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Print this page15 Winter Getaways
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Whether you yearn to embrace the cold or escape it completely, these fifteen getaways—to sunny beaches, powdery slopes and dynamic metropolises—all provide respite from the gray-season blahs.
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Jost Van Dyke, The British Virgin IslandsLearning to travel Caribbean-style.
My husband, Tom, and I were looking for a different kind of vacation—a change from our ordinary travel routine. For many people, this might mean an adventure of some sort, a journey to an exotic locale, hikes through rainforests, strange street food, dicey encounters with taxi drivers and turtle vendors. But we had already spent a lot of time doing just those things during our travels. And what we wanted to try now was an old-fashioned getaway, the kind where you lounge on the beach, umbrella drink in hand, trashy novel by your side, gin-clear sea stretched out before you.
But as our plane landed on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands (the largest of the country’s fifteen inhabited islands), I wondered if I would actually like this kind of escape. The B.V.I. is notoriously easygoing, a haven for bareboaters thanks to its reliably balmy temps and easy navigation. It’s not that I’m one of those itinerary-obsessed sightseers (try buying bus tickets in Chengdu, and you’ll soon acquire almost Zen-like travel patience); it’s just that I like to be challenged. I’ve traveled to many countries specifically because the journey would be difficult—because it would be hard to communicate, to navigate, to understand the culture. So this trip felt sort of decadent, maybe a bit too easy. It’s what we said we wanted, but could we really enjoy a place where there were no obstacles to overcome?
When we arrived at our final destination, Jost Van Dyke, a four-square-mile island a thirty-minute ferry ride away from Tortola, I immediately noticed an absence of the rampant Americanization I had expected. No big resorts, no chain restaurants, lots of dirt roads. I was surprised—I actually felt like I was in a foreign country. The island was rugged, but we would soon discover that creature comforts were easy to come by. And English, spoken in a pleasant Carib accent, made all the travel details easy. No haggling, no confusion.
A bumpy taxi ride over narrow windy roads carried us to our hotel. Whereas many Caribbean islands are flat and sandy, offering great beaches but little topography, Jost Van Dyke’s lush hills rise 1,000 steep feet from the turquoise sea and clamor with the sounds of birds and bugs. The Sandcastle Hotel, located on White Bay, is a tiny resort with five rooms. Our little beachfront bungalow was simple—rattan furniture, outdoor shower warmed by the sun—but the location was right out of a Jimmy Buffet song: a pure white beach with stereotypical bathtub-like Caribbean water. A few steps away from our front door, a hammock hung between two palm trees.
Here we were welcomed and catered to, but we weren’t cloyingly doted upon (Tom, in fact, played bartender during a staff appreciation night). We quickly made friends with the handful of other guests, including Jim, who visits twice a year and spends his trips camped out on a chair at the hotel’s infamous Soggy Dollar Bar drinking, handing out bits of sage life advice and reminiscing about the days before the island had electricity. It turns out that we were lucky to get reservations at all—thanks to its natural assets and the uber-graciousness of the staff, this unassuming hotel is often booked a year in advance.
The Soggy Dollar Bar was the center of activity during the day, supplying Carib-bean-style bar food (we liked the conch fritters and flying fish sandwich) and beachside rum drinks like the Painkiller, a rum, pineapple, coconut and nutmeg concoction invented here and now the unofficial national drink of the B.V.I. The bar’s name is derived from the fact that White Bay has no dock or pier, so yachters and sailors, who make up a huge percentage of the island’s visitors, can’t pull up to shore to get to the bar. Instead they have to swim for their drinks—drenching their cash in the process. Each day a gaggle of boaters from all over the world would arrive on the beach. We always felt a bit smug as they paid their soggy dollars for their drinks and eats (we, of course, just charged it to our room) and enjoyed their small bite of our twenty-four-hour cheeseburger in paradise.
