[size=18][/size]My future husband and I are trying to decide where to go on our honeymoon in may and we have heard great things about sandals. The problem is that we have narrowed it down to the Bahamas and Jamacia but cannot decide out of all the reorts which one to go to. Could I please get some feed back of which resort would be the best and why. Thank you for your help.

This all depends how active you want to be or laid back. You can actually do both most places. I can only speak for SMB because it's the only place we've gone to for the last 5 yrs. It's one of the oldest hotels but they are doing a lot of remodeling and it's not as fancy and big as the newer ones. But it does have one of the largest white sand beach. We find the people wonderful there and have seen a lot of weddings. You'll probably get somemore info when others who have been to other Sandals. It's only 10 min. from the airport, so you do hear and see the planes. No Problem for most guests.

the good thing about jamaica is you can go to the other Sandals resorts while there. there's only one Sandals in the Bahamas (which is quite large) but you can't go to any others. my wife always says she wouldn't want to choose a resort by what OTHER resorts she could go to, cuz she just wants to go to the one in the first place that she likes. but it is a nice perk to be able to cruise over to the other resort and check it out for the day. we stayed at Dunn's River and it was awesome. haven't been to the others, but i know that this resort is a bit more active than others. more like MoBay, whereas Ocho Rios and Negril are the ones that are more laid back. Royal Caribbean has a huge following on this and other boards. i can't speak for it, but reputation alone speaks for itself. you also may want to consider price. Royal Bahamian AND Whitehouse are both offering 40% off right now, which is a great deal because these are two of the most expensive resorts in the chain. may wanna take advantage of that while you can!

Thank you both for the feed back and the insight. I know this is probably a stupid question, but what is the white house?

Whitehouse is the new Sandals opening next Feb that is located on the southside of Jamaica.

If you want to give me your email, I'll send you a link to 30 pictures of our vacations to Royal Bahamian.. .. .. .. .. .. .

check the website for whitehouse, it's on there

We've been to Jamaica and the Royal Bahamian. They were both wonderful in different ways. In Jamaica, you would want to have a tour guide if you go out of the resort. We used a-z planners. Oscar handles the Ocho Rios area. We stayed at Dunn's River and took the resort suttle to Ocho Rios. What I liked about the Bahamas was that you can go to the end of the resort, take the bus into Nassau, look around in Nassau and come back. Plus, there was a shuttle to the casino which is fun to do. We took a trip (booked by Sandals) to the Atlantis one day which was fun. SRB also has an island owned by Sandals. What time of the year will you be going. SRB tends to be windy and the water sports are closed whenever the water is too rough. In Jamaica, the water sports were never closed and the ocean water was warmer. We were in Jamaica in November and the Bahamas in April. Major complaint about SRB was how cold the pools were! Never had that problem at SDR.

Month
Temp-High Temp-Low Water Rainfall
January
77°F 66°F 70°F 2"
February
77°F 65°F 71°F 1.6"
March
78°F 67°F 74°F 1.4"
April
81°F 69°F 76°F 1.6"
May
82°F 70°F 79°F 4.3"
June
82°F 70°F 80°F 4.3"
July
87°F 75°F 85°F 3.8"
August
88°F 76°F 86°F 4.4"
September
88°F 75°F 85°F 6.2"
October
84°F 74°F 82°F 7.4"
November
81°F 71°F 79°F 2.6"
December
79°F 67°F 74°F 2.2"



Compare this to Jamaica's temps;
January
High/Low (F): 86/67
Rain Days: 3

February
High/Low (F): 86/67
Rain Days: 3

March
High/Low (F): 86/68
Rain Days: 2

April
High/Low (F): 87/70
Rain Days: 3

May
High/Low (F): 87/72
Rain Days: 4

June
High/Low (F): 89/74
Rain Days: 5

July
High/Low (F): 90/73
Rain Days: 4

August
High/Low (F): 90/73
Rain Days: 7

September
High/Low (F): 89/73
Rain Days: 6

October
High/Low (F): 88/73
Rain Days: 9

November
High/Low (F): 87/71
Rain Days: 5

December
High/Low (F): 87/69
Rain Days: 4

Thats 9 degrees colder during the day in January. I personally experienced a week there in the low to mid 70s with 70 degree water and it was miserable. I couldn't stand the pool or the ocean. It was all I could do to keep my shirt off. And the winds always seems to blow hard. Take a look at a globe or atlas, the Bahamas are not any further south than Miami or the Keys. I would not go there in Dec - Feb for sure. I thinks its also more expensive for off site excursions, more a a tourist trap. Just my opinion though. I have never been dissaponited with the weather in Dec-Feb at Jamaica

catchy name doc

You don't want the Bahamas in December. Speaking from experience. I used to go there kind of regularly when my dad owned property on Great Exuma. It's kind of cool in December and the water isn't too warm either. Puerto Rico about the same thing. Get farther south in the Carribean to get warmer water temps. I'm headed for St Lucia December 26th. I'll try Jamaica next time.

doh! in the first post (which I obviously didn't read before I posted above) she said they are talking May. In May the Bahamas are fine. Water is still warmer if you go to Jamaica or farther south, but in May the Bahamas are pretty delightful.

wow.. ..I did not notice that she said May. By the way, the "guest" post was mine. Don't know why it did not come with my login, but I have had computer problems and re-installed everything if that is the reason. So, SRB will be nice weather. Either that or SDR is wonderful, depending on what you would like to do.