As the Northern Hemisphere goes through what I think is the worst part of winter during January and February, there are plenty of fantastic beach holiday locations in the Southern Hemisphere experiencing fantastic warm sunny weather. The problem with most of them is that they are really far away and long haul travel generally means that the cost of finding the perfect winter sun holiday in January and February is high. With this in mind I decided to see what are the best cheap winter sun holiday’s currently on offer. The Best Beach Winter Sun Holidays in January & February Challenge! To qualify for my “challenge” the holidays had to be:

• Primarily a beach holiday – opportunities for excursions a bonus.
• All inclusive holidays of at least 7 nights in duration, with flights included.
• Not too expensive – under £500, keeping in mind that best is not always the cheapest!
• Length of travel a consideration, the shorter the distance the better, direct flights are often cheaper.
• Locations have to be sunny and warm and bookable during January & February.

The candidates for best winter sun beach holidays: So where exactly can you at this time of the year go on a beach holiday, that is truly sunny and warm? Below I created a list of possible locations, but are they cheap and do they meet all the criteria listed above to make the grade? So for my first knock out stage, we will remove all locations that I couldn’t find a 7 night all inclusive winter sun break for under £500 per person or fell short in another critical area, like the weather!

Africa

• Kenya: Lamu, Mombasa and Kilifi – Winner of Best excursions that include African safaris!
• Zanzibar and Tanzania - Could not find any under £500
• The Gambia – Winner of Cheapest Holidays from £299
• South Africa, Cape Town and Durban – Could not find any under £500
  
• Mozambique - Could not find any under £500
• Namibia - Could not find any under £500
• Mauritius - Could not find any under £500
• Egypt – Whilst I could find holidays in Egypt for under £500, I felt that the weather at this time of the year in Egypt is just not war enough to make it a true winter sun beach holiday, wait until March and April for the weather to get truly warm.

Middle East

• Dubai
• Oman

The Caribbean

• Barbados
• Antigua
• Cuba
• Bahamas .. etc

North America

• Florida – Winner of Best Family Beach Holiday Location as well as a great Winter Sun destination
• Hawaii – Could not find any under £500
• Miami

Asia / Indian Ocian

• India, Goa
• Sri lanka
• Maldives

South America

• Brazil & many others – Could not find any under £500

Winners: The Best Beach Winter Sun Holidays in January and February

Below are the winners of my challenge and are in my opinion the best places you can go to to find a cheap beach holiday before the end of February. I have included the details of the holiday that I managed to find that fitted in with all the criteria , that I listed above.

Kenya, Kilifi - Winner of Best excursions that include African safaris!

Kenya and the beach resorts around Mombasa are definitly worth considering, I have been and the beaches are fantastic, the people friendly. The other great advantage of Kenya is the option to combine your beach holiday with an African Safari. Some of Kenya’s best National parks, Tsavo and Amboseli National Park are not that far away and you could easily organise a safari day trip or as an overnight stay. The famous Masai Mara is also a consderation, it is a little further but still an option. I stayed at a resort in Bamburi beach where I also learnt to scuba dive, obtaining my PADI divers license. Kenya must be one of the cheapest locations that you can get your scuba divers license and the diving as well as snorkelling on some of their reefs is excellent.

14 nights in Kenya for under £500 I found Again I found some pretty good holiday deals on lastminute.com where you can stay for a full 14 nights at a 3 star hotel on the beach in Kilifi for only £449 in January, in February, the prices rise to around £500 or just above, but because of the two week duration I felt that this holiday should still qualify. The Laguna Sea Lodge Hotel is located 64km north of Mombasa along the main beach resort strip in Kenya that includes Diani beach, Bamburi beach (where I stayed), Nyali beach and Malindi.

For more details on this beach holiday and others in Africa: www.lastminute.com

The Gambia - Winner of cheapest winter sun holidays: from £299

The second winner as an ideal cheap winter sun beach holiday location is The Gambia and again, I can talk from experience as I have been there, it does not have the excitement of the big 5 safari’s of Kenya, but this samll West African country does have some great beaches (My guide to the Best beaches in Gambia), but the best thing is it’s location. Of all the truly warm winter sun holidays, this has to be one of the closest, there are direct flights to the Gambia and as such there are plenty of cheap holiday deals to be had. The weather in The Gambia at this time of year is excellent with daily temperatures of around 30° celcius, (90°F) I managed to find 7 night all inclusive holidays for as little as £299 at a 2 star resort, the cheapest 3 star was £359

African Village Hotel Gambia

7 nights at the Authentic African Village hotel from £329 This was not the cheapest holiday to the Gambia that I found, but was one of the most interesting and so I just had to add it. You will be staying at a small, friendly hotel laid out like a typical Gambian village giving you an authentic African experience which they boast attracts many repeat guests to this small and friendly hotel situated in the bustling town of Bakau. Bakau is located at the northern end of a 10 km stretch of the Atlantic Coast in the Gambia that has a few beach resorts hotels that can be found to suit every pocket. The beaches have been improved in those places where they were not naturally perfect.

