05/30/2026
Beach Person or Pool Person?
It's one of the first questions I ask every client booking a winter all-inclusive - Mexico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica or anywhere else in the Caribbean - & the answer changes everything about how I plan their trip.
Beach People spend their days under a palapa listening to the waves. The pool is a quick cool-off. The beach is the whole reason they came.
Pool People live poolside. The energy, the atmosphere, the swim-up bar, the people around them - that's where the vacation happens. They might visit the beach, but the pool is where they'll spend most of their time.
These two vacations are planned completely differently.
If you're a Beach Person, we start with the beach itself. The sand, the water, the setting. Then we find the property that delivers on it.
If you're a Pool Person, we start with the resort. The pool complex, the atmosphere, the swim-up bar, the layout & the activities matter most.
Of course, most people aren't entirely one or the other and that's fine. Knowing where you fall on that spectrum is part of the process.
It also changes where we put the money.
A Beach Person doesn't need the most elaborate pool complex on the coast. A Pool Person doesn't need to pay a premium for sand they'll barely visit. You don't have to spend for both when you only need one.
That's where the smart planning happens and this is why I ask a lot of questions before I ever name a single resort.
Winter 2026-2027 is booking now.
Most people start by comparing resorts. I start by figuring out how you actually vacation.