The question: Every five years I like to surprise my wife with a fun trip and 20 years is coming up this March. We'd like to spend a week at the same place, a bit of a splurge and somewhere Caribbean or Central/South America that is easy to fly to from Tampa, Fla., where we'll leave our teenagers with grandparents. Interests include: great food and wine, beaches, diving and adventure.
TRAVEL CONCIERGE: Wow, another anniversary question - where are all these men planning romantic getaways? I'm going to start a Facebook fan page: Men Who Plan (Yes, Plan!) Holidays.
With your many interests, Central America's Belize strikes the right note. Here in this rain-forest-and-ocean nation, you can hike, paddle, dive, the list goes on.
And since "pamper" seems to be the subtext to your list, consider one of the upscale resorts along the white-sand beaches of Placencia, says Megan Sullivan, from Belize Tourism ( travelbelize.org). These include The Placencia (theplacencia.com), Chabil Mar Villas ( chabilmarvillas.com) and Francis Ford Coppola's Turtle Inn ( coppolaresorts.com). Two-hour direct flights are available between Miami and Belize City; from there to Placencia, it's a 40-minute regional flight.
If you're looking for something more castaway to refresh your vows, consider one of the trips from Island Expeditions Co. ( islandexpeditions.com). Its seven-day Lighthouse Reef Adventure, for instance, motors you almost 100 kilometres offshore to camp out in private wall tents on a coral atoll near the famous Blue Hole. By day, snorkel, dive and kayak. By night, swing in a hammock and sip beer cooled by a solar-powered fridge.
"These are truly extraordinary locations to experience the beauty and wonder of the tropical seas," says Tim Boys, who founded the B.C.-based company 25 years ago after falling for the nation's rich seascape.
E-mail your travel questions to concierge@globeandmail.com.
Karan Smith is a former Globe Travel editor. Special to The Globe and Mail