For more details on this Gambian beach holiday and others in Africa: www.lastminute.com

Florida – Winner of Best Family Beach Holiday Location as well as a great Winter Sun destination

Florida for me is an excellent Family beach holiday location, the weather is great at this time of the year, with the hurricane season a distant memory. There is plenty to do for the whole family which I wrote about in a previous blog post: Cheap Winter Sun Holidays in Orlando, Florida where I list a number of winter sun holidays for under £500 from lastminute, Thompson’s Travel and British Airways holidays.

Other Notable Recommendations:

India, Goa

Goa also makes an excellent winter sun location and has some really pretty beaches, the weather during January and February is excellent and  you are far from the monsoon season which starts in June and runs till September. I managed to find a few 7 night all inclusive holidays on lastminute.com for under £500 and even one for 14 nights for only £409 at the Osborne Resort, which whilst it is only rated 2 stars, the fact that all transfers are included, I think makes it fantastic value. You will have to hurry as this price rises to over £700 in February. I could not find any under £500 on Thomas Cook or British Airways Holidays.

Check out www.lastminute.com For this and other holidays to India.

…. to be continued

Please note for the beach winter sun challenge, I used the popular Thomas Cook, Lastminute.com & British Airways Travel companies availability and prices of holidays and am sure that other specialist travel companies may have offered holidays in locations that I could not find with these, but I decided to stick to these mainsteam companies to act as a guide to popular destinations.

Marie Galante island, Guadeloupe

Photo taken by Rayced, see his photos here

Winter at times can seem never-ending, but for those with a little patience, you could be leaving the cold and gloomy days behind and spending a few weeks of winter sun holiday bliss at a price that won’t bite too hard this winter.

So how do you find a winter sun holiday at a bargain price?
It is all in the timing, The UK as well as the countries you are travelling to all have their peak travel seasons and if you get it right, you can make significant travel and accommodation savings. The two weeks leading up to Christmas, when here in the UK the schools have not broken up yet you can find some good deals on many long-haul holiday destinations. Another good time to book and go on that winter sun holiday is the first week in January a everyone returns to school and work and so there is a marked drop in the number of people travelling and so the prices of many holiday packages come down to reflect this. This also works for the countries you are travelling to, because they have less tourists many prices for accommodation as well as the attractions drop.

Another tactic to finding great bargain winter sun holiday deals if you are not to fussy as to your destination (as long as there is sun of course!) is to leave booking the holiday to the last minute. That is pretty much the unique selling point of lastminute.com and the are always worth checking for any cheap deals on winter sun holidays: Winter Sun on Lastminute.com

The Winter holiday deals page on Thomas Cook is also well worth checking, it works really well as you can quickly and easily and quickly filter what kind of holiday deal you are looking for and the destination you wish to travel to.

Where are the best cheap deals on winter sun holidays?
To find some sun during the European winter you are going to have to travel to catch the sun, here are a few of the best value getaways from winter:

The Gambia
I visited The Gambia over Christmas in 2007 and not only will you find more than enough winter sun (I don’t think I saw a cloud in 10 days!) but there are also some excellent white sandy beaches and for the more adventurous and for a true Gambia Experience, there are some excellent Gambia river boat safaris. The Gambia is also an excellent place if you wish to escape the commercialism of Christmas, being mostly a Muslim country, I awoke to the wonderful sound of the sea on Christmas Day, with not a Santa Claus or DVD advert in sight! For more info see the Beach holiday guide for more details on Beach Holidays in Gambia.

I found a few package holidays to The Gambia on lastminute.com. Including a 7 night holiday at a 3* Hotel in Banjul in The Gambia from £349 per person including flights in January. Over December the prices start at £419. Flightsdepart from Manchester, East Midlands, Bristol and London Gatwick. There is also a 7 night stay at the 4* Kombo Beach hotel for £409.00 including flights and transfers leaving on the 16th of December. Prices then increase over Christmas to about £700 and then drop again in January, February and March. The Gambia on Lastminute.com

On Thomas Cook, there are a bunch of great deals including a 7 night stay at the Hotel Badala Park in Kotu Beach leaving Gatwick on Fri 30 Jan 09 at 08:10 (so not too early!) for only £250.00 per person. Admittedly it is only a 1 star hotel, but the sun and beaches are 5*! There are also many other deals available and it is well worth checking out the:
Thomas Cook Holiday Deals to the Gambia

Caribbean
Two important considerations to know when planning on a holiday in the Caribbean, the high season in the Caribbean starts in Mid December and the hurricane season ends at the end of October! So to grab the best cheap holidays to the Caribbean, you need to travel before the high season but after thehurricane season, so in November and early December. The once again in early January you can once again find deals as the high season tourists return home.

I found a 7 night stay in a 4 star hotel in Barbados on lastminute.com for £646 which includes International flights, local transfers and meet and greet at the airport.

Winter Sun on Lastminute.com

Winter Holiday Deals on Thomas Cook Including holidays to The Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the Maldives

Dubai
You are guaranteed to find the sun at this time of the year in the Middle East. You just have to be a little clever to get the best cheap deals as this is also their peak tourist season. But if you travel in the two weeks leading up to Christmas, it is possible to find a cheap holiday in the sun in Dubai. Dubai is an excellent location for Shopping as well as having some of the best golf courses in the world.

Dubai Holidays on www.lastminute.com

Find out more on the Beach Holiday Guide to Dubai