Hey Ifish, looks like you are about to embark on a great fishing adventure. I am not too sure of the retail prices, but can tell you that the best value outfit for spinning, popping, offshore dropshotting and even jigging as an all round set up is the following: Shimano Trevala 6'6" Medium heavy rod. (It only comes in one piece, but you can travel with it, get a piece of pipe from your local hardware store and make a tube). If the size is a real issue, then go for the Shimano Beastmaster Special Tiger 2 piece.
The Ideal all round reel for the application you are looking at would be a Shimano Stradic 8000. Get some 50lb braid to fill it up and you have an outfit that can handle just about anything, yet is light enough to fish light lures etc when needed.
You will probably go a bit over your budget, especially when adding the braid to your shopping list, but this outfit will last you a long time if you look after it, and is probably the most versatile rig you could possibly want.
When I was running a lodge in Mozambique I stocked those outfits for guests to use and they were the bomb. We had GT's of up to 40kg's landed from the beach on them, which pretty much says it all....
