January Honeymoon Ideas

March 8, 2005 4:38 PM

Where should we go on our honeymoon? We're getting married in September but can't get away for an extended period of time until Christmastime. She wants sit-on-the-beach; I'm a national parks type.

Hawaii seems like the obvious choice, but January is peak season and affordability is an issue. Florida bores me (though I haven't been to Key West; you may be able to convince me.) Lately we've been kicking around the idea of Puerto Rico.

Anything else we should be considering? We're not interested in roughing it, but I don't want club med either. Price remains an issue (we are both grad school zombies). Should we be considering South America? Australia?

posted by Saucy Intruder to travel & transportation (22 comments total)

Depending on what your budget actually is, I still have to recommend Hawaii (being my hometown and all). If you're not committed to staying in a 5-star resort, you can get away with not spending an arm and a leg (although this doesn't take care of the costly flight, but if you get your tickets early enough you can find pretty cheap ones). Hawaii (and my home island of Maui in particular) has world class beaches and national parks, whether you want to hike through a volcano or one of the wettest rainforests on earth. In short, it's the perfect place to do the honeymoon thing, especially with the two interests you mentioned. There might be some better deals if you go to the Big Island, although the beaches are less plentiful (but there is that whole active volcano draw). I would avoid Oahu, as it is simply a city transplanted to the beach, and gets disgustingly crowded in the December-January period.

What is your real budget for this trip? That would be helpful in answering your question.
posted by rooftop secrets at 4:53 PM on March 8, 2005

I guess it was more of the pricing of lodging and incidentals that turned me off to Hawaii in January. The flights were running around $600 a piece last I checked (from NYC or Boston) which is a lot but not prohibitive. I dunno - figure a budget of $2000 excluding the airfare for a 10 to 14 day trip, and if that's unreasonably low, I can make adjustments.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 5:01 PM on March 8, 2005

Puerto Rico would make a great honeymoon. Lots and lots and lots of beaches, and El Yunque is the only US Park that's also a rain forest - and, they're right next to each other. Plus, Puerto Rico is only about the size of Connecticut so in addition to those two biomes, there are also mountains and desert within a three hour drive from San Juan. And in two weeks, you'll probably feel like you really got to know the place instead of a "If this is Tuesday this must be Belgium" kind of feeling.

I don't remember too much about pricing which probably means it wasn't too unusually high for a vacation. Hotels might be cheaper outside of San Juan, or that might just be an unrelated coincidence to my personal experience.
posted by arabelladragon at 5:32 PM on March 8, 2005

Puerto Rico is worth serious consideration. You should be able to get a very reasonable airfare and affordable accommodations, and it's a great place.

If $600 is getting to be an expensive roundtrip airfare for your purposes, I'm afraid Australia and South America might be out of the picture.

Have you considered the Yucatan? Cancun is a super-developed lie-around-on-the-beach resort, but the interior of the peninsula is a high-adventure jungle with plenty of ancient ruins.

Here's an idea slightly out of left field: the Canary Islands. Airfare from the East Coast to Tenerife should be relatively affordable. I don't have any first hand experience there myself, but friends who have gone have enjoyed it.

El Yunque is the only US Park that's also a rain forest...

I beg to differ. El Yunque may be the only tropical rain forest, but Olympic National Park contains temperate rain forests.
posted by mr_roboto at 6:11 PM on March 8, 2005

Check out Mexico. If you go Yucutan-ward, Playa del Carmen is the quieter side of Cancun/Cozumel (here's a reference list of hotels I'm using to plan a trip right now), right on the beach and within easy reach of ruins like Chichen Itza and Tulum, and in between is dotted with cenotes for interesting snorkeling or walking.

There's also Puerto Vallarta (stay downtown where you can stroll, skip the Nuevo Vallarta resort area), where you can do horseback rides in the jungle or take a trip up to San Sebastien. We did that for our honeymoon last April, when it had already gotten a little warm for our tastes.

There are other areas where you're within easy reach of both beach and jungle, but those are the two I know something about.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:15 PM on March 8, 2005

Well you said pricing is an issue, but you also mentioned Australia. That leads me to suggest New Zealand. It's small enough that you can do both national parks and beautiful beaches in the same day. The Abel Tasman National park is a perfect example: amazing beaches and fun hiking. Oh and I'm from New Zealand originally, and have taken people there on holiday, so feel free to email me, if you think that it would be an option.
posted by gaspode at 6:47 PM on March 8, 2005

From the East coast, New Zealand and Australia flights are very expensive and very, very long.
posted by smackfu at 7:06 PM on March 8, 2005

Not sure if this would be your thing, but maybe a cruise? Your honey can get her fill of pampering and ship life, and you can also book excursions to do athletic-ish type things. You also don't have to plan for food or entertainment as there's always something going on, or you can hole up in your cabin. When I went I always managed to find a quiet place to relax despite the fact that you're on a ship with thousands of your not so closest friends.

