Cancun Vacation Beaches Closed
Cancun, Mexico Vacation Closed for Sand Stealing
If you were planning on going to Cancun for a vacation, you might not be able to.
A beach in Cancun was shut down for stealing sand. That’s right, stealing sand. After Hurricane Wilma in 2005, much of the sand on the beach was washed away, and since then, sand has been pumped in from the ocean floor, but has been washed away.
The Gran Caribe Real Hotel has been stealing sand by building breakwaters to keep the sand in front of their hotel. However, this stops the natural movement of sand and keeps it away from the other Cancun, Mexico hotels and beaches.
Really, if there isn’t any sand, what’s the point of going to the beach?
Posted on July 31, 2009 Filed Under Beach News and Stories, Beach and Vacation Travel Tips and Help, Beaches to Avoid | 1 Comment
Sturgis Bike Rally in SD
The 69th Annual Sturgis Rally is coming up on August 3rd through the 9th. This isn’t the beach, but it is something to go to.
I heard that the people in Deadwood, SD like the bike rally people better than the Corvette people. The bikers are more polite, cleaner and better behaved.
If you are in to traveling on a motorcycle, and would like to go to Sturgis, just don’t miss all the great things that South Dakota has, such as Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the Badlands, etc. They got all kinds of stuff.
Posted on July 29, 2009 Filed Under Not Much to do with the Beach, Travel | Leave a Comment
Negril, Jamaica Holiday Vacation
What a vacation.
Rondel Village was a beautiful hotel in Negril, Jamaica. It was clean, had great service, and was almost right in the middle of the beach.
These are pictures from our room. You can see that we were right on the beach. Although the entire beach is lined with hotels, Negril the city is actually surrounded by cliffs. This is one thing you have to watch when searching for cheap hotels in Jamaica, if they don’t say beachfront rooms, then they are most likely on the cliffs, and don’t have beaches close.
If you are looking for a vacation or holiday in Jamaica, I would definitely recommend Rondel Village. The restaurant had great food, and there were always people at the bar. However, it wasn’t a party atmosphere, which I liked.
Tours in Jamaica can range in price from cheap to expensive. Going through the hotel is probably not the best idea, rather go through another agency, or ask a taxi driver.
I will be going into much more detail about places we went and things we did in Jamaica in later posts.
See the first day of our Jamaican Vacation here.
Posted on July 29, 2009 Filed Under Beach Vacations, Beaches to go See, Jamaica Vacation, Travel, Vacation Time | 1 Comment
10 Best Beaches for Finding Shells
There was a story at Travel and Leisure about the best shelling beaches in America a few weeks back. These beaches are all over the country and you can find many kinds of shells and more. Especially after a storm, anything can wash up on shore.
Calvert Cliffs State Park, Maryland
Located on the Chesapeake Bay, you can find anything from shark teeth, to snails, to sea glass and even arrowheads.
Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
The Outer Banks are a beautiful, and sometimes empty place to be. Because it is such a long drive to the end, you could be virtually alone on Ocracoke Island. There are many types of shells to find including sand dollars, whelks and cowry helmets.
Sanibel Island, Florida
Because of its location by the continental shelf and the warm waters of the Gulf, you can find more shells than you can carry at Sanibel Island. Some of the shells you’ll find are coquinas, scallops, whelks, and sand dollars.
Point No Point Beach, Hansville, Washington
Located on Puget Sound, you can see almost everything from this beach, a lighthouse, whales and Mt Rainier. You can even rent a room at the oldest lighthouse in the sound. The shells you see there are dogwinkles, limpets, and geoducks.
Gulf Islands National Seashore, Pensacola, Florida
At the edge of the Panhandle on the Gulf Coast, you’ll find these islands off of Pensacola. They are apparently unspoiled by hotels and such, so you can find just about anything. They have comb bittersweets, coquinas, lucinas, sand dollars, and augers.
Shipwreck Bay, Lanai, Hawaii
Of course, just being in Hawaii is good enought reason to go, but if you are into shelling, then this is one place you can’t miss. You can find shells along with all kinds of treasure from boats and other man made things. Some of the shells you’ll find are violet snails, leopard cones, imperial cones, sea slug shells and even on rare occasions, blown-glass floats from Japanese fishing nets.
