9 Nights in December/January

deliciouswater · 2024-01-17T17:49:04+00:00

We are thinking of going away in December/January. We have 9 nights to play with. Where in the world would you go? We like unspoilt beaches, historical sites, feeling safe when wandering, snorkeling or diving, must be warm!

Funderthighs · 18/01/2024 08:13

Antigua

idontlikealdi · 18/01/2024 09:37

Muscat

sarahb083 · 18/01/2024 13:06

Mexico - fly into Cancun. Meets all of your requirements, though historical sites are limited to Mayan temples
Cuba - fantastic. Very safe, but definitely a different type of holiday
Dominican Republic
Thailand - lots of lovely beaches

useitorlose · 18/01/2024 13:15

Thailand

TizerorFizz · 18/01/2024 16:07

Anywhere in the Caribbean. Best place: BVIs. You can get to see the USVIs via a ferry where there’s more “history”. The BVIs have diving snd snorkelling, great places to stay, safe and the best beaches! Hire a car and discover them! Uninhabited islands too. Best way to visit is by boat.

TizerorFizz · 18/01/2024 16:08

There are also great beach holidays in Brazil. Not Rio! Several other places are beautiful. Longer flight than Caribbean though.

StiffyByngsDogBartholomew · 27/05/2024 22:43

did you find something Op ?
we are on our second trip to the Riviera Maya in Mexico, staying in a resort town called puerto aventuras. Diving here is fabulous and has both outstanding open water diving and cenotes which are cavern or cave dives. If you are advanced or interested in advanced you can do some mindblowing
cenote dives to qualify with all sorts of cool features
the resort is gated and very safe with a lovely marina, shops and restaurants and you can walk around happily, generally Quintana Roo is safe but this bit is particularly safe.
the area has interesting Mayan ruins and fantastic wildlife. I think it would tick all your boxes, December and January are some of thr best times to come here too, we came in February before and it was fab, you also miss the sargassum season then. We stayed at dreams tulum before and are currently at thr catalonia riviera maya. Because many of guests are American the service levels are very high and the Mexican people are very welcoming and friendly

food is wonderful here, loads of fresh seafood.

if you just have 9 nights it's also a good option because the time difference "buys" you 6 extra hours so you actually arrive at 2pm in Cancun from a 10am flight from London. We were checked in and in the pool by 5.30pm.. Rather than Thailand where you lose a lot of time due to the time being ahead.

cheapskatemum · 27/05/2024 23:09

Zanzibar ticks all your boxes

lumpybumpydumpy · 28/05/2024 08:49

StiffyByngsDogBartholomew · 27/05/2024 22:43

did you find something Op ?
we are on our second trip to the Riviera Maya in Mexico, staying in a resort town called puerto aventuras. Diving here is fabulous and has both outstanding open water diving and cenotes which are cavern or cave dives. If you are advanced or interested in advanced you can do some mindblowing
cenote dives to qualify with all sorts of cool features
the resort is gated and very safe with a lovely marina, shops and restaurants and you can walk around happily, generally Quintana Roo is safe but this bit is particularly safe.
the area has interesting Mayan ruins and fantastic wildlife. I think it would tick all your boxes, December and January are some of thr best times to come here too, we came in February before and it was fab, you also miss the sargassum season then. We stayed at dreams tulum before and are currently at thr catalonia riviera maya. Because many of guests are American the service levels are very high and the Mexican people are very welcoming and friendly

food is wonderful here, loads of fresh seafood.

if you just have 9 nights it's also a good option because the time difference "buys" you 6 extra hours so you actually arrive at 2pm in Cancun from a 10am flight from London. We were checked in and in the pool by 5.30pm.. Rather than Thailand where you lose a lot of time due to the time being ahead.

Edited

Would you mind saying the name of your resort ?
Have never been to Mexico but it sounds ideal
For us

StiffyByngsDogBartholomew · 28/05/2024 12:44

https://www.tui.co.uk/destinations/mexico/mexico-caribbean-coast/riviera-maya/hotels/catalonia-riviera-maya.html

we upgraded to privileged abd have been very happy. We got a very good deal on the hotel. There are two hotels in one, make sure to book RM not the Yucatán side.
there are better hotels here than this but we chose it because it has good snorkelling from the hotel beach and it's perfectly nice enough for us. We like quite simple, fresh, local food on hols and have had plenty of that. There's loads of delicious fruit, Dd has eaten so much mango she is at risk of turning into one. The a la cartes are perfectly good enough bearing in mind you are in a resort in Mexico. Some people seem to expect an awful lot. Staff have been very nice, the room service is indifferent but we never order it as a rule. We've had great drinks and there is plenty of wine and cava which is what we like to drink. We tend to stick to the same bar and tipped at the beginning of the week so we get good slugs in the cocktails ! Lots of people on TA moaning about watered down drinks, well if I'm drinking pina coladas all day from 11 I'd be on the floor by 3 if they were really strong !