I need a vacation.. suggestion needed!

[Oilers]

Originally Posted by Tyler Werbowski

Cozumel is nice. Been twice.

Very quite. Great snorkeling. Food is unreal.

We'll be back to Mexico for a wedding so I try not to go there this time. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[Oilers]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

To get around, I took the public bus, or private taxis in Havana. You'd need to speak Spanish though, so maybe stick to the tour arranged transport and legal taxis

Yes sir. Too bad I didn't take Spanish in High school instead of French. Time to register for Spanish 101 I guess

[Reef_Geek]

I went to Varadaro twice. IMO it's in the category of good value for relaxation. It's hard to find a destination like this for $1K to $1.5K including flights, a week of food and lodging.

You can pay a bit more for nicer places. I went to Sandals for about $1800 per person. It's adults only, but I assume there are other choices that are kids friendly of this caliber. The food at Sandals was great. I pretty much had surf and turf every night with smoked salmon appetizer. Not local food, but really good resort food.


Sandals Hicacos (18+ only)

[Reef_Geek]

On another trip, we stayed with Iberostar Varadaro. It was for a friend's wedding and there were kids within the group. This place has ok food, but it's just your run of the mill foods. It was a great resort though, with nightly early shows for kids, and then the adult oriented live shows followed. The resort also had regular activities where staff went around and solicited participation... I played a lot of volleyball with friends there. Kids easily met friends at the pool or beach, but the place was big enough that kids and families didn't bother us. It was nice to drink with friends and chill on the beach.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Oilers

Yes sir. Too bad I didn't take Spanish in High school instead of French. Time to register for Spanish 101 I guess

As long as you show some effort, the locals will appreciate it. You can learn the basics in a week.
The first time I went anywhere was to Havana, and spoke three words in Spanish. It was embarrassing So when I got home, I started studying and now speak a fair bit so I can carry on casual conversations.

But Google basic Spanish, learn greetings, please, thank you, where is stuff, etc. Cuba is de nada for you're welcome vs con gusto in other countries. Papaya is a bad word and do NOT use it outside of the buffet at the resort
most other stuff is generic. A popular tourist phrase is "mucho bueno" which means nothing in any proper form Those were 2 of my three words my first trip -lol And spending the week with a family that spoke 2 words in English made it very interesting. Actually one of my most memorable vacation times, but I felt bad for assuming everyone in a foreign country would speak my language. They don't!

[Aquattro]

Oh, and if you know French at all, Spanish shouldn't be tough. Same language structure with feminine/masculine, verb tense, etc. Also formal vs. casual greetings.

"Como Estas" for casual, staff that call you amigo or campenero. "Como esta usted" for more formal greetings. Assume all women are Senora, not seniorita.
But similar to French. Not tough to learn if you've already played with other languages.

[Reef_Geek]

There's a number of off resort excursions that you can do. Cuba is communist so all the tours are government operated. The country is quite safe as they have a very limited tourism market (mostly Canada and Europe), so the government works hard to keep tourists safe. Locals treat tourists like gold. You convert your CAD to Cuban Convertible Pesos at the hotel (like USD exchange rate) but each tourist Cuban Convertible Peso that you tip is like tipping them $25 so they work hard for tips without being imposing.

Of the off-resort trips, we liked the local province (Matanzas) trip, the snorkelling trip to coral beach, the boat cruise to Cayo Blanco. The trip to Havana was ok just to say that we did it, but we felt very 'processed' as it is their most demanded trip so they just rush you through the full day. Skip the jeep safari if you go on many other trips, as you just hit the same spots as all the other tours.
































supposed jeep safari are in these things, and you just go where all other tours go anyway.

[Aquattro]

All those pics make me want to go back

[Reef_Geek]

this being Canreef and all, here's some Varadaro water related shots. Not the best snorkelling. It's a poor country... so near shore waters are well-fished.

[Reef_Geek]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

All those pics make me want to go back

Me too...

my next trip is Florida Keys though. Going to get some dives logged. It's been about 7 years since I was there. I recall great snorkeling with lots of big animals in the marine preserves.