Cumberland Island, Georgia
You can take a ferry out to Cumberland Island and rent a bike from a park ranger. You can ride your bike down to Dungeness Beach and find all kinds of shells, even a mansion built by the Carnegies. The shells that are home to Cumberland Island are coquinas, shark teeth, heart cockles, ark shells and moon snails.
Point Reyes National Seashore, California
Just north of San Fransicso, you can find Point Reyes. It is home to many species that are beautiful, but also poisonous. The tidepools catch all kinds of animals and shells, including ocher stars, mossy chitons, razor clamshells, and goose barnacle.
San Jose Island, Texas
Along the islands of the gulf coast of Texas, you’ll find San Jose Island. With no cars, this island becomes a beautiful, quiet, relaxing beach. Add in some shells and phosphorescent plankton at night and you can have a great time. Some of the shells you’ll find are sundials, shark’s eyes, and caramel-rippled lightning whelks the size of your fist.
Silver Strand State Beach, Coronado Island, California
Silver Strand State Beach gets it’s name from the oysters that are littered across the shoreline. But oysters are not all that it has to offer. Other shells include sand dollars, cockles, limpets, and scallops.
Posted on July 2, 2009 Filed Under Beach Vacations, Beaches to go See | Leave a Comment
How to Relax on Vacation
Have you ever gone on vacation and then come back feeling just as bad as you did before you left?
Or have you felt that your vacation just wasn’t as good as it could have been?
Vacations come way too infrequently to not enjoy them to the fullest, and I have the answer for how to relax on vacation. Well, I have the answer that works for me. Everyone is different. Some people want adventure, like the Indiana Jones vacation. Others (like me) like to relax. In my last post, I explained how to make your vacation last longer. In this post I will let you in on my secret list to relax.
1. Relax
Sounds simple, I know, but it’s true. If you want to get recharged and enjoy yourself, then don’t start running all over the place. Running around like a chicken with its head cut off is for back when you are at work.
2. Keep Your Expectations Low
Low? Seriously? Yes, seriously. If your goal is to sit on a beach and read a book, then don’t plan on doing everything you can. If you get out and see some sites, then great; you did more than you planned on. Just don’t try to plan too much when you don’t really want to.
3. Adapt, and Overcome
Things change. You have to accept it and deal with it. Sometime we make plans to go do something, and then you can’t do it. Don’t get upset, just go do something else. See #1 and #2.
4. Take the Day After Vacation Off
I know many people who, if they have five days of vacation, they will leave on Friday night, spend all week on vacation, and get home the next Sunday night. This is the worst thing you can do. You enjoy your vacation, then kill yourself by trying to squeeze every last bit out of it. If you get home, and have the next day or two off of work, then you are still technically on vacation, but you aren’t paying for it.
Do the same thing you were doing on vacation, go sit on your deck and read, find something fun to do. RELAX!
5. Don’t do the Tourist Thing
This can be a hard thing to do. If you’ve never been somewhere, you want to see all the tourist spots. However, if you go to a certain place a lot (like we go to Newport, Rhode Island) then stay away from anything touristy. Go and do things that the locals do.
6. Eat Where the Locals Eat
This is the most important point to me. If you eat at tourst places, most likely you are eating the same thing you can get at home. Find where the locals go and eat with them. You enjoy finding new places, and you can relax because the local places will almost always be cheaper than the tourist or chain restaurants.
This list is made form experience. My wife and I have had our share of vacations that felt rushed and short. But last year, we had the best vacation we’ve ever had. We had no plans but to sit on the beach, and we fulfilled every plan we made.
Do you have any tips on how to relax on vacation? Let us know in the comments.
Posted on June 25, 2009 Filed Under Beach and Vacation Travel Tips and Help, Vacation Time | Leave a Comment
Extend Your Vacation
I just read a great post on the Chicago Tribune about extending your vacation. The writer (Mary Schmich) gives 10 tips to make your vacation last longer.
I do think that these are some great tips, and most of them I have already done.
- Start Your Vacation Early: By using the internet, you can look at where you’re going, and get yourself excited and in the mood before you ever start.
