquor on St. Thomas are to be had at the K Mart! Honest!) (1/14/97) Snips from the Washington Post's story Sunday: "Lazy days of reading on balmy Caribbean beaches, snorkeling in azure waters and golfing along cliff-side greens have done boners for the executive disposition. However, Clinton does not always appear gripped by his reading; he was spotted one day with a book lying open across his chest while he snoozed on the beach. For once, work has rarely intruded on a presidential getaway." Sounds like he had a nice time.(1/7/97) Clinton 5th chief exec to visit VI's The Daily News believes Herbert Hoover was the first President to visit the Virgin Islands, in 1931. Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Nixon and Jimmy carter have also been there. At least five VPs also visited while they were in office.(1/7/97) Where the President stayed The Sand Dollar estate in Estate Peterborg is a three bedroom home, renting for $6,500 a week. It has its own pool and access to Magen's Bay. The property owners allowed the President to stay at no charge, but the First family will have to declare the forgiven fee as income. The property is owned by Jay and Dolly Greblick. It's 3,700 square feet, on a half acre site with 130 feet of beachfront. It's on the market, furnished, for $1.2 million.(1/7/97) Escape from electronics The New York Times' Travel section about a week ago highlighted Caneel Bay as the place where you HAVE to get away from it all. The resort "bans tabletop phones and TVs from its 171 luxurious rooms and cottages," the paper reported, adding "Caneel still has only one TV, a wall-size job for nightly movies, and a handful of tempermental public phones."(1/7/97) More beds than seats President Clinton had no trouble making travel arrangements to visit the Virgin Islands, of course. But island hoteliers say lots of other people are being locked out" because airlines have too few flights serving the island. The president of the islands' Hotel Association complains, in the Daily News "we don't have enough airline seats to maintain the occupancy. It's harder to get the airline seat than the hotel room." Nonetheless Bob Seifert says island hotels are expecting a "good - not a great" winter. On St. John, the managing director at Caneel Bay says the season is "looking great," his resort running 80% filled this month and projected at 95 percent next month.(1/7/97) Virgin Islands News,St. John businesses sad The Westin Hotel Corp.'s plans not to reopen the former-St. John Hyatt until at least October 1997 is discouraging news to St. John's business people. A spokeswoman for Westin is quoted saying the company plans to renovate the hotel during the period between closing and next Fall. The owner of Morgan's Mango restaurant (you gotta visit!!!) says the Hyatt hotel accounted for as much as 30% of his business, reason enough for him and other business people to wish Westin moves quickly.(12/31/96) Stars and Stripes arrives The America's Cup challenger, bought by VI Cup hopefuls for training, has arrived in the Islands. The 80-foot boat was delivered by a freighter. The Daily News says it is the first of two boats the VI Cup challengers will buy for training. Challenger team members are hoping to get Stars and Stripes into the water within days.(12/31/96)
Just returned from the wonderful island of Aruba. On the way down, American Airlines over sold the flight and was offering 1000 dollars to get off, but no way I wanted to be drinking my pina colada on the beach. I stayed at the beautiful Marriott resort. It was outstanding. Better than last year. The service is excellent, especially Danny on the beach. The rooms are very spacious and modern. My only complaint was the food in the hotel, except breakfast was average to poor. Tuscany's is way over priced and not even good food. Here are my restaurant reviews for the dates December 21 to December 29. I took into consideration that this is the busiest week of the year in Aruba. Here we go. El GAUCHO- excellent beef, especially the gaucho steak. Those sauces are great. Garlic shrimp excellent. Service very good. Very busy. DRIFTWOOD- poor service, very limited menu. Out of a lot of items. The only descent thing was the lobster tail. I would not recommend this. CHALET SUISSE- very busy and could not handle the business. The waiter comes over after 20 minutes and just say What do you want? No welcome nothing. The owner walks around with his shirt hanging out of his pants. The veal was dry like shoe leather. I have to say though the chocolate fondue is to die for. They were just to busy. Maybe try again later on. VALENTINOES- Outstanding in my opinion. The service was wonderful and very kind. The food was great. The steak stuffed with garlic was excellent. Everything was good from beginning to end. Edwyn the manager knows what he is doing. When he sings happy birthday in Dutch it is great. TUSCANY'S- to expensive for what they give you. Not my favorite meal. Boonoonoonoos- very cute and tropical. The food is good and different. I had pina colada chicken which was very tasty. The service was a bit slow, but all right. The beach was beautiful. Calm. It rained a couple time, but for only like ten minutes. Casinos are not my thing but tried as little. If you have any other questions just ask.!!
