“I loved Cinque Terre a million years ago but while the water was blue and beautiful, I don’t remember the beaches having nice soft sand.”
Yes Monterosso is the only town with a decent beach. It also has a bit more accommodation so is a good place to stay.
On our way home now from Bora Bora. A serious wow. There are direct flights from San Francisco to Tahiti - about an 8 hour flight, so closer than Europe.
The water is the bluest I have ever seen… and snorkeling was amazing. We spent a week on a catamaran that was amazing. I’m running out of superlatives.
We are all having serious post vacation blues. PM me if you want details-
Hollywood, Florida has beautiful beaches, and is not as crowded as Ft. Lauderdale or Miami.
Bermuda is gorgeous this time of year. So many beaches to choose from with 83 degree water. I’m very bias towards Bermuda as this is where my husband is from so I have been many times.
Portugal has some nice sandy beaches. Sagres, at the SW tip has dramatic cliffs. Further east is Armacao de Pera which has orange rock formations reminiscent of Utah at the water’s edge. You can hire a boat to take you to a beach that is only accessible by sea. It is the Atlantic Ocean so not as warm as the Mediterranean.
The Amalfi coast has beautiful water but the rocks are painful. I was wishing for some sort of water shoes to wear. I kept my sandals on as far as I could and couldn’t go much further once I was barefoot.
I appreciate all of these suggestions so much!! Thank you and please keep them coming!! Right now Bora Bora is sounding pretty darn amazing, ditto Monterosso and anywhere in the Caribbean.
H and I spent our honeymoon in the Turks and Caicos. Very clear water and we could snorkle and see things on the bottom (like a big anchor) 40-50 feet down.
The beach at the southern tip of Provo has a coral reef that comes into very shallow water so you can snorkle over it. When we were there, they used the US dollar for currency and encouraged hitchhiking so they would need less cars.
St. John is my favorite- but it’s low key. Best beaches and water. I have been there since the hurricane. There is still rebuilding going on, but there is plenty open and great villas and condos. We are going back in May.
I’ve been to Bora Bora, and it’s wonderful. However, my experience was that it was mostly inhabited by honeymooners or people enjoying a romantic anniversary trip. Not a big family friendly place. Ditto for Moorea.
I will have to say it was many years since I went there, so perhaps it has changed.
Grand Cayman has beautiful white sand and blue water. It can be rather pricey, though. We have stayed at hotels and condos on Seven Mile Beach, and we preferred the condo hands down.
St. John would be my first choice, hands down, especially if your family is semi-active. The best beaches are generally a short hike, other more touristy have parking lots (think Trunk Bay). Rent a condo and a jeep and you will find plenty to do for two weeks if beaching is your goal. There are beach bars, boat rentals, happy hours, good food (both cheap eats and fine dining). I would stay within walking distance to Cruz Bay so each can go their own way when necessary, some with the auto and others can walk to lots of places from there.
I’ve stayed in several places but for location and easy access to beach bars try a vrbo at this “resort”.
Its not really a resort lol but individually owned condos, some with great views of the bay.
https://grandebayresort.com
Another option may be Puerto Rico, but I would then split my time between Old San Juan (not very good beaches but fun) Vieques and Culebra , although the kids may find this lacking activities for them.
My sister and I are taking my D as a college graduation gift to Greece and splitting our two weeks in Santorini, Naxos and Paros with two last days in Athens so I would recommend that as well. I would go to St. John but we left the decision to my D. Her first two choices were outside the budget: Galapagos and New Zealand, but might be worth a look for you.
Turks and Caicos
20 years ago my husband and I honeymooned in New Zealand and Rarotonga. We flew into Auckland, carried on to Rarotonga, which is tiny but surrounded by pristine beaches and interior waterfalls. We then took a tiny plane to Aitutaki, which is an isolated but superlative sandbar in the middle of the Pacific. Then, we went to the South Island of New Zealand and saw glaciers and primeval forests. THAT was a good trip!
I agree too that the Samaria Gorge on Crete is spectacular and worth the hike and early start time.
New Zealand does have gorgeous and uncrowded beaches but it’s dubious whether it would be warm enough to enjoy them in June/July.
I’d put in a minor plug for Croatia… the water there is really clear, people are really friendly and it’s generally slightly cheaper than say Italy. I think for the most part though the beaches are rock/pebble rather than fine sand, and ‘uncrowded’ is probably unlikely in July.
Trunk bay, St. John USVI
@washugrad , no NZ beaches won’t be warm in July. But almost anywhere else in the South Pacific will be lovely in our summer. It’s not such a schelp from SF. OP could do island hopping.
So surprised nonine has mentioned Costa Rica!
We did 10 days there end June/beginning of July for DS graduation…it is “green season “ which means it rains at night, so the beach areas are green instead of the burnt out brown they are during “summer” in April…but not yet real “rainy” season (late July-Aug)
A pretty typical Costa Rica trip is 3 days rain forest near Arsenal Volcano, then Cloud forest (jeep-boat-jeep trip takes a short cut over a huge lake and is pretty cheap) then the beach areas. (you want the pacific side at that time of year)
We stayed at Los Lagos hotel in Arsenal for 3 days (hot spring thermal pools with water slides) then a lodge in the cloud forest for 2 days/ 1 night all inclusive (they arraigned our transport to/from) (can’t remember then name but it was one of the top rated hotels) then rented a beautiful villa on a cove south of Tamarindo for $176/night. We went zip lining in the rain forest and the cloud forest, took private rainforest tours with naturalists, went white water taftingsaw tons of beautiful wildlife, ate pristine food (it’s all free range and farm-to-table because that’s all there is) people spoke beautiful english, (and strangely had names like Donald and Nelson) kids took surf lessons at the beach, took a sunset catamaran/snorkeling trip…airfare for 5 was under $3000 and all in I think we spent about 10. We rarely take elaborate vacations and I couldn’t believe the value. The beach was 85 degrees and beautiful.
Oh yes, Costa Rica is a great choice! Lots to do too. The loveliest beaches are on the Gulf side, IMO. But there are many fun options in Costa Rica for activities and beaches. Good place for two weeks.
Arenal. Damn you, autocorrect!
My daughter was in Costa Rica for 10 days. I agree that there is lots and lots to do if you don’t want to just sit and relax on the beach. They hiked down into waterfalls, kayaked volcanic crater lakes, zip lined in the clouds over the rain forests, went white water rafting, horseback riding on the beach, etc… The beaches were amazing too.
@Lindagaf The beaches on the pacific side vary - Tamarindo is beautiful white sand but fairly crowded (would not be considered crowded for NJ though); our villa was across the street from a lava-flow beach so wide flat rocks full of sea urchins hiding in holes, but a short stroll down the beach, the flow ended in a huge beach of white, powder soft sand.
The reason I said Pacific side is because at that time of year (Jun-July) the pacific side gets much less rain.