Single? Go fuck yourself!

January 5, 2011 4:08 PM

Affordable sunshine for single Toronto gal? Bonus points for dodging single supplements and interesting locales.

I am hoping to jet away for a sun vacation sometime between end of January and mid-March.

Departure point: Toronto
Price range: Less than $1k all in
Desired destination: Someplace with sun and beach. Good food is a plus, as are interesting surroundings. US/Caribbean, etc all work for me.

Issues:

- Is there any way to dodge the single supplement? I went to Cuba alone two years ago which was cheap but only just, after the dreaded supplement took effect. If the difference between one person and two isn't that significant I'd almost just as soon spring for a friend to come along.

- Is there a cruise that won't suck for a single woman in her late 20s? Or an all-inclusive resort? No spring break shit, please.

- Any good, current resources for booking cheap vacations?

posted by SassHat to Travel & Transportation (3 answers total)

I went to Monsterrat about 2.5 years ago. At least then, you could only get there with a little single engine plane from Antigua, which needs to be booked separately (a number of major airlines fly to Antigua, however). The island is small - not much to do but check out the active volcano, play with the iguanas and lizards, maybe do a little hiking, eat mangoes, and lounge on the beautiful, virtually empty black sand beaches. Makes for a nice low-key getaway.

There's not much in the way of food though - the island pretty much shuts down at 5pm. Food is generally dependent on where you rent a room (generally you can find a place with a kitchen), a few cafes, and a couple of grocery stores.

I rented a room at Bunkum Beach House, which was about 5-10 walk to two different beaches. I pretty much had the entire grounds to myself for the 4-5 days I was there - including the pool. Incredibly private. Skinny dipping under the moon and stars, with sounds of the Caribbean sea below, was fun :-) I think I paid $30 or $35 a night. So worth it.
posted by raztaj at 4:32 PM on January 5, 2011 [6 favorites]

You're way late to be booking now for Jan-Mar, but my default winter vacation spot for years now is Ylang-ylang, Montezuma, Costa Rica.

It's not the cheapest, but it's not prohibitive either, and it's very well run, to include a good restaurant.

Not to oversell, but the photos on their website hardly do the place justice. The locale, on the Nicoya Peninsula, is even better than it looks.

And we see more wildlife there than we do in the national parks, glorious sloths excluded.
posted by Short Attention Sp at 5:55 PM on January 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Sell-Off Vacations was linked in another vacation thread recently.
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:00 PM on January 5, 2011