penny

You might be able to charter a sailboat in St. Martin. I saw a link on travel talk ---you might inquire on that forum.

Cap Juluca has beautiful turquoise water, white soft sand. The villas are spread far apart--nice feeling of privacy from your room. Not sure I would call it a bungalow type of feel, like some of the rooms at Caneel, LDB,
but it works for me! I dislike the high rise hotel feeling--each villa at Cj is very spacious.

Stanton

Little Dix Bay is great. Nevis Four Seasons is really awesome. I highly recommend it. Cap Jaluca is supposed to be really nice and have had friends go there. Nevis has a private beach, Little Dix Bay is private beach.

for service - go to the four seasons nevis.

poss

Stanton: Have you been to Little Dix recently? I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask if you have. Thank you.

WTexan

Actually, I emailed Little Dix and although I thought it seemed private when I was there, it is a public beach. My friends I am meeting in the Caribbean want to be on a bay. Does that disqualify any of these? I am compiling info I am collecting from each resort and from all of you and will post any info I think ya'll might be interested in for comments/corrections.

Penny, I did contact Peter Island which seems to have a marina to see if we could charter a sail to Anguilla so we could stay at both Peter Island and Cap Juluca. I will check the St. Martin idea, thanks.

I don't want to stay at the Four Seasons because I understand Nevis doesn't have turquoise water. Does the Four Seasons at Exuma have the bungalow feel? It looked great, but seemed more like a hotel than resort on their web site.

Sunnyboy

WTexan - I'm a little late in the discussion but for what it is worth, the sail from anywhere in the BVI's to Anguilla or St. Martin is not for the faint of heart. The Anegada Passage (sailors call it the Oh-My-God-A Passage) can be extremely rough even in good weather conditions. It's an upwind sail so expect slow going (it's about 100+ miles of open water) - probably take 24 to 30 hours for the passage!

If you want to island hop by sailboat, do a crewed charter through the BVI's or the Grenadines. It is, however, a bit like camping so if you are looking for "full service and luxury" you might want to just stay at one of the upscale resorts mentioned in this thread and just do a day sail.

Regarding the comments about "Public Beaches" - in the Caribbean just about every beach is "open to the public" but that doesn't mean the public actually has access to the beach. For instance at Little Dix the only way the public can get to the beach is if they arrive by boat since they theoretically cannot get their by crossing resort property.

blamona

I second everything sunnyboy said. For sailing stick to either Virgin Islands, (Plenty to hop through) or St. Vincent and Grenedines. Or look into the Abacos in Bahamas, good sailing grounds. It's really hard (I mean expert sailors don't usually do this) to sail between VI and to Anguilla.
He's also correct in that ALL beaches in Caribbean are public by laws, some are just more difficult to get to than others. (Because you have to go through a resort to too, or it's a desserted cay, for example.)
Four Seasons in Exumas seams like a resort, it does not have a bungalo feel. It's a fairly crowded beach, especially with families. For Bungalo feel, try Staniel Cay in Exumas, and you can get a sailboat to all the different cays from there, especially the james bond national park. (Thunderball grotto?) Keep in mind though, Staniel Cay is very basic, primarailly accomadations for sailors. This is not in the same class as the examples you've listed.

WTexan

Thanks for letting me know about the sailing. I am a good sailor, but am glad to know that it isn't a good idea. My friends want mostly the things I want... natural beauty, turquoise water, luxury, peace and quiet, good food, maybe some tennis. I have been asked to choose the location.

WTexan

My friends want me to make a decision. The beach cottages on Parrot Cay are very expensive. Do you feel like you are in a hotel in the ocean view rooms. At Peter Island, we would choose the beach front jr. suites. At Cap Juluca, an oceanview room. Any last help or comments? Thank you.

MarionCK

Hi WTexan,

I've been reading this thread and want to say thanks for being so clear in your requests.

It's tough to be the *responsible* one to please so many !

I think you would please all by the choice of CJ. I stayed there in 2002 and the beach is still often in my dreams !

The rooms may not be "bungalow" style but they are lovely and very private.

Anguilla restaurants offer so much variety, I'm sure there is something for everyone.

Because, somewhere in this thread, you said the water is most important to you, my vote would be for CJ.

As an aside, I've been to T&C, and Anguilla beaches are more beautiful, IMHO.

Marion

Marion

WTexan

Thanks for the help. I am a regular on the European board, but this is my first time on this one. We eliminated Peter Island because my friends don't want a crowded beach and I am worried about the day crowds. We are down to Parrot Cay and Cap Juluca.

