Holiday destination ideas around Sept / Oct

[Burrow01]

davek_964 said:

We want a 2 week holiday around this time - partly a relaxing beach holiday but there needs to be plenty of other things to do, since neither of us wants to spend a full 2 weeks lying on a beach. G/f can scuba dive, and likes "watersports" so those are a big plus, but probably not enough on their own to keep us busy.

Currently considered :

Maldives : I went once, and liked it - but although there is diving etc. I don't think it's enough to keep the g/f entertained and I don't remember there being anything else other than lounging around and eating / drinking.


Any other ideas? Or recommendations for the above / decent places to stay etc?

Edited by davek_964 on Monday 22 January 08:12

We are looking at the Wildwind Sailing location in Mauritius for October, this seems to have quite a good setup for sailing (I have been to their place in Vasiliki, Greece, many times). Hotel is a 3*, and so maybe not the most fancy. Wildwind team can be pretty flexible though, and so may have other options available if you contact them.

https://mauritius.wildwind.co.uk/

[davek_964]

djc206 said:

I know loads of people who’ve done BA to Hawaii and the last leg has always been business. I think if you’ve selected a connection onto Alaska airlines you get economy but AA definitely shows business out of LAX on the BA website.

Cheers - it was Alaskan. I'll make sure to book the ones that are American.
I think I'll only be allowed premium though. We flew business back from NY last year and the g/f didn't like the fact that you sit in separated enclosures. Not sure I'll get away with that on a honeymoon!

[h0b0]

davek_964 said:

djc206 said:

I know loads of people who’ve done BA to Hawaii and the last leg has always been business. I think if you’ve selected a connection onto Alaska airlines you get economy but AA definitely shows business out of LAX on the BA website.

Cheers - it was Alaskan. I'll make sure to book the ones that are American.
I think I'll only be allowed premium though. We flew business back from NY last year and the g/f didn't like the fact that you sit in separated enclosures. Not sure I'll get away with that on a honeymoon!

The United fleet is mixed between individual Business class and their older style side by side business. It might be possible to check the seat config for the older style. I know Edinburgh to NY is old style for example. If you wanted to make it a two destination honeymoon, United also do NY to Hawaii direct. But, if you are starting from London it will be the newer single seats Business.

[djc206]

davek_964 said:

Cheers - it was Alaskan. I'll make sure to book the ones that are American.
I think I'll only be allowed premium though. We flew business back from NY last year and the g/f didn't like the fact that you sit in separated enclosures. Not sure I'll get away with that on a honeymoon!

Ha, select the middle seats and you’re able to chat through the gap.

If you do book BA it’s worth booking a BA holiday to take advantage of the double tier points. 560 gets you damned close to silver. You can also just pay a deposit and then pay the balance nearer the date if you’re so inclined.

[davek_964]

We were in the middle from NY - chatting through the gap wasn't enough apparently.
I was impressed with premium (we flew out that way), so I don't mind too much.

[djc206]

davek_964 said:

We were in the middle from NY - chatting through the gap wasn't enough apparently.
I was impressed with premium (we flew out that way), so I don't mind too much.

It’s ok, LA is a fair way further than NYC. Nice to be able to nap on a flight of that length crossing so many timezones going west but yeah mostly a nicety. Coming back overnight business makes more sense. A compromise to be had there :-)

[davek_964]

seefarr said:

Having said all that.... we normally do our driving holiday to Europe in October. You could go drive the Pyrenees for 2 weeks when it's both not freezing and basically empty if you still have a nice car?

We did consider that - and even considered bringing the wedding forward to June so that we'd get better weather in Europe. But although she is keen to take the car to Europe this year, she's less keen to do it as a honeymoon.

I've noted a few people mentioning that the Caribbean is closer and that is an option still - but I get the idea that the weather is better in Hawaii in Sept / Oct than Jamaica etc.

[GT03ROB]

davek_964 said:

I've noted a few people mentioning that the Caribbean is closer and that is an option still - but I get the idea that the weather is better in Hawaii in Sept / Oct than Jamaica etc.

Can't speak for Hawaii at that time only been Dec/Jan, but have done the Caribbean Sept onwards. I would say based on experience in Grenada, St Lucia, Jamaica & Antigua during that period you will generally be Ok. Yes you will get the odd shower and you may lose a complete day to rain, but I don;t recall any sustained period of bad weather. We did have a tropical storm come through St Lucia one day, which caused a bit of disruption in teh resort for around half a day, but they seemed well practiced in sorting things out.

[DeejRC]

Carib is our destination each Sept/Oct. You might lose 1/2 day to a downpour, that is generally it. Otherwise it’s 30-60mins on any given day and that is wonderful to reset the weather and humidity.

[davek_964]

DeejRC said:

Carib is our destination each Sept/Oct. You might lose 1/2 day to a downpour, that is generally it. Otherwise it’s 30-60mins on any given day and that is wonderful to reset the weather and humidity.

Makes sense I guess - I have done Florida several times and experienced that, so I suppose it makes sense that it's the same.

[davek_964]

We are now looking more seriously at the Carribean and seem to have settled on Barbados as the likely destination. Direct flights is a big plus, and it's not too long on the plane - especially as Virgin Upper Class looks reasonable.

Any recommended hotels? G/f wants it to be all inclusive and ideally bundled in with Virgin - and it must be beach front. There are a couple that seem to fit the bill although they do have surprisingly mixed reviews.

