We will be at Now Sapphire in May for my sister's wedding. After the wedding, we are thinking of taking another 4 or 5 days and visiting another destination. I don't really want to stay in Mexico but it may be our only bet to go to Isla Mujeres, Cozumel or Playa Del Carmen. I don't want to go to DR again nor Cuba. We have a 3 year old so Honduras is out at this time (and Roatan). I'd prefer to go to Panama as an adult trip. I cannot find any direct flights or those without long stopovers in Miami to any other Caribbean destination except for Cuba and DR. Does anyone know differently? Any advice? I have looked into charter airlines as well but perhaps I am missing something. I did consider moving over to Club Med in Cancun as it is great with kids and my daughter would enjoy it. Anyone been to Club Med Cancun? Thanks.
Cancun is very limited in options for direct flights to other Caribbean destinations. We looked into it ourselves a while back. Cuba is an option, even for those from the US who aren't normally free to travel there. Other than that most Caribbean destinations require a flight back to the US, normally connecting through Miami or Fort Lauderdale.
Here's another way to possibly skin the cat- fly Copa Airlines, the Panamanian national company. International Flights, Airlines Tickets Bookings, offers and promotios - Copa Airlines Panama is a highly developed country, uses the USD as an official currency, and has a very nice airline flying from Cancun to just about any Caribbean Island with an airport. Click on the link above, type in CUN as the origin, then see the list of all destinations available, it's extensive. If you wanted to see Panama City and the Canal you could break your travels with a stopover in Panama City, either going or returning, depending on the flights available. Tickets can be purchased online: the airline runs specials from time to time, just like any other. If you have time to get imaginative, you could check on whether there would be a savings if you bought a one way to Cancun, forward ticket to your island of choice, then return to the U.S. directly from Panama City, bypassing Cancun on the way home. When you look, check whether changing the direction of your travel produces lower rates; for example, by loading your Caribbean Island adventure on the front of your vacation, rather than the back. (When we flew Copa, they had a ticket with five destinations, all flying on one way tickets in Central America, that was cheaper than the RTs we were looking at! It can take awhile to fully figure out which options produces the cheaper total ticket costs.)
