Puerto Rico, Aruba, or Bahamas?

[LexyLou]

We want to take a trip with the girls this winter/spring. I would LOVE to do Atlantis in The Bahamas but wow is that expensive.

What I would really like to do is rent a condo/villa somewhere so we could have at least 2 bedrooms and a living room and kitchen instead of an actual hotel.

We'd like to do some sightseeing but also spend a lot of time lounging around playing in water. We'd love kid friendly restaurants and attractions (obviously).

Any suggestions on what's best for a young family and any recommendations on where to stay?

If we do Bahamas, could we rent a condo close to Atlantis and get day passes?

[bluestarfish18]

I've never been to the places you're thinking of going (take me please!) but may I suggest you try vrbo.com

Vacation Rentals By Owner is a great site we've used for most of our vacations to find condos/houses/villas.

Hope someone else has answers to your other questions!

[egoldber]

Just an FYI, Aruba is a long flight, about 3 hours from Miami. And many airlines do a route that hops from one ABC to another (ABC = Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao).

I've been to PR, but only for work. There's a lot to see and do there but it's a pretty big island and can take a long time to get from one part of the island to another.

[fivi2]

The Fodor's Carribbean forum has a lot of good suggestions. I think Turks and Caicos gets a lot of recs as being family friendly.

[Tinkerbell313]

If we do Bahamas, could we rent a condo close to Atlantis and get day passes?

There is another hotel on the Atlantis property...I believe it is a Comfort Suites Paradise Island. You can can stay there but use all of the amentities of the Atlantis.

Here's a link... http://www.nassauparadiseisland.com/comfort-suites-paradise-island/

I have never stayed at either so I can't tell you how good they are. But, many people have suggested going this route to save money but to still enjoy an "Atlantis vacation"

[bt0510]

If you'd like to rent a villa, I'd suggest searching www.redweek.com, which is a timeshare rental site. Another site is www.vacationtimesharerentals.com. I did a quick search for a 2BR unit at Atlantis, and the cheapest I see right now is over $4000 for the week.

My vote would be Aruba. My wife and I love it there. We were just there for 2 weeks in November. We stay at Marriott's Aruba Surf Club, which is a great family resort. There are always a lot of children there. We are actually renting our 2BR unit for next year (hint!).

Note: I didn't expect my first post on this BBS to be about vacations. I'm here to research stuff for the arrival of our first child. The Baby Bargains book was a great gift.

[ilfaith]

If your daughters don't already have passports, they will need them for Aruba or the Bahamas....but not for Puerto Rico.