Holiday destination ideas around Sept / Oct

[davek_964]

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.

Japan : I've been on business several times, but we both want to go there at some point. But we don't really want a city break this year even if it's just for half of it

Hawaii (Oahu) : This is probably the current favourite - neither of us has been, and it seems that there is a bit more to do there than just lie on a beach. There also seem to be several holidays where you spend a couple of nights in San Francisco or similar on the way out which would be nice.

Jamaica / Bahamas : Never been, but it's a possible - depending on what else there is to do there.

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

Edited by davek_964 on Monday 22 January 08:12

[davek_964]

GT03ROB said:

* Costa Rica

• Zanzibar followed by safari in Tanzania.

Caribbean weather is changeable at that time of year bear in mind. Can also cloud the water so not greatest time for diving.

Thanks - we'll look them up.

Yeah - it's not the best time of year for beach holidays and we did consider moving it to June. But it's for a honeymoon and although the wedding will be very simple it would be a bit rushed trying to sort it all before June.

[davek_964]

gamefreaks said:

Thought about Okinawa?

Never been but it's on my list and looks like an intersting mix of things to do...

Yes, we did consider it, but decided that if / when we go to Japan, it wouldn't be for this type of holiday.

[davek_964]

a311 said:

The world must your oyster. Of the places I've visited I'd take a look at South Africa loads to do and see and you'll get highs of mid 20s in Cape Town and warmer in the Indian ocean coast. One trip we also did a week in Mauritius as it was May/June I.e. Southern hemisphere winter but didn't really rate it.

Negligible time difference so no jet lag either.


Thailand is the other obvious option to combine cities, activities and a relaxing beach destination.

Cape Town I've done (plus Botswana with a few days in a safari park type thing) so wouldn't rush back. Also have done Mauritius and although I liked it, I'm not sure I'd go back a second time.

We did toy with the idea of Thailand - I know people who did half city / half beach there, and said the beaches etc. were excellent. But I don't think either of us were that interested in Thailand as a place to go for some reason. We might look at it some more though.

[davek_964]

Thanks for the suggestions.

We had a chat last night, and looked up some of these options and I think we have decided that Hawaii is (probably) the winner. We will need to look at options of where exactly, and we may well stop on the way there for a few days. We'd like to see the Grand Canyon so could stop in Las Vegas - but neither of us is remotely interested in Las Vegas so we'll see.

[davek_964]

We browsed flights / hotels last night for Hawaii for some of the dates we were considering, to get an idea of price.

Seems we won't be flying BA. I don't want to fly economy - but with BA, even if you pay for premium / business - the second part of the journey on partner airline will be economy. If it was an hour - fine - but it's about 1/3 of the total flight time / ~6 hours.
Virgin upgrades the second part too, so you still get additional legroom etc. so looks like Virgin will get our business.

We haven't decided yet if we'll stop for a few days on the way - in which case, I guess they'd be separate flights anyway - but I suspect we'll take the simple option and just fly straight there.

Edited by davek_964 on Wednesday 24th January 13:53

[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!

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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!

[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?

[davek_964]

DeejRC said:

Dave - is that £6.5k each or for the pair?
That is v reasonable if it’s for the pair of you at 2 weeks & Virgin Upper.

It was both, but when I try it now it's about £9.5k. Premium is about £6.5k - I'd swear I selected upper before but maybe not.
Would still be happy with £9.5k but there is a big difference if we choose October. Premium is about the same for both dates but upper is almost double the September price - flights alone would be £9.5k for upper!

[davek_964]

mikef said:

How about Okinawa? JAL organised a holiday for us that included a week at their private beach resort in Okinawa, JAL Private Resort Okuma. Okinawa was sub-tropical, great food (if you like Japanese), excellent water-sports including Kawasaki jet skis - and we were just about the only non-Japanese customers so lots of opportunity to practice the language ()

link then filter on Amenities: Beach

We've ruled it out because - although we do want to go to Japan at some point - it won't be for this kind of holiday, and we think there are better places to do "beach" holidays.

[davek_964]

To update the thread :

Booked it this evening. We decided on Barbados and went for Fairmont Royal Pavilion - Beach front suite. With BA business class flights it's a tad excessive - especially since it's not all inclusive - but you only live once.