MIM04

Parrot Cay you will get the least amount of traffic. I used to spend the day at their beach every weekend before the hotel was open when I lived in the T & C. It did not change much in terms of traffic once it opened. It is a very private place. The island is literally in the middle of no where. It is a fantastic property. Have you considered the Meridian Club on Pine Cay? That is right next door to Parrot Cay. That is a very private place.

Cap Juluca is a wonderful property and Peter Island you might get some day traffic as mentioned, but I would not let that disourage me.

It is a tough decision!

WTexan

Parrot Cay sounds like what we are looking for, but I also like Cap Juluca because of the dining and chance to do day trips to other islands I haven't seen. I also like the idea of beach service a lot! Since neither of these choices include boating, I may island hop after we meet up with our friends and go somewhere to snorkel and sail a few days before coming home.

WaywardSeal

WTexan:

When do you plan on traveling? (I apologize if you mentioned this in one of your posts)
The reason I ask, I was at Peter Island during the off-season and although they did have a small handful of boater’s day tripping, the beach was pretty much empty. We even had the beach on the other side of the island (White Bay) to ourselves for the afternoon one-day.

However I have heard stories about day-trippers overrunning the beach with no regard for hotel guests during peak season.

WTexan

We are going in February, so maybe that won't be a problem. Thanks for the info.

beachluver

Hi WTexan
Have been reading this thread with interest. Have been to PI(2003) and CJ(2004), and to Provo(2005)-wish it were Parrot Cay, but it was only Grace Bay Club. What great choices you have--all have been wonderful, yet different. There are alot of posts in the archives about PC, PI and of course CJ. One thing I noticed was the water temp. (in April each time) was cooler in Provo, which surprised me really. I wonder if the sailing is #1 or the secluded white sand/blue water? Let us know what you decide, I am sure you will really enjoy yourselves.
CArol

grlygrl7878

I personally liked Malliouhana better than Cap Juluca, but they are both very nice.

WTexan

I wrote a long post yesterday and it never showed up, so I will summarize. They all seemed to have beautiful beaches, soft sand, and turquoise water. Cap Juluca seemed to be the best price for the nicest room, large, ocean view, close to beach. I also like the idea of the dining options and day trips to islands I haven't seen. Parrot Cay looks fabulous but they confirmed that their ocean front rooms are more hotel style and their beach front cottages are $1700/night which is just too much for us. I did like this property because of its privacy and snorkeling. I was unsure about the day crowds at Peter Island. I don't think it would bother me, but my friends were definite about privacy, and Tortola is harder for us to get to. I really liked the boating and snorkeling available there.

So we are going to try to get accommodations at CJ, and maybe my husband and I might island hop and spend a few days at Caneel to get the snorkeling and sailing we love. While Caneel may not be the place it used to be, it still has fabulous beaches, good snorkeling and sailing available.

If we can't get in at CJ, we may try for Malliouhana. It does look very nice too! We are all 50+, so we are probably going to feel even older at CJ with all those honeymooners!

Beachluver has me thinking about water temperatures. I have been trying to get water temperature information, but can't find it. Anyone know where I can check the temp. in Anguilla in February? I have never been to the Caribbean in high season.

Thanks.

poss

Water in Caribbean in high season is very warm-- 80's. When we snorkel, for instance, we stay in for hours and virtually never get chilled. Don't have to "get used to" the water-- just walk right in.
Have fun!

beachluver

Hi WTexan,
Glad to hear you are able to narrow it down. I have to think about where you can find out about water temp, it is very important to me--I am admittedly a freeze baby. So much so, that I will probably not return to Provo in April(our anniversary trip time frame) or before for, that matter. Just my personal thing. All that said, in early to mid April, Anguilla water temp was warm like bath water, lovely. By the way, Cj is so spread out, you will hardly see or know all that is there. I am upper 40's and believe my they are not all the younger set! It was a wonderful mix when we were there, really. I imagine there are times of the year, or if a whole wedding group is there it would be different, but as a whole you will not have a problem. We had an opportunity this summer(in July) while we were in Anguilla again, with our 14 and 17 year old(stayed at Cusinart) to go over to CJ, I just had to refresh my memory of the beach, the main house, etc....incredible!! Oh boy bettter stop now--otherwise I will be using some of my airline miles to get me there quick please post a trip report upon your return.
Carol

WTexan

I am so excited! Just waiting for my friends to give me their dates so we can get it booked, hopefully. Thanks for all the enthusiam and advice. WT