Carribean or Thailand/Philippines?

[MumofCandR]

I'm looking to travel for a long haul holiday over Easter break with an 11 and nearly 13 year old and DH. We like watersports and snorkeling, animals and sightseeing/ exploring and good food. Not sitting on a beach, and we normally rent a car ( aware that may not be advisable in these countries) so we can explore. I'm torn between several of the Caribbean islands or Asia. Concerns about the Caribbean are the cost of food and ability to get around easily/ cost effectively ( would you hire a car in St Lucia, Genada for the example?). Also like the sound of Thailand but the water isn't as good for snorkeling from what I've read, but everything else including food sounds amazing and cheaper to eat out. Also concerned that beaches may be not as pristine as photos indicate for either of these destinations. Can you help please?

A travel agent once told me it was much cheaper to go east than west. Possibly depending on your budget you could do more in Thailand (assuming that hasn't changed)?

I went to St lucia this year and people hire cars here. The roads can be steep and bendy though so I probably wouldn't drive them at night. If you're used to UK country roads I don't think you'd have a problem. Having said that the island is small so you could use taxis.

If you're undecided I would look at the activities/excursions in each destination and see which you would like to do. In st lucia we have done a skyride through the rainforest, snorkeling at the pitons, mud bath and sulphur springs, visited the hotel chocolat plantation, rode dune buggies and done zip lining in the jungle.

St Lucia and Grenada are both great choices. Grenada has a fairly large US presence due to the medical school. We have stayed at resorts both in the south and north side of the island. Those staying on the north side do need a car and a lot of the Europeans stayed up there with the south side being more American (don’t really need a car down there but one would be helpful for exploring).

Spoke with a few people who rented a car and there’s easier and hard parts to drive in, but very doable.

It’s a great island!

St Lucia is also nice, I didn’t meet anyone who rented a car and we used taxis while there. Unfortunately we weren’t there long enough to really get out and explore as we were getting on a sailboat. But the people met who were staying in the marina were great.

Have a look at Costa Rica rather than one of the Caribbean islands. The Pacific coast is stunning with loads to do!

Hi we did look at Costa rica! Is the water calm and is it possible to snorkel there? Thanks

Thanks @RechargeableGnu that makes sense, definitely worth thinking about.

@saltinesandcoffeecups that backs up what I've read about and good to know that it should be driveable. What did you make of food prices? Thinking of a B+B basis so would have to cover lunch and dinner out of the hotel.

Both would be amazing to be fair.

But Thailand gets my vote- the resort of Hua Hin it has so many things to do within easy distance of the resort and it is family friendly location.

Eep… I didn’t think the food prices were bad. But I’m American if that makes a difference. We usually ate at the hotel or random food we stumbled upon for a snack/light lunch.

In both places it’s where we get on the boat we sail on. (Small max 26 pax sails) so we don’t generally pay that much attention or care because they have been shoulder days of our holiday if that makes sense… sort of a sunk cost.

Sorry I can’t be more help in that department but I will say I don’t think you can go wrong on either Island

We have been many places across the globe. Nowhere ( and I cannot stress this enough) comes even close to Thailand.

What do you like about it so much? We are moving to Hua Hin in a few years time as we live it

The Philippines are great, but you need to get connecting flights from Hong Kong. It isn't for everybody and there is visible extreme poverty in some areas.

The Islands are beautiful and the people are fantastic.

Just don't expect too much in terms of polish.

We went ten years ago and loved Bohol, Palawan and Borocai. I, personally, loved Bohol. We hired a scooter and pottered around the small villages in the south west of the island. There were completely deserted beaches that should be in every newspaper 'list of world's top ten beachs'.

It is a popular destination for Koreans, so the high end hotels will be geared towards that market. The diving and (limited) backpacker market is more English speaking (The Philippines were an American colony prior to the Second World War).

@Poppins21
The people, the food, the beautiful beaches. Literally everything we did was such an experience. Every day we found something new to try, be that a meal, an excursion etc. I felt completely relaxed whilst still exhilarated.
I also think how cheap it is compared to the Caribbean and the USA. I hate visiting those places now because I feel completely ripped off in comparison to going to Thailand

Costa Rica certainly is good for Snorkling!

costaricatravellife.com/snorkeling-in-costa-rica/

Problem with Philippines is lack of direct flights and general unreliability of them- lots of consolidation of flights goes on, especially on Cebu. Easy to get badly delayed in HK ( to which flights from uk are pretty expensive). I would also not recommend driving yourself in Philippines. It’s pretty manic and there are motorbikes coming from everywhere. Also in some areas car jackings are not uncommon and it’s just not v safe. Food is ok but nothing to write home about.

We go diving there ( Amazing diving in the south too) and Easter is a good time to go but im not sure it would deliver what you’re wanting to do.