Celebrate a new year with a terrific vacation. Consider taking your young grandchildren to one of these fun-filled destinations.
1. We saw a lot of happy children when we visited the beautiful Barcelo Karmina Palace hotel situated in Manzanillo on Mexico's Pacific Coast. The smiling kids were swimming in some of the interconnected pools, frolicking on the quiet, protected beach in front of the hotel, or walking through the massive mouth of the friendly giant that houses their own activities club. Poolside grills and a variety of buffet restaurants provided the perfect kids' meals, with hamburgers, hot dogs, ice cream sundaes, and salad bars galore, many with a slight Mexican touch.
2. Mystic Seaport, The Museum of America and the Sea, in Mystic, Conn., is made for children to explore, with an authentic 19th-century village and the last wooden whaling ship in the world. At the Children's Museum, the 7-and-younger set can swab the deck, move cargo, cook in the galley, and dress in sailors' garb. Playscapes is a wooden-boat playground where kids pretend they're sea captains. Summer Hands-On History workshops allow children to craft their own keepsake, such as a wooden toy boat or a hand-dipped candle. Visitors cruise the Mystic River aboard a 1908 steamboat, a 20-foot catboat, or a rented rowboat. Children younger than 5 are admitted free.
3. For an exotic destination, try canoeing and exploring caves in Krabi, Thailand. Take this five-day trip with Intrepid Travel and the first day you'll enjoy a guided tour of three different islands in the Andaman Sea. The second, you'll kayak (I don't know why they call it "canoeing") in the Krabi Sea past James Bond Island, where The Man With the Golden Gun was filmed, and picnic onshore with monkeys. The third day, you kayak into caves dripping with lacy stalactites that look like Disney built them for a film, but they're natural. On your own, you can visit an elephant camp while you're in this lovely, warm part of the world.
4. Children stay free in their grandparents' rooms (most have kitchens) at the
Napili Kai Beach Resort, a low-rise resort , that is low-key and family-oriented on the island of Maui. Children also eat free when grandparents order an entrée at either of the resort's restaurants. Kids learn not only Hawaiian games and hula, but they can also watch their contemporaries dance the hula every Tuesday night as part of the nonprofit Napili Kai Foundation, which teaches Hawaiian children about their culture. Among other complimentary child-centered amenities — their own putting green.
5. How about snow kite-boarding in Jackson Hole, Wyo.? No prior experience is necessary; instructors will teach kids as young as 7, depending on their ability. The lovely Hotel Terra in Teton Village, less than a mile from the entrance to Grand Teton National Park, can arrange for all kinds of snow sports, as well as horseback riding, and fly fishing on the Snake River in warmer months.
6. Cruise the Sea of Cortez with American Safari, which offers special "Kids in Nature" cruises on its small boats holding from 12 to 24 people. You and your grandkids will be floating in "a marine aquarium with the largest diversity of life we can find on earth," according to the late oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. An on-board naturalist will prepare you to see whales, dolphins, butterfly fish, sea lions, and 90 species of marine animals that you can find only along the Baja coast. At night, youngsters prepare entertainment about what they've seen, and work on nature projects to take home.
7. Fort Myers Beach, Fla., is noted for its perfect sandcastle-making sand, it's gradual sloping shoreline, safe swimming for little ones, and its 400 species of multicolored seashells for collecting. It's a busy and crowded area, but we stayed at the Pink Shell Resort, which, on its front side, faces just beach. At the back door, you can take the 25-cent trolley to state parks for picnicking, biking, bird- watching, fishing, and observing loggerhead sea turtles and manatees. If it's spring training season, you and your grandkids can watch the Boston Red Sox for a minimal fee.
8. CircusYoga at Kripalu Yoga Center, Lenox, Mass., is open to anyone, ages 7 to 97. Join your grandchildren learning all sorts of accessible yoga and circus skills — like basic partner-acrobatics, juggling, and clowning — within a playful environment. You can sample an array of wellness classes and bodywork amid 300 bucolic acres in the Berkshires. At the end of the multigenerational CircusYoga retreat, there is a community celebration! Sessions are scheduled for April, June, July, and November.
9. Lake Placid, N.Y., home to the 1932 and 1980 Olympics, takes great advantage of the venues still in operation, such as the Olympic Jumping Complex, with a chairlift and elevator ride to the Sky Deck overlooking the ski-jumping run. The bobsled run is open to watch athletes in training or try it yourself, winter or summer (on wheels). If you bring the grandchildren to the High Peaks Resort, the concierge can arrange guided area trout-fishing trips, scenic Lake Placid boat rides, skating and ski outings, in the surrounding Adirondack Park. In summer, enjoy the "Dive-In Movie" showcasing family-friendly movies on a large screen by the pool. In your room: Enjoy flat-screen TVs equipped with movie and video-game rental capabilities. Winter or summer, this is grandkids' heaven.
Learn more about Soaking Up Nature in the Sea of Cortez, Hawaiian island resorts, and how to get started kayaking with your grandchildren.
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