Winter sun suggestions for January?

[Pooh Bear]

Hiya.

Due to work commitments it looks like OH isn’t going to be able to get his hoped for leave in September so our only chance to get away in the next year is looking like January. The big question is where!

We fancy a relaxing AI beach holiday, as we know we’ve got a stressful few months ahead, so fancy chilling rather than touring, but we’d like somewhere with the option of plenty of things to do, so the Mexican Riviera is looking a good option as it has plenty of day excursions we’d enjoy, though we are open to other destinations too. We’re not ones to lie by the pool for 14 days, we’d rather be exploring every other day.

We don’t enjoy too hot weather, anything over mid to late 20s just becomes too much for us, so again we thought Mexico might be a good destination, particularly as it’s quite dry at that time of year, but we’re wondering if it’ll be hot enough to warm up our weary bones! We’d welcome any suggestions for places to go for some reliable but not fierce winter sun in pleasant hotels for under £4K for us both for 14 nights all inclusive.

Hit me with your best shots!

[marypoppins38]

Barbados has fantastic weather in January. Its the perfect chilling holiday but its very easy to hire a car and see the island if you feel like it. Its easily drive round-able in a day and there are some lovely places to visit.

[dizzymcfarlane]

Originally Posted by marypoppins38

Barbados has fantastic weather in January. Its the perfect chilling holiday but its very easy to hire a car and see the island if you feel like it. Its easily drive round-able in a day and there are some lovely places to visit.

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Do you have any accommodation recommendations? (Sorry to hijack)

[Pooh Bear]

Hijack away, Dizzy, you’re more than welcome!

Sorry I didn’t reply earlier, family emergency took priority over DIBBing, don’t you hate it when that happens.

Not so sure about Barbados, don’t know if there’d be enough different things to keep us occupied though it looks gorgeous.

[Kellea]

We went to Cape Verde in April and plan on going back there at Christmas. It was totally relaxing in the hotel, food was fantastic and the hotel was immaculate. We are the type of family that cant just sit around all day, every day so we booked some of the excursions that were offered. It broke the days up and they were fantastic. We really loved it. We stayed in the Riu Toureag. There is another Riu I am looking at called the palace where the water in the sea is a lot calmer so they offer watersports etc there. x

[Pooh Bear]

I have a pal who went to Cape Verde in November and loved it, though they spent their time just chilling out. I was worried about there being enough for us to do, neither of us is huge watersport fans (OH throws up at the thought of a boat!) but like the idea of snorkelling plus places to explore. Is there much along those lines there?

[FloridaNuts93]

We had a week in Gran Canaria this January- was lovely.

[Kellea]

Originally Posted by Pooh Bear

I have a pal who went to Cape Verde in November and loved it, though they spent their time just chilling out. I was worried about there being enough for us to do, neither of us is huge watersport fans (OH throws up at the thought of a boat!) but like the idea of snorkelling plus places to explore. Is there much along those lines there?

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We did some excursions while we were there. We went on a full day excursion around the capital Sal Rei, then spent some time on the beach in a different location. We also had a half day visiting the potters in Rabil, the mini Sahara ( we tasted local food and drink and went sand surfing), we then went to the first village in Boa Vista then went to the 5th best beach in the world according to a New York newspaper. It was called Santa Monica beach after the LA beach. There were other excursions that DH and I would have loved but we had DD11 and DD16 with us so needed something that they would enjoy. We also went Quad biking for a couple of hours.
There is nothing around the hotel we stayed at but we loved that. DH and I would walk along the beach attached to the hotel and were literally the only people on it. We loved the fact that we could do as little or as much as we wanted and were worried that we would be bored because there was nothing to walk to outside the hotel. This wasn't the case at all, it made us totally relax.
If you don't plan on doing any excursions and prefer to walk out and mooch about outside the hotel/resort then id probably say its not for you. x

[Mr&Mrs4kids]

We are booked to go to Riviera Maya in January 2020 for our 40th’s, it seemed to have all we wanted, warm, dry, excursions if wanted, relaxing ... fingers crossed!

Hope you settle on something you’re both happy with x

[Pooh Bear]

Sorry not to reply before now, real life really does get in the way of the important stuff sometimes!

We’ve decided the same, just need to decide where now. I’ve been before, over 20 years (and a whole lifetime) ago with my ex and we did 5 days touring the Yucutan and 9 days in Playacar. It was a fabulous holiday. I enjoyed Xcaret but fell in love with Xel-ha and that was the reason I suggested it to OH. There seems to be even more to do in the area now, which is why we’ve decided on it. I wondered about going somewhere new to us, rather than taking him places I went with Voldemark, but we haven’t come across any alternatives in the Caribbean with quite the same mix of activities we’d enjoy. Our only problem now is deciding where on the riviera to stay! Playacar is so handy for Xcaret etc, and Cozumel too, but I’m very tempted by Akumal. Decisions, decisions! Wherever you’re going (and wherever we end up! ) it’ll be wonderful regardless!