Island Choices

[mbintx]

Pay my way as a finder's fee...

And yes, Kauai is STUNNING.

[GarySL]

Taveuni in the Fiji complex is the least impacted by development & is stunning.

North or South Island in New Zealand are worthy of a visit, although rather overrun in places by agriculture & tourists.

Some of the best coral reefs to explore are off of Palau. Tahiti seems like a nice place although 'discovered'.

Enjoy where ever you decide.

[KingOfJericho]

BTW, I'd love to know what connection you have that could afford this type of hookup. Seems strange as I can't think of any possible connection that would allow you carte blanche.

Forgot to mention Palau. If you like snorkeling and don't mind 2 flight connections, it's definitely an exotic locale.

[Uber V8]

Originally Posted by kyleb350

I'll go with if need some extra people. lol

Yea, I'll be like "and this is kyle from cyber world, don't trip he's cool". lol

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

Maldives are supposed to be incredible as well, much like Bora Bora, however you are very much isolated once you arrive at your hotel. In Bora Bora, most of the hotels are on their own tiny islands so it's not like you can walk from one to another or go exploring on your own without taking a water taxi. Those places seem like they designed for honeymooners who have never lived together and want to do nothing but cuddle and stare at each other. If you're young and active and want loads of activities, you may want to look elsewhere.

St.Barts is beautiful and very French. Arrival by plane will certainly make the hair on your arms stand up.

I've been to Turks and Caicos and while not being very magical, it is a 3hr direct flight from NYC and Grace Bay is the most beautiful strip of sand I've ever seen. They use the US Dollar and speak English which is also a nice perk. Friendliest people I've ever encountered outside of the US. The food was also spectacular. A myriad of restaurants within walking distance of most hotels (on Grace Bay at least).

I've also been to Saba, Dominica, Antigua twice, St.Thomas, St.John, Puerto Rico, Isla Mujeres, Maui, and Kauai. In all honesty, out of all of the islands I've been to, my favorite place is Kauai. I didn't like Maui at all (too commercial) although I thought the snorkeling was great. Hawaii, despite being a state, is exotic in a way that the Caribbean can not match and it has more activities at your disposal than you can possibly cram into a 1-2wk vacation.

Hope this helps.

Very informative. Something I thought would be simple, has become so difficult. (1st world problems)

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

BTW, I'd love to know what connection you have that could afford this type of hookup. Seems strange as I can't think of any possible connection that would allow you carte blanche.

Forgot to mention Palau. If you like snorkeling and don't mind 2 flight connections, it's definitely an exotic locale.

Sure, my GF step dad is old money and said to his stepdaughter "dear, you and three of your friends can go anywhere you want for your grad school gift" so this is where I come into the picture

You've been very helpful, I'll be sure to update with pics.

[KingOfJericho]

I just hope he doesn't have Ft.Lauderdale in mind when you guys come back with a $25,000 trip to the Maldives. haha

[Vanity]

Maldives has always been nice. Resorts there are pretty exotic too, having glass floors to see the marine life underneath.

Here's a link: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotel...ropertyID=1585

How's this for exotic, OP?


Ithaa Undersea Restaurant in Maldives. First restaurant completely submerged glass-environment in the world.

[Uber V8]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

I just hope he doesn't have Ft.Lauderdale in mind when you guys come back with a $25,000 trip to the Maldives. haha

lol

Originally Posted by Vanity

Maldives has always been nice. Resorts there are pretty exotic too, having glass floors to see the marine life underneath.

Here's a link: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotel...ropertyID=1585

How's this for exotic, OP?


Ithaa Undersea Restaurant in Maldives. First restaurant completely submerged glass-environment in the world.

holeeeee shyyyyyt. That would be a nice check-in on Facebook. lol

[Echo M3]

What about Bali or Lombok in Indonesia? Mauritius or Seychelles in the Indian Ocean?

I've been to three of the four, and my favorite was Lombok. Relatively secluded, with some heavenly beaches, great people (Indonesians are incredibly friendly by-and-large), and amazing scenery.

[jibaholic101]

Bali, Fiji, Tahiti, Micronesia

[KingOfJericho]

Mauritius and Seychelles are a complete PITA to get to from the US. You lose 4 days just traveling. Not saying to scratch them from the list but it's food for thought...

[abisson]

Originally Posted by pman10

What about Bali or Lombok in Indonesia? Mauritius or Seychelles in the Indian Ocean?

I've been to three of the four, and my favorite was Lombok. Relatively secluded, with some heavenly beaches, great people (Indonesians are incredibly friendly by-and-large), and amazing scenery.

Don't know went you went to Bali, but I was there for a week last year, and hated it. Indonesians were annoying, always traying to sell me stuff, LOTS of tourists, and the beaches are getting dirty and crowded. Would NOT recommended Bali.

[!JGunz_325]

Originally Posted by Kroy

Ibiza

^ This

[Echo M3]

Originally Posted by abisson

Don't know went you went to Bali, but I was there for a week last year, and hated it. Indonesians were annoying, always traying to sell me stuff, LOTS of tourists, and the beaches are getting dirty and crowded. Would NOT recommended Bali.

Where did you stay? I've been to Bali several times - the last trip was 3 or 4 years ago. The beaches were absolutely stunning, where I was staying. It's certainly getting more touristy, though.


Photos from my trip:

[abisson]

Originally Posted by pman10

Where did you stay? I've been to Bali several times - the last trip was 3 or 4 years ago. The beaches were absolutely stunning, where I was staying. It's certainly getting more touristy, though.