We left for Aruba the day before Thanksgiving and had a few empty seats still left. We spent three days at the Radisson and was really impressed with the place. We stayed at Americana last year, and although the food and staff was great, the place was a little run down. The Rad on the other hand was immaculate, Food great and the staff just as friendly. We heard from the others that we had just missed a big rainstorm that lasted for the entire day the day before we arrived. The weather wasn't really sunny the days we were at the Rad, so we went into town and tried to get our shopping out of the way. Trinkets T- shirts etc for everyone. We visited the pink monstrosity, but found that it was definitely a TT (tourist trap) We then went on to Main Street to do our shopping. The further down you go, the cheaper things are. It was a shame to see those empty stores here and there. Hopefully they will be opened again with new things. Thanksgiving day was certainly different. The Rad was having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, so we decided to try it. The food was so so not great. We found out later that CL had a Thanksgiving buffet that was much better. Tom and a fellow from NJ were in the lounge waiting for the Dallas game to start and almost got into a brawl with a guy from Holland. It seems the guy didn't like football and decided he was going to turn off the TV. Big mistake if you have about six guys waiting to see the game. Anyway, the satellite didn't pick up the game after all, so Tom is still sulking. Friday we moved down to Costa Linda for two weeks. We rented a car from Super for only $28 a day. (Bargain) Two door Metro, automatic, air and very ugly green (easy to spot in the parking lot) As a result of all the rain, the insects were taking over the island. You couldn't stay outside for more than an hour without walking away with at least four bites. Nighttime was worse. Towards the end of our stay, the bug problem seemed to ease off. (guess the sprayed) The smell on the other hand stayed there between Amsterdam Manor and the Wyndham our entire stay. You couldn't leave the windows rolled down if you were passing the bird sanctuary. Saturday morning our daughter and her husband, who surprised her for her birthday with this trip, arrived. It took over 12 hours for them to get there from Scottsdale. From Phoenix to Dallas to Miami to San Juan finally to Aruba. We dropped off their luggage and gave them a quick tour of the hotels and low rise because this was their first trip to Aruba. They were in love with the island already. We showed them downtown and then went to Pueblo to get whatever things they wanted that we forgot to buy. Pueblo had a spinning wheel for anyone spending 25 Florins or more. You spun to see how much of a discount you would get on your order %. The Borden's chocolate milk was the best we ever had. Went to Alhambra that night and left our donation. The next day we went to the Phoenix and earned our Casino chips by sitting there for over three hours. The place looks like it will be really nice, but pricey. $15000 for one week. (one bedroom) The pre-construction price. We went to the Mill that night and had a really nice dinner. Food was good, so we couldn't understand why it was dead. The next day we went jet skiing for the first time, which was really fun until I looked down to see what my daughter was pointing at. A fin next to me, so I was back on shore in a flash. Tom said it was only a baby shark, but that was enough for me. That night we went out on the Tattoo, now that was fun. Lots of food (BBQ) drinks music and laughs, especially when Tom went jumping form the rope at the end into the water. The next day we went out on the Mi Dushi snorkeling. The crew was great, the weather bad(rain), but everyone still had a good time. Ate at Le Bistroquet and it was great. The next day we went horseback riding at Rancho Daimari. We tried Rancho Del Campo last time, so we decided to try this one. The horses here were in better shape, but much more spirited. Not good if you're a beginner as some people in the group were. The Natural Pool was great as always, but the ride home was a little exciting. As the group was waiting for the ones who fell behind, Tom felt a pain in his leg and thought he had been stung. Wrong, the woman behind him never rode before and didn't know how to control her horse who was latched onto Tom's leg. Finally the horse let go and when we returned to Ranch, we looked at his leg. Through a pair of Jeans there were teeth marks, blood, and a hole. When we told the owners, it was only grudgingly that they finally sprayed some antiseptic (maybe) on it. That night we went back to Alhambra where we immediately made our deposit and left. We went to the Masquerade at the Rad next where we at least got to play for a few hours before we donated. Next day was a full day of shopping downtown. Tom and our son-in- law finally said enough and sat at Senor Frog's drinking Grolsch while my daughter and I finished shopping. Since we were in town anyway, we decided to eat at the Paddock. Big Mistake. Tom's Filet Mignon was fine, but Joanne ordered shrimp and almost passed out when they arrived heads and all. She got past that but when she realized they were never cleaned (deveined) she lost her appetite. The waiter told us that was the European way of serving them. We said, we don't think so. (they smelled also, not fresh) The next day was our own version of the Jeep Safari. Why pay $54 each to be packed 4 in a jeep when we could rent two for $150. This was a joke also. We rented Jeeps from Thrifty at Cl and when we went outside were shown two heaps that were not allowed to go off road.(Why does one get a Jeep?) Joanne's was missing a few pieces, but was OK. Ours had a flat, but the lady said it was no big deal, just stop every once in awhile for air. We said Forget it and went to Super and got 2 Trackers that were fine. We started at the lighthouse and worked our way down to the Gold mines. We stooped along the way to take pictures and happened to be next to a puddle that my daughter could not resist racing through. The mud splashed outside, inside, everywhere. Clothes camera cooler. Our next stop was down to the water to try and wash off anything we could. It wouldn't have been a big deal, but we were going to El Gaucho's later that evening. We continued down the trail until the Natural bridge and then went inland to San Nicholas to Baby Beach. The Beach was nice as always and Tom found a good spot to snorkel past the rocks. (where the local told us someone had drowned the week before). It seems the weather was so rough 20 ft waves etc. (We only saw 8 ft waves ourselves) Before returning to CL to get ready for dinner we stopped at the car wash behind Pueblo for which my daughter paid.(not laughing now) El Gaucho's was excellent. Tom (the pig) could hardly finish it. Our son-in-law tried some seafood sampler platter which included squid octopus etc. and although he said it was good, it was a shame he was still full from lunch and could hardly eat.(right) After that we decided to try our luck at the Hyatt. Tom went to sit in the lobby on their couches while the rest of us played BJ. We thought we saw someone who could possibly have been a hooker, but no, not in Aruba. Wrong. Tom was laughing when we left and told us about some lady who started a conversation with him in the lobby. Was he tired, alone, WIFE??? The next day we took the ferry to DePalm island and guess what, rain again. Didn't stop us from snorkeling. Joanne and her husband went home which left us time to relax after a whirlwind week of fun and games. We did that very well. Next day went to the shops at the hotels and was surprised to see what a mess Aruba Palm Beach was. They're renovating, but looked like a bomb went off in the lobby. Finally returned home to do frantic Christmas shopping.
