Help with my holiday please?
 

Partly because I would like people's advice, but also partly to rub it in :D, i've decided to blow some savings on a real decent holiday.

Basically, I want to go somewhere with a really nice beach, hotel, and nightlight. IE: Wake up, chill on beach/do some watersports, eat, get pi**ed in a nightclub, have a laugh, sleep, and repeat 13 or 14 times.

My researching so far has brought up the shortlist:

Cancun (Hoping I can stretch to the Moon palace hotel, at least it is all-inclusive)
Phuket: (Patong beach area)
Bali: (Late entry so don't know much about it. Kuta beach sounds liveliest & best).

I might consider Mauritius/Seychelles, but seems a bit expensive and not too lively. I'm considering Australia, but somewhere a bit exotic would be nice (Although a half beach/half Sydney holiday sounds appealing).

The kind of watersports I like to do are jet-skiing scuba/snorking, but I want to try parasailing.

So... There seems to be a bit of info out there but it's rarely impartial. Can anyone provide any help/advice with:

1) A good place to go
2) A good hotel to stay at
3) A good reliable tour op to get me there
4) Any miscellaneous travel advice (It is my first time travelling alone to a distant/exotic country, bless my little cottons eh? :))

I might travel before this summer if I can find a good last min deal, otherwise i'm probably looking at next march/april. (May-October is supposed to be monsoon season in south Asia. Although it only lasts an hour a day it seems to affect beach watersports).

Not asking much am I? :) But all help would be very gratefully recieved. Finally... Any ladies wanna come with me? :)

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Save your money and go to Skeggy ;) Ah you know you want to

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

i have heard fantastic things about south east asia, my g/f always tells me how great thailand is (ok she is a bit biased!) but i have also heard great things about Singapore. If you are interested in Thailand, i can recommend you particular hotels/ beaches/ pretty much everything. One advantage of going to somewhere in SE asia is the price of everything once you arrive, eg in Thailand a decent air conditioned hotel will cost you about £7-15 per night per room, and the people there are really friendly. If you want to visit Thailand (and yes i am highly recommending it, and no i don't work for a thai travel agent!) i would suggest going in April, because that is their new year, it is hot (c.40degrees) but there are huge celebrations and something that shouldn't be missed

MB

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Thanx for the help :) Phuket is looking good atm, and probably where i'll end up. If I do decide to go there, I'll ask you about it a bit more specifically, but Patong Beach is looking real good atm.

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Wahey, go where I'm considering going...Rio de Janero!!! Hotel on the beach front, fantastic views and shedloads of tasy totty! :D

Return flights + 8 nights in a 4 star hotel on the beach £1186 to you guv!! :D

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

I'll ask my mate if you want. He has just got back from 2 years travelling (He blew his redundancy on travelling, I blew mine on a fast car and some even faster women!) and spent the majority of it in the far east, plus he has been on a couple of holidays in that area before.

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

That would be excellent if you could Charlie. Thanx :)

And bloody hell, i've forgot all about Brazil. Researching this i've realised that there are so many really nice places to go.

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

You know, women outnumber men in Brasil and I hear they like foreign men! :naughty: :D

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Actually the moment I thought of Brazil, I rememeber someone telling me, how welcoming the locals are. And they easy on the old eyes too :)

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Phuket: (Patong beach area)

Does that really come out as I'm thinking it sounds like ?

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Ever thought about Hawaii ? Oahu is the busiest island. Great beaches, great babes. You could even have a serious moment and go to Pearl Harbour (very moving). But when I went I couldn`t find fault, well if you want to get picky, the food servings were too big.

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

my ex flatmate comes from mauritius and he says it is lovely, as you said not the most lively place but a lovely place to visit.

have you considered mexico? my friend from work went a while back and my manager (thank god) is there at the moment.... have heard good reports about it

hey since you are inviting us ladies, you paying? ;)

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Paulie: Thanx for the tip. I'll probably go eventually, but I feel a bit more adventurous atm. Besides, I go to the US all the time.

Bex: Thanks for the tip about Mauritius. I'm thinking about Cancun (east Mexico). Trouble is, it is so hard to decide between that and Phuket. As soon as I start to decide one way or other, I change my mind again. They are both so good in different ways. It'll probably be decided by a hat at this rate.

Yeah, but i'll probably only be able to afford the one room though. :naughty: :)

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

try deciding on the merits of each place (and possibly the price) i would think about the pros and cons of each destination....eg. i'm scared of needles so would go for the one with least amount of injections needed...

one room....that's fine...us ladies can sleep in the room and you can sleep on the balcony ;)

(missed reference to mexico in ur first post...i blame the pain killers and pain sorry)

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Hmm, if you fancy going to Cancun then I think you better really like Americans. It's basically their equivalent to spain for us. Had some friends go there. One went about 6 years ago and said it was ok. The other friend went a couple of years ago. Enjoyed it, but then she was only 21 and it was her first real trip outside europe. If you do go then you should note that it's a big 'spring break' destination for US college kids. So depending on whether you want them around or not you better time your holiday right.

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Ahh yeah, I know all about spring break. Thats how I knew it was a real party town. I don't mind Americans (I spend enough time with them), just my first real adventurous holiday, I wanted to be outside the US if possible. Actually Cancun is sort of my safe bet. TBH, I'm a little bit nervous about going somewhere so radically different as Thailand for my first real trip away, where as Cancun is very Americanised, with licensed cabbies, take US dollars, etc. I am feeling a bit adventurous though as I said, and everyone says Thailand is far from dangerous, so I don't know.

