The Ultimate Tropical islands?

halcyon4

Hi,

I am looking into a 2-3 week holiday for next February for myself and my girlfriend. We would like to visit a tropical island.
The criteria are:
1) has great diving in february
2) decent treks with lots of wildlife
3) not overly expensive on daily necessities & activities...ie-> barbados, hawaii, seychelles, maldives etc.. are out of the question
4) contains scenic drives and one can rent a moped on the island
5) is not in SE Asia (we have covered this extensively)
6) will not be in wet season, or hurricane season etc.. in February

We are looking into Providence & San Andres in Colombia, but are wondering what else is out there?
Anybody any tips on any tropical islands they have visited, what kind of daily budget etc...

Fratton Fred

Check out Tobago.

halcyon4

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Check out Tobago.

Cheers for the tip, looked it up, sound like a good spot .it is large enough to spend a couple of weeks exploring it, seems to have a lot o see and do.
The direct flights from London gatwick are a plus.
Have you been?
Was there much budget accomodation? What kind of prices are you talking?

Dr Turk Turkelton

A lot of the sort of places that you would be looking at will have all inclusive deals.
Have gone on a good few of these myself and they are really good when you get there as you will have little to spend money on.
They are obviously more expensive to book but I find them a great saving.

Fratton Fred

halcyon4 wrote: »

Cheers for the tip, looked it up, sound like a good spot .it is large enough to spend a couple of weeks exploring it, seems to have a lot o see and do.
The direct flights from London gatwick are a plus.
Have you been?
Was there much budget accomodation? What kind of prices are you talking?

I went about 12 years ago and stayed at the tropikist Hotel which is right next to the airport and was fairly cheap.

Prices for food and drink are below what you would pay in Ireland, but there isn't a tremendous choice of restaurants etc.

The diving is superb, but be sure not to miss out on Speyside in the north. I went for a week on my own and did about 10 dives with one day spent touring the island. I missed a lot though, especially Speyside.

The island is basic, but has a large national park which is apparantly good for exploring, you can also do mountain bike tours etc.

If you do go, be sure not to miss Sunday School in Bucco.:cool:

jt_dublin

Have you thought about the Dominican Republic in the Carribean? I was there on an all inclusive deal a few years ago and it was fantastic value. The diving of the North Coast is meant to be great. Maybe take a look at areas around Bavaro, Cabarete or Sosua. You will get direct flights from Gatwick.

Fratton Fred

jt_dublin wrote: »

Have you thought about the Dominican Republic in the Carribean? I was there on an all inclusive deal a few years ago and it was fantastic value. The diving of the North Coast is meant to be great. Maybe take a look at areas around Bavaro, Cabarete or Sosua. You will get direct flights from Gatwick.

Which is north?

I stayed in the Atlantic coast and the diving was ok. The Caribbean coast is supposedly a lot better but it is a lot more expensive.

jt_dublin

Puerto Plata, Sosua & Cabarete are in the north. This article gives an idea of the dive sites off all coasts.

http://www.diveguide.com/domi-scuba.htm

jt_dublin

If you google hiking or trekking in the Dominican Republic, there seems to be plenty of it there too. And I just read that February is carnival time, so there should be plenty buzz around the place too. Latino countries really know how to party!

orchidsrpretty

You can get flighs to tobago now for 395gbp, flying from gatwick with monarch Seems like a great deal. Flights with ryanair tie in with times and are about 50ish. There are cheap places to stay but not many. Also there are alot of self catering places for rent also. Lots of ourdoor sports to do there, and the weather is great all year rounf, even in the rainy season.