Sweet high-season specials

Family

Age Appropriate
Spring break antics can earn an R rating at the drop of a bikini top, making it hard for folks in the same hotel to enjoy a wholesome vacation. But at the Sheraton Grand Bahama Island, no one under age 21 can reserve a room during the months of March and April. The family-friendly features don’t stop there: Kids under 17 stay free, and Camp Lucaya has daily activities for pre-teens, who eat from the kids’ menu gratis when accompanied by a paying adult.

Package: Family Plan.
Rate: $219 per night.
Available: January 1 to April 30.
Contact: 866-837-4186; www.ourlucaya.com/

The Total Package
Guadeloupe’s family-oriented Club Med La Caravelle reopens on December 16, after $29 million in improvements, with an unbelievable incentive: Round-trip airfare to Pointe a Pitre from Atlanta, and seven nights of accommodation with all of your meals and activities included – for only $1,120 per adult, with reduced rates for kids. The renovated resort offers Junior Club Med (ages 11 to 17) and Mini-Club Med (ages 4 to 10) programs featuring circus school, sailing lessons, hip-hop dance classes and more.

Package: Seven-Night All-Inclusive Land-and-Air.
Rate: Starting at $1,120 per person for adults; $700 for children 4 to 15; $420 for children 2 to 3.
Available: December 16 to May 1.
Contact: 888-932-2582; www.clubmed.com/

Homes Away From Home
When hotel rooms just won’t cut it for your crew, the Stella Maris Resort Club on Long Island, Bahamas, creates a pleasant environment with two- to four-bedroom bungalows (some with private pools), so the whole gang can hang together feeling homey. You’ll get a complimentary dinner, daily snorkeling and a full-day boat cruise with picnic lunch. The resort also offers three pools throughout the property, Sunfish sailboats, a game room – and babysitting.

Package: Family Escape.
Rate: Bungalows start at $395 per night; five-night minimum.
Available: March 1 to April 1 (must reserve by January 31).
Contact: 242-338-2050; www.stellamarisresort.com/

Meet You Halfway
Kids-themed Beaches Resorts are already no-brainers for parents with toddlers and young teens. Now rates at the three all-inclusives in Jamaica and one in the Turks and Caicos have been cut by up to a staggering 50 percent.

Package: When Half Makes You Whole.
Rate: Starting at $155 per night for adults at Beaches Sandy Bay; $175 at Beaches Boscobel Resort & Golf Club; $190 at Beaches Negril Resort & Spa; and $213 at Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort & Spa; $48 per night for children 3 to 16; three-night minimum.

Available: January 1 to December 21, 2007.
Contact: 888-232-2437; www.beaches.com/

Diving

Stairway to Heaven
One hundred steps lead from the lobby of hillside Anse Chastanet down to the soft sand surrounding Scuba St. Lucia. The resort and the dive shop have teamed up to offer a weekly special that invited guests to explore the remarkable marine park that starts just 10 yards from the beach and encompasses St. Lucia’s best reefs. The package features seven nights lodging, 12 beach or boat dives (equipment included), three meals daily, afternoon tea, airport transfers and non-motorized water sports.

Package: Diving.
Rate: $2,099 per person.
Available: January 5 to April 15.
Contact: 888-465-8242; www.ansechastanet.com/

Bonaire Your Way
You’ve read about the dive, eat, dive, sleep, dive mentality on Bonaire. Now a special at Divi Flamingo Beach Resort & Casino lets you build the dive vacation you want. The three- to 10-night deal includes accommodations and breakfast; guests who buy two days of standard dive programs can go a la carte after that – choosing from one- or two-tank boat dives, unlimited shore dives, etc. – starting at just $23 a day.

Package: Create Your Own Dive.
Rate: Starting at $238 per person for three nights.
Available: Through December 22, 2007.
Contact: 800-801-5550; www.diviresorts.com/

Multi-Sport Milieu
The natural wonders of Cayman Brac and the Caribbean Sea combine to make Brac Reef Beach Resort an ideal retreat for sporting types. This seven-night package includes 17 boat dives to some of the region’s finest wall and wreck sites, plus three meals daily and three drinks every evening (hear, hear!). Also available through the resort are kayaking, spelunking, bicycling, hiking, fishing, rock climbing and tennis. The less athletic can enjoy bird-watching and pampering at the on-site spa.

Package: Meet You in Paradise.
Rate: $1,495 per person.
Available: January 7 to April 15.
Contact: 800-594-0843; www.bracreef.com/

See Sea Senor
Famous as a lively Mexican-flavored cruise port, the island of Cozumel sits on the second-largest barrier reef in the world. All-inclusive Hotel Cozumel & Resort in San Miguel invites divers to get below the surface of this bustling destination with a pair of scuba specials: four- and seven-night packages with a full schedule of daily boat and shore dives. If that isn’t enough wet ‘n’ wild action for you, the resort boasts the island’s biggest swimming pool and free non-motorized watersports equipment.

Package: Dive.
Rate: Starting at $604 per person for four nights.
Available: January 1 to April 31.
Contact: 877-454-4355; www.hotelcozumel.com.mx/

Getting Sharky
Stella Maris Resort Club on Long Island is the originator of shark diving in the Bahamas, putting guests in the water with more than a dozen Caribbean reef sharks at a time. A new scuba package saves you and a companion $200 on a five-night stay in an ocean-view room, and throws in super incentives like a free round-trip flight from Nassau, three meals daily (including house wine at dinner), three cocktails each night and two dives each day. Sites include Conception Island Wall, one of the most pristine dive experiences anywhere, and the world’s deepest blue hole.

Package: Winter Blues Escape.
Rate: $2,900 per person.
Available: January 7 to March 4 (must reserve by December 31).
Contact: 242-338-2050; www.stellamarisresort.com/

Caribbean Travel & Life is the magazine for anyone in search of the perfect tropical getaway. Each issue presents expert insider’s advice on where to find the Caribbean’s best beaches and attractions, its finest resorts and spas, liveliest beach bars and activities, and its friendliest people.

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