A Thanksgiving Pool Trip: Three Warm Escapes You Can Still Book
Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year. If you'd rather spend the long weekend in warm water than in a traffic jam, here are three short-haul pool trips that still work, and how to time the flights.
A Thanksgiving Pool Trip: Three Warm Escapes You Can Still Book
Thanksgiving lands on Thursday, November 26 this year, which gives a lot of people a four-day weekend just as the weather turns gray and the days get short. You could spend it the usual way. Or you could spend it floating.
A Thanksgiving pool trip has a few things going for it. Late November sits between the end of hurricane season (it officially closes on November 30 in both the Atlantic and the eastern Pacific) and the start of the Christmas rush, so the warm places are settled and not yet at their most expensive. The trick is keeping the trip short enough to be worth it, which means staying within a few hours of home.
Here are the three warm-water escapes we'd book from the US right now.
1. Los Cabos: The West Coast's Easy Answer
From much of the western US, Los Cabos is a short, direct flight, and late November is one of its best months: warm, dry and still a few weeks ahead of the holiday crowds.
[One&Only Palmilla](/pools/one-only-palmilla-130) is the classic. It has been receiving guests where the Baja desert meets the sea since the 1950s, and its two oceanfront infinity pools split neatly into one for families and one for adults. Order dinner at Agua, the restaurant and pool bar beside the water, and watch the infinity edge and the ocean go pink at the same time.
For something livelier and easier on the budget, the rooftop infinity pool at [Corazón Cabo](/pools/coraz-n-cabo-resort-spa-46) sits above Medano Beach in Cabo San Lucas, nine floors up.
Best for: West Coast travelers, couples, anyone who wants a real break on a four-day weekend.
2. Hawaii: Worth the Extra Day
Hawaii is a longer flight from most of the mainland, so we'd only do it over Thanksgiving if you can stretch the weekend to five or six nights. If you can, it's spectacular. The water is warm, the first humpback whales usually start arriving in November, and the islands are noticeably calmer than they'll be in late December.
Our new Hawaii guide ranks six pools across five islands. For a Thanksgiving trip we'd pick [Halekulani](/pools/halekulani-126) in Waikiki, for the orchid-mosaic pool and the easy flights into Honolulu, or [Four Seasons Resort Hualalai](/pools/four-seasons-resort-hualalai-127) on the Big Island, where King's Pond lets you snorkel with eagle rays in a lava-rock aquarium. It's a family Thanksgiving nobody will forget!
Best for: families who can take the whole week, and anyone flying from the West Coast.
3. Puerto Rico: The Caribbean Without a Passport
For US travelers, Puerto Rico is the Caribbean with no passport required, and San Juan has some of the best flight connections in the region. That makes it the most practical warm escape from the East Coast and the Midwest over a short holiday.
[Dorado Beach, A Ritz-Carlton Reserve](/pools/dorado-beach-a-ritz-carlton-reserve-28) sits on a former Rockefeller estate west of San Juan, with private plunge pools and a long history of famous guests. Late November is still early in the Caribbean's dry season, so the island is green, the crowds are light and rates are often better than they'll be in a month.
Best for: East Coast travelers, a long weekend with no passport fuss.
Timing the Flights
The flying is the part that can ruin a Thanksgiving trip, so it's worth planning carefully.
Fly on the day itself. Thanksgiving morning is usually one of the calmest days of the week at the airport, because almost everyone who's traveling has already left. Arrive in time for a late lunch by the pool.
Avoid the Sunday after. In recent years the Sunday after Thanksgiving has been one of the busiest flying days of the year. If you can come home on Monday or Tuesday, do it.
Book now. With a month to go, fares for the holiday week tend to rise rather than fall. Lock in the flights first, then the room.
Use the time zones. Flying west buys you an afternoon. A Thursday morning departure from the East Coast gets you to Cabo or Honolulu with daylight to spare.
Don't Forget Dinner
Most resorts that are busy over Thanksgiving put on some kind of holiday menu, and many book up early. When you reserve the room, ask the concierge what's planned for Thursday night and book a table at the same time. A turkey dinner eaten in a swimsuit cover-up is a very good tradition to start.
The Short Version
If you're on the West Coast, go to Los Cabos. If you're in the east, go to Puerto Rico. If you can take the whole week, go to Hawaii. And whichever you pick, fly out Thursday morning and come home on Monday.
For a longer winter trip, our guide to where to swim this winter maps the warm water from November through March.
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