Recommend Me A Travel Destination (Catch-All)

I wasn't able to find a travel thread, so hopefully I'm not being redundant.

This year I really want to take my family (or maybe just my wife and I) to someplace tropical. We have always wanted to go to Hawaii, but the cost might be an issue. We live in Seattle, so I'm hoping there might be another alternative that is cheaper/closer but will still give us a nice tropical experience.

I would prefer something more along the lines of cottages/cabins/huts near a beach as opposed to a big hotel or resort. Simple living vs. extravagance.

Thanks in advance!

From Seattle, I think only Mexico is closer (and possibly cheaper).

There are other farther tropical destinations that may be cheaper once you get there. You'd probably want to balance that against any increased airfare cost. I've heard good things about Costa Rica for example.

St. John, US Virgin Islands. We went here last February:

Maho Bay

It was great.

DevilStick wrote:

There are other farther tropical destinations that may be cheaper once you get there. You'd probably want to balance that against any increased airfare cost. I've heard good things about Costa Rica for example.

This.

My wife is from El Salvador, so I've been there several times. I've also been to Guatemala a bunch of times. Once you get past the sticker shock of the airfare, the actual day to day expenses travelling there can be quite reasonable.

Also US Virgin Islands - St Croix, not as touristy and very nice!

Puerto Rico - you don't need a passport, and IIRC, its not that expensive to get there.