shape
carat
color
clarity

Let's talk HONEYMOONS!

star sparkle

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
1,706
As my own honeymoon is quickly approaching (34 days away!), I find myself getting beyond excited and not sure how I'll get through the next month without bursting! As such, I'd love to hear all about the honeymoons of my fellow PSers!

Where did you go (if anywhere), and for how long? What'd you do while you were there? Did you go right after the wedding, or did you wait awhile? What was your favorite part of the trip?

And for ladies who haven't yet gone on their honeymoon - Where are your honeymoon plans? If you haven't planned it yet, what is your dream honeymoon?


FI and I will be going to Fiji for 8 days/7 nights. We're scuba divers and Fiji has some of the best diving in the world, so we absolutely cannot wait!! We have 12ish dives planned for the time we're there, plus a hike to a nearby waterfall, and then some relaxing spa treatments (couples massage, etc). We live in the Bay Area but will be flying in/out of LA because it was way cheaper than flying from San Francisco, so when we get back from Fiji we're going to stay in LA for an extra couple of days and extend the honeymoon to Disneyland and Universal Studios. I'm sure we're going to be exhausted by the time all is said and done, but that's ok. We want to make the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity!
 

SB621

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
7,864
We went to Thailand 18 months after we got married for our honeymoon :appl: We were in the process of moving to Japan after we got married and then that got delayed so everything kept getting pushed out. We ended up doing 14 days in Thailand between Phuket and Bangkok. Most of the time we just sat on the beach, read, went to the spa, just really relaxed. We did a lot of tourist things too though like ride elephants, zip line etc. It was fun and we had a great time.
 

star sparkle

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
1,706
Sarahbear621|1357151537|3345583 said:
We went to Thailand 18 months after we got married for our honeymoon :appl: We were in the process of moving to Japan after we got married and then that got delayed so everything kept getting pushed out. We ended up doing 14 days in Thailand between Phuket and Bangkok. Most of the time we just sat on the beach, read, went to the spa, just really relaxed. We did a lot of tourist things too though like ride elephants, zip line etc. It was fun and we had a great time.

Oooh, that sounds amazing! I'd love to be able to do something like ride an elephant someday!
 

manderz

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Mar 8, 2010
Messages
1,539
Hubby and I just got married 12/23, and haven't gone on a honeymoon yet. We spent a night out of town in an adorably boutique-y town a couple of hours away, and plan to wait until the weather gets better, and take a honeymoon in Boston, Mass.
 

audball

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Oct 2, 2008
Messages
4,946
Your honeymoons all sound amazing! I would love to do something international but we probably can't afford that after paying for a wedding! We'll probably do something here in the states and go somewhere we've never been! California, maybe! Or something in the mountains somewhere. Not sure yet!
 

star sparkle

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
1,706
manderz|1357162608|3345726 said:
Hubby and I just got married 12/23, and haven't gone on a honeymoon yet. We spent a night out of town in an adorably boutique-y town a couple of hours away, and plan to wait until the weather gets better, and take a honeymoon in Boston, Mass.

Congrats on your recent wedding! :appl:

Sounds fun! I've never been to Boston, and it's somewhere I've always wanted to go!
 

star sparkle

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
1,706
audball|1357166916|3345782 said:
Your honeymoons all sound amazing! I would love to do something international but we probably can't afford that after paying for a wedding! We'll probably do something here in the states and go somewhere we've never been! California, maybe! Or something in the mountains somewhere. Not sure yet!

You can do both! Do a Northern California getaway - a few days in the Bay Area, meander on up to the Napa Valley, and then spend some time in Tahoe. My brother and SIL went to Tahoe for their honeymoon in the summer and their pictures are gorgeous, while FI and I go to Tahoe pretty frequently in winter for skiing and it's just as amazing. Can't go wrong! :naughty:
 

audball

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Oct 2, 2008
Messages
4,946
star sparkle|1357167276|3345790 said:
audball|1357166916|3345782 said:
Your honeymoons all sound amazing! I would love to do something international but we probably can't afford that after paying for a wedding! We'll probably do something here in the states and go somewhere we've never been! California, maybe! Or something in the mountains somewhere. Not sure yet!

You can do both! Do a Northern California getaway - a few days in the Bay Area, meander on up to the Napa Valley, and then spend some time in Tahoe. My brother and SIL went to Tahoe for their honeymoon in the summer and their pictures are gorgeous, while FI and I go to Tahoe pretty frequently in winter for skiing and it's just as amazing. Can't go wrong! :naughty:
That sounds PERFECT! We'll have to scope that out...and if I recall correctly, the weather in Northern California in July actually isn't hot, right? It's more like Fall in Florida!
 

vc10um

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Messages
6,006
DH and I spent 8 days/7 nights in Belize for our honeymoon.

We were living in DC at the time but wed in Kansas City, MO. We got married on a Sunday, flew home to DC on Tuesday morning, and flew to Belize 3 days later. We spent 3 nights in the jungle at an eco-friendly luxury resort where we took a private tour to caves and Mayan temples, a canoe trip on the Macal river, and enjoyed a couple's massage. We spent the last 4 nights at a beach resort on one of the barrier islands off the coast of Belize, where we enjoyed sitting and reading, 2 snorkeling trips, and generally relaxing. Oh, and the FOOD. So so so amazing. :lickout:

...can I go back now? :saint:
 

pandabee

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Feb 29, 2012
Messages
2,910
All these ideas sound awesome!!!! I have limited travel experience...have been to a couple places in the Bahamas between 2 cruises, visited Taiwan 6 or 7 times, but have never been to Europe or spent extensive amount of time in the tropics. I've told SO that all I want is somewhere warm!! ;))
 

