I like local beaches in the warm summer- but because of latitude issues, the winter snow leads me more to southern beaches in winter time. Getting advance information from reliable an unbiased sources from folks who enjoy what you do and have travelled to those sites (versus from marketing sources) helps to decrease the liklihood of bad experiences. IMO, sources like Trip Advisor are useful-if you can sort out the whiners from valued comment. I also recommend Debbies Carribean travel website.