This is a review of The Peter Island Resort from our trip there in December, 1996. My wife and I recently returned from a week's stay at Peter Island. We were terribly disappointed. While there were some positives, the negatives out- weighed them 10 to 1. This place might be a premier diving destination, but it is most definitely NOT a private, secluded resort. Arrival: En route to Peter from Tortola we stopped outside of Deadman's Bay to help other guests "rescue" their capsized catamaran. We puttered around and around trying to pull the cat upright to no avail. We then took the man and woman closer into Deadman's Bay so they can swim to shore. Finally, we proceeded around the corner to Sprat Bay dock. Check-in: Absolutely awful. There were 6 of us checking in (2 other couples we didn't know) and it took over 20 minutes at the counter for the confusion to end! What a way to arrive at the hotel. Accommodations: Requested upper beach-front room 4 months in advance - got a lower beach front room. Quadriplex design makes for a very NON-PRIVATE stay, with loud upper neighbors banging around in the evening. Paper-thin walls allow love-making sounds from adjacent room to richochet through the room quite loudly. Just plain unromantic. And the beachfront rooms have a wooden dock which leads to the beach. Standing right outside my room (and I am 6' 1") I see nothing but shrubs and the shadow of palm leaves. I hear the waves, but can't see any beach at all. Deadman's Chest is in view, but come on!! Beach front rooms? Not at all. Beaches: Peter Island advertises itself as having the world's 5 most romantic beaches. This is a joke. Deadman's Beach is beautiful indeed, but ALL of Peter Island's guests are on it, and there is absolutely NO privacy. Little Deadman's Beach is even more beautiful, but the charter-boat crowd anchors here and you have dinghies coming up to the beach all day to "explore". Honeymoom Beach is too far from the rooms and difficult to reach, but is also subject to yachters coming ashore and disturbing your peace and quiet. Big Reef Bay Beach is nothing more than broken shells, coral, and strewn with litter, trash, and turtle grass. White Bay Beach is too far to hike to, but the resort schedules transportation for a private picnic. However, again yachters find this harbor and ruin tranquillity. If you happen to get one of these beaches for even a 1/2 hour without people everywhere, you will be lucky. Guests' Privacy: Day-trippers do not respect signs on Deadman's Beach, which instruct them to NOT use this beach, as it is reserved for PI guests. They anchor at Little Deadman's Beach and walk onto Deadman's Beach from the south end ALL the way across it and up beside the bar and grill, etc. Food: This is the good part of our stay. We couldn't have been happier with the meals and service. Staff: Excellent, excepting for 1 person. Jean is the restaurant super- visor, and is THE shining star of the operation. Checkout: Again, a huge mess. Wrong bill. Wrong charges. Takes 1/2 hour to reconcile. Overall grade: F
We flew into Tortola on Feb. 10 around 9:00PM. The flights in and out of Tortola are a story in and of themselves. BEWARE! If you are flying into Tortola, do not to fly Dolphin Airlines. A ticket on this airline is simply a hunting license for a seat on one of their planes. They had to charter a plane for us and two other couples just to get there despite the fact that we had tickets for seats on their regular flight. On the day we were supposed to leave, we called to reconfirm the flight only to find out when we got there that the plane was broken down. The two couples that we flew in with had called five times to reconfirm only to be told the same thing at the airport. Eventually we got onto an American Eagle flight to San Juan to make our connection but we were lucky. We got the last two seats on the plane. I'm not sure we would have ever made it out that day on Dolphin. This was the only stressful time of the whole vacation. If you go either charter your own plane or get on a flight with American Eagle. These small airlines are a roll of the dice. Also if you count on making a connection in San Juan, spot yourself two hours to make it. It took Northwest an hour to unload our luggage at the airport. Also make sure you lock your luggage. Alot of the bags looked like they had been unzipped. Other options on getting into Tortola include flying to St. Thomas and taking the ferry over. The ferry services run a tight schedule and the ride is fast and pleasant. Cost from St. Thomas are only $35 per person round trip. Now about the island itself.... Tortola is a mountainous island in the British Virgin Islands, about 60 miles east of Puerto Rico. Tortola is the largest of the BVI's. Virgin Gorda is another major island in the chain. The other smaller islands consist of Peter Island, Guana Island, Jost Van Dyke and hundreds of other too small to inhabit. All the islands are clustered close together except for Anegada which is situated some 20 miles to the north. All of the BVI's are volcanic in origin except for Anegada which is coral. This makes for dramatic landscapes and beautiful vistas. Tortola has several fantastic beaches, the best are along the north shore: Smuggler's, Long Bay, Carrot Bay, Apple Bay, Brewer's Bay, and Josiah's Bay. The