There was a lot we could have done on Jost Van Dyke. We could have taken a trip to the “Bubbly Pool,” a spot where high tide creates a natural Jacuzzi, or taken the ferry into St. John to go shopping. We could have gone snorkeling, diving or hiking. But we didn’t. Everything about the island made it easy to embrace an attitude of joyful ease. During our five days at Sandcastle, we two hardcore travelers quickly slipped into an almost comically laid-back schedule: wake up, eat, beach, people watch (the bikini-clad boaters), lunch, cocktail, beach, cocktail, shower, cocktail, dinner, cocktail. We did go on one mini-adventure—a kayak trip to Great Harbour. But of course, we stopped on the way for a Painkiller at Ivan’s Stress Free Bar and Campground (leisurely service by day, self-serve bar by night, frequented by the likes of Jimmy Buffet, Keith Richards and Kenny Chesney). I’m almost always up for a challenging trek. But this time, I have to admit: Tom did most of the paddling. —o’rya hyde-keller
Hot Spots: Four more sunny escapes
* Caye Caulker, Belize
A favorite stop for knowledgeable Central-American travelers, this five-mile island has made its peace with tourism. Small-scale, locally owned development blends comfortably with the rasta-tinged Mestizo culture. The island is one mile west of the Belize Barrier Reef, the second largest in the world—if you’ve ever thought about getting certified to dive, this is the place. A half-day intro costs $200BZ, a three-day basic PADI certification $600BZ at Big Fish Dive Center (bigfishdive.com). You’ll see fish, coral, eagle rays, nurse sharks, manatees and dolphins, and formations like the 1,000-foot-wide Blue Hole. Spend the night at Caye Caulker Condos (from $110, cayecaulkercondos.com). Enjoy basic seafood cooking at the island’s twenty-five restaurants, and relax —this Caribbean-flavored island is famously tranquilo. For more info: gocayecaulker.com.
* Culebra, Puerto Rico
This seven-by-three-mile Caribbean island isn’t just the same size as Block Island; it’s also relatively undiscovered, slightly inconvenient to reach, and a haven for surfers, divers and well-heeled East Coast retirees looking to build vacation homes. Isla Culebra has a few key advantages over its northern sister, though. Temperatures hover between 70 and 90 degrees year-round. Hotel rooms can be had for under $100 (Casa Robinson, 787-742-0497), and the island allows camping ($20/night, Flamenco Beach Campground, 787-742-0700). The snorkeling is magnificent; besides coral reefs and tropical fish, green and endangered leatherback turtles are common because both nest in nearby Culebra National Wildlife Preserve. Caribbean fare such as fresh seafood and spicy pork dishes are the order of the day at the Dinghy Dock (787-742-0233), where tame tarpon hang out at the dock waiting for handouts. For more info: islaculebra.com.
* Tucson, Arizona
Winter is the perfect time to check out the dry desert of the American Southwest, and Tucson is a great base for exploring the Catalina Mountains, Sonoran Desert and Saguaro National Park. Skies are sunny 340 days a year, and daytime temperatures average 65 degrees in January. And the clear, dry weather makes for great night sky viewing. After a day spent outdoors, drive your rental car—a must in these wide-open spaces—to stargaze at Kitt Peak National Observatory ($39, noao.edu/kpno). Back in town, enjoy a margarita and chile rellenos at Las Cazuelitas (lascazuelitas.com), which has mariachi bands on the weekends. Fall into bed at the lush Arizona Inn (from $300, arizonainn.com). You’ll see why snowbirds opt to spend the whole winter. For more info: visittucson.org.
* Sanibel/Captiva, Florida
These twin islands off the Gulf Coast offer warm but not broiling winter temperatures, perfect for biking, tennis and golf. There are no high-rise hotels to sully the white-sand beaches, no chain restaurants and no traffic lights; instead, an unhurried atmosphere, lush vegetation and wildlife galore. Sanibel is the spot for active nature lovers; get up close with alligators at the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge (fws.gov/dingdarling), or ride on twenty-seven miles of dedicated bike paths. Captiva is smaller and more exclusive, perfect for honeymooners. Visitors stay at condos, not hotels. Rent a retro beach cottage from Beachview Cottages on Sanibel (from $189/night, beachviewcottages.com) or indulge at Captiva’s luxury South Seas Island Resort (from $300/night, southseas.com); enjoy rum drinks and fish tacos at Doc Ford’s, owned by fisherman-turned-novelist Randy Wayne White (docfordssanibel.com). For more info: sanibel-captiva.org. —Pippa Jack