- Clean the House Before You Leave: This one is easy as my wife can’t stand to come home to a dirty house even on a normal day, nevermind after vacation. Doing this means you don’t have to do any work when you get home.
- Bad Habits: See #4
- More Bad Habits: Basically, get out of your routine. Make your life different while on vacation. For the second part of this, if you can’t get out of your routine, then go somewhere that makes the routine impossible. Go somewhere without internet, or TV.
- Do Something New: This sort of goes along with #4. Do something different to make your vacation special. If you do everything exactly the same as when you are home, what’s the point of going on vacation?
- Get Some Sleep: This is a good tip, even if you think it might not be. A lot of people might say “I want to get the most out of my vacation, no sleep for me”, but that means you’ll be tired and not enjoy it as much. Also, it means that you won’t feel rested when you get home.
- Act Like You’re Still on Vacation: Even after you get home, act like you are still on vacation. Relax, read a book, don’t work. This will make the transition easier and not so stressful. This is why I usually come back a bit before I have to go back to work so I can still have time to get back into the swing of things.
- Don’t Buy Crap: Yes, everyone wants some souvenirs to take home, but don’t buy something that is just going to sit around and collect dust.
- You Live in a Vacation Destination: This was written for Chicago, but many places are in fact vacation destinations. I live in a boring little town called Canton, but every year in July people come from all over the country (even the world) to Canton for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Festival. Most places have something to offer. Enjoy these places through the summer to get out of your routine.
- Get Back Online: After you’re done, look at all those bookmarks that you had on you’re browser from when you were planning your vacation. Remember the places you went, the people you met, and the things you did. Keep the vacation memories alive.
So what do you think? Do you have any tips for keeping your vacation going?
Posted on June 10, 2009 Filed Under Beach and Vacation Travel Tips and Help, Travel, Vacation Time | Leave a Comment
Food and the Beach in Negril, Jamaica
With just around a month until our trip to Negril, Jamaica, I am really getting anxious. It’s hard to concentrate at work when all I can think about is the clear blue Caribbean water, jerk chicken and no work for a week.
It doesn’t help when I find a blog post from someone who is in Jamaica now. They have blogged two posts about Jamaican food. One is about jerk, and the other is about patty’s and coco bread.
It stinks when other people rub your face in the fact that they are on a beach somewhere in Jamaica, I can’t wait till it’s my turn to rub it in.
Soon…
Posted on June 1, 2009 Filed Under Food, Jamaica, Beaches, and the Caribbean | Leave a Comment
Can’t Wait for Our Jamaican Vacation
Well, I have been having a hard time writing about anything because with just about a month until our Jamaica Vacation, I don’t want to do anything but actually be there.
I don’t want to write about the beach, I want to lay on it.
I don’t want to write about the ocean, I want to swim in it.
I don’t want to talk about jerk chicken, I want to eat it.
I really don’t have many other plans than that. We will go to Dunn’s River Falls, and maybe over to Margaritaville, but that’s about it. I only want to go to Margaritaville because it’s Jimmy Buffett’s. It’s not about the food, I can get the same stuff here in the States.
If you have any suggestions of what to do, where to go or where to eat, please let me know in the comments. However, I really don’t plan on doing much. My wife and I are not really into partying, we’d rather remember our vacation.
So far, the staff at Rondel Village has been great as far as answering emails and helping us with getting transportation from the airport. I hope it stays as good when we get there. The reviews I read about them were mostly good, but there were a few bad ones. That is normal though.
I can’t wait!
Posted on May 19, 2009 Filed Under Beach Vacations, Jamaica Vacation | Leave a Comment
Rondel Village in Negril, Jamaica
Well, after three years of trying, my wife and I are actually going to make it to Jamaica. I said in an earlier post that I was looking at places to stay in Jamaica, and I ended up going somewhere not on that list. Some of those places I never even heard back from. But I took a look at Rondel Village in Negril, and it looked pretty nice.
I emailed them and they responded quickly. The only real problem I’ve had so far is that when I tried to book it on the site, the booking software they use is not secure. So you have to put in your credit card info in a non secure browser. I didn’t feel comfortable doing that, so I emailed them again, and they sent a credit card authorization form to fax back to them. I still wasn’t that comfortable with having a fax laying around somewhere, but they sent back a receipt within minutes, so it wasn’t laying around long.
