Hey everyone!
My husband and I need to book a trip through westjet sometime this year to use our $1200 credit while it's still valid. The easiest vacation would be Mexico but we've been to Mexico so many times that I'm looking for something different!
Do you have any suggestions for a beach/tropical vacation between October-December? We love to swim, lounge by the beach, and go on lots of adventures (i.e. snorkel, zipline, ATV, hike, etc.) Bonus points if you can suggest AirBnBs, hotels, hostels, all-inclusives, etc.
Thanks so much!

Costa Rica is your answer !

Jennifer I second Costa Rica!

Jennifer me too!!

Jennifer yes !!

Maui

Belize

I can’t have enough of México!! !! There more than Cancún ..
But .. Jamaica is very nice, and I think Costa Rica has what you are looking for..

Dominican Republic

Sign up for Travelzoo and find the accommodations then check if you can get flights. There is plenty of options for all sorts of areas.

Damn you said tropical I would have said Iceland

Jamaica!!!

Take a look at flying into Liberia in Costa Rica.
Lots of adventures are possible from there (Nicoya Peninsula - Tamarindo, Samara etc, Arenal, Monteverde), and direct flights from YYC on Westjet.

westjet to London Gatwick and then cheap flight to Malaga $50 maybe less.
October fantastic. Also Gatwick to Chania crete in October.

How much time do you have?

Deborah And from Malaga there is very inexpensive transport on a metro along the coast. I liked Fuengirola. Many day trips from there including Gibraltar and Morroco.

Rhonda Arroyo de la Miel is a lovely place to be based on the metro and Benalmadena along the beach

Costa Rica or the Dominican Republic. Both absolutely gorgeous

Costa Rica or Ecuador! Ecuador has a dope mountain town called baños de Santa agua and they’ve got loads of adventure activities! Costa Rica is definitely worth it as well!

Hawaii

Jamaica or Costa Rica.

Costa Rica
It’s exactly what you will love

Following!

Jamaica, Miami, Cuba, Bahamas, Hawai, Belize, San Martie, Dominican Republic, Panama.

Something off the beaten path, try the Azores. Portugese territory in the middle of the Atlantic, spectacular scenery, great climate, accomodations & food. Great value and unforgettable experience

Aruba!

Michael Do you have a reasonably priced accommodation recommendation? I've only been there for the day on a cruise ship and would love to go back. TIA

Rhonda we have only been to Aruba once. We loved it. We stayed at the Holiday Inn. It was priced pretty fair. The location is perfect. Just outside the resort are tons of good restaurants, bars, and shopping.

Hawaii hands down!

Belize

Costa Rica
for sure. And it’s best if you explore and airbnb it.
If you want places where we’ve stayed PM me.

Erin totally agree!!!

Erin Negril Jamicia, 7 mile beach food is amazing , stay on the beach not at the west end ,

Also another vote for Costa Rica! WJ had direct flights to Liberia, and we rented a car (don’t skimp get the SUV), and drove all around the NW area. Volcanoes, hiking, Monteverde cloud forest with zip lines/adventure tourism, surfing and beaches along the Nicoya Peninsula... so great!

Mary cano island is a must see!!

We loved Costa Rica

Costa Rica hands down. Amazing amazing excursions and I honestly think it’s way nicer than Mexico.

Belize for sure!! San pedro specifically!

Christin
you are right…Belize. Amazing!!!!
San Ignacio @ black rock lodge. Awesome for a day or three
Skip Hopkins.
And yes to San Pedro…secret beach. Oh day trip to caye caulker (wouldn’t stay there.
)
Best holiday ever!!!!!!

Jen right!! Also my mom’s maiden name is England.... Coincidence?

Christin Maaaybe

Jen I would not stay in Caye Caulker either but it was a good day trip.

for the day was good. Went to see the split and used the plane to get back.
Felt like the kardashians with planes.
#HighRoller
One of the few trips I would do over!!!

Christine I loved Belize as well! You can travel on a budget for sure but still enjoy the cave tubbing and zip lining and awesome beaches!

Following...good to know

Costa Rica....clean, you can rink the water, welcoming and safe...and the beaches are incredible.

Costa Rica or Hawaii!

Turks and Caicos

Belize for sure one of my fav places and direct flights out of Calgary on Fridays i did san pedro and caye caulker it was just same price as mexico but way better and i can recommend the best excursion ppl they didn’t even take tips first class all the way

Liisa where did you stay?