I've been to Cancun and can vouch for things to do like trips to Tulum, Chichen Itza, etc. I've also been to Puerta Vallarta a few years ago and if I had to pick I liked it better than Cancun.
posted by absquatulate at 7:08 PM on March 8, 2005

I'm just back from Puerto Rico, which was lovely and inexpensive. I stayed with friends in Rincon, the triangular peninsula on the west coast of the island south of Aguadilla; the beaches were fantastic but it's not really a developed resort-type area, more of a beach-bum surfer's paradise. Not that there aren't nice hotels and rentals, but there are also narrow little roads and tin shacks and dogs and chickens running around - I don't know if you'd consider that "roughing it". Continental flies direct from NYC to Aguadilla (BQN) for $600 r/t first class which could be nice and honeymooney.
posted by nicwolff at 8:03 PM on March 8, 2005

The Thai island of Koh Chiang is a perfect mix - the last remaining Thai rainforest island, with AMAZING parks, and some of the nicest beaches anywhere. And if you stay in one of the bougainvillea-encrusted bungalows on the cliff over the ocean at Sea View Resort (about $35 a night for the deluxe), you will thank me for years, I guarantee. Great diving too, and fantastic food. Plus - you won't be overrun with tourists like on the western Thai islands.
posted by luriete at 8:26 PM on March 8, 2005

Lyn Never suggested Playa del Carmen - however I'd skip it and take the ferry to Isla Mujeres, do a coupla days there and then back to the mainland and a Colectivo bus south to Tulum ($5 each) where you will find amazing beaches, great hiking, ruins, good food and the best snorkeling you'll ever find - in warm freshwater caves called cenotes. This is my favorite place to visit - we try to do it every year.
posted by luriete at 8:27 PM on March 8, 2005

I really enjoyed Ocho Rios, Jamaica. You can hike, dive, or whatever, and your partner can sit on lovely beaches where people will bring her drinks with little umbrellas. When we went 2 years ago, we (2 of us) paid about $1000 airfare and about $1000 for seven days of not worrying about how much we were spending, within reason. We stayed in a villa that was Jamaican-owned, I wouldn't recommend the resorts as they are probably more expensive.
posted by kamikazegopher at 11:30 PM on March 8, 2005

I'd have to recommend where we went on our honeymoon: Seychelles Islands. It's a long trip from the US but it's so worth it. As for the price, it's up there but we spent way less than other friends who went to South America. The biggest cost was the plane and the hotel both of which you can be creative about. Seychelles has the best beaches in the world and some of the best nature-viewing I've seen in my life.

We used these people and you can see some of the photos I took here. I am the biggest fan of Seychelles. Regardless of what you decide this time, I hope you make it there eventually as it's a once-in-a-lifetime place to see.
posted by karen at 2:35 AM on March 9, 2005

all good recs so far but i would add the US Virgin Islands. You can stay in St. Thomas and sit on the beach all you want AND you can take the ferry (30 mins) to St. Johns which has great hiking and is basically all National Park (or at least protected/undeveloped).

i recommend getting the honeymoon package at Villa Blanca. It is cheap and clean and Blanca herself is a trip!
posted by jmccw at 5:13 AM on March 9, 2005

Also the Dominican Republic. Great beaches, mountains, and history--Santo Domingo was founded in 1498 by Columbus' brother! There are cheap all-inclusives but you can get around on your own just fine.
posted by LarryC at 5:40 AM on March 9, 2005

I went to the Bahamas. It was amazingly fun. We did a cruise, though, which may not be what you're looking for.

It was so beautiful it looked fake. White sand, pure turquoise water, completely breathtaking. I liked the boat part of it, but friends who just went to the island and stayed at Atlantis spoke highly of it.
posted by Kellydamnit at 5:46 AM on March 9, 2005

Lots of good stuff here.

If I may suggest St. John in the US Virgin Islands? My wife and I stayed at Caneel Bay, which is a resort....in the middle of a national park. No phones or TV's in the rooms. Wild donkeys and Mongooses roam the property. It's outstanding.

But the national park is quite nice too. Gorgeous there. And, you get there via Puerto Rico, usually.
posted by TeamBilly at 6:51 AM on March 9, 2005

Cape Town, South Africa

You can get non-stop flights out of JFK, and once you get there it is incredibly reasonable.

You can hike up Table Mountain, there are beaches, and it is next to amazingly good wine country.

I've been lucky enough to get to see lots of the world, and I can honestly say that South Africa is one of the most beautiful places.
posted by hummus at 7:45 AM on March 9, 2005

Costa Rica was fun. Great beaches and National Parks.
posted by trbrts at 8:15 AM on March 9, 2005

Noumea, New Caledonia: it has beaches, rainforests, & baguettes.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:14 AM on March 9, 2005

I 2nd Costa Rica. Good infrastructure. The beaches are ok. But the jungle, the waterfalls, the volcanoes and most of all the people are spectacular. The highlight for me was watching Arenal erupt from here
posted by Hash at 10:23 AM on March 9, 2005

How about Grand Bahama or Aruba? Both offer lots of sit-on-the-beach choices and a selection of more active pursuits.

I have some GBI links in delicious, if you want quick access to some info. There are some other links here, but there's probably some overlap.
posted by suchatreat at 10:50 AM on March 9, 2005