My wife and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage in October. My priority is floating in bathwater and looking at coral. She would like to shop. We BOTH would like a nice quiet hotel (200-300 max per day), and we both enjoy going on walks on the beach for exercise and to just talk and catch up. We have 2 small kids, so time to talk is really great. If we can exercise while we do it, even better. I'd love to hike to a small waterfall or something.
We don't travel a lot. So this is making planning stressful. We want to spend maximum $3,500 for 3-4 nights. However, the more "special" something looks, the more nervous we are about spending the money and booking.
Some considerations:
Budget: $3,500
Travel:I know we're wimps, but we'd really like direct flights where possible.
Places we've been: Hawaii, but we are in North Carolina and the time change is a bear. We also visited Grand Cayman 2 years ago after a hurricane and the water was choppy. In hindsight we wished we stayed at one of the nicer hotels we walked past on the beach. We have done research on Turks and Caicos for this trip, but it seems pricey and intimidating (the hotels are rented condos?). Also researched Punta Cana, but I think they said no snorkeling there?
Timing: Mid-October, but flexible a couple weeks either way
Climate: Warm and sunny. But not too hot for hiking and exploring
Attractions: I want to plan 1 or 2 fun things in advance. Not like skydiving or or anything crazy, but something I can take a picture of and have a special memory.
Edit This how much I suck at travel planning. I stayed at "The Standard Miami" once for business (actually just for dinner), and looking at snorkeling in Key Biscanye? Seems like we are punting, though. But I dunno, maybe Miami has shopping/walking/snorkeling/cool hotels/clubs and it's in budget?