Karen Hagen i can’t remember the names of the places but i had booked thru Booking.com the second place they were grt and included bikes the hosts r from canada that was in caye caulker and san pedro we were across from the beach not sure of id recommend the accommodations we stayed at there but there r lots of grt places to stay
Booking.com
BOOKING.COM: The largest selection of hotels, homes, and vacation rentals

I second Costa Rica! Wonderful country to visit! They have all-inclusives but also many lovely bed and breakfasts if you want to do a self-drive trip. If you decide on self-drive I can send you some good suggestions. Just PM me.

Costa rica

Maui.....always Maui. Cannot go wrong

Costa Rica is gorgeous and adventurous

I’m from Alberta and live in Florida now and the keys and Tampa bay Clearwater area are just so amazing - as well as Punta Cana

Costa Rica

If you’re interested in stepping out try Nicaragua or Columbia. Both felt safe and so
much to see and do.

Bahamas or Barbados

Cuba

Jairece cuba is pretty much closed. Most province's are back in lock down. And you have to quarantine in your room for 7 days without leaving your room

Paige oh wow

Costa Rica!! I know WJ flies to the north part of the country but I haven’t been up there. My husband and I don’t typically resort though. We stayed in treehouses and by the volcano instead. However, there is so much to do!! I have been told if you resort you won’t like it. Others I know that didn’t resort loved it. We have been back multiple times

Aruba, Curacao

Belize

Can fly direct from Calgary to Belize City

Dominican, Bahamas, cuba

Roatan - definitely! Google some pictures of West Bay. It actually looks like that. Swimming and snorkeling (as good as ANYWHERE) right off the beach. Lots of places to stay along the beach. We love Infinity Bay Resort. Don't do all inclusive...walk up and down the beach to all the little restaurants along the way. You WILL get addicted to this island...so beware!

Amanda Do they still have a problem with sand flies in this area?

As on most beaches, yes. I have never seen any, but I have had itchy spots from them. There are many easy ways to prevent them. Let me know if you need a list

Belize. We used island expeditions and had an amazing time. They are based in Vancouver.

Costa rica

Roatan

Hawaii

10000% Costa Rica.

Kara Dlouhy
Belize

Bahia Principe, Jamaica. Wonderful resort!

Hawaii!

Do something different in Mexico? Isla Mujeres is always nice.

Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cuba, Aruba, Hawaii

Panama!

Hawaii

St Lucia - Bay Gardens

Belize or Costa Rica - definitely full of adventure, cool animals, you can overnight in a treehouse!

Bali or Lombok, Indonesia.

I haven't read all the many comments, but if it hasn't been said before - westjet is allowing free cancellation right now and it resets the expiry of the travel credit. So book some flights and cancel them right away and you will have more time (in case you don't feel you have enough time right now).

Catherin err, not true, they go back into the bank and keep the same date. What you can do is mark on your calendar a month before they expire and see if you want to book, but if not call and pay a small fee to get them extended one more year.

Well I’ve done it and it worked for me. My credits from March 2020 are now set to expire May 2023 because I booked and cancelled.

Catherin same here, worked like a charm! I suggested the same thing before reading your comment. Tried to find flights to similar westjet spots for these months and not a lot of options for decent prices.

Doesn’t westjet fly direct to Kona and Kauai (Hawaiian Islands) Direct flights to anywhere would be less stressful. I would think.

I have some WJ points I'd be willing to transfer for 75% value.

Belize!

December in Costa Rica because you like adventures.
I’ll pm you with suggested airbnb and hostel to get your bonus points!

Is Costa Rica open to Canadians atm? Without quarantine?

Henry yes it is. Last October they opened to Canadians with the restriction that you must have a certain amount of health insurance coverage.

Henry the official tourism site lists the current entry requirements, but yes, CR is open.
https://www.visitcostarica.com/.../pla.../entry-requirements
VISITCOSTARICA.COM
Entry Requirements

Cuba, Dominican Republic

Belize!

Punta Cana in the Dominican!!!

Barbadoes

Cuba

Cuba

We loved the guided iguana in Nosara!
https://www.thegildediguana.com/
THEGILDEDIGUANA.COM
Nosara Surf Hotel | Costa Rica | The Gilded Iguana

Costa Rica!
Un Tico y Una Gringa and Let's Go would be great options!

Isla mujera

Judy Basaraba
Costa Rica

We can get you accommodations in Dominican Republic through our resort membership. Puerto Plata is an all-inclusive resort or we can you into Cabarete or Punta Cana, all-inclusive optional.