two that we liked the best were Brewer's Bay and Smuggler's Bay. Brewer's Bay is surrounded by mountains and is usually very calm. The snorkeling here is good and there is a campground here near the beach. It is somewhat harder to get to than the others but you're rewarded with more seclusion. There are two good beach bars here if you want to get a snack. Smuggler's bay is at the end of a ROUGH road toward the West end of the island. You'll need a Jeep to travel this road but it is passable. Just pack a lunch (there are no concessions there) and follow your instincts and the map as best you can and you'll get there just fine. Once you get to the beach you won't want to leave. This is one of the smaller beaches on the island so a few people can make it seem more crowded. This is a fun place to come in the morning so you can watch the pelicans fish the clear water. One morning of our time there we spent visiting the Sage Mountain Park. This is a great place to visit even if you're not into hiking like we are. The trails there are well maintained and the view is magnificent on a clear day. Here you'll find an abundance of beautiful, wild tropical plants. You might spot a few of the larger lizards if you keep your eyes open. There is a good restaurant at the trailhead if you get hungry. Most of the activities on the island center around sailing. This area contains the largest concentration of charter boats in the world. When you get out on the water you see why. The winds are constant and there is an abundance of protected anchorages to spend the evening. We went on a day sail to Virgin Gorda one day aboard the White Squall. This is an 80 foot yacht built back in the 30's and owned by a New Zealander who lives on Tortola. The cost is very reasonable and the best deal we found on the island, only $65 per person. That includes a buffet style lunch and all your drinks. The trip we took was to the Baths on Virgin Gorda and snorkeling on Cooper Island. The Baths is absolutely fantastic. Don't leave the BVI's with out going. Snorkeling off Cooper Island is also very good. We saw 2 turtles, 5 barracudas (at once!), and a stingray while there. The trip lasts all day. You leave around 9:00 AM and return around 3:30 PM. There are some great side trips you can take by ferry. We went to Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas one day just to go shopping and see the sights. It was a nice afternoon trip but I wouldn't take it again. St. Thomas is way too commercialized for my tastes and the people hound you to death to buy something and the prices are not that good. Also the place can be congested when there is more than one cruise ship in port. The dock can handle 7 ships at a time. A better choice of ferry is to Jost Van Dyke, or Peter Island. These are great places to visit if you want to relax in a secluded place. If you're worried about being sea sick, don't. The boats are very smooth and fast. Our trip to St. Thomas took only about 30 minutes. Shopping in Roadtown is not that great. In fact you could miss Roadtown altogether and not miss much. If you do go there are a couple of places you don't want to miss. J.R. O'Neal's on Main St. has a beautiful selection of imported items from all over the world. The Sunny Caribbee Spice Shop carries gifts and all kinds of spices. Make sure you pick up a jar of chutney. It's a sweet local relish made from tropical fruit. I'm personally not a relish eater but I love this stuff. You can also get jerk spices and Caribbean bar-b-que sauce here too. Also check out the open market in the middle of town. Lots of good buys on t-shirts and other goods here. We stayed at Ft. Recovery Estate on the south coast towards West End. Ft. Recovery is a very nice property. They offer 10 air conditioned villas, a small beach, a pool, and lots of paperback books to read while you lounge on the water. Each room faces the ocean and the sunlight on the mountains of St. John are a wonderful sight every morning especially from #8 where we were. Actually we had the opportunity to stay in two of the villas, #8 and #10. Villa #8 offers a great view and much cooler breezes since it is situated on the second level (the only villa on the second level). Villa #10 is much more roomy and closer to the pool (great for a family of four) but is not as breezy and requires little more air conditioning than #8. Both offer a full, well furnished kitchen for nights when you opt to not have dinner served on your veranda by the staff. Ft Recovery's food is good especially when you don't want to go out for dinner. To say the staff is helpful is an understatement. Pamelah makes everything run smooth and keeps the property in working order. Ft Recovery is probably wins the prize for most-bang-for-the-buck on Tortola. There are only a few criticisms I have about the property. Water is sometimes scarce and a few times we couldn't get more than a trickle out of the shower. It didn't happen often but it seems to be a chronic problem all over the island. Also the electricity can sometimes go out, as you'll find anywhere you go in the Caribbean. But I guess the biggest thing to me (and I know people will call me picky) is how the complex is laid out. Every room is as close to the beach as possible. This makes the property look a little shuffled and gives the idea that there was no overall plan to the property. In fact I think is was planned out but I would have sacrificed being right on the water for a little better aesthetics in the overall look of the place. Surprisingly to me the fort itself is not really integrated into the layout. A renovation will be coming soon according to Pamelah so maybe they'll take this into consideration. If you stay here, definitely count on renting a car. Long bay is only a 5 minute drive over the mountains but Smugglers is about 15 and Brewer's is at least 20. Costs are around $360 per week for a Suzuki jeep. There are alot more restaurants on the island than I thought there would be. Dinner for two was consistently between $65 to $75 for everything. Entres were $22 to $28. We ate out most evenings and didn't get to eat everywhere we wanted to go. Here are the highlights: