Archive for the 'Islands & Beaches' Category
Yalapa, Mexico: Stand-up paddle surf workshop in paradise
November 23, 2009 4:57pm
Stand-up paddle surfing. The first time you saw it at the beach you probably exclaimed, “What is THAT?” Or you rushed right out, rented a board and tried it yourself. Stand-up paddle surfers (or boarders) have been in the Los Angeles Times’ Outposts blog in recent years for coming close to humpback whales in Australia and for stand-up fishing in Baja. Now there’s a chance to build a quick Mexican getaway around the activity. Verana, the award-winning luxe resort in Yelapa (fly into Puerto Vallarta) that you need to get to by boat, has some openings left for their Stand-Up Paddle Surf Workshop Dec. 6-13.
Verana Stand-Up Paddle Surf Workshop: $825 per person based on double occupancy includes three nights’ accommodations at Verana, two days of paddle surfing at the Stand-Up Paddle Surf workshop with breakfast and lunch, optional yoga class, one optional spa treatment per day, full use of spa, steam room, pools and bath, and a three-course evening dinner. Day passes are also available ($160 per person) and include the two-hour class, practice in the ocean and one-hour spa treatment costs.
When I checked with Verana today, the following guest houses were still available. Visitors can book any three nights/two days, if available, from Dec. 6th to Dec. 13th. :
Dec. 6 - 13, 2009: Stone House, Studio, Mayan, Jungle Suite
Dec. 6 - 10, 2009: Palapa
Dec. 7 - 10, 2009: Bungalow, Tea House
December 8 - 13, 2009: Casa Amor
Contact: Verana, (866) 687-9358
— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger
[Photo: Verana guests paddling in Banderas Bay, Mexico. Credit: Pacific Paddle Surf ]
San Diego: Whale-watching charters for the whole gang
November 23, 2009 6:03am
Just in time for the holidays, the migration of the California gray whales will soon be viewable to us Southern Californians. Whale-watching season, which typically begins in mid-December and continues through February (though sometimes the season stretches to March or April), presents the perfect incentive to get out into the water and see these creatures on their way south to Baja.
If you’re not a fan of cramming onto a big boat with binocular-equipped strangers, why not charter your own vessel? Through Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego, it’s not as expensive as you might think.
Deal: For a group of 10, you can charter a boat through Fisherman’s Landing for up to six hours for as low as $50 per person. Boats — which depart from Shelter Island and range from 60 to 100 feet in size — come with an experienced and knowledgeable captain as well as crew members, and food and beverages are available for purchase on board. But beyond that, it’s just you, your group and hopefully some viewable ocean life not too far off. Read the rest of this entry »
Grand Bahama Island: Flight-hotel packages for $900
November 19, 2009 6:05am
For us West Coasters, the Caribbean is not really so close. But given the amazing sale rates we’re seeing to this island region, we just can’t ignore its appeal. Take, for instance, the following package deals now being offered to Grand Bahama Island in the Bahamas.
Deal: For winter travel (holidays included), CheapCarribean.com is offering up to $500 in savings over its typical rates for vacation packages. Stay five nights or longer for the $500 discount. For four-night vacations, you’ll save $400, and for three nights, $300. Some of the Grand Bahama Island hotels included in this deal are Flamingo Bay Hotel, Our Lucaya Reef Village, Pelican Bay at Lucaya, Radisson Our Lucaya Resort and Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach.
Tested: I tested a four-night getaway at the Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach in early January. From LAX, I found fly-stay packages for $706 per person (pre-tax, and based on double occupancy). Via CheapCaribbean.com’s online reservations system, that worked out to $892 per person total, after taxes. Read the rest of this entry »
Washington: Clam-digging season underway; scheduled digs and hotel deals this winter
November 12, 2009 11:18am
Are you manic for mollusks? Then head north, dear adventurer, as clam-digging season is underway in the Pacific Northwest.
Among upcoming clam digs in Washington is one on Nov. 16 at Olympic National Park’s Kalaloch Beach, scheduled by the National Park Service. The search at this coastal site, presumably popular with clam-digging types, will be for razor clams during the evening tide, with digs restricted to the period between noon and midnight. Other tentative dates for the season, meant to coincide with clam digs in other parts of the state, are Dec. 4-5, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
Helping to make such an excursion easier to plan, Kalaloch Lodge, a remote hotel within the park which Times staff writer Christopher Reynolds visited on a road trip in July, is offering related deals.
Deals: Kalaloch Lodge’s “Clam Digger” package features one night’s accommodations, a bucket, shovel and net, and breakfast for two for $169 per night (pre-tax). The equipment will be yours to keep. Experienced clam-diggers with their own tools, however, can opt to skip the equipment component and pay just $129 for the room and breakfast. Read the rest of this entry »
Kauai: 25% off your holiday stay at Hanalei Colony Resort
November 11, 2009 5:56am
Traditionally part of high season on the Hawaiian Islands, the period encompassing Christmas and New Year’s Day usually comes with markups, rather than markdowns, at many resorts. But the 48-unit Hanalei Colony Resort, on five acres along Kauai’s north shore, is offering a discount to lure holiday-minded travelers.
Deal: Under the “Hanalei Holiday Special,” you can stay between Dec. 20 and Jan. 4 and enjoy 25% off on all room categories. You must stay a minimum of three nights to get the discounted rates. In addition, for stays of a week or longer, the seventh night will be free (deducted from your bill at the resort, rather than through the online reservations system).
