I am stressed out from work and just decided that a beach vacation is imminent! Now just have to decide whether the Caribbean or Costa Rica would be better. BTW: the only location south of Florida that I have been is Cancun.
The ideal vacation:
--Relaxing.
--Beautiful beaches (white sand and perhaps turquoise water)
--Interesting topography
--Intriguing culture
--If we get sick of the beach, it would be nice to have some historical sites or other activities
--Safe. I live in Manhattan and usually not more than 10 blocks from a hospital. Not that I would need one, it would just be nice to know that medical care is available 
--Nice resort hotel for a decent price (perhaps less than $250 a night)
The dilemma:
--Costa Rica has volcanoes, jungles, monkeys, historic San Jose
--The Caribbean has that beautiful clear ocean water.
--Costa Rica, I believe, has storms everyday after noon.
--Caribbean could see a hurricane right here in the midst of hurricane season
Anyway, in case it helps.... I am a 33 year old male and would be going with my wife for about 5 days. Airline travel is not really an issue as we are flying on a buddy pass (well, other than availability).
Any thoughts from someone has been to both the Caribbean and Costa Rica would be greatly appreciated. Or if think there is another great destination within a 6 or so hour flight from NYC, I am all ears!
Thanks,
Bryan
Costa Rica or the Caribbean???
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If you are looking for ultra beautiful sandy beaches the Caribbean is probably the better choice if you are in NYC and you only have 5 days you might consider Turks and Caicos as its pretty easy to get to... The problem will be finding an upscale resort on the beach for less than $250. Costa Rica on the other hand will have more options for lodging in your price range and for $250/ night you actually can get a pretty nice hotel. The problem is that the beaches, in general, aren't quite as beautiful as what you are probably thinking of when you think of the typical "Caribbean" turquoise sandy beach. I'm generalizing of course but you probably know what I mean. I LOVE Costa Rica and have gone about 4 times and will go many more times but I think Costa Rica is more of an active adventure sort of vacation more than a pure beach destination. While it does have beautiful beaches that wouldn't be what draws me there. The Caribbean on the other hand attracts one for total Beach R and R. We were just in Antigua and really thought the beaches were great as are those in Turks & Caicos. T& C is more touristy but easier to get to... We love St Lucia as well but it's not so much the sandy tropical beach you might be thinking of... The beaches arent as sandy and tropical per se but the combination of jungles, mountains (pitons) , beach, etc make it an incredible island getaway. I think if you are looking for "value" , beautiful scenery, and variety CR is a great choice. If you are looking for that "quintessential" beach vacationing would choose the Caribbean. Btw - south of cancan has an absolutely beautiful affordable stretch of the Caribbean where you can get that "beachy r & r experience" in your price range and it's no further from NYC than other Caribbean destinations like T &C. For example check out Be Tulum... It might be a good match. Btw Oct on CR is considered the green ( rainy) season and it's hurricane season in the Caribbean. So it's a roll of the dice but I personally wouldn't stop your plans. Weather is unpredictable and either area can be w/o problems or both could have problems ... You can pretty much count on rain in CR in Oct... The question is how much... But CR is beauti
Oops accidentally hit submit before completing my prior note....
CR is beautiful in the rainy season and it can be incredibly romantics too. I think you can't go wrong with either choice. ...the Caribbean or CR. generally speaking your vacation $ will probably go a little further in Costa Rica than in the Caribbean. I'm sure somebody will share a different opinion but if I compare the price of say 2 trips we have taken to CR vs 4 trips we have taken to the Caribbean (which we have recently done in say the last 5 years) I found CR to be less expensive.
Nice beaches, I would say the caribbean over costa rica. Most beautiful to me and close to you would be Bermuda, but the price can be higher there....
Puerto Rico, although not my favorite island, there are great hotels at a decent price, good food, nice beaches and stuff to do other than the beach and also easy to get to from NY with lots of flights.
There are many great islands in the caribbean, but price will be a deciding factor.
The probelm with this question, is that you are putting one country vs. over 20 others. So just based on that i would go to the carribean since you have so many more choices.