North Shore Shell Museum- Carrot Bay: This was perhaps our most memorable night eating out. They have great local seafood here and all is priced very reasonably. The restaurant is situated atop the Shell Museum (for a donation you can carry any shell you like home with you) in Carrot Bay. The real fun begins after your meal when the proprietor brings out musical "instruments" to your table and you all get to be a part of a "fungi" band. It's alot of fun. Pusser's Landing- West End, Sopers Hole: You'll find Pussers stores and restaurants in several locations throughout the Virgins. perhaps the best is at West End. Catering to a charterboat/jet set crowd, the prices here are surprisingly reasonable. Make reservations early for a good table on the verandah above the marina. The views a lovely and the breezes make your meal a real treat. Come early and shop a little. You'll find better shopping here than at Roadtown. Take a stroll along the wharf after dinner. This is one of the more lovely buildings on Tortola and the setting is very relaxing. Sugar Mill- Long Bay: Toward the end of Long Bay you'll find some of the best food in the Caribbean. The restaurant is in the mill itself and the atmosphere is relaxed and refined. Eat here if you're in the mood for romantic candelight dinner. Before you leave make sure to check out the artwork on the walls. They have quite a collection of Hatian and local art here. The Last Resort- Trellis Bay: No trip to Tortola is complete with out a trip to this wacky restaurant. It's situates on a small cay in the middle of Trellis Bay near the airport. Don't worry about how to get there, just drive up to the dock and pick up the courtesy phone and tell them you're ready for dinner. A boat will be by to pick you up shortly. Dinner is served, buffet style, every evening at 7:00. The proprietor is a one man band and offers great entertainment every evening. Dress and atmosphere are very casual. Make sure and get a picture of "Vanilla" the "island moose" (donkey) before you leave. Count on an evening of good eats and entertainment here. Overall, Tortola is a great place to visit if you like the slower pace of the British Virgin Islands as opposed to their American counterparts. Tortola offers great beaches, beautiful scenery, lots of places to explore and wonderful restaurants. Tortola can be a pricy place to stay but if you do your research and get a room with a kitchen it doesn't have to be. The supermarkets here are expensive compared to the US but very reasonable in comparison to other Caribbean islands. Tortola is a great place to just relax. You can find night life here but no one seems to be looking for it. Most seem content to soak up the sun on an isolated strand of beach.
This year my family decided to celebrate the Christmas holidays in a tropical paradise. With two teenagers, 19-year old Holly and 15- year old Alec, we felt this might be our last big family vacation. It also provided an opportunity for us to take advantage of our membership in a "vacation club" (read as "clearinghouse for time shares" or "condo-fillers-R-us"). While my husband and I love small hotels and quiet, romantic sites for our escapes as a couple, the Cancun area sounded like a great place for a nearly-all-adult family's adventures and entertainment. Checking in at BWI airport (Baltimore) the morning of December 22 was a nightmare. Even showing up 2 hours early was not cushion enough. The lines at the US Air counters were incredible. Three of us stood in line while Dad found one of the few remaining parking spaces in the long-term lot(s). How everyone apparently got through in time for flights to more-or- less maintain their schedules was one of those Christmas miracles, I'm sure. But we arrived in Cancun about 1:30PM, picked up our non-air-conditioned, no radio VW Beetle and found our way to our lodgings within no more than an hour. (Just packing the luggage and our four selves into that little car was an engineering project worthy of some kind of degree!) Our vacation "home-base" December 22 - 27 was the Condominios Cancun Plaza, at the southern end of the Hotel Zone. The one- bedroom suite with kitchenette, cable TV, three queen beds and two bathrooms was very comfortable. Most of the pinkish stucco complex appears to be condos, but about 1/3 of the units comprise the MexHotel. Two pools, swim-up bar, palapas for shade, a restaurant and a pretty sandy beach. Being south of the Playa Delfines, the surf is higher than other Cancun beaches. It was visually stunning to see neon-turquoise breakers, and our body-surfing son enjoyed the activity as well. We spent the afternoon with cervesas and cokes on the beach, learned where to check in/out four fluffy fresh beach towels each day. We also met a nice Canadian who confirmed what we'd learned from the forum and Fodor's: that the best food was downtown in Cancun city and the best beaches were down the Cancun-Tulum corridor. I was surprised during the week that business seemed a bit slow -- the holiday rush waited until after the 25th to take off. While we wandered around downtown looking for Perico's that first night, we stumbled upon La Habichueala and were seated for dinner in their breathtaking garden. Lacy white wrought iron tables and chairs, lots of candles and white twinkling lights in the lush foliage -- the kids were impressed. The restaurant staff was charming and attentive. It doesn't hurt to have a pretty young blond (with a couple of semesters of Spanish to bolster her courage) in the party. We got great service everywhere we went! The meal was delicious. You can't go wrong when the catch of the day is grouper or red snapper. (Because of the dollar's current strength, the cost of a full meal for four with drinks and dessert -- hey, it's not the tropics without bananas flambe at least once -- anywhere we ate ranged between $30-70(US).) La Habichuela fell mid-range. Holly reminded us about leaving a really good tip. As if we didn't recognize the super service! We went back later in the week and were again very pleased. Other memorable meals in Cancun were: Christmas Eve at Maria Bonita, with some extraordinary green queso