Replies to post #29143 on The Question and Answer Board (IHUB)

[WTMHouston]

Guido's does still exist and is still great food. I try and eat lunch there every time I have to go to Galveston for a case.

http://www.galvestonislandtx.com/tourism/restaurants.htm#fine

As for the water in Galveston, let's just say that I have not been in the water in over 15 years and have no desire to get in the water. Ankle - knee high would not be a problem, but I have no desire to swim in it.

Galveston and Cayman cannot even fit on a 1 to 10 scale. If Cayman is a 10, Galveston is not even a one. That said, Galveston has developed lots of tourist activities and is a nice place to spend a weekend or so.

I have stayed at Rose Hall in Montego Bay and it was quite nice. It was okay for me alone but the wife and family would have been miserable couped up in the resort. The resorts in Jamaica are very nice, but the country looses a lot of appeal when you have to be back inside the compound by sunset or risk becoming a victim. While I was there, I rented a car and drove to Ocho Rios for the waterfall. On the way back, after dark, I took a wrong turn (south) and ended up on a very narrow road in the middle of the cane fields. I was petrified. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshells/caribbean/jamaica/jamaica.htm
I eventually found a town and someone who spoke some English, got directions back, and made it back without incident, but that is not how I had intended to spend four hours seeing the interior of the country.

The largest parrott fish I have ever seen were in Jamaica, but the reefs are mostly dead because they have been and are fished by the locals.

[fung_derf]

The clearest water I have ever seen was on Abacos Island in the Bahamas. A great place if you don't desire night life. You can scuba without getting certified, and renting a boat for the day and going to Turtle Cay for a picnic or Harbour Cay was fantastic.
Other than that, Playa's water was just about as clear. Very calm because Cozumel blocks it off from the ocean, and some very nice places to go to around it like Xel- Ha or Xcaret.
If you are at all interested, this site belongs to a friend of mine and I will vouch for him as I was with him on many of the trips. We stay at the Iberostar and have been quite impressed. There are restaurants in town, but the food at the hotel was so good we didn't eat off the grounds often.

http://www.bookmarkheaven.com/publist.asp?myid=66&publiclist=72