[djc206]

davek_964 said:

We are now looking more seriously at the Carribean and seem to have settled on Barbados as the likely destination. Direct flights is a big plus, and it's not too long on the plane - especially as Virgin Upper Class looks reasonable.

Any recommended hotels? G/f wants it to be all inclusive and ideally bundled in with Virgin - and it must be beach front. There are a couple that seem to fit the bill although they do have surprisingly mixed reviews.

Whereabouts on the island are you looking?

Edit to add: Stoutes car hire are great. We rented a little car from them for a very reasonable price to explore the island, very easy to drive around.

[davek_964]

djc206 said:

Whereabouts on the island are you looking?

Edit to add: Stoutes car hire are great. We rented a little car from them for a very reasonable price to explore the island, very easy to drive around.

To be honest, we haven't narrowed it down to a specific area yet (happy for recommendations). Key things are that it's beachfront, and that there is stuff to do - she can scuba dive, and would like to try windsurfing etc. if possible. So not just laying on a sunbed all day.

I'll make a note of Stoutes, thanks.

[xx99xx]

"TSR said today that it predicts North Atlantic hurricane activity in 2024 will be “very active”.

The data in TSR’s report suggests that 2024 Atlantic hurricane season activity will be around 30% above the 1991-2020 30-year norm and around 50% above the long-term 1950-2023 norm."

https://www.artemis.bm/news/tsr-predicts-very-acti...

Low ish risk of a holiday spoiler but a risk nonetheless.

[djc206]

davek_964 said:

To be honest, we haven't narrowed it down to a specific area yet (happy for recommendations). Key things are that it's beachfront, and that there is stuff to do - she can scuba dive, and would like to try windsurfing etc. if possible. So not just laying on a sunbed all day.

I'll make a note of Stoutes, thanks.

Last time I went we stayed at Sugar Bay. That had a beach, some basic water sports equipment, its walkable along to bars and restaurants and the Gap or you can grab the Z bus from the road at the front and head along to Oistins or into Bridgetown (not that you would). It has an AI option. We got it for a steal, I’ve no idea what they charge now, I think a lot of places in Barbados have been pricing above where they should be which might explain the reviews minefield you’ve encountered.

Obviously if money is no object you’ve got the likes of Sandy Lane or one of the other luxury resorts on the west coast. They can be a bit isolated from the towns though so not really walkable to anywhere you’d want to visit. Somewhere like the Crane might tick some of your boxes but it’s a bit out of the way, it does have Cutters nearby to make up for that.

[davek_964]

Thanks.

Sugar bay was one of the hotels we looked at last night, and it does seem very reasonably priced - 14 nights fully inclusive, ocean front room and upper class flights was in the region of £6.5k which seems like a bargain to me. The reviews were pretty mixed though and the description (on the Virgin page) seems to mention kids a lot which is a negative.

I have had a couple of people recommend West coast to me - it is probably my preference. But it may take some persuading with the g/f!

[seefarr]

We've been to four different Sandals resorts and Royal Barbados was by far our favourite. Food was actually really good and we're pretty picky, and it's next door to the other Sandals so you've got a good selection to choose from. Having a bowling alley onsite was cool and subbing in some craft beer makes a nice change. Diving is all inclusive too. We walked to Oistins fish fry one night which was a fun evening. My wife booked so I'm not sure how expensive it was but the fact that we got picked up from the airport in a Rolls Royce probably tells me I don't want to know.

We also rented a car and visited St. Nicholas Abbey (former plantation, steam railway and distillery) and FourSquare distillery who both make really fantastic rum.

[Kart16]

https://beachsearcher.com/en/beach/76201229/praia-...

https://www.padi.com/dive-center/brazil/patadacobr...

You fly from Heathrow to Sao Paulo (GRU), and from there you get a connection to Florianopolis (FLN). From FLN you rent a car and drive to this beach called Bombinhas.

Bombinhas itself is a small bay that is regularly ranked as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Sea food there is amazing, particularly the “camarao na cerveja” (prawns fried with beer!).

[djc206]

davek_964 said:

Thanks.

Sugar bay was one of the hotels we looked at last night, and it does seem very reasonably priced - 14 nights fully inclusive, ocean front room and upper class flights was in the region of £6.5k which seems like a bargain to me. The reviews were pretty mixed though and the description (on the Virgin page) seems to mention kids a lot which is a negative.

I have had a couple of people recommend West coast to me - it is probably my preference. But it may take some persuading with the g/f!

That seems quite reasonable. There are kids there but we never felt like it was infested with them. The pool area is obviously where they congregate which is away from the beach so peace and quiet is easily obtained. The food was very good when we were there and the staff truly lovely. Someone else on this forum went there quite recently I think so hopefully they pop by to let you know how it was.

The west coast definitely has the nicest beaches, you can swim out with the turtles easily. That said I did see a couple at sugar bay when I was paddle boarding. Other benefits of the west coast is access to the nice restaurants they have along the main drag.

[davek_964]

djc206 said:

That seems quite reasonable. There are kids there but we never felt like it was infested with them. The pool area is obviously where they congregate which is away from the beach so peace and quiet is easily obtained. The food was very good when we were there and the staff truly lovely. Someone else on this forum went there quite recently I think so hopefully they pop by to let you know how it was.

The west coast definitely has the nicest beaches, you can swim out with the turtles easily. That said I did see a couple at sugar bay when I was paddle boarding. Other benefits of the west coast is access to the nice restaurants they have along the main drag.

Thanks, I'll keep Sugar Bay on the list - but still hope to persuade her that West Coast is the best option.

There are lots of big sharks on the South Coast right?