appetizer, excellent food, a wonderful marimba band (we heard several during the trip and this one was good) and charming musical performances by the hostesses and bartenders! Maria Bonita is near the Hyatt Regency, on the beach at Punta Cancun. We split up as a party one night. We'd been seated at Mr Papas (the Plaza Caracol location) when the "shot girl" with the whistle and neon pink drinks came to the next table. Noting her perseverance with those patrons, Dad suddenly decided there was nothing on the menu he was interested in, but we let the kids stay - - to their delight. Later they told us all about the shots, getting pulled up to dance on the bar, and they got those "yard- long" plastic drink glasses as souvenirs. Cool. I believe they also ate something. The two of us ended up at El Mexicano, where the food was OK, but the floor show was lovely. We found our young revelers, and together hopped a bus back to the condo. Every bus ride was an adventure itself -- from drivers with boom boxes playing music that passengers sang along with, to marveling at the varied architecture and lighted displays at the hotels along Paseo Kukulcan. Christmas week brought out families from all over the world as well as Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, and also some honeymoon couples. Workers for the various hotels, if they are not provided with bus transport by the hotels for their commute, take these shuttles. Uniforms are very popular -- pull into a Pemex station and you find people garbed in shirts marked Pemex, Bardohal (? Perhaps it was a special promotion - - two pretty girls in bright yellow shirts w/black mini skirts), and the ever-present blue shirts for Xcaret, one of the most highly promoted attractions in Mexico. There were "check-points" where an official would board the bus to check out the passengers, the tires, and the drivers' papers. Since we were really into day trips, breakfasts were very important. Captain's Cove has a wonderful all-you-can-eat breakfast for $5 (US). Pineapple, bananas, papaya, watermelon, cantaloupe, fresh squeezed fruit juices, pastries of every sort, omelets made to order, or fried or scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, and excellent coffee. While we ate outside on the "dock" clearly the nicer place to sit would be in one of the giant bay-window areas with ceiling fans, plants, and the same views of the lagoon, minus the noise of the wave runners! We enjoyed Cancun. As mentioned earlier, the bus downtown and back for 3 pesos was a blast. The squares were filled with stalls and carnival booths for Christmas. Christmas lights and nativity scenes were everywhere. Soccer balls, replica soccer uniforms, and baby dolls seemed to be the big gifts for children we saw. The big Orange Pelican grocery store was fun, although we didn't see the HUGE bakery section until on our way out. (If you've rented a car, you may want to pick up a bottle of Windex and some paper towels. It's nice to see where you're going!) It's also not a bad place to pick up t-shirts for souvenirs at $34 (pesos). We stocked our little condo fridge with beer and sodas, but because the cost of eating out was low we cooked nothing more challenging than toast and microwave popcorn. We did make coffee each morning because we knew it would take us an hour to awaken the two offspring (why would anyone want to sleep in when paradise is calling!?!?) and wanted to get that caffeine pumping through those systems as early as possible. The first couple of mornings were cloudy, so we started out to visit the ruins at Tulum. But each day we got side-tracked along Route 307 as it cleared up, and never did make it to Tulum! (Sigh, next time.) The first day we checked out Playa del Carmen. While it was cloudy, we had brunch in front of the Blue Parrot, and later did some shopping along the Pedestrian Walkway. Our son purchased himself a hammock, and was introduced to the concept of bargaining. He did OK, but could have done better. (He got really good as the week went on.) We liked Playa del Carmen, and decided to come back later in the week. Then we hit the road and visited Xel-Ha for the afternoon. Xel-Ha is a charming park with lovely gardens and parrots and "natural" limestone aquarium-like lagoon areas. We brought our own snorkeling gear and towels so all we needed to rent was a locker for our clothes, keys and wallets. What we enjoyed about Xel-Ha was not just the snorkeling, which was rather tame though pretty, but that everyone there was having fun with each other. (Not like American theme parks where the rides are the attraction.) A "rest" area made up of many palms with hammocks slung between them, where music from a nearby restaurant floated on the breeze is an ideal place to cool off. Something that struck us was that about two thirds of the clientele that day were Mexican families and couples. Now, I don't know that most weren't professionals and government workers on vacation from Mexico City, and tourists as much as we. But having visited several Caribbean paradises, this Mexican coast continually surprised me with it's hospitality and with the sense that while tourism is the big industry, foreign tourists aren't the only ones to enjoy the beauty of the beaches and the many delightful attractions. We spent one day at Akumal, where snorkeling right from the beach was great (we visited two areas, Akumal and Half Moon bays). Our lunch that day was at a white stucco place adjacent to the parking lot where the bus and taxi drivers, as well as the staffs of the dive shop, hotels, etc apparently eat. It was terrific. Some kind of pork with rice, crispy turkey enchiladas, sliced tomatoes. Akumal Bay somehow seemed a little too planned and exclusive. But after reading Marty Klein's guide (and only having found Half Moon bay late in the day), I think we'd go back again. We took a brief look at Paamul, which boasts a beautiful waterfront restaurant I'd like to try one day. It seemed to be a very personable place. Probably the spot of our next Mom-and-Dad-only vacation will be Xpu- Ha. It is one of those nearly deserted, palm-fringed, drop-dead gorgeous places that you can only