Phil and Katie- I am 100% with you. I do not want to be, nor should we aspire to, or compare ourselves with Jamaica, Cancun or any place else. We are not them, we are so much more.
Sometimes, when something precious is close by, we tend to discount it as not-special-enough. This phenomenon happens with romance, friends, great art, and destinations.
I have FOUR friends coming down, staying in a condo, renting a private boat for a day, 4 round trip tickets on Tropic, and a golf cart rental...FOR FOUR people - total price $3381.08 TOTAL...or only $845.27 per person for a week. This does not include international airfare, but even if they pay $700, you are only looking at $1545.
I'm sorry, i dont think thats a lot of money to be in one the most untouched, truly authentic, culturally immersed, stunningly beautiful places anyone can imagine being in....in less than 2 hours from a US airport.
Sorry, i dont bitch about the prices. I Embrace them! $600 a week tourists will kill this island, not help it.
Viva La Exclusivity!
Now as a side note, did you know you can fly to cancun, rent a car for less than $15 a day, park it at the border for $5 a day (henry takes care of it for you) and $40 ROUND trip per van to get to Corozal? You'll save on airfare to the island (not flying from international) and still get the purported "great prices" to cancun. If you have a car full (family of 4 lets say) you can save a bundle, and its a very easy drive.
the net net on this whole thing is: We've all heard all the complaints about the airfare, and it is what it is. To me, its completely wasted energy...sorta like complaining about rain.
If you arent part of the solution, you are part of the problem. The real solution is to find ways to creatively increase tourism....on our own.
A Rising Tide Raises All Boats.