Affordable Winter Travel Destinations

Barbados, France, Ireland.
PR will be up and running by end of October, no problem. I have reservations for early December and will not cancel. February you will be fine there. Of course, Dominican Republic (NOT Dominica, a different island), will be fine also, but always sketchy for americans.
St Thomas has two nice surf spots - Hull Bay, and Botany Bay that may be fun, and if wife's are going, they can shop to their hearts content in Charlotte Amalie (tax free, I might add).

 

Charge Barbados. Fly out of Miami. Every spot in Barbados is driving distance, Southeast is where the party's at. AirBnB it for cheap. Fish. Rum. And both Maria & Irma didn't cause any harm there. I'm looking btwn Feb & April, but the surf kinda sputters at the end of March so "they" say

 

Trinidad and Tobago is dirt cheap and direct flights from many EC cities. I was able to score consistent chest high surf this summer, and I know the winters get even better. Check out Mt. Irvine in Tobago.

 

Baja California maybe? California proper, San Diego, Ventura? They all get winter swell.

 

My buddy just went to Salina. I think it was like 1200 for a week with flight (out of SD)

 

You can def do SD in that price range. I got a ticket back to NJ (From SD), non-stop, in Nov for $360.

There's plenty of hotels you can score for under $150/night, but better shot looking through air bnb. they avg 75-125/night to be close to the beach.

 

Barbados would definitely be in play. Jet Blue has direct flights for under $500 out of JFK. Another one to think about would be Bocas Del Toro, Panama.

 

No love for Costa Rica?

 

Elbow Cay in the Bahamas. It's reef break with a big marlin ledge offshore, goes from 600 feet to 20 feet like boom. Fly into Marsh Harbor and rent a 23' Boston Whaler, hit the out islands. Hopetown is a good nexus for surf, fishing and good vibes.

 

Does Tobago really get that much better surf than VA Beach (OBX not too far)?

Seriously interested. I have family in Venezuela and have been puzzled about how they even have surf there. Seems like it would be more like Gulf Coast surf. The coast seems almost entirely blocked from the open ocean but somehow there are waves.

I guess Trinidad and Tobago are more exposed but east facing and there is considerable continental shelf. At best it seems like it shouldn't be any better than we are getting on the east coast.

 

Mid week in southern California has treated me very good the past 3 years. Monday through Friday while people are at work and kids are at school breaks known for crazy crowds can be practically empty. Just beware that dawn patrol and from 3pm to dark they are frothing. From 9am to 3pm lots of waves to be had.

 

My 5 day trip to San Jose Del Cabo, with a 4 star all inclusive resort, ran me about $650 total and that included my airfare. For the price it was pretty damn solid. We didn't rent a car though and the cabs cost a pretty penny. But there was always macking swell and several different breaks within a 2 mile radius. Of course this was summer and during S. swell season. Not sure what the winter is like, but I'm sure it's good.

 

^ Yeah, I'd be happy to hear the details. Friggin' great deal. But, I'm guessing that's a 2-4 way occupancy split, meaning something like $2500 for quadruple occupancy or something. Still a fantastic deal, but heck I can drink $600 worth of scotch in 5 days easy, forget the airfare, hotel, and surf taxi nonsense.

 

The only catch was that he had to fly back with 20 lb of fentanyl duct-taped around his waist.

 

I knew it!