I'd probably go to both eventually when I save up again, but not sure what to go for first.

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

What about Sharm El Sheikh m8? I don't know about the nightlife but the diving and snorkelling is the best in the world. :)

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Speaking of holidays. I think I have just put in a training request at the right time. The only place offering the course I want seems to be in Amsterdam...again! Damn, that happened in September too. I really do have bad luck where training requests are concerned! ;):D

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Thanx for the tip, i'll check it out. Isn't that in Eygpt though? Great watersports it might be, but aren't they going to stone me for having a drink, are they? :)

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Go to Malta. Fantastic place, nice people ( CHEAP BEER ) :D

I am looking to emigrate out there if I can get the Visa... Its a lovely little island.

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Ahh i've been there before. Wern't a bad place, but the salt water swimming pools were a bit weird. I'd recommend it for a family that wants to go somewhere cheap, and not too far. Gozo was nice to visit as well.

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

How about going to Pattaya in Thailand. This area is more livelier than other areas of Thailand such as Hua Hin. I've been to Thailand in July which is supposed to be the rainy season, however i wouldnt worry about it as the rain generally comes at night. It certainly didnt affect the watersports when i was in Thailand. You also then get the added bonus of being able to stay in Bankok for a few nights which is certainly worth it.

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Drinking and Diving don't mix. Unless you want to learn how to vomit through a reg and find out how fast fish move when there is lots of food around.

Sharm - good nightlife, but beware of the statement above.

Bali - Kuta - is the Ozzy equivilant of Spain. Nusa Dua is the exclusive bit, but the nightlife is not much - full of honeymooning couples. Bali is still dirt cheap since the bombings scared the australians away. I paid $220 a night for the Sheraton Laguna Nusa Dua back in 2001. Its $95 a night at the mo.

Phuket - Nice - the Laguna area is exclusive, but the nightlife is in town.

Mexico has a lot of Americans.

Dominican Republic has some good deals

Monsoon seeason - don't worry about it - it rains for an hour and is dry in minutes. Rates are better too.

Travel advice - start thinking about getting your immunisation shots. There are a few of them and they should be done a few months before. Most are good for 3-10 years, so with your timing there is no reason not to get them done now.

Airlines - think about what you want from one You'll be on it a while. A charter is cheap but cramped. American Airlines across the atlantic has 35in legroom compared to the market norm of 32, American carriers charge for drinks, european ones don't but the legroom makes up for it. You notice the difference. Thai has good legroom and service but less good in flight entertainment. Singapore has fantastic IFE, and service but is a little cosier and generally full so don't expect a spare seat next to you. Quantus are generally disliked (never used them myself). Again depending on the carrier think about joining their or a member of their alliances Frequent flier program. A flight to Australia or Thailand may well give you enough miles for a free european flight each.

Personally I'd choose Thailand out of the list. Spend a couple of days in BKK also though. The palaces etc are worth a visit. Mexico is somewhere I'd save for when you have kids. The smaller islands you mention (Maldives/MRU etc)are all quieter than you seem to want.

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Thanx for the tips mate. I've seen Pattaya in the brochures, but i've kinda skipped over it in favour of Patong Beach for entertainment purposes, but i'll definitely give it another look - it seems to be fairly popular at least.

Thanx for the comment about the monsoon season. I could save a fair bit of money if I go during that period it seems. I'll definitely give it some though. Thanx mate :)

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Most excellent post mate! :tu: Thanx much. I'm thinking about 4 nights in Bangkok as I have to fly through there anyway. The tour op I went to this morning quoted me prices on Eva Air - Are they any good? Good point about the legroom, i'm a pretty big bloke. It's only about 200 quid more for bigger seats it seems.

Thanx for the advice mate :)

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Not used Eva, back then I was trying to use Star Alliance carriers as a preference. My ee'r had a corporate contract that meant we were automatically put up to the 'Gold' status giving lounge access, Business class checkin, priority baggage, more baggage allowance (we bought back 70kg of stuff from BKK). Occasional comp upgrades. This all meant Thai was the choice.

BA have the Economy+ product to BKK. VS do similar to HKG, but thats a bit out of the way for Phuket.

Kuoni can be good for bookign this, but if you know when and where, check expedia, opodo etc and the hotel web sites, you may well save some £ÃÆ ’‚£Ãà¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚£.

Remember to buy your travel insurance at the same time. It covers cancellation from the day you buy it.

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Are you sure all US airlines charge for drinks? I normally fly with United when I fly on a US airline and I've never had to pay for a drink yet. The extra legroom on US airlines is great. BA treat you like cattle seatwise, way too cramped for my liking. Being 6 foot 4 doesn't help though! Had good service on KLM. Flew to the US and back once on Virgin and was impressed.

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

If you change your mind about just wanting to chill on a beach, go clubbing etc, then I'd recommend Peru or Chile for a real adventure.

Madeira is a lovely place. Great hotels. Stunning scenery. You can easily just spend 2 weeks by the pool, or do more & travel the island, go on walks, see the sights etc. Don't know much about the night life & clubbing etc though, as we didn't really go anywhere other than a few bars each night.

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Still is on AA, would imagine to be the case on UA, but not flown them since Christmas and got bumped to 1st.

This is only alchoholic beverages, not soft drinks, tea, coffee, water...

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

:wavey: :wavey: :wavey:

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

*Picks Debsy up and whisks her off to the tropical paradise of Cancun...."

Re: Help with my holiday please?
 

Now now Debsy - you know that, now you've checked out Cleethorpes, you'll want to take every holiday here :D

Me and homealone could show you all the sights (well, the docks anyway!)