40th birthday family holiday - August 2014

[furrymuff]

Can anyone help? We are looking to go away for 10 days - 2 weeks with DS's 15 and 13 for my 40th birthday celebration. It has to be in summer holidays as DS1 is in GCSE years and the school won't let us take them out anyway .

Anyway, I want somewhere exotic and hot, where DH and boys can dive and I can lay on the beach and chill! Am thinking Caribbean, Mexico, Maldives etc, but don't know what weather is like at that time of year.

Can anyone suggest anywhere? Budget is up to £10k max. Thanks!

We spent £8k in July 2011 doing a fab Safari in Kenya. for 10 nights (did Mountains, Lakes, Samburu & Masai Mara) in amazing accommodation, then 5 nights on the beach at Mombassa doing the lazy, chilling All-inclusive bit. Definitely worth considering for the experience. We did the Cheetah Safari with Somak and negotiated a great discount through our local Travel Agent. Weather was perfect for us - Kenyan Winter but we still used sun cream everyday and needed the shade.

Corsica is beautiful (and expensive). Club Med have a resort there here

A fabulous treat would be hiring a small yacht in the British Virgin Islands. They have two hosts who sail and cook. All meals are included. You just dive and chill. Choose one with a host who dives and has the equipment. The boats are usually boarded on Tortola. The islands here are stunning and safe. There is nothing better! You fly there via Antigua.

Is Kenya safe at the moment? Not sure. We have been several times and safaris are wonderful. Summer holidays is high season though, wildebeeste migration! Masai Mara would be a must see it though. You could also go to the Galápagos Islands. Exotic, diving and a trip of a lifetime you will never forget. That's what we did for my major birthday. Also Ecuador was fabulous, especially the rainforest.

I'm looking for something similar in July and am struggling tbh. Our summer isn't the best time to travel to the places you have mentioned. We did go to Mexico early July and the weather was pretty good then but the snorkelling wasn't great. Perhaps the diving is better.

Australia/Great Barrier Reef would be good that time of year but 10 days is a little short.

I always think the destinations you mention are winter destinations, the weather is not so good in the summer.
If you really want to go to one of those places, could you go at Easter instead?
In the summer, I always think the Med is a much better bet weather wise. I would second the suggestion of a Med island: Corsica, Sardinia or Sicily.
Or have you considered an upmarket cruise?