Favorite Beach Vacation Spot?

I love Isla Mujeres, Q.R., Mexico. It's just a short (2$) ferry ride from Cancun, but a world away from that Vegas style action and large scale development.
it cost me 60$ a night (cash) to stay at the hotel right on this small stretch of beach. i never put on my flip flops till lunch time when i would walk into town, three blocks away. The first time I stayed there, my hotel was next to an elementary school, and i could hear the kids singing as i took my siesta. And i could sometimes hear the town rooster crow, which would sometimes cause me to get up and run to the other side of the island (4 blocks away) to try and catch the sunrise on the rocky beach.
and for the sunsets, you'd come back to this beach, shown during the day:

It's not as commercial or crowded as the Gold Coast is, I've got relatives and friends there, and I don't have to fly to get there, which works well with me having a fear of flying...

I found a beachcam of Mooloolaba Beach, but the weather's looking a bit crappy today...

http://www.thesurfclub.com.au/media/surfcam.html

Violet...

I prefer to see many birds and few people when I go to the beach and Cumberland has as pretty, untouched beach as I can think of. You can camp on the island or day trip over on the ferry from St Marys. St Mary is pretty cool, a few small hotels and B&Bs but still a fishing town.

several times, so will be trying Manzanillo soon. It's so easy to get to MX from here that we try to go fairly often.
I've been to the Dominican Republic once, and the beaches were gorgeous!

We go every year. Sadly the Cancun crowd seems to be discovering it. It gets busier every year. But we stay in a little hotel near the north end of town and our beach is still relatively quiet.
One of these years I suspect we'll head down to Tulum and give that a try.
Jeff

I call it Kilo Beach because the urban myth about bales of bud washing ashore actually came true there one year when I was camped on the beach with some friends. OK, it was only one bale, but still....

Absolutely private for miles, on the Sea of Cortez side, stunningly beautiful desert location. Dolphins, pelicans flying in formation, frigate birds, coyotes. The San Evaristo road is pretty rough, which keeps the casual gringos out, and the good beach sites are pretty remote, but only about an hour plus from La Paz for supply runs. That beach is one of my favorite places on earth.

We went there this year and never wnated to leave. Great Snorkling!

if I am wanting a short trip.

Cancun baby. . .parents have a condo there!

We rented a cab from Isla Mujeres for about 20 bucks and got a private tour of Tulum, then he stopped at a locals spot for some fish tacos and cerveza. This is also the closet town to Chichen Itza, which is absolutely amazing.

portions of the British Virgin Islands -- although Isle Mujeres is a good bet as well. My family does sailboat racing, and my first trip there was for race week -- its a LOT of fun.

My favorite place in Cozumel is Mezcalito's beach club on the wild side.

I was in Isla Mujeres this summer. It is also very nice:-)

vies with Kota Baru, Malaysia for my fave. Margarita has a lot of variety in its beaches--I don't have a way to give you pix from a recent trip. You can take buses all over the island. There are some great little towns. We stayed at a place on the beach and would take the bus at night to different places to eat. On the way back local people invited us to play bingo with them out in the street. We got some jaw-breaking low flight prices from Caracas. If you are in K.B. during the rainy season, you can hear the surf about a mile inland. Wild!

It's like visiting 2 islands, and Orient Beach on the French side of the island is my favorite beach.

:)

I generally like the French side better. It's small, not very crowded and secluded. The water is absolutely crystal clear and beautiful and you don't have to wear a swimsuit. :)

this is about a ten-minute walk away! very wild and untamed. will be heading down there shortly as a matter of fact.....

St. Lucia? You can't see me, but I'm green with envy!

i do medical transcription for several docs in the u.s. via my laptop and their network, so i can do it from anywhere in the world. does it help to know i don't take it for granted and i know i am lucky?! :smile:

st. lucia. wish the dems could begin a new country here, but i think there would be too many of us for this tiny island. but it is a thought!

edited to add: the titles didn't come through. the first couple are from the pitons - two inactive volcanoes. then there's "the worried one" dh who has been studying entirely too hard! the last one is me at the beautiful ladera resort where we went for lunch. we've never stayed there, but you can stay in three-walled rooms that leave the last one open facing the pitons. i think when he finishes school, i'll take us there to stay for a while!

