I'm a sophomore at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. I've always been a summer/beach person, and needless to say the midwest winter has just begun to arrive and left me needing my beach fix. I don't think I can wait til spring break (cancun ftw) to hit the beach again, and given that I've performed pretty well in school and am doing okay in poker, I've decided to reward myself with a vacation. My break goes from December 20-January 12, and I'd like to take this trip towards the latter part of break, as I'll want to catch up with old high school friends when I first get home and spend Christmas with the family.

I'm restricted by a couple things. First of all, I don't want to spend the money this is going to necessitate unless I'm going to have beach weather; in other words, going to a part of Florida that will be 65-70 degrees isn't going to cut it. Mid-80's minimum would be outstanding. Also, I'd like to try and keep expenditures to around $1,000, which given the price of airfare, probably means somewhere in/near the US. I'm not really concerned with staying in a nice hotel, just somewhere safe and with the standard amenities. Right on the beach would be clutch.

With all that said, anyone have recommendations? Obviously PCA in the Bahamas would fit the bill but I'm not a MTT player so I probably won't invest more than a few hundred into trying to qualify.

Cliffnotes:
Looking for somewhere with a decent beach, mid-80s to 90s in late December/early January. Would like to keep cost of ~week-long trip to around $1,000. Suggestions?

Have you thought of taking a cruise?