Bart -my real name-
Senior Insider
[FONT="][FONT="]It pains me to write this but with a late November travel date to SBH and in light of recent reports, I need to start thinking about a Plan B. Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately) my only experience in the Caribbean is the SXM airport and SBH, so I’m turning the wisdom of the forum for guidance. Hopefully this info will be useful to others in a similar situation this fall and early winter. [/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT="][FONT="]I know the “What’s most St Barts-like island?” question has been asked many times, but in looking through other threads, many of the popular responses/locations have also been hard hit this year.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Some suggestions that were spared hits by Irma and Maria were:[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Mustique[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Bequia[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]South Caicos[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Barbados [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Grenada[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Culebra[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Grenadines[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]I broke out my 1994 (!!) Fodors Guide to the Caribbean (which was how we discovered SBH in the first place) and after a brief perusal, the following islands look interesting:[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Grenada[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Guadeloupe (took a minor hit from Maria, but it seems like it’s more of a clean up effort instead of a rebuilding effort, from what could tell)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Martinique [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Montserrat (not sure the extent of hurricane damage here)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]St. Lucia[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]St. Vincent and the Grenadines[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Tobago [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Turks and Caicos[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]What I’m looking for in an island is:[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]A safe place [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]No hassles from the locals (not interested in turning down 20 offers a day to get my hair braided!)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Beautiful beaches[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Natural beauty [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Good food[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Relaxed vibe[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]A French island would be preferable, but not required[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]What I don’t need or care about:[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Golf[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Casinos [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Night life[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]High end shopping[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Big hotels[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Big cities [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]I don’t care if the island has those things, I’m just going to avoid them. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Our typical SBH day is: coffee and croissants at the villa, then all morning on the beach, then lunch, then another beach or back to the villa, then dinner, then bed. Lots of reading, swimming and eating! Sometimes we’ll do a hike/walk, and we’d probably do more if there were more nature trails on SBH. (An intriguing aspect of some of the islands above is the hiking and rainforests, so an island that has some of that would be a plus)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Sorry for such a long winded post, and I’m really sorry that I have write it at all, but if anyone has insight or suggestions, I’m all ears. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Thanks![/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]
[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]
[FONT="][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]I know the “What’s most St Barts-like island?” question has been asked many times, but in looking through other threads, many of the popular responses/locations have also been hard hit this year.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Some suggestions that were spared hits by Irma and Maria were:[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Mustique[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Bequia[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]South Caicos[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Barbados [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Grenada[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Culebra[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Grenadines[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]I broke out my 1994 (!!) Fodors Guide to the Caribbean (which was how we discovered SBH in the first place) and after a brief perusal, the following islands look interesting:[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Grenada[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Guadeloupe (took a minor hit from Maria, but it seems like it’s more of a clean up effort instead of a rebuilding effort, from what could tell)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Martinique [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Montserrat (not sure the extent of hurricane damage here)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]St. Lucia[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]St. Vincent and the Grenadines[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Tobago [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Turks and Caicos[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]What I’m looking for in an island is:[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]A safe place [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]No hassles from the locals (not interested in turning down 20 offers a day to get my hair braided!)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Beautiful beaches[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Natural beauty [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Good food[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Relaxed vibe[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]A French island would be preferable, but not required[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]What I don’t need or care about:[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Golf[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Casinos [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Night life[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]High end shopping[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Big hotels[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Big cities [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]I don’t care if the island has those things, I’m just going to avoid them. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Our typical SBH day is: coffee and croissants at the villa, then all morning on the beach, then lunch, then another beach or back to the villa, then dinner, then bed. Lots of reading, swimming and eating! Sometimes we’ll do a hike/walk, and we’d probably do more if there were more nature trails on SBH. (An intriguing aspect of some of the islands above is the hiking and rainforests, so an island that has some of that would be a plus)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Sorry for such a long winded post, and I’m really sorry that I have write it at all, but if anyone has insight or suggestions, I’m all ears. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Thanks![/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
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