Beach Honeymoon?

[importracer]

Hi guys,

Looking on some advice on where to go for our Honeymoon which will be at the end of April. Budget is about $2500-$3000 per person.

Main priorities are to relax on a nice beach with clear water. Open to all inclusive suggestions, or even other destinations where we book flights/hotels seperately.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[ExtraSlow]

If you want to be right on the beach, pretty tough to beat all inclusive. If you don't mind being in a town near a beach, check airbnb for rentals. Can be more interesting shopping for groceries, discovering local restaurants and haggling with taxi drivers. I did this in Cancun and enjoyed it. Lots of options in PV, Cancun and I've heard good things about laretto.

[A790]

If you're going to Mexico, PV/Cabo/Mazatlan/etc. won't have clear water. You'll need to hit the Caribbean side for that (Cancun, Playa, Cozumel, etc.).

I've been to Cancun numerous times and always enjoyed it. I've also been to the DR and enjoy it a helluva lot less than Mexico.

Your budget will take you to a nice resort in nearly any Caribbean destination. Start off looking at Playa and branch out from there.

Have fun!

[3drian]

Are you looking for Caribbean destination? I am on the same boat, looking to book my honeymoon soon with around the same budget, we were thinking Thailand, but I know nothing about Thailand so I am hesitant about it.

Mexico is always great though, I do agree Cancun area will have better beaches.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Having our wedding in Mexico this June. Staying a second week at a difference resort for the honeymoon. Second week works out to ~1800/person for a week, adult only 5 star resort, honeymoon suite with an outdoor bed/shower.

We'll be in Playa.

[My_name_is_Rob]

I would suggest renting a condo, or house on the north shore on Oahu. Great beaches wherever you want to go, and reasonably cheap, despite the exchange rate.

[Royle9]

Booked our Honeymoon about a month ago, wifey wanted the same thing (turquoise/clear water and white sand beaches)

We decided on St.Lucia @ Sandals all inclusive. Price came out to right around 6K for the club level room. Sandals also includes scuba/snorkeling excursions for free which was a big selling point for us.

[Feruk]

Go to Hawaii!! It's well within your budget.

Almost everyone I know that's been to Hawaii never goes back to the Caribbean. Let's compare:

Mexico: Food SUCKS (at best you'll get "Calgary quality"), beaches are really hit and miss (some are dirty, or even inaccessible for swimming), water is cold on Pacific side, poor Mexicans asking for handouts everywhere (beach, gotta tip EVERYONE at the hotel, etc), you're on a compound for your safety, and most organized tours will run you $100+. Not to mention you're constantly hassled by poor Mexicans soon as you're off the resort. The water can give you Hep C. They've got ZIKA down there! It's 7 days of sitting around a pool, eating crap food, and having to deal with Mexicans. No thanks!

Hawaii: Food is mostly great and fresh. It's many times better than anything I had in Mexico. People are super friendly. If you go to Maui, there are dozens of beaches to choose from that you can drive between. Mostly all beautiful, clean, safe, and easily accessible to everyone. The water is beautiful, clean, and warm. You can snorkel in dozens of places for FREE and see anything from huge amounts of fish to giant turtles. There are reefs directly offshore. We did a whale watching boat tour with a professional marine biologist for $40.... There's so much to explore, and so much to do. I've been to Maui twice, and never have I been as relaxed as I am when I'm there.

I just got back from Maui and it ran me $2K/person (for 3 of us) for 8 days all-in. We rented a condo ~200m from the beach in Kihei (Maui). Last time I went to Mexico it cost me $1.8K/person after all the stupid additional costs and the vacation was "meh" at best. Mexico's nice for bachelor parties and single dudes, but that's it. After Hawaii, I will never travel Caribbean again; just not worth it.

[Rocket1k78]

Big fan of Cancun too. The beaches are super nice and theres quite a bit to do off the resort. In playa they have those Xcaret parks which are really fun. http://www.xcaret.com/xcaret-plus.ph...IcNRoCmPDw_wcB

[SR54RNR]

Originally posted by Royle9
Booked our Honeymoon about a month ago, wifey wanted the same thing (turquoise/clear water and white sand beaches)

We decided on St.Lucia @ Sandals all inclusive. Price came out to right around 6K for the club level room. Sandals also includes scuba/snorkeling excursions for free which was a big selling point for us.

I've been to Sandals StLucia and would highly recommend it also

[lasimmon]

Originally posted by Feruk
Go to Hawaii!! It's well within your budget.

Almost everyone I know that's been to Hawaii never goes back to the Caribbean. Let's compare:

Mexico: Food SUCKS (at best you'll get "Calgary quality&quot, beaches are really hit and miss (some are dirty, or even inaccessible for swimming), water is cold on Pacific side, poor Mexicans asking for handouts everywhere (beach, gotta tip EVERYONE at the hotel, etc), you're on a compound for your safety, and most organized tours will run you $100+. Not to mention you're constantly hassled by poor Mexicans soon as you're off the resort. The water can give you Hep C. They've got ZIKA down there! It's 7 days of sitting around a pool, eating crap food, and having to deal with Mexicans. No thanks!

Hawaii: Food is mostly great and fresh. It's many times better than anything I had in Mexico. People are super friendly. If you go to Maui, there are dozens of beaches to choose from that you can drive between. Mostly all beautiful, clean, safe, and easily accessible to everyone. The water is beautiful, clean, and warm. You can snorkel in dozens of places for FREE and see anything from huge amounts of fish to giant turtles. There are reefs directly offshore. We did a whale watching boat tour with a professional marine biologist for $40.... There's so much to explore, and so much to do. I've been to Maui twice, and never have I been as relaxed as I am when I'm there.

