New Year, New Ways to Save in the Grenadines

The Deal: For every night you stay at the private Young Island Resort between January 1 and March 31, you'll get an additional free night. The buy-one-get-one offer is valid on any room category as long as you reserve the breakfast plus dinner plan.

Why We Love It: What's not to love about indulging in a private island escape for half the price? With nightly winter rates starting at $532 per person for a superior cottage, the deal offers savings of up to $1,064 for every two nights you stay. Included in the rate, you'll also get airport and ferry transfers and use of the resort's non-motorized water sports amenities – plus all of your taxes and gratuities are covered.

How to Book It: Call 800-223-1108 or log on to youngisland.com to reserve your stay for anytime between January 1 and March 31, 2010.

Affordable Luxury in the Grenadines

If you find yourself with a little free time this Fall, Young Island Resort in St. Vincent and the Grenadines has an idea for how you can spend it. Between now and October 31, if you book either the Lover's or Sail Away package for seven nights, you'll get your eighth night free plus a complimentary upgrade to an all-inclusive stay, so all your meals, drinks and snacks will be on the house. And if you book a Luxury or Duvernette cottage for your stay, you'll also enjoy free round-trip airfare between Barbados and St. Vincent.

The Lover's package starts at $3,430 per couple and includes accommodations in an ocean view room, airport and ferry transfers, a spa voucher and daily fresh fruits and flowers in your room, while the Sail Away package includes five nights of resort accommodations before taking to the high seas for two nights aboard a private 44-foot yacht. With the Sail Away option, you'll also cruise to Bequia and Mustique for snorkeling and sightseeing all included in the rate of $4,320 per couple.

Just surf over to the Young Island web site to book your private island vacation.

Deals for Divers

Grab your fins and make a break for the Caribbean to take advantage of affordable dive deals through the end of the summer...

In Grenada, the luxury LaSource spa resort is offering reduced nightly rates starting at $275 per person, and through September 16 you can take advantage of two nights free on five-night-minimum stays. The resort is also serving up buy one, get one half-off dive excursions through August 31, with your choice of two dive boats and numerous sites like shipwrecks, reefs and the Underwater Sculpture Park.

Over in the Grenadines, the Mariners Hotel in St. Vincent has partnered with Dive St. Vincent to offer an 8-night Summer/Fall Dive Special for $999 per person. The package includes eight nights of accommodations and ten dives per person through November 30.

Both resorts offer PADI instruction and full certification, so even if you're just dreaming about taking that first dive, you can make it happen this summer for a lot less.

This One's For the Girls

Whether you're single, married, or floating in some hazy gray area in between (and this isn't really the blog to get into that) - all of you ladies out there can cash in on some huge savings at resorts around the Caribbean. Recent findings from a AAA Girlfriend Travel Research Project have shown that women accounted for nearly 32 million trips in 2008 - spending a pretty penny (around $200 million) in the process. And as it turns out, we like to shop (74%), dine out (86%), lay by the beach or pool (70%) and check out the spas (73%) while we're at it. Not really surprising, but thank you, research.

So what's all this mean for you? The findings have struck a chord with a lot of Caribbean resorts, and in turn they've dreamed up tailored vacation packages - with big savings - just for the ladies.

At Jamaica's super-inclusive Grand Lido Braco resort, gals can grab their friends and enjoy the Girlfriend Getaway for $916 per person, which includes four nights of Royal Beachfront accommodations, all meals and drinks, complimentary mani-pedis, a choice of 30-minute spa treatments at the Blue Maho Spa, a welcome basket stocked with beauty products, and a bottle of champagne. For the active set, you'll also get complimentary windsurfing and scuba lessons, personal golf instruction, and cooking and pastry classes on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Over in the Grenadines, the 35-acre private island resort Young Island is offering its own Girlfriend Getaway for $900 per person, which includes five-nights in Superior Cottage accommodations, a three-meal-per-day plan plus a voucher for their exclusive waterfront French Verandah Restaurant, a 60-minute massage at Spa Kalina, a scuba diving course, use of the resort's watersports and tennis amenities, and a welcome bottle of wine in your room.

These are just two of my favorite promotions that have come our way recently, but a ton of other Caribbean resorts are offering similar Girlfriend Getaways, so here's the perfect excuse to start shopping.