I also have found a great price on plane tickets. I checked out CheapTickets.com, but the reviews about them aren’t very good, so I just went to Travelocity and got the tickets for the exact same price.
I am getting so excited as this is only two months away.
Posted on May 4, 2009 Filed Under Beach and Vacation Travel Tips and Help, Jamaica Vacation, Vacation Time | Leave a Comment
Discount Travel Secrets Without Expedia, Orbitz or Travelocity
I saw this article recently, and I wasn’t sure what to think of it since Don Buynack (the guy who wrote it) has made his website to help you book travel. It’s called www.freespendingmoney.com, which just sounds spammy to me, plus it’s under construction. You should never link to your site if it’s not up. He also says he’ll give you free money up to $500 or more. Yeah, right.
Basically the idea is that the big three booking websites are ripping you off. Between fees for booking, airline fees that are not added in, and prices that are not the lowest, he says you could do better without them, of course he says that you should go to an actual travel agent.
I think that if you are willing to work and do the research, you are better off to book your vacations yourself. Anyway, here are his five secrets.
1. They charge service fees on every booking. Sometimes that fee is disclosed in the “final price” listed online. Sometimes it’s buried in the Terms & Conditions. Need to change your plans? Be prepared to pay service fees of up to $30 on every phone call for a change or re-issue. This does NOT count the $75 – $150 airline penalty. These travel websites actually hope for bad weather, because bad weather means altered plans, which means extra revenue for them.
[You should check everything you book for hidden fees. Hotel, and airline. There is always fine print, and if you don't read it, you could get stuck paying a lot of money.]
2. The rate you see may not be the lowest rate available. That’s because large travel websites deal in bulk volume. As a result they concentrate on “national” and “public” rates. They don’t publish “private” fares, consolidator fares, or below-market fares because it’s not in their interest to do so. You can only get those fares from an experienced travel professional, who knows the system and where to find them.
[I do know that if you see a hotel for $100 a night on Travelocity, and see it for $100 on the hotel website, then the hotel is giving a discount to Travelocity, and you are giving that extra money to Travelocity. The hotel would most likely give the discounted price to you, it's worth asking.]
3. Their definition of lowest price may not match yours. Have you ever entered the exact same search on 3 different travel websites and gotten wide-ranging results? That’s because travel websites have special arrangements with certain “partners” and may give these partners preferential treatment or placement bias. That’s how they make money. Consumers, however, are catching on. According to Travel Weekly, bookings on the “Big 3″ have fallen over 10% this year. People are turning to airline and hotel websites directly because that’s where they’re finding the lowest fares.
[Half of the time I can't find the same packages on different sites, so they really can't be compared.]
4. A confused customer is their best customer. In the last 12 months we’ve seen a spate of new surcharges assessed by airlines to offset rising costs—from $5 for some aisle seats to $15 for the first piece of checked luggage. Unfortunately, these costs are not reflected in the search results of most airfare comparison sites. Consumers are left to do the research and the math on their own. As a result, they’re confused. What looks to be the lowest price may not actually be the lowest “total” price when all applicable fees are factored in.
[Again, this is why researching yourself is so important. I have found that a cheaper ticket from Northwest is the same amount of money as a more expensive flight from AA after the fees have been added in. Cheaper flights aren't always cheaper.]
5. Once you hit that SEND button, you’re on your own. What happens when you book online and your flight is delayed or cancelled, or if you miss a connection? Ever tried to get a human being on the phone? You may be on hold for a long, long time. Or when you do finally get someone on the line, you find out he’s in Bangalore (and English isn’t his first language). [Not my words, I'm just quoting.] Meanwhile, the last seat on the last flight out has just taken off. Travel has become more unpredictable than ever. Sadly, it’s not a question of if something will go wrong, but when. And when it does, do you want your fate to rest in the hands of the guy whose job it is to get you off the phone as fast as possible?
[I have never had problems with travel, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. However, are you in any better shape if you've booked it yourself? This is probably one area where having a real travel agent will help.]
So, those are his five secrets to discounted travel. Do you have any more tips? Let me know in the comments.
Posted on April 10, 2009 Filed Under Beach and Vacation Travel Tips and Help | 2 Comments
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