Club Med Getaways with Young Adult Kids

Parenting doesn't end when a child turns 18  (-- just ask our Guide for Parenting Young Adults --)  and neither does family travel: parents who are 65 travel with kids who are 35 and grandkids turning 5... Family travel has many stages, and some resorts aim to serve them all. Club Med resorts have terrific Baby Clubs, kids programs, and supervised teen lounges and activities. And it doesn't stop at age 18: Club Med is also excellent for travel with "young adults".

Club Med's unique social structure makes it a top choice for vacations with young adults. Read any reviews about Club Med, and you'll find superlative compliments about GO's -- the key Club Med difference. GO's?

From its start in the 1950's as a tent-village on a Mediterranean beach, Club Med has had "villages" with GM's and GO's: GM's are the guests ("gracious members") and GO's are the staff ("gracious organizers.")

The GO's are out-going, usually young people who meet guests while doing their jobs (in sports, for instance, or kids' clubs); they also meet and socialize with guests at meals, in the evening, etc. This makes for a unique friendly ambiance. (Read more about "the Club Med difference" and GO's).

So with this background, read on for why Club Med resorts are great choices for vacations with young adult kids.

1. Friendly Vibe
Young adults --especially "only child" young adults-- may not be of the opinion that hanging out with parents at a resort is the coolest thing on earth. However, at a Club Med resort there's a guarantee that many friendly young adults will be around-- they're working there, as GO's, which means your son or daughter will meet these 100% extrovert personalities at meals and at activities, and then greet and chat with them when their paths cross... The whole environment is friendly.

Likewise, your son or daughter will quickly make acquaintances with other guests, partly because of Table of Eight seating (see below) and also because of the fun activities at Club Med.

2. Table of 8 Seating
This unique Club Med tradition dates back to the days when the first Club Mediteranee members took a train from Paris to the Mediterranean coast, and eight people fit into each train compartment. Table-of-eight seating is one of the prime ways Club Med encourages its friendly ambiance. Sadly, table-of-eight seating is found less these days at  the Club Med resorts which cater primarily to North American visitors. It's an especially nice feature with young-adult kids as they'll quickly meet and get to know the very cool GO's.

3. Learn New Sports
Many all inclusive resorts offer hobie-cat sailing, windsurfing, etc., and quite often instruction is offered too. But Club Med takes things to a different level: it's all about learning at a Club Med resort, and every day classes are scheduled in sailing, tennis, windsurfing, etc. (rather than just a  "well if you turn up, maybe an instructor will turn up too" sort of situation.)

3. Cool Fitness Classes
Yoga, pilates, yogalates, zumba, bollywood dancing style fitness... You'll always find some good classes going on.

4. Trapeze
A signature feature of Club Med resorts. Guests of all ages are encouraged to try (-- and kids clubs include some trapeze time), and all are also encouraged to perform in the weekly Trapeze Night: a fun event, typically staged with special food and drinks served by the trapeze. All resort guests are invited to attend, and the audience is enthusiastic. Miss your catch? Try again. Miss it twice? Well, you'll be applauded anyway. The evening finishes with impressive performance by the GO trapeze experts. (See Trapeze.)

5. Evening Entertainment
Most all inclusive resorts offer some type of evening entertainment. Club Med does things in its own unique way. A Club Med resort typically has a fully equipped theater with stage, seating, lighting, etc. Most nights, the GO's put on a show (- see sample pic) that's full of laughs. The show is followed by "Club Med Crazy Signs": GO's lead the crowd (all ages) in some dance numbers. Afterwards, guests so inclined can segue into the disco part of the night.

If your family's got a spread of ages, including younger kids, your young-adult son or daughter will probably enjoy the weekly MiniClub Show: kids learn dance routines in their programs and put on quite a performance, with full costumes, in front of a packed audience.

6. GO's Have an Eye on Your Young Adult Kid
This is of course not formal supervision; but the GO.'s are a constant presence at any Club Med resort, and that includes night time, disco time...

In Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, the legal drinking age is younger than 21, and at an all inclusive resort your young adult will get an "adult" wristband means unlimited access to alcoholic drinks. Some (non-Club Med) all inclusives have big problems with young adults who drink too much (even when their parents are present with them on the vacation.)  And even if trust your 19 or 20-year-old completely  and set strict limits -- still, it's nice to know that a bunch of responsible young adults -- those GO's -- are on the scene.

Where to Go with Young Adult Kids

All in all, Club Med resorts are a great bet for a resort-style vacation with young adult kids. Families can choose from a wide range of resorts: all the popular resorts with kids' programs, for starters, which will especially fit families with both young-adult and younger kids. For North American families, the main choices are the giant Club Med Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic; Club Med Cancun Yucatan and Club Med Ixtapa Pacific in Mexico; and Club Med Sandpiper Bay right in Florida. There are also many more Club Med resorts with kids programs in Europe and world-wide.

Families who travel without younger kids have even more choices: a number of Club Meds are limited to ages 16 and up, and there is also the over-18-years Club Med Turquoise in Turks and Caicos.