Planning a Family Caribbean Holiday*

As I’ve mentioned a few times on the blog, when I’m suffering from the holiday blues, my favourite thing to do is book a new adventure. As Little Miss gets older the list of places to visit grow. When she was really young Disney seemed like the ideal place for every holiday as it’s something I could do as a single mother, but now she’s getting to the age where she is stepping out on her own so I can start to consider other places where she wouldn’t need occupying every minute of the day, one of these places would be the Caribbean. The beautiful crystal waters and white sand beaches definitely appeal for a tropical holiday and there are some great offers on the web for putting together your perfect Caribbean trip.

So here are some things as a mother I need to bear in mind when looking to book a family holiday to the Caribbean;

What Time of Year
As the Caribbean likes close to the equator the weather is warm all year around with the hottest temperatures being during British Summer Time. This probably isn’t a great time go with children as the beaches will be incredibly hot and probably not that enjoyable (I’ve done Greece in the summer and it was hell!) If you want to avoid the chances of heat stroke the recommended time of year to visit is between December and April. For anyone travelling from the UK this will still be hot enough to work up a good plan but you won’t feel like you want to be in the air con all day!

Where
The area is mainly made up of the islands in the Caribbean Sea, the biggest of which is Cuba. However St Lucia has always appealed to me for being a classic tropical island get away. I also personally would love to visit Jamaica to experience their rich culture. Those two would certainly be top of my list. My uncle used to work on Grand Cayman and that’s supposedly paradise with great connections to some of the larger islands which gives you more to do.

For How Long
Because of the flight time being between 9-11 hours depending on where you’re flying to in the Caribbean, i’d definitely be looking at a minimum of 10 days to 2 weeks. I know there are people who do the week which is very popular with honeymooners who are looking for a short get away after shelling out for their wedding.

What Is There to Do
As I mentioned above visiting the Caribbean for me would be a family affair as like everywhere I go I take Little Miss. I found a fantastic list of 50 Things to Do in the Caribbean. The aerial tram in the Dominica looks amazing and it’s a dream to swim with dolphins which is something you can do in the Bahamas!