Beach Honeymoon?

[nismodrifter]

We went to Maui, rented a condo off VRBO, right on a private beach. Very good relaxing trip and will definitely be doing it again.

[georgemagana]

I went to Bali last September for my honeymoon and it was for sure the best trip we have done so far.

LOTS of stuff to do in the island and the islands around it.

There is some crazy hikes, volcanoes, all sorts of animals and animal parks, ATV, zipline and all those activities, water parks, temples, surfing, fishing. Literally all sorts of stuff.

Watching the sunset in Kuta beach was amazing.

[RawB8figure]

We just booked our honeymoon to 9 nights @ Andaz in Maui.
We looked online and had a travel agent and we found that costco travel .ca had the best package price. They do have a $40 resort fee on top, but that includes stocked mini fridge/food in room and use of SUP equipment, surf boards, go pros, bikes, and basic classes.

[importracer]

Lots of great feed back guys!

A few questions...

Mexico:

The guys suggesting Mexico, can you please provide a few examples of good places(From personal experience) for honeymoons? I am not counting Mexico out, however as Feruk stated, the food/liqour isn't always the best in my experience(Riu Cancun, Riu Cabo, Crown paradise Cancun)

St. Lucia:

From experience, How are the beaches/water, food and liquor at Sandals ST.Lucia? This was a front runner, however after looking at pictures of the beach on trip advisor, we were a bit turned off. Would still love to do this as an option if beaches/water are nice.

Hawaii/Maui/oahu:

Can you guys please point me in the direction of where to search for these Condo's, and condo's in particular that you reccomend? Is a car rental necessary, or well worth it? This option is rather intriguing if we can pull it off within budget.

Boracay:

From my search this place looks beautiful, however from my quick search it seems well above 6 thousand for two people. Perhaps I'm missing something?

Fiji/Bora Bora are definitely out of budget.

Rawb8figure: What was the total cost if you don't mind me asking, including flights?

georgemagana: did you stay in a resort? how long were you there for? approximate cost?

Thanks again everyone!

[georgemagana]

We did 16 days in Bali. 2 days flying and 14 days there.

-Plane tickets are around $1000 per person.

-We stayed in 5 stars hotels all 14 days. We tried 2 different ones and loved both. We spend just over $100 per night. 3 or 4 stars go for like $70 a night.

-Life there is super cheap. We literally did activities every single day. Left the hotel at 8am and would get back at 11-1am times 14 days.

-We had a private driver driving us from 10am to 10pm for $20-30 a day. Ate lunch and dinner out every day since hotels are not all inclusive and bought a bunch of suveniers.

We did snorkeling, cooking classes, 3 temples, kuta beach every 2nd night ( couldnt get enough of it), went to the Gili Islands for 3 days (boat ride and food), some cultural dances, and visited rice fields.

I think all that came to $1000-1300.

So about $4700 worse case and that is literally going full out every day. Can definitely be done for much cheaper. Can probably save $700 on hotels and can save on food as well.

[JordanLotoski]

If your budget is 2000-3000 per person don't do Mexico. Like mentioned, Hawaii is within your budget, If you want a quiet chill week stay in Maui, a little more action Oahu.

[My_name_is_Rob]

Originally posted by importracer
Lots of great feed back guys!

A few questions...



Hawaii/Maui/oahu:

Can you guys please point me in the direction of where to search for these Condo's, and condo's in particular that you recommend? Is a car rental necessary, or well worth it? This option is rather intriguing if we can pull it off within budget.

I have used VRBO several times in the past, and find it to be a great website for booking. Although I haven't stayed there yet, the condos up at Turtle Bay are in a great location, and seem reasonably priced. I personally enjoy staying around Hauula, as I'm quite familiar with the area, and there are some really nice condos right off the beach, that have great snorkelling.

And I would definitely rent a car. The freedom it provides is well worth it, and although the bus is quite cheap and efficient, I'm not much of a public transit user, outside of Europe. I have used Alamo multiple times, and found that the trick is to book a smaller car, for a cheaper price, and then once you go out to the lot to select your car, they usually let you upgrade if you ask the lot attendants.

I haven't been to Maui yet, since I try and stay away from most of the tourist specific places, so I don't have much to contribute there.

[SR54RNR]

Originally posted by importracer


St. Lucia:

From experience, How are the beaches/water, food and liquor at Sandals ST.Lucia? This was a front runner, however after looking at pictures of the beach on trip advisor, we were a bit turned off. Would still love to do this as an option if beaches/water are nice

Thanks again everyone!

For reference, I've also been to Bora Bora, Fiji, St Maarten, Grenada, Mexico, and the Sandals in the Bahamas...
St Lucia overall was excellent. Food and drink was very good, the resort itself was excellent, we really like the Sandals.
The beach was good, not the best I've been to. We did a boat tour that takes you to different spots to snorkel around the island. The airport in St Lucia is about 1.5 hour drive each way.. We took a helicopter on the way there, and a private transfer on the way back.. Definitely the way to go.

If you can up your budget, do Bora Bora and Moorea.. Best place I've ever been to, but pricey.

[Jonrox]

I went to Hawaii and it cost about the same as what the other posters have said, but when I went the dollar was much closer to par than it is now. I cringe to think of what the same trip would cost now.

Those of you who are giving the Hawaii costs.... are those recent trips with the 40% exchange rate?

I did a beach vacation a few months ago and found the best deals to be in Cuba. The Mexican resort prices all seem to have bumped up with the CDN getting weaker. I'm still going to Mexico again in a few months, but I'm paying more compared to previous years to get the same thing.

[importracer]

Thanks again for everyone's input.

We ended up booking an all inclusive in Nasseau Bahamas -Royal Bahamian Sandals resort for approximately 6 thousand in total for 7 nights.

Any advice/tips from those of you who have stayed at a Sandals resort before? It is our first time to a Sandals resort, however not to an all inclusive trip.

Is tipping the same as an all inclusive in Mexico? The reason I ask is that the Sandals site/trip advisor reviews say that their staff are not allowed to accept tips?

[jdmakkord]

Originally posted by importracer
Thanks again for everyone's input.

We ended up booking an all inclusive in Nasseau Bahamas -Royal Bahamian Sandals resort for approximately 6 thousand in total for 7 nights.

Any advice/tips from those of you who have stayed at a Sandals resort before? It is our first time to a Sandals resort, however not to an all inclusive trip.

Is tipping the same as an all inclusive in Mexico? The reason I ask is that the Sandals site/trip advisor reviews say that their staff are not allowed to accept tips?

The only staff that are "allowed" to accept tips at Sandals are butlers and Spa Staff. Aside from them all other staff are not supposed to accept any.

Hop on the bus and head into town, bag street has lots of duty free shopping. Just avoid any days that the cruises ships are docked. Prices increase and it turns into a gong show.

Take a trip to Atlantis and buy a day pass. It will get you full access to the resort, casino, beaches, pools etc.