Caribbean Family Vacation Part 2 - Haledon,NJ

HI L.
I'm just chiming in to say that my husband and I went to Grenada a while back and LOVED it. It was so quiet and peaceful and not full of tourists. The locals were very friendly. It's a much simpler life and not full or loads of stuff to do. We stayed down the street from a great restaurant/cafe owned by an Italian couple and we basically ate breakfast went to the beach - ate lunch at the cafe took a siesta went back to the beach for sunset - ate dinner and went to bed... for 5 days solid. It was heavenly. Another nice quiet place we discovered is Anna Maria Island on Florida's Gulf Coast - the north end of the island is quiet and it was a glorious beach. (The south end if busy with loads of hotels and bars, etc.) We're trying to go back there this year. With Grenada we said that if we went back we'd aim to rent a house. But the beach front hotels are very nice....

Hey L.,

The only advice I have for you is don't choose St.Maarten. My husband and I just went on our honeymoon there in May 2009 and were bored out of our mind. We like to do activites and sight see and there was not much to do. Everything there was to do, cost a fortune. If we didnt spend 3 days just being lazy at our hotel we would have been broke trying to find something to do everyday. We stayed at an all inclusive resort too but if you want to do anything outside the resort you have to rent a car otherwise you will spend hundreds of dollars on taxi fares. Dont get me wrong, the beaches are beautiful but the rest of the island was not very pretty. We have a 5 year old daughter and she would have been bored. We can only sit on the beach for so long before we get bored. We stayed at The Raddison. It has its own private beach and dock and we took a day trip to another island, we snorkled and hiked. But Like I said this all cost money, and it was not cheap. When we were there, we were the youngest people at the resort. We are in our late 20's. Everyone was much much older than us. So I don't know how that would be with an 18 month old running around. You know older people like peace & quiet, especially on vacation.
Im sorry, I just wanted to share my experience with you. I like to go to family friendly places with lots of fun things to do.

Good luck!

St. Maartin is nice but maybe the French side, especially Orient Bay, is not the right place to stay with a child. Are you aware that the beaches are clothing optional and Club Orient at the end of Orient Bay is a naturist resort? We stayed at LeHabitation years ago when we were single and it still shocked me. Also the town is on the Dutch side (St. Martin) so you would need a car or have to take taxis to get there. The resorts on the Dutch side were not as nice back then. I really don't know about now. You should check out this website sint-maarten.net to compare both sides.
St. John is nice and very quiet. Mainly a national park. But you can take the ferry over to St. Thomas to visit the town. Or stay on St. Thomas. I believe there are a number of all-inclusives. I found St. Lucia too wet and a bit boring. Good for hiking though. Maybe not with a young child though. I have never been to Turks & Caicos but heard it is beautiful. We will go there one day. My all time favorite is Hawaii but that is major bucks and a long plane ride. The kids are not ready for that yet! Hope this info helps.

L.! Happy New Year! I deleted your email off my blackberry again and recognized your post!!! txt me again so we can get together now that holiday drama is over! ###-###-####. I had appointment with Mary Castillo and she is perfect.... she is exactly what I want in a pediatrician!! Thhanks so much for recommendation. Hope you are all well.
Viv

Hi

Just wanted respond on the carring part.I'm 50 years old and have to grown sons.
I only carried my sons when I had to travel or commute on buses and trains.
I feel that sometimes you need to intoduce him to a stroller because in do time he will get use to you always carring him. As he gets older he made always want you to be carrying him.So imagine when you need to do chores and have to carry him around the house.
I know at first it is okay but need to try a least.