imagine what the sky looks like at night full of the moon and stars. The turn-offs are hard to identify from 307, the first two are private-property-only (talk about exclusive with skull & crossbones on the sign!) lanes. The third is for a small hotel (an orange/peach stucco two-story affair) and the fourth for a beach restaurant with a palapa table area that has a dreamy view of the beach and sea. I'd be surprised if there is a more peaceful, private place on this earth than Xpu- Ha. I think we were there December 24. The guys who ran the Dive shop down the beach (toward Robinson's Club Tulum at the South end) were roasting a pig for a big party later that night. We walked to the North end of the crescent shaped beach and saw several exceptionally beautiful private homes and villas. Maybe if I play the Maryland lottery regularly and hit for $20 million (US) or so, I can end up with my own private paradise on Xpu-Ha. (Dollar signs and references to US or pesos get so confusing!) The true highlight of our trip was Christmas Day on Isla Mujeres. We loaded our snorkel gear in the VW and headed for Puerto Juarez, where we parked the car for the day in the "secure lot" of a guy for $10 pesos, who then sold us two straw hats for $15 pesos each. The passenger "fast ferry" was another $15 pesos each, which really was a quick trip. The view of Cancun's Hotel Zone from the boat was awesome. Upon arrival, we were offered a "private just your- family-only snorkel trip for $70 (US), with refreshments and a trip to a beautiful beach for as long as you want." It's kind of hard to hide two bags of snorkeling gear, so it was pretty obvious what we planned to do that day. Since the alternative snorkeling trips were for $15 US each in a boatload of up to 12, this seemed to fit the bill. He took us to his 19-year-old associate (son?) and his boat, we chose refreshments to stock the boat's cooler, and off we went. Luis took us to a couple of the standard snorkeling sites, the lighthouse cave, a sunken statue, and rode us over to view the "Dolphin Experience" which he suggested was much too expensive (we agreed). It was kind of sad to see dolphins penned in with a half dozen or so very excited swimmers. We also visited El Garofon, but before we got in the water Luis said: "You people are pretty good at this, would you rather go out to the Manchones Reef? It is deeper there, and I won't anchor my boat, but you will love it." (Or words to that effect. I consider myself "semi-lingual" in that I can understand broken English very well regardless of the first language of the speaker. Maybe I'm just very patient. I also know to speak slowly and use what few words of Spanish, or German or French as appropriate, I've picked up over the years, occasionally. If I could take one of those month-long emersion vacations someday, I think I could end up with pretty decent command of a foreign language.) Well, he was right. There were no other boats or swimmers around, and we had the most amazing experiences: The fish weren't just in schools, but in complete civilizations. Hundreds and thousands (?) massed around us. (Luis fed them crackers to make them swarm.) We could dive down closer amidst the beautiful corals and see even more wonderful sights. We got some terrific underwater shots. (Those disposable underwater cameras are a marvelous invention.) I don't know how long we were there, but we were totally spent when we climbed back aboard. Next we visited a beach (Playa Lancheros) where there was a pitifully penned nurse shark that small boys were playing with. I don't know if we were supposed to stay there for lunch (Luis' English was not much better than our Spanish), but we asked that we be taken back to town. Luis took us all around the island, pointing out various sites. The kids noticed several for sale signs, strongly suggesting we consider them in our retirement planning. It had been a pretty incredible 4 hours by the time we got back. Alec and Steve rented a motor scooter and toured the island for an hour. Holly and I walked to Playa Norte and found a vacant palm tree. We enjoyed watching people celebrate Christmas Day with their families, too. A large group was playing soccer on the beach. Two of the little boys had obviously received replica uniforms of the Mexican soccer team for Christmas. Guess who scored most of the goals? Experiences like this make the Mexican Caribbean so friendly and fun. After the guys got back, Steve and I crossed the road for an afternoon cervesa while Holly and Alec took the scooter for another hour to tour and do some shopping. Alec had FOUR girl friends for whom to buy gifts! This was a task that wasn't complete until the day we left Mexico. He knew what would be right for each one, and wouldn't settle for anything else. Here he got a hematite necklace for 60 pesos, after his sister had paid 110 for a similar one. He was getting to be a good haggler. With the scooter turned in, we all went to dinner at the Bucanero. It was one of the best meals we had all week, very very good Mexican food, and a waitress with a fabulous sense of humor. About half the price of a similar meal in Cancun, and again we left a very generous tip! We took a ferry home to Puerto Juarez, which happened to be one of the slower, bigger and less expensive ($6 pesos each?) boats. It was filled with many families who'd spent Christmas day together having fun. We found seats where we could. While memories of stories about overcrowded ferries sinking in the Phillippines somehow intruded on my reverie, I have to say it was a quiet trip back to the mainland. Seated at the other end of the crowded boat, Steve later confided he'd had similar thoughts! Thursday was the day we spent at Akumal. Friday, we decided we didn't want to go home on Saturday. For $50 each we could change our air reservations, so we did, gambling that we could stay two nights in Playa del Carmen (PDC). Saturday we checked our four largest bags at the condo, to be picked up Monday AM, packed the rest into the VW and took off. We briefly considered going to Cozumel, but thought maybe we'd have better luck in PDC (and besides, save something besides