Vacation Spots in November?

[zenbudda]

I am long overdue for a week long vacation. I want to take one in November but would like some input on vacation ideas. Hawaii is not an option only because of cost. My gf bought me a balloon ride (for 2) that can be used just about anywhere in the US. I was thinking maybe try Grand Canyon / Flagstaff area. Possibly get down to Sedona. There is also parts of Utah we are interested in. If it would be better to wait a month until December to do it, we can also do that. Oh, and she's definitely not a "grab your campin gear and hike back in the woods" kind of girl. She needs a shower near by lol.

[Malsua]

What type of Vacation are you talking about here? "Get in touch with the outdoors" or just something to do for a week?

If you want to be warm, pick something at Lat 35 degrees or further south.

[American Patriot]

Head for the Caribbean.

The prime time is November - April (You will get better deals in Nov than December and Jan which are the peak months).

[zenbudda]

As mentioned previously, my gf won't do anything close to "roughing it". She actually did rough it as a kid and doesn't want to go back to that unless it's neccessary for survival.

i'd love to go somewhere tropical and warm. however, we are both white as snow and lately i've been nervous to leave my country.

[Toad]

I'm heading to Cabo San Lucas Mexico in two weeks. Tip of the Baja peninsula. The ocean is drop dead beautiful down there and Cabo is a safe town. Enough shopping and upper crust cafe's it's definately not "roughing it" for your GF. And Oct-early November is perfect. The tourist rush starts for Thanksgiving, so late Oct to early Nov everything is open getting ready for the season, but there's no crowded lines yet and you can find great deals.

I've rented out a 41' sailboat for 3 days. Jenny and I are going to do a little blue water sailing, deep sea fishing, and let me brush off some rusty wind and water skills. Just going to tool around the peninsula a little bit doing nothing more than enjoying the wind in the sails.

...And catch a couple sunsets anchored off coast with a bottle of wine or two. Watch the stars come out completely removed from the human madness for a brief moment in time. God I'm looking forward to it.

[Beetle]

I'm heading to Cabo San Lucas Mexico in two weeks. Tip of the Baja peninsula. The ocean is drop dead beautiful down there and Cabo is a safe town. Enough shopping and upper crust cafe's it's definately not "roughing it" for your GF. And Oct-early November is perfect. The tourist rush starts for Thanksgiving, so late Oct to early Nov everything is open getting ready for the season, but there's no crowded lines yet and you can find great deals.

I've rented out a 41' sailboat for 3 days. Jenny and I are going to do a little blue water sailing, deep sea fishing, and let me brush off some rusty wind and water skills. Just going to tool around the peninsula a little bit doing nothing more than enjoying the wind in the sails.

...And catch a couple sunsets anchored off coast with a bottle of wine or two. Watch the stars come out completely removed from the human madness for a brief moment in time. God I'm looking forward to it.

HEY! That sounds great Toad. I hope you have a great time.

[American Patriot]

Ummm no roughing it over in Jamaica Mon!

Wife and I go to an All-Inclusive place down there. It's not expensive (it's probably a 3-star place).... and a full trip, there and back, hotel stay and bus from airport, including the airline fees for two people for seven days can be less than 2000 USD.

Usually we do it for around 1700 for two. That's EVERYTHING.

The hotel is all-inclusive, meaning you get food, drinks etc for nothing (you pay for it up front and drink as much, or as little as you like, and eat as much or as little as you like).

[MinutemanCO]

Ummm no roughing it over in Jamaica Mon!

Wife and I go to an All-Inclusive place down there. It's not expensive (it's probably a 3-star place).... and a full trip, there and back, hotel stay and bus from airport, including the airline fees for two people for seven days can be less than 2000 USD.

Usually we do it for around 1700 for two. That's EVERYTHING.

The hotel is all-inclusive, meaning you get food, drinks etc for nothing (you pay for it up front and drink as much, or as little as you like, and eat as much or as little as you like).

Hey Rick. Does the deal you quoted include airline travel from DIA or from somewhere like Miami? If so, I may need more specific info. My wife and I need a vacation in a bad way. Jamaica for a week would sure hit the spot.

MM.

[zenbudda]

Ummm no roughing it over in Jamaica Mon!

Wife and I go to an All-Inclusive place down there. It's not expensive (it's probably a 3-star place).... and a full trip, there and back, hotel stay and bus from airport, including the airline fees for two people for seven days can be less than 2000 USD.

Usually we do it for around 1700 for two. That's EVERYTHING.

The hotel is all-inclusive, meaning you get food, drinks etc for nothing (you pay for it up front and drink as much, or as little as you like, and eat as much or as little as you like).

Actually my gf and I may be sold on this idea. Did you just pick any place / package in jamaica?

[MTStringer]

My cousin and his wife used to do Jamaica every year,and they loved it. 'Course they needed a couple days to recover from their vacation when they returned,too. Everything sounded good, great pics,very attractive destination. I have a personal bias that's a deal-breaker, though. My tank only holds enough tolerance for about 1 reggae song,then I'ma be gone,mon,you know what I mean,mon, and I ain't all that crazy about goat meat,either.Reckon I'd rather visit Sammy Hagar,and I much prefer tequila to rum. Actually, given a choice,I think I'd like to give Belize a try, I hear Americans are relatively safe there. I've been researching honeymoon packages for my daughter and some of the resorts there are very attractive,if abit pricier in general than Jamaica. Check Craigslist for vacation and time share deals, that's where I've made the most progress.