Costa Rica has become pricey
I suggest you fly to Liberia, Costa Rica then take a local bus to the Nicaraguan border. Walk across and grab a cab to San Juan del sur

Barb but make sure you can cross back. At Xmas this was our plan till we found out the border open only one way!

Erin we had no problem, but we also weren't in the midst of a pandemic then either

Barb Xmas 2020 you could cross from CR to N but not back.

You could book any flight for further out by June 30 and just cancel before that to refresh the credit value by another 2 years if you are not seeing anything you really want to use it for just yet.

Hawaii

Hawaii, Florida

Dominican Republic

Barbados

Hawaii? Or Costa Rica? G Adventures has awesome trips for Costa Rica, well priced right now too.

Dominican, Cuba, Palm Springs, Nicaragua, Hawaii

Mexico for all inclusives and beach longing or Costa Rica for all the adventure stuff.

Huatulco

Bonnie Gallagher
Belize

Antigua is nice or St Lucia. Have been to them both with westjet vacations.

Check out Cayo Coco in Cuba

Hawaii

Found ok prices for Aruba in November with westjet - one of the sunniest spots in the Caribbean that time of year. Or for something different, you could fly on the Dreamliner in October to Amsterdam, spend a bit of time on either end there and visit a warmer European destination like Greece, Croatia, or Italy in the middle.

Nicaragua Costa dulce

Valerie Anderson
We really love Barbados. We did lots of great diving there.

Go to Mexico and enjoy it. Life is too short to be whine

Just go to Florida or you may be able to get Hawaii if you book early enough,

St. Lucia,
Further south = longer flight but less likely to get hurricane weather

Barbados is beautiful. We usually go last week of November & first week of December. ARBNB in Rockley G&C

Roatan, Honduras

Costa Rica!!!!!!!
We love it there so much. The pacific side. Fly to Liberia.
Mai pias/Santa Teresa area and/or Nosara

Any suggestions for car rental ?

Mariana ahh I’m so sorry! We did group travel both times so that was taken care of for us

Maybe StLucia or Jamaica? Just a reminder that hurricane season runs June-November, so may be worth considering that in your location choice (FYI St Lucia doesn’t typically get hit hard due to its location).

I saw cheap flights from Calgary to Amsterdam yesterday for $699. Non stop round trip with tax.

Costa Rica hands down my favorite. Fly to San Jose, rent a car check out the volcanos and make sure you go to Manuel Antonio where all the monkeys are!

Any suggestions for car rental in CR? I read there are scams … but not sure of details …

Mariana I believe we rented from Alamo. They have the big car rentals and I would stick with that. There are so many hills and sketchy road cliffs that an automatic is seriously needed! We met a couple that rented from another car rental company. They were given a standard without knowing how to properly drive and they blew the clutch out and were stranded for two days at a hotel. We had fantastic service with Alamo!

Hola. We are from central Alberta and have since moved to
Beautiful Costa Rica! We even have rental properties just across the street from the beach
feel free to message me if you’d like to talk more about all things Costa Rica!

Costa Rica hands down! I've been multiple times and can't recommend it enough. Our favorite spots are on the pacific side, but really anywhere in the country is beautiful. People are lovely & food is delicious

Any suggestions on car rental in CR?

Mariana we used Budget! Just don't choose the location at the airport as the prices are much higher. We booked through the location in downtown San Jose
. Have used them 3 times

Jamaica Couples Swept Away. Amazing place.

Dawn we just booked in Negril

Coreen Couples?

Dawn no. We didn't want AI. It is called Coco LA Palm Seaside Resort.

Check with westjet vacations. I don't think you can use a credit only WJ $$. I just booked Jamaica and was told that.

Costa Rica! We’ve been twice and really enjoyed it both times. Bonus is there are direct flights from YYC.

Maui

Costa Rica will always be my first recommendation. It’s pretty damn amazing there and 100 more things to do than just sit on a beach.

Cuba! Panama ! Jamaica! So many options that aren’t mèxico !

Dominican Republic, it’s beautiful there. My dad runs an airbnb just outside of puerto plata. No direct flights from calgary, we always layover in Toronto or Montreal when we visit.

Hawaii!

I have a beautiful timeshare in Cabo San Lucas cost is $1700 week

Thailand

westjet flows to Aruba! I went over Christmas last year for a month and stayed with a friend who’s Air b&b I could recommend if needed. It was AMAZING.
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