I worked at Maho Bay eco-camp for a summer. FANTASTIC!

And St John has many other spectacular beaches - all public. St John is a treasure.

any teaching hospitals there, do you? i'd love dh to do his clinicals in that setting - gorgeous!!!

And just a 15 minute ferry ride from St John. But they're worlds apart; St Thomas is where all the cruise ships stop, more crime, etc. But still, work on St Thomas and go to St Joh on your days off. You cal also take ferrier to the BVIs like Tortola, Vigrin Gorda, etc. Virgin Gorda should be visited by anyone going to the Virgin Islands:





Tortola:



And go to the best bar on the island, the Bomba Shack - go during a full moon:







During the full moon party, they serve a special mushroom tea! ;) And it's legal!

it looks magnificent! that "special mushroom tea" sure takes me back. i can only imagine how high you can get in that setting........

am going to look into teaching hospitals on st. thomas, with the escape hatch to st. johns ;-)

how's the cost of living? here on st. lucia making american $ i'm doing great. i know it's more in the virgins but still worth it.

Best part is, at least when i was there, was no sales tax, even on booze. A bottle of Sam Adams cost .90, hand them 1.00 and get a dime back. And the rum: super cheap! Mt. Gay is the best, IMO. Try a Mt. Gay & tonic sometime - superb.

Definitely check into St Thomas - and explore the islands on your time off. You really change gears down there; life is taken one day at a time, very relaxing and doesn't feel like the "real world". More like "Paradise Island(s)". But St John is where it's at - so many awesome beaches. And you can safely hitchike around if you don't want to rent a car - someone will always pick you up. I rode in cars from high end land rovers to beds of junky pickup trucks carooming around hairpin drops while the people in the cab laugh and drank more beer. Yes, it's legal to drink beer in your ride.

the 70s! it's safe for women too? i know i feel much safer here in st. lucia than i did in the states. i walk everywhere alone and it's cool.

St John has a small-town atmosphere, everyone is relaxed & friendly. There's a lot of tension and underlying hostility on St Thomas for some reason, maybe overpopulation and economic hardship. St Thomas is not safe after dark for women. In fact, the US Navy stopped shore leaves at St Thomas after a sailor was murdered there - now they only let them go to St John. Do some research on St Thomas; I'm sure some areas are safer than others. Good luck & I envy your caribbean life!

wallpaper, #3. It is totally awesome, and makes me want to go there IMMEDIATELY!

What kind of camera, film, etc., did you use, or is it just so beautiful it doesn't matter?
Nah, that shot is a postcard!

beautiful, atmospheric, fun, fabulous natural beauty, great warm water and waves, hands down
mellow, no over-commercialized nonsense, great (vietnam) to very good (brazil) food, low prices, and lots to see in the vicinity

I was there about 10 years ago. Prices seem to have gone up!

My favorite beach is on Koh Samui, Thailand... been there three times over the last nine years.

Just returned from a week's vacation there, and will return on Feb 19 for 10 days. Have been going to Isla for 7 years, and just love the people, the beach, the food....everything. I usually stay at Maria Letitia or Sabina's, but this time, I will stay in the colonia at Suites Chac-chi...and take the bus into town. We usually hang out at Sergio's Playa Sol....do you know it?

Just love the Virgin Islands....but the expense got too much, so tried to find something in Mexico, closer and cheaper. Found Isla Mujeres, MX, and stayed with it. Isla Mujeres is not as beautiful, but there is just something about that place...it's so homey, so comfortable, so simple. And the people I've met there over the past 7 years have become my very best friends in the whole world. We keep returning and returning, and renewing our friendships every year.

Going first week of June.

Thanks!

http://www.locogringo.com/tankah/soliman.htm?name=Casa%20Soliman

JUST down the road from Oscar y Lalo's Restaurant and the beach where the Corona beer beach commercials are...we love it there, including Akumal and Tulum.

Nothing better than renting a jeep and getting lost in Mexico (interior) for a couple days at a time.