I just got back from Maui and it ran me $2K/person (for 3 of us) for 8 days all-in. We rented a condo ~200m from the beach in Kihei (Maui). Last time I went to Mexico it cost me $1.8K/person after all the stupid additional costs and the vacation was "meh" at best. Mexico's nice for bachelor parties and single dudes, but that's it. After Hawaii, I will never travel Caribbean again; just not worth it.

I will point out that Paying $1800 to go to Mexico and paying $2500 - $3000 to go to Mexico provides a significantly different experience. Also by stating Mexico is for bachelor parties and single dudes means you have lots to learn.

Hawaii is boring.

[a social dsease]

Wife and I took our honeymoon in December to Maui.

Regarding Maui, I agree 100% with every point Feruk made. It was a fantastic trip. We rented a condo in Kihei (via VRBO) that was also only 200m from the beach (Kamaole 1). Beaches in Kihei/Wailea are incredible, as Feruk said; crystal clear warm water, perfect sand, amazing weather, easy access, and not overly crowded at all. Also very safe, never felt nervous leaving my phone in my beach-bag for an hour while I went out snorkelling. On that note, the snorkeling is truly top-notch, saw all kinds of incredible marine life (100's of fish species, sea-turtles, sting-rays, octupus, lobsters, eels, coral etc), for free, within 5 mins walk of our condo. Anything you need is easy to get, you can drive anywhere quickly, theres a Walmart/Costco in Kahului, and grocery stores in Kihei. At Kamaole 1 there is a convenience store across the street from the beach, you can grab a cold 6-pack and sit on the beach and drink it, I never got hassled for this. Locals very friendly and of course speak english. If you go definitely do the road to Hana - incredible scenery.

Total cost for us, including everything (flights, condo, rental car for duration of trip, food, spending money, souvenirs etc) was $4600 cdn (2 people for 10 days). Keep in mind we stayed in condo vs hotel, and cooked all of our own meals (only ate out once, which was $$). If you prefer to stay in a resort and eat restaurant meals expect to pay considerably more.

I've never stayed at a Caribbean all-inclusive so i can't draw any comparisons, but that vacation will be tough to beat. I'd go back to Maui for sure.

[The_1]

going to agree with Feruk here
been to hawaii a couple times now and its great
people are great...you don't feel like everyone is trying to rip you off
the downside now is that our dollar is shit so its going to be expensive
For all inclusive i would either pick cuba or jamaica...amazing beaches!

[CompletelyNumb]

Went to Boracay for our honeymoon. Great beaches, cheaper than Hawaii.

I recommend Bora Bora if you're a baller.

[taemo]

we did a pre-wedding in Bora Bora, got married in Mexico and honey moon in Europe but our favorite beach to go that is near by is Hawaii.
Asia has some really nice beaches (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines) and inexpensive too but flights are so long and to enjoy you'll need to stay at least 2 week to make it worth it.

[Feruk]

To comment on eating out in Maui... All in US prices... We found lunch items in the $15 range for decent cheap places, dinner was between $20 and $35 per person. You can always spend more of course. What was insane was alcohol prices in restaurants. Beer was usually $6 each and Mai Tais were $12! At Costco, the beers were between $1 and $2/beer.

Eating out isn't cheap, but we did it for just under half of our lunches and dinners and still stayed around $2k/person. What was awesome was meeting other travelers around communal BBQ in our condo complex while you cooked up your dinner.

Originally posted by lasimmon
I will point out that Paying $1800 to go to Mexico and paying $2500 - $3000 to go to Mexico provides a significantly different experience. Also by stating Mexico is for bachelor parties and single dudes means you have lots to learn.

Hawaii is boring.

Been 3 times to Mexico, anywhere from 3.5 to 5 stars at different price points. it's always felt like the same cookie cutter vacation with a varying degree of dull. If you found Hawaii boring, you did it wrong. It truly is a vacation based on what you make of it rather than your typical pre-packaged Mexico trip.

[lasimmon]

Originally posted by Feruk


Been 3 times to Mexico, anywhere from 3.5 to 5 stars at different price points. it's always felt like the same cookie cutter vacation with a varying degree of dull. If you found Hawaii boring, you did it wrong. It truly is a vacation based on what you make of it rather than your typical pre-packaged Mexico trip.

I've been to Hawaii 3 times, and Mexico 11. To each their own, but I wouldn't write off Mexico.

[austic]

Originally posted by Feruk
ToBeen 3 times to Mexico, anywhere from 3.5 to 5 stars at different price points. it's always felt like the same cookie cutter vacation with a varying degree of dull. If you found Hawaii boring, you did it wrong. It truly is a vacation based on what you make of it rather than your typical pre-packaged Mexico trip.

I don't find either boring as I have been to both many times. Mexico has some awesome things you can do but how much do you really want to do on your honeymoon?

Anywhere you get what you pay for.

Secrets and Sandals are pretty awesome but can get expensive.

Maui can be expensive (Wailea) or cheap (Kihei) or somewhere in between (Lahaina) but do you want to be cooking meals on your honeymoon?

Depends on what you want for your honeymoon

We wanted paradise with luxurious indulgences to ourselves so that's how we decided where we wanted to go.

Ended up at a place called the Remote Resort in Fiji but the cost was quite expensive and the flights/bus ride/boat ride made for a long haul.

Would highly recommend Savusavu area of Fiji over Bora Bora.

[SkiBum5.0]

Little Corn Island off Nicarauga's east coast or Costa Rica

[Rocket1k78]

To be fair you can do a lot of places on that budget but it comes down to what you want. For me though a big thing about vacay is trying new restaurants.

Agree with ski bum, If you like seeing wild animals and doing epic jungle treks, Costa rica is where you wanna go.