where to take my sister for her graduation trip?
My little sister is about to graduate college, and I promised her a trip to celebrate. Now, I’m stuck trying to figure out where to actually take her. It’s not just us—her boyfriend and our dad are coming too, so it’s a real family affair. We’re all from Florida, so we’ve seen our fair share of beaches, but she wants something special: a place with beautiful beaches, good food and bars, and some real hiking—like mountain or jungle trails. She keeps saying, “Something like St. John, but not St. John.”
We’ve already done St. Thomas/St. John (and honestly, St. John was perfect, but she wants new), Ambergris Caye in Belize (Dad’s obsessed with it, but we’ve been twice), and Turks and Caicos (which was gorgeous but felt way too fancy and commercial for us—like, do I really need to see another Miami-style resort?).
She’s throwing out places like Aruba, St. Croix, St. Martin, Curacao, and Antigua. I was looking at Roatan, Utila, or even Zihuatanejo, but I’m worried the Pacific will be too cold in winter, and some of these spots don’t really have the hiking she wants. Zanzibar even crossed my mind, but that’s probably a wallet-buster.
Has anyone actually found a spot in the Caribbean or Latin America that has those hiking trails right near the beach, isn’t crawling with tourists, and doesn’t cost a fortune? Or are we chasing a unicorn here? I feel like every place that’s got great beaches is either packed or crazy expensive, and the places with hiking are nowhere near the ocean. If you’ve managed to find that sweet spot, I need to know. We’re running out of time, and I’m starting to think we’ll just end up back in St. John eating the same conch fritters as last time.
#traveladvice #familytrip #caribbean #Travel