Tulum, for the next trip!) We got to PDC by 9am, and found a room for 4 for Saturday night with promises that we would get a room for Sunday as well as cancellations were expected. We settled into a lovely room a block from the beach at a hotel which was exquisite, but will remain nameless for reasons explained later. We really loved the beach in front of the Blue Parrot Inn. (A charming, social place that had been fully booked for months.) The shallows stretch for hundreds of yards out into the sea. Lots of families, lots of couples, lots of singles, everyone has a great time. Happy hour, it seems, is all afternoon and night except for 12-2PM and 6-8PM. Holly and I enjoyed fancy rum concoctions, while Dad stuck with Superiors. We ladies dressed up in our long Mexican (fabric imported from Indonesia) dresses for dinner at Limones that night. The food was a bit disappointing, but a high point was having a Caesar Salad prepared the way it's supposed to be. After dinner we shopped and people-watched, and enjoyed PDC. Alec found presents for girls #2 and #3. There seemed to be an exhibition of young dance troupes taking place in the middle of the street every two or three blocks. The kids went back to the hotel to bed and Steve and I visited several spots with live music. Back at Limones bar (it has its' own name, Red & Black???) there was a very good band. Of course it was happy hour there, so we quickly had four drinks in front of us (for about $3 US! No wonder Richard Burton always seemed drunk in those movies set in Mexico.) We met an interesting German couple from Berlin, who also had two teenagers back at their hotel. I like meeting people on vacation. We had a good conversation. They seemed to like the same kind of places we do, and had similar attitudes about raising teenagers. We walked together back to our respective hotels. Later that night, sadly, Montezuma struck his revenge on my poor sweet husband. While Dad wanted to do nothing but stay in bed, the kids and I had breakfast in the hotel dining room/garden. Why can't I find pineapples and bananas that taste so good at home! The three of us then went to the beach, to our favorite spot in front of the Blue Parrot. Eight years as a gymnast has taken it's toll on Holly's back, so when the lady strolled down the beach touting her Mayan Massage, it sounded just the ticket for that sunny morning under the palms. Holly went first and it looked so fabulous, Mom followed. Yes. Luxurious. About 1 PM, I went back to the hotel to check on poor Dad. He was still indisposed. We were discussing that we'd heard nothing from the hotel about Sunday night, and no one had knocked on the door all morning (we thought check out was 10AM) so we were pleased to stay another night. Ah no. Suddenly a knock, and a young man asked if we were checking out as they needed the room. I explained that the proprietor had told me he'd expected to let us stay Sunday night due to cancellations, (which he had reiterated to me the previous afternoon) and since we'd not heard anything we thought we were staying. Oh dear. He had two cancellations earlier that AM but the boss hadn't left him a note about us, and now he had no rooms. What is more, the whole town appeared to be booked up. Since my husband was sick, (and that made him feel really bad) we could have until 2PM. Frankly, I believe the opportunity to rent the room for a week instead of only a night had come up, and we weren't given a second thought. If I were to do this again, I would have checked at the desk myself that morning. Perhaps things would have worked out? I've emailed the proprietor, as his address was printed in his hotel's brochure. We packed up the car, I installed Steve in the shade down the street outside the Blue Parrot, and went in search of lodgings. I met an interesting couple from northern California who suggested several places without phones to try, but to no avail -- the place really was booked solid. It was the holiday season after all. So, we piled into the VW and headed back to Cancun -- with a brief stop in Puerto Morales just in case they had something :-( Too bad, not that night. We tried at the condo desk in Cancun, but they too were booked up (otherwise we could have gotten something for $50) and they sent us next door to MexHotel. Very spartan compared to the condo side. View of the parking lot and lagoon, no TV, no phone. But air conditioning, two beds, and a bathroom for $90. Still feeling poorly, Steve went to bed. The kids and I hit Iguana Wana, a sports-bar Tex-Mex place at Plaza Carocol for dinner. We had a real giggle because while they fell over each other trying to serve us our meal, the food in this touristy joint was dreadful. Taco Bell may be more authentic and Chi Chi's at least uses some spices. They did make good margueritas, though. Alec found his last girl friend a present, Holly got some tacky shot glasses for her friends, and I headed back with their purchases on the bus. (My big kids wanted to have dessert and a good-bye Mexico drink at Mr. Papas. Gee mom, you really did loosen up!) Our last morning, everyone felt fine except for slightly hung over Holly. Dad, Alec and I went to breakfast across the road at a lagoon side restaurant behind a small groceria. There Alec completed his photographic series of Iguanas on the Rocks (Now that we've seen the pictures, they're sort of like those 3-D dinosaurs somewhere in an abstract design.) After some final beach time, we somehow were able to get all the luggage and us back into the VW to head for the airport. The lady at the Dollar Rent-a-Car return was totally amazed. It took two "bigger" cars to ferry us and our belongings across the way to the airport! We had a marvelous time. It was probably the most time we've spent together as a family in about four years. Surviving the teenage years of your children is such a challenge, although my mother tells me you never stop worrying. This was a real celebration for us, that we're nearly through and we can still enjoy each other's company! It was the best Christmas present I've ever had, and a trip none of us will ever forget.
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