Need suggestions for a trip.
- Thread starter CuriousRambler
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CuriousRambler
Contributor
Still hunting for the rich girlfriend, but I seem to spend too much time at the beach to find one! The friends fit too well, if I pick smarter friends I'll just end up feeling stupid around my friends 
Coz looks alright, if I can rally enough friends for a weird time of the year vacation (a week off of work and school in October-November? dunno how many takers I'll have..) renting a condo out right on the beach wouldn't be unreasonable, a place in town would be even cheaper obviously. Problem is, for affordable airfare we'd have to drive 6-10 hours to get to Seattle, but that saves a grand over flying from home.
I'm not too into the idea of Hawaii to be honest. Just being there is expensive, and I'm kind of trying to dodge the absolute tourist trap feel that even Maui had, and my parents have said is five times worse on Oahu. Plus, I'm debating reenlisting to Hawaii, so I don't wanna get a jump on myself
Coz looks alright, if I can rally enough friends for a weird time of the year vacation (a week off of work and school in October-November? dunno how many takers I'll have..) renting a condo out right on the beach wouldn't be unreasonable, a place in town would be even cheaper obviously. Problem is, for affordable airfare we'd have to drive 6-10 hours to get to Seattle, but that saves a grand over flying from home.
I'm not too into the idea of Hawaii to be honest. Just being there is expensive, and I'm kind of trying to dodge the absolute tourist trap feel that even Maui had, and my parents have said is five times worse on Oahu. Plus, I'm debating reenlisting to Hawaii, so I don't wanna get a jump on myself
potato cod
Contributor
Hmmm...if you're flying out of Missoula (I assume this is where you are in MT from the Griz avatar--go Monte!), you might also consider the Florida Keys. This will probably be cheaper than Hawaii, the diving is excellent, and you can leave your buddies on Duvall street in Key West while you're underwater, make side trips to the Everglades to see the alligators, etc. You can fly into Fort Lauderdale, Miami, or West Palm Beach and rent a car, so can help you to find cheaper flights. My in-laws are in MT, so I know how expensive flights in/out of MSO have gotten! It's also possible to rent houses in the Keys, which can help keep costs low if there are a bunch of you.
OP
CuriousRambler
Contributor
Florida was one of my first thoughts because it would be relatively cheap and offers a huge spread of diving and activities, but it didn't take a full breath for my friends to show absolutely NO interest in anything CONUS, if they're going to take a vacation without the compelling diving, they want something more exotic or they're not going to spend their money. As soon as I mentioned Coz as a possible I had four people saying "Let's make this happen! Let's rope people in now so they can't make excuses!"
I'm from a couple hours north of Missoula, so flights are typically a couple hundred more - if that's possible haha. I'm pretty much counting on driving to find an affordable flight.
I'm from a couple hours north of Missoula, so flights are typically a couple hundred more - if that's possible haha. I'm pretty much counting on driving to find an affordable flight.
potato cod
Contributor
Ah, well, if they want a foreign trip, Coz might be good. I haven't been there yet, but it's high on my list. The beaches and Mayan pyramids would be great for surface time.
October-Nov can be an odd time, but for students at least, some schools (like where I teach) have Columbus Day off in mid-October, so that might make the vacation easier to swing. Slightly off-season, too, so lower costs. Plus, if you do drive to Seattle, at least the mountain passes will should still be clear. You could also try flights out of Spokane, which I've often found to be cheaper than Missoula, but not as bad of a drive as Seattle.
October-Nov can be an odd time, but for students at least, some schools (like where I teach) have Columbus Day off in mid-October, so that might make the vacation easier to swing. Slightly off-season, too, so lower costs. Plus, if you do drive to Seattle, at least the mountain passes will should still be clear. You could also try flights out of Spokane, which I've often found to be cheaper than Missoula, but not as bad of a drive as Seattle.
OP
CuriousRambler
Contributor
Yeah, we've gotta poke around on the airfare side, maybe we can get lucky somewhere, possibly pull a group deal through a travel agent or something. The biggest issue is that I'm planning the trip for my postdeployment leave for a deployment that we don't even have solid dates for our pre-deployment leave yet. If it's anything like the last trip over there, we won't know what dates we're getting off until a month or two in advance, so it's tough to plan a trip, if they can plan from the start of the semester to take *exactly these days off* it would be a lot easier for them than a month ahead of time I'm like "alright, now drop all that cash you saved, buy a ticket on this flight leaving in a month and get the time off school!"
Oh the joys of military logistics! I can't even figure out how to dive on my weekends yet!!!
Oh the joys of military logistics! I can't even figure out how to dive on my weekends yet!!!
tadeotadeo
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San Andres Island may have just what you are looking for plenty of diving, topside activities/nightlife, and cheap.
Ciao
Tad
Ciao
Tad
Coz seems like your best bet followed by West End of Roatan.
If you stay at a small hotel in town on Coz you can eat at different restaurants every night. The food is wonderful and relatively cheap. Nice meal for two with a couple of beers for around $20. You might be able to fly into Cancun and then transit to Coz and save $150+ per airfare. Hope you have a great trip whatever and wherever you decide.
If you stay at a small hotel in town on Coz you can eat at different restaurants every night. The food is wonderful and relatively cheap. Nice meal for two with a couple of beers for around $20. You might be able to fly into Cancun and then transit to Coz and save $150+ per airfare. Hope you have a great trip whatever and wherever you decide.
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CuriousRambler
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BTravlin, I got a pm about flying into cancun earlier and ran airfares online just to see the difference, and flying out of my podunk little airport in Montana it saves over $1,000!! I couldn't believe that. I brought it up to my friends and I have a couple hounding me already, so I think we're pretty settled on Coz, and getting a cheap condo somewhere we can all sleep..
Search the Coz forum for info on taking bus from Cancun to Playa del Carmen and then ferry over to Coz. You can find tips, approx costs and time involved.
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