[American Patriot]

Hey Rick. Does the deal you quoted include airline travel from DIA or from somewhere like Miami? If so, I may need more specific info. My wife and I need a vacation in a bad way. Jamaica for a week would sure hit the spot.

MM.

We flew out of Colorado Springs (been there four separate times over the last three years) to either Dallas, or Minn. and then on to Montego Bay. Then a bus to our resort. The place we go is over in St. Annes, just west of Ocho Rios. The place is called "Club Ambience" and yes, the cost is EVERYTHING.

You might have to shop a bit, and the prices seem a bit higher this year than last. I've been looking at prices for airline tickets to BVI next June, and the prices are a tad high at the moment.

The place isn't the "best" but it's certainly far from worst. It's QUIET - and it's isn't full of kids (18 and over, adults). It's not rowdy like some of the places. The "beach" is really tiny, but so is the resort and you can find some peace and quiet there.

The pool is very nice, there's usually at least two bars open (the big one and the pool bar) and evenings there's one out by the water.

Food is served in one place, and you get like four meals a day, plus there's a covered grill place outside near the bar which is usually open from about 12-4 or something. Breakfast, Lunch, Supper, and then about 11:00pm - midnight they open up for pizza and the "Disco" opens up.

There's an entertainment staff - who seem to LIVE there... a couple of them are usually, always on site (I wonder about their "hours" so I asked, they do split shifts and so there are 1-3 entertainment people on site from about 0900-0200.

A couple of caveats... when we arrived the very first time the outside of the place is surrounded by a bit, yellow stone and mortar wall. I even saw some graffiti on the wall and my first thought was "shit, what did we get into?"

As it turns out, the whole region is somewhat 3rd world of course - and that particular area is surely somewhat depressed. A couple of guys here from Puerto Rico made rude comments to me about going to a place like that. When I questioned them on it, they said "The area is depressed because the government is corrupt and all you're doing is helping the government"... Doing a bit of research shows this to be untrue and me bring my money there HELPS the local economy.... so tough on what they think.

Basically inside the wall though, it's pretty, well-kept, you're on the north side of the island on the ocean and I've been there is good and bad weather. We caught the tail end of a hurricane last year and I extended my stay for three extra days because it hit Miami on the Saturday we were supposed to be traveling through. Best decision was to wait it out (and spend three days more on the beach!)

[MinutemanCO]

Despite said caveats, it sounds pretty cool. I'll give it a look as vacation time draws nearer.

Thanks for the info.

[American Patriot]

http://www.clubambiance.com/

That's their site, but it's not coming up for some reason. Keep checking though.

[American Patriot]

Ok, site came up after all. That's a new site. They've changed it since last year. I haven't looked this over, but the hotel site layout (map) is the right place.

[American Patriot]

http://jamaicadxpedition2007.blogspot.com/

That's a blog I have up where we went down to do some ham radio stuff. Was a total bust, but it was fun spending a few days on the beach and in the bars lol

[American Patriot]

I was looking through the gallery, I know several of those people... in particular the entertainment staff.

Anyway, PM me later if you decide to go. I can give you some more hints and ideas. Some things to do though, swim with the dolphins (No thanks, I'll do that in the wild some day not for a price either), go on a tube ride in one of the rivers, climb the Dunn's River Falls (highly recommend it, but also STRONGLY recommend you leave your passport AT THE HOTEL IN THE SAFE and NOT IN YOUR POCKET like someone I know.....). There's a trip to the Blue Mountain Coffee place, once to Bob Marley's residence, a couple of trips to the rum places (where they make it).

There are plenty of other things to do off-site. Virtually nothing to do "on-site". Which is the way I liked it. I sat and read, enjoyed the sun and surf, spent time sitting at the bar trying NOT to talk politics (and met a LOT of interesting people from around the world).

Mostly, depending on the time of the year you will run into Westerners for the most part. Americans, Canadians, Brits, Irish, Scots and a few from other places. One guy I ran into was from either Russia or some Baltic place (I don't remember exactly). I didn't talk to him more than a greeting. He left me alone and I didn't bother to find out more

One of the things we did was to take a taxi into Ocho Rios and wander through town, do some shopping on our own (without a tour guide) which gives you a better feel for the area and the people. I also went to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. I could NOT go there without stopping and having a couple of beers (bring money, it costs a lot for a beer, LOL!) Bought a nice baseball cap, some tee shirts (which we wear on the boat a lot, and my Margaritaville hat is my "boat hat" now... complete with paint on it...)

[zenbudda]

Plans have changed due to Thanksgiving and Christmas (sigh). We are now going at the end of January / beginning of Feb.

We are willing to drop $4k (at least that's what we plan) plus up to another $500 in extra expenses.

"We" want to:

zip line
tube in a river (i read that you can do this near some falls? is that what you were referring to rick?)
eat good jerk chicken
drink good drinks
enjoy some night life/dancing

I want to:
snorkel or scuba dive (but i'd rather dive locally first to get licensed).

[American Patriot]

Well, those things can all be done there, and probably a lot less than you're planning to spend (costs around 450 or so per person for PADI certification). Doesn't cost anything for snorkeling.