I want to take a six month vacation to Latin America and spend only $15,000 US Where would be the best place?

Question

I'll be coming back to the U.S. from a contract job after 18 months on site and want to take a nice long vacation. I don't want to spend more then $15,000 US and want to live as nicely as possible. I'm 30 y.o., single and plan on having my 15 y.o. and 14 y.o. nieces visit for about a month when school is out. I like to dive and have a PADI Master Diver rating so would like to spend at least a while near the ocean. I've had two semesters of Spanish in college and am using the Rosetta software to improve my spanish. I like to fish and would like a little time near a lake. Archaeology is of interest to me so I've been thinking Peru or Mexico but not really decided yet. I plan on starting the vacation around May. Apartments or casas preferable to hotels. I really just want to take a vacation where I can sit around a little but still have things to do so I'm not bored out of my mind. Where would the best place be to stay in Latin America?

Answer 1

Every country in Latin America you could live good on that for 6 months even Chile and Costa Rica which are some of the most expensive Latin American countries.. I have been in Bolivia for the last 3 months and averaging 1100 dollars a month and eat at good restaurants and drink beer almost every night. Before that Uruguay and Argentina

  For dive course Roatan, and Utila Honduras is a very popular area for getting a master dive rating http://www.roatanonline.com/roatan_divin...

http://www.deepblueutila.com/

In Guatemala one of the most beautiful lake settings in the World and cheap is Lago Aititlan http://www.atitlan.com/

In the south of Chile there are many beautiful lakes and volcanoes

Answer 2

peru sounds like a great place and i highly doubt you will spend that much money... i would like to recommend el salvador it has archeological places but not as many as mexico or peru and it has an enormous amount of lakes and anything you might want... ive been in el salvador for about 2 months now with my boyfriend and together we have only spent $800 and we like to go out on tours and we rent boats and things like that... here in 6 months im sure we still wont spent more than $2,400 and i dont think peru is more expensive than el salvador but any how... peru sounds like it has alot of what your looking for

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!

p.s just in case you get curious here is a little something about my country

Answer 3

well, in peru we have a lot of archaeological places for visit and lately we are knowing in the world as a gastronomic country... I think one of the special stuff that we have is the richest bio-diversities, i mean we have 3 natural regions: coast, highlands and jungle; and every region has his own culture and festivities and life is very different in each one....

The advantage is that we have spectacular beaches in the coast north of Peru (punta sal for example) and the next day you can take a flight and visit the highlands (macchu picchu) and the next day, a flight, and go to the jungle (manu) or go to the highest lake in the world (Titicaca). We have everything near.

Peru is not that expensive, with the amount that you are planing to spend you can get very good services. May is a good season, in july start the high season.



You can find here places and festivities with photos: http://www.peru.info/perueng.asp

i hope this could help you

Answer 4

Go to Honduras. It's a beautiful country with amazing people! You can live as cheap as you want to there. To dive and/or fish you can go to Roatan or Utila in the Bay Islands. Also there is Lake Yojoa in the middle of the country for additional fishing/relaxing. The beach in Tela is amazing! In Copan you can see Mayan ruins. There are some nice malls and muesams in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula (the two large cities in Honduras). Movies are super cheap too! (Only about $2-3 each.) And great coffee! (Espresso Americano!!!)

The country is quite small so it's easy to travel all around and see/do everything you want to. Or if you wanted to stay longer in some of the areas you can also find short term house or apartment rentals. Many places can be rented furnished.

Here is a link to a weekly English newspaper from Honduras. http://www.hondurasthisweek.com/ You can get a feel for Honduras through this newspaper and find all kinds of long or short term rentals available throughout the country. As well as things to do.

Answer 5

if u really want to go see some great underwater views while diving.. one of the most coveted and non touristy places in south america to dive in is called Malpelo Island off the west coast of Colombia. Ive been there diving and is BEAUTIFUL. Schools of sharks, beautiful pristine waters.. Is just gorgeous.. Colombia would be a great choice. And now w/ its new booming economy and experts stating that its become one of the most safest countries in Latin america after its yrs of been the most dangerous! Check it out.. regardless where u go andf stay ur going to have a great time!! its latin america and us as latinos are welcoming and great people and counties to get to know.. But i do suggest dont stay in one place if ur going to be in S. Am for 6 months.. go throughout and ur going to find awesome places!! But do go to malpelo.. check it out online!

Answer 6

Costa Rica is the place no questions about this. Eat,drink,dance you and all your friends and no friends for 10 bucks. Goverment is steady, have a nice city,us currency is accepted as well as cruises and tourist so you won't be allienated from your culture. Talking specific on your plans i'll go with costa rica.

Answer 7

Paraguay would be nice, but for what you want and the fact that your nieces plan on visiting, I think you should check out Costa Rica--it's a bit of an anomaly for Central America, being that it is a very old and well established democratic republic and has remained extremely autonomous throughout its history. The country has remained outside of many of the plagues that infect its neighbors and is the most stable Pan-American nation outside the U.S. and Canada. It's also mostly coastline, which seems on par with your hobbies.

Answer 8

I would second Colombia. You have a PADI qualification, Colombia has diving both on the Pacific coast and the Carribean, Santa Marta or Cartegena itself would be a good place to start from I'm not so conversant with the Pacific side.

Colombian cities are now some of the safest in Latin America and the country is spectacularly beautiful, its being touted as the next big destination, get in before the tourists get there!

Answer 9

look, with that amount of mnoey, in latin america you can visit more that one place, instead of stay in only one country. I recommend you to go to Colombia, specially Cartagena, there you can find beautiful beaches, archealogy, many places to go, and is less than one hour by plane to the capital (Bogota), or Medellin, Cali, you can even go to the Amazonas. If you see in a map, you can realized that i situated in the middle of the continent, so you can go anywhere, to Peru, Venezuela, Brasil, Argentina, Panama, etc. So visit Colombia, you will see how cheap it is, and you can go around latin america from there.

Answer 10

paraguay is a dirty ugly place with absolutely nothing to entice the foreigner.

go to brazil. its big, its beautiful, its full of life.

Answer 11

PARAGUAY and life for those 6 months will be the best of your life.

Answer 12

Hey, go to Panama!!!  You can drive from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic in 1-1/2 hrs.  From Panama City you drive only  one hour to the main beaches on the Pacific.  San Blas islands and Bocas del Toro are a paradise for divers.  If you get too much tan, you can go to the mountains in El Valle (1 hour from the Pacific coast) or to Cerro Azul.  Dollar is the currency, you can fish in the Canal (literally) and there are direct and daily flights to/from Miami, Neward, NY.  ÃƒÂ‚¿What else?  Modern malls for the girls . . .

I've been in Cartagena and sorry, it did not impress me.

Have fun!!!

Answer 13

wow, thats nice six month vacation, i recomend my country of curse, go to galapagos island is a paradise, we alse have Archaeology, lakes, mountais with snow, beautiful beaches, and the jungle is amazing.

www.vivecuador.com

Answer 14

Peru

With that amount of money you can travel the entire country!