Photos from my trip:

3-4 years for Southeast Asia is like 1000 years here. Yes, some beaches are still nice for sure, but the overall atmosphere is different. It is like Bangkok. Now that the world saw Hangover 2, Bangkok as turned into a shitty place where you get robbed and fucked even more than before. Same for Thailand and Indonesia. In SEA, I would say Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia are still good enough in terms of tourist ratio.

[Joekerr]

Not an experienced island traveler (only been to St. Lucia and Curacao). But I liked Curacao a lot, and so did my wife. Friendly people, great food (don't do an all you can eat plan, just walk around and eat dinner in the town).

And they had a great ATV tour as well. The plus for me was partly the fact that aside from the Dutch, it seems no one has heard of Curacao...so its great. Now there's always a cruise ship in port it seemed, but they are never overnight, so its very limited.

[ChuckBMW3]

I completely understand why everyone is so quick to recommend Bora Bora/Maldives etc., however, the Caribbean is just as beautiful and a lot closer than French Polynesia. I went to Turks last summer and Grace Bay Beach on Provo has the whitest sand and the clearest/deepest blue water I've ever seen. I highly recommend it...

[jlstyle]

I've been to Tahiti,moorea and bora bora.
For me, I personally enjoyed moorea the most even though bora bora has more of a wow factor. There just isn't enough land in bora bora to play and too many boating around which you wouldn't like too much.

Moorea has good amount of land (although it only takes 30 min to circle the island) and ATV there is pretty darn good. I did ATV, jet ski and 4x4 there and jet ski is just AWESOME and ATV was darn good as well, especially when you go up the magic mountain to look at the lagoons.
Also, depends on where you stay (sofitel), you can directly look at tahiti which is from overwater bungalow rooms. My wify loved every minute in Moorea but was soso in tahiti and bora bora.
But damn, lagoon in bora bora cannot be matched.

[justinnum1]

st barts!

[ToothDoc]

Best ATV would be Aruba BY FAR of anyplace I've been. Bora Bora is pretty from what I've heard but boring as hell after a few days. Kaui is a great balance between activity (hiking, sight seeing, beach). Best beaches would be like Exuma.

My recent island travels... Kauai, Big Island, Oahu, Maui, Exuma, Aruba, Turks and Caicos (Provo, North, and Middle Caicos), Antigua, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Grand Cayman, St Thomas, St John, Tortola, St Lucia, Peter Island.

So yeah, for ATV Aruba, for Beaches some of the out islands of Bahamas, for the best mix, Kauai. I'm going back to Kauai again this May cuz I like it so much. FWIW, that's the ONLY island I've been back to more than once and I'm going on #3 in a couple of months. I will eventually make it to Bora Bora, but from friends I've found it's expensive, jet laggy, boring (but beautiful), and expensive. Oh did I mention expensive? Like 20K for a week at a nice 5 star resort.

[Uber V8]

Originally Posted by jlstyle

I've been to Tahiti,moorea and bora bora.
For me, I personally enjoyed moorea the most even though bora bora has more of a wow factor. There just isn't enough land in bora bora to play and too many boating around which you wouldn't like too much.

Moorea has good amount of land (although it only takes 30 min to circle the island) and ATV there is pretty darn good. I did ATV, jet ski and 4x4 there and jet ski is just AWESOME and ATV was darn good as well, especially when you go up the magic mountain to look at the lagoons.
Also, depends on where you stay (sofitel), you can directly look at tahiti which is from overwater bungalow rooms. My wify loved every minute in Moorea but was soso in tahiti and bora bora.
But damn, lagoon in bora bora cannot be matched.

Yea, were all in or late 20's so not anything too honeymooner, but I'll look more into Moorea. I like the adventure aspect.

Originally Posted by ToothDoc

Best ATV would be Aruba BY FAR of anyplace I've been. Bora Bora is pretty from what I've heard but boring as hell after a few days. Kaui is a great balance between activity (hiking, sight seeing, beach). Best beaches would be like Exuma.

My recent island travels... Kauai, Big Island, Oahu, Maui, Exuma, Aruba, Turks and Caicos (Provo, North, and Middle Caicos), Antigua, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Grand Cayman, St Thomas, St John, Tortola, St Lucia, Peter Island.

So yeah, for ATV Aruba, for Beaches some of the out islands of Bahamas, for the best mix, Kauai. I'm going back to Kauai again this May cuz I like it so much. FWIW, that's the ONLY island I've been back to more than once and I'm going on #3 in a couple of months. I will eventually make it to Bora Bora, but from friends I've found it's expensive, jet laggy, boring (but beautiful), and expensive. Oh did I mention expensive? Like 20K for a week at a nice 5 star resort.

Well traveled I see. My friend also speaks highly of Aruba, just seems to lack that exotic flare as compared to other islands. But damn, I should have been careful what I asked for, now I have way too many ideas!

Thanks for sharing!

[ejheverest]

Bareboat chartered a 46' sailboat down in the British Virgin Islands, it was an awesome trip-Tortola, Peter Island, Norman Island, Cooper Island, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, sailed around Necker Island. Its close enough to fly in and not spend all day on a plane getting jet lagged.
I liked BVI better than Oahu, Big Island, Jamaica, Bermuda, PR, all depends on what you want out of the trip.

[KingOfJericho]

Seems like Grace Bay (Turks & Caicos) and Kauai getting quite a bit of positive feedback. Can't say I'm surprised. You can find some very "exotic" places but some of the most worthwhile locales are right under your nose.

OP, where are you located? I'm just thinking flight times...