All the units on the property are two-bedroom, two-bath condos equipped with a kitchen and lanai, but no TV, stereo or phone. The special comes with the following discounts:10% off treatments at Hanalei Day Spa, 15% off food at the Mediterranean Gourmet restaurant and 10% off food and beverages at Napali Art Gallery & Coffee Shop. Read the rest of this entry »
Where Americans die abroad, and why: By the numbers
November 9, 2009 5:58am
Of course you should beware of crime while planning and making your next international trip. But the numbers say that if you’re among the unlucky few to die, a car, bus or motorcycle is more likely to kill you.
Death by traffic is a recurring theme in a fascinating State Department Web page that I came across last week.
For instance, by the department’s count, of at least 126 Americans who died of “non-natural causes” in Mexico in the first half of 2009, at least 45 perished in vehicle accidents. The figure for homicides: 36. The figure for drownings: at least 22, 10 of them in Baja California Sur (which includes Los Cabos and La Paz) and seven in the state of Quintana Roo (which includes Cancun and Cozumel). Other types of accidents, and suicides, accounted for the rest.
Keep in mind that during that spell from January through June 2009, about 2.6 million Americans boarded flights to Mexico and many more visited by car or ship. The odds overwhelmingly suggest that your vacation will be nonfatal.
Two California luxury hotels added to AAA’s 2010 Five Diamond Award list
November 6, 2009 2:45pm
Open less than a year, the Resort at Pelican Hill in Orange County like all hotels, has struggled against the tides of a beleaguered economy. But that doesn’t mean it can’t take a great compliment. The luxury coastal property is one of two California resorts that have danced into the exclusive ranks of AAA’s just-released Five Diamond Award list for 2010. [Corrected at 5:45 p.m. Nov. 6: An earlier version of this post said the Resort at Pelican Hill is south of Laguna Beach. It is north of Laguna Beach.]
California, with 20 five-diamond hotels, also added the opulent Grand del Mar in San Diego to its coffers.
The new Golden State additions join the company of some real longtimers, like the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, which has populated the list for 24 consecutive years, and the Peninsula Beverly Hills, with 17 consecutive years under its belt.
40% off Marriott and Renaissance leisure rates in Caribbean, Mexico & Costa Rica Resorts
November 2, 2009 10:55am
If you are a hotel chain snob, you’re going to want to put aside your inclinations and have a second look at this amazing deal. Marriott and Renaissance are offering 12 of their properties in the Caribbean, Mexico and Costa Rica at 40% off during high season this winter. So what? This hotel offer includes the JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa (pictured) a winner of the AAA Five Diamond Hotel Award for 2009. If you go to the Paradise by Marriott website, you can’t miss the sale. It has a great name that I wish other hotel and resort providers would adopt—”Life begins at 40%.”
Deal: Use promo code LLF to get 40% off leisure rates starting at:
JW Marriott Cancun Resort and Spa - $209 (usually starts at $349 without the deal)
CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa - $149 (usually starts at $249 without the deal)
CasaMagna Marriott Cancun Resort - $131 (usually starts at $219 without the deal)
Participating properties: St. Kitts Marriott, Frenchman’s Reef Marriott, Grand Cayman Marriott, Aruba Renaissance, Aruba Marriott, Curacao Marriott, Curacao Renaissance, San Juan Marriott, JW Marriott Cancun, Casa Magna Cancun Marriott, Puerto Vallarta Casa Magna Marriott and Los Suenos Marriott.
San Francisco is top U.S. city to visit, says Condé Nast survey
October 18, 2009 7:10am
What’s your favorite city in the U.S. to visit? If you picked San Francisco, you’d be in line with Condé Nast Traveler readers who voted the City by the Bay as the No. 1 U.S. city in the publication’s 2009 Readers’ Choice Awards.
Cities were rated on these criteria: atmosphere and ambiance; culture and sites; friendliness; lodging; restaurants; and shopping. San Francisco fared especially well in — you guessed it — restaurants. But the city boasts many lures, and they are apparently consistent. This is the 17th consecutive year that it has won this category in the annual survey.
Following San Francisco in the top U.S. cities category were Charleston, S.C.; Santa Fe, N.M.; New York; and Chicago, in that order. Ubud, Indonesia, ranked as the best city to visit in Asia, and Sydney, Australia, earned the top slot of all cities internationally. Read the rest of this entry »
Mexico: Top-rated luxury resort in Riviera Maya offers half off and other perks
October 16, 2009 12:03pm
The consensus on Banyan Tree Mayakoba, a new-ish luxury resort on the southeast shore of Mexico’s Riviera Maya? Phenomenal, if you’re basing it on on TripAdvisor.com reviews.
The resort, which opened officially on the luxury development Mayakoba in March 2009, ranks No. 1 of 179 hotels in Playa del Carmen (Mayakoba is about six miles north of Playa del Carmen). Review descriptions include such comments as “best of the best” and “heaven on earth.”
Yes, this piece of luxury on the Caribbean coast is the kind that you pay a pretty penny for, but a stay here may have just become a little more accessible for some, with a current promotion meant to lure visitors before the holiday rush.
Deal: With the online-only special, book a three-night-minimum stay this fall and receive 50% off of the best available rate on the lowest price-level room, the “garden pool villa.” The starting rack rate on these rooms is $655 per night, pre-tax, so half off that means you pay $328 per night. The special also includes a complimentary daily breakfast buffet at the onsite Oriente restaurant for two people, and one 60-minute massage (plus 30 minutes of spa “relaxation time”) for one person. Read the rest of this entry »
