Thanks Robin and Ed,thanks for taking the time to respond while y’all are on vacation! LOL! We did go all the way to the north end, but not to any beaches, we were not impressed. We probably should have hit a few beaches but that’s our own fault. (And we had a gps, LOL) And your right about the man made beaches, a lot stuff can grow in those hot lagoons! In one of them, we can’t remember, on the rocks were thousands of crabs eating the algae!
Yes, we only had a/c in the bedrooms, which was fine for us. The rest of the villa was open air, which meant at night with any lights on, everything that could fly would find its way into the house. That really didn’t bother us, as we have traveled the Caribbean quite extensively, and have had the same setup before.
And yes the beach at Karakter was not all that impressive to us either. And yes we understand what you mean by the sterile atmosphere of the neighborhood. Same here.
On a quirky note, when departing the island, after you go through security and are waiting to board your plan, we bought water as we always did. Funny thing is, I made a comment to my wife wounding why everyone was drinking and eating as if it was there last meal. (Fast) LOL! Well there is a hall with tables just after you leave the ticket agent when she scans your tickets, and then everyone and everything gets searched again, and you cannot take any food or water on board the plane! So we had to leave our $9.00 water behind! And us dumb hicks, just sitting there sipping on water, like we were in third grade eating the chalk! LOL! But really we were fine with that, just a bit strange, at least post a sign.
Well y’all have fun on your last day, and think of all of us who have to return to work today! Safe travels!

Gary & Catherine