Vacation time

[BLINGMW]

i'd advise against a resort and for a b&b. vastly different experience.

I'm with Mike on this one, but to each his own. Seems like most people want to bring America with them and do the all-inclusive thing. :dunno: Fine with me!

Loved Cayman Islands..........and Key West. We had a blast. You can bike/scooter everywhere.

Those were my 2nd choices, would like to try both sometime. They sounded pretty good. :thumbup:

We'd never gone anywhere past FL, but went to Aruba in early Jan this year. It was great. Direct flights are regular and not too expensive, crime's low (high GDP), and there's lots of relatively undeveloped land to explore via rental ATV/bike/jeep or just shitty rental car that you practically get stuck off-roading. :wink: If you want to not see people, you can.
That being said, there's plenty of standard resort stuff and lots of big restaurants too, many with seating on the beach, all reachable by bus/foot if you just want to stay in that area. Most everyone speaks english and take US dollars even as you get away from the resort areas.
Interesting scenery since it's not a volcanic island, it's more like a desert in some places. And if you ever wanted to try windsurfing, it's the place. Didn't try scuba, but snorkeling just about anywhere is pretty interesting. I chased some things around for hours I've never seen while Jess read on the beach. The sometimes too windy beach depending on where you are. Oh and the waves will drag your ass away if you get too far out. See windsurfing.
It looks like this on one coast with little huts everywhere

and this on the other in case you need to hide a body

FWIW, you kind of have to go past cuba this time of year if you want it to be warm. It was 75-85 every day in Jan down there. I'm sure USVI is nice too.
We stayed at <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.arubasunsetbeach.com">www.arubasunsetbeach.com</a><!-- w -->, and were quite pleased. Not for everyone I would guess.
To answer your other question, I can't imagine why anyone would use a travel agency unless you just have no time to look around. It's all on the internet! Especially if you're looking for a resort experience. Book the flight, book the resort, give them a call, they'll pick you up from the airport, done.