hello all,

myself and my boyfriend are planning on travelling to the caribbean but are undecided on where to go.....we long for the stereotypical white sandy beaches, calm turquoise waters and palm trees....but as we're in our early twenties we want to go somewhere with a BIT of night life too. the problem is, we don't want to end up in an extremely busy place surrounded by high rise apartments etc just because we want somewhere witha a bit of life-we also want nice scenery... does anyone have any suggestions?!

thanks a lot,
marianne.

Ok, I live in the Cayman Islands, so I can confirm that you would get the white sandy beaches and the fun at night, although it can be a bit tame here as things close early on Saturday night (religious reasons) but at a reasonable 3 am on a Friday night. Having said that, the island is not cheap so it might be something to take into consideration. I don't know anything much about the Dominican Republic so can't help here but I have just come back form Cuba. I didn't go to the beach there for obvious reasons, but I met a few people who said it was very nice in various areas of Cuba, so it might be worth checking out. There are apparently some very nice resorts that include the night life. Plus flights to Cuba are really cheap too. And you can definitely get the fun in Havana as well. It is a totally unique place which is definitely worth visiting I think. And it has discos too. In case you are interested, I have an address in "Old Havana" which is cheap, reasonably quiet for Havana (The streets of Havana tend to be very busy and loud with music and all sorts)and right in the center of the old town. It is a "casa particular" (basically you stay in someone's house and it usually includes breakfast)owned by a lovely elderly couple (late 50s I would say) would looked after me like I was their own daughter! Here's the address:

Sr. Pablo Rodriguez
Calle Compostela No. 532
Entre Brasil y Muralla
La Habana Vieja
Tel: 861 2111 or 861 2226

Pablo speaks enough English to get bye.
It cost me US$30 per night including breakfast. They'll be pleased to know that I have recommended them to you and will really look after you!
Wherever you go, hope you have a great holiday!
Florence

thanks florence, that's a fantastic help!
we've booked our trip and are going to cuba, we'll probably only spend a few nights in havana and the rest a bit further out, with plenty of beaches! but i'll definitely try to stay in that place you reccomend-sounds great. thanks for your help and i'll look formore advice if i can ever afford to go to cayman-it looks gorgeous but it's crazy expensive to get to from ireland :( thanks again,
marianne.