The Caribbean is often seen as a destination mostly for adult travellers and couples, Here’s some suggestions for planning a family friendly holiday to the Caribbean.
Possible activities for children in the Caribbean:
Choose a hotel with a dedicated kids’ club.
Many family friendly hotels have dedicated kids’ clubs. Here are couple of examples to give you an idea of what you can find.
– Some hotels, such as Carlisle Bay Hotels, have different clubs for children based on their age. The Caribbean Cool Kids Club (open seven days a week, from 8.30am to 12.30pm, and 1.15pm to 4.15pm) is suitable for children aged six months to six years, and is supervised by qualified childcare professionals. Activities might include lizard hunting, treasure hunts, and arts and crafts. The club has its own paddling pool, sand pit and jungle gym, is free for children over 2, and cost about £9 per hour for children from 6 months to 2 years. And the Crew Blue programme runs complimentary activities for children aged 7 to 12, including raft building, five-a-side football, and star fish hunting. It runs morning and afternoon Monday to Friday during all main US and UK school holiday and children are free to dip in and out. For children aged 13- to 19-year-olds there is Crush, a teenage club. Here they have their own chill-out room with a Wii, table tennis, table football and pool; they also run a variety of outdoor activities and water-sports such as wake-boarding and BBQ parties.
– The Verandah Resort & Spa ‘Kidz Club’ has a spacious building with a large adventure playground shaded by trees and a children’s splash pool. Games, crafts and activities for little ones are offered daily at the Club. It includes a cosy nap area for the little ones, bathroom facilities, a kitchenette, cable TV, movies. For teens, there are movie nights, a weekly teen’s disco and karaoke.
Resorts with Water Parks
In the Caribbean many resorts have their own Water Parks, such as:
in Bahamas – Atlantis Hotels and Water Park
in Jamaica – Beaches Negril Resort, Sunset Beach Resort And Spa Montego Bay, Hilton Rose Hall Resort, Beaches
Boscobel
in ST. Lucia – Coconut Bay Beach Resort and Spa, Smugglers Cove Resort and Spa, Comfort Suites Paradise Island Resort
in Turks and Caicos and Puerto Rico – Beaches Turks and Caicos, El Conquistador Resort
Other water based activities:
River tubing is great fun and can vary tremendously from a serene glide down a gentle river, to a big adrenalin kick after the rains.
Family sailing holidays – You can learn how to sail while on vacation in the Caribbean. Take your pick from an hour or two, a day sailing lesson or a full-on sailing course, or sailing holiday.
Under-sea experiences for the family – You can check out reefs and corals by being a sub-aquanaut, or sit comfortably in an Atlantis mini-submarine for a tour of the underwater world.
For families interested in nature and wildlife here are some options:
– Take the children snorkelling.
– Wildlife and turtle conservation – You and your children can snorkel and dive with turtles, and watch them nesting
– Bird watching in the Caribbean – Some Caribbean islands have an amazing variety of birds and offer extraordinary holidays in the Caribbean for keen birdwatchers.
– Families interested in adventure might enjoy ziplining.
In planning a family trip, look for info that specifically lists information on the activities and facilities available for children e.g., Caribbean holidays for kids. It’s sometimes hard to tell if a resort is going to be friendly to family travelers so it’s a good idea to try to figure this out before you book and choose somewhere that markets itself as kid friendly.
photo credit: barloventomagico cc