StacylikesSparkles

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
1,304
We got married 09/22 and left for our honeymoon 09/24. We spent 6 glorious days in Montego Bay, Jamaica! It was fabulous. The majority of the trip we just relaxed on the beach, ate a ton of food, napped and enjoyed being married. It was PERFECT!! The weeks leading up to the wedding were a continuous blur of craziness, so it was a perfect trip for us! We did do one excursion on a catamaran cruise, which was pretty fun too. The main thing we wanted from our honeymoon was no expectations to run around and sight see. We were so busy with doing wedding stuff that we needed to just veg out and really enjoy each other :love:

We booked through cheapcarribean.com and it was really an awesome deal! We thought about forgoing a honeymoon, but my mom talked me into booking one and I am SO GLAD that we did!! :D
 

audball

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Oct 2, 2008
Messages
4,946
We were thinking of forgoing one too, you know, because weddings cost enough! But maybe we'll see if we can do a short one on the cheap somehow...
 

StacylikesSparkles

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
1,304
audball|1357224514|3346238 said:
We were thinking of forgoing one too, you know, because weddings cost enough! But maybe we'll see if we can do a short one on the cheap somehow...

My mother was SO RIGHT...you definitely have to go!! Seriously, leading up to the wedding (the entire month before) was craziness and the stress was more than I expected (MIL acted a little nuts and I didn't really know how to handle it). The honeymoon was a perfect escape for a few days to just get close with my husband and not focus on anything else but each other!

Definitely check out cheapcarribean.com though. We booked our entire trip for 6 days, with airfare, airport transfer, the 3 hour catamaran thing AND stayed at an all inclusive resort for just under $2k...for BOTH OF US!! Definitely do research on places that you'd like to stay, but honestly, you can find an awesome deal, even if it is only for 3 or 4 days!
 

vc10um

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Messages
6,006
audball|1357224514|3346238 said:
We were thinking of forgoing one too, you know, because weddings cost enough! But maybe we'll see if we can do a short one on the cheap somehow...

DO NOT SKIP YOUR HONEYMOON. I know several people who didn't go immediately/hadn't made plans for relatively soon after the wedding, and several years later, they still haven't gone and DEEPLY regret it. Behind photography it was the #2 thing on my "wedding must-haves" list!

Even if you just take a staycation! Be a tourist in your own town...stay at a local B&B or hotel for a few nights, take the time off work, take in some museums or special events. Since you're already in Florida, you should be able to take a 3 night cruise super cheap since you don't have to worry about airfare (and they may give FL resident discounts)! Just a few days...it doesn't have to be a week...or longer...or extravagant. It just needs to be time with your DH where other people worry about cleaning your room and prepping the food! :D ;-)
 

star sparkle

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
1,706
vc10um|1357229689|3346306 said:
DO NOT SKIP YOUR HONEYMOON. I know several people who didn't go immediately/hadn't made plans for relatively soon after the wedding, and several years later, they still haven't gone and DEEPLY regret it. Behind photography it was the #2 thing on my "wedding must-haves" list!

Even if you just take a staycation! Be a tourist in your own town...stay at a local B&B or hotel for a few nights, take the time off work, take in some museums or special events. Since you're already in Florida, you should be able to take a 3 night cruise super cheap since you don't have to worry about airfare (and they may give FL resident discounts)! Just a few days...it doesn't have to be a week...or longer...or extravagant. It just needs to be time with your DH where other people worry about cleaning your room and prepping the food! :D ;-)

Ditto this! Please don't skip your honeymoon! I think it's an important time for the couple to spend some time together just celebrating the fact that you have taken a huge step and gotten married. I can't imagine not having that time to decompress together after the wedding!

You know that our honeymoon was the #1 thing on our priorities list after we got engaged. The honeymoon was the very first thing we booked, and it's costing us even more than all the wedding costs combined! Your honeymoon obviously does not have to be as "extravagant" as ours, but even if you just spend a few days in the Keys or take a short cruise like vc10um suggested (GREAT idea, BTW!), you have to do something.
 

Blackpaw

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 26, 2008
Messages
2,469
Star Sparkle your honeymoon sounds fab! please please tell us how diving in Fiji is, i love diving myself and like a good recommendation!

id like to incorporate it into our honeymoon somehow but i doubt it will work out logistically...
 

star sparkle

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
1,706
Blackpaw|1357245282|3346589 said:
Star Sparkle your honeymoon sounds fab! please please tell us how diving in Fiji is, i love diving myself and like a good recommendation!

id like to incorporate it into our honeymoon somehow but i doubt it will work out logistically...

For sure, I will! I started a diving thread in Hangout quite awhile ago and it has fallen into the abyss of old PS threads, I'll have to see if I can dig it up. Not sure if you saw it or contributed? I'll bump it and if you haven't seen it, I'd love to hear about your diving adventures! Or honeymoon dive plans. :naughty:

ETA- here's the link https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/scuba-diving-psers.169728/. I see that you posted Blackpaw, yay! Anything new to share?
 

vc10um

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Messages
6,006
Blackpaw|1357245282|3346589 said:
Star Sparkle your honeymoon sounds fab! please please tell us how diving in Fiji is, i love diving myself and like a good recommendation!

id like to incorporate it into our honeymoon somehow but i doubt it will work out logistically...

Blackpaw, the Blue Hole in Belize is suppose to have some of the best diving in the world, it may be worth looking into! We stayed on Ambergris Caye (you take a little plane over from the mainland) which has TONS of resorts lining the beaches at all price points. We stayed at Victoria House but TripAdvisor says there are 51 different Hotels in San Pedro (the town at the center of the island) so there are a ton to choose from. And we got really reasonable airfare from the states. We lucked out and got our R/T tickets for less than $1000 total.

Starsparkle...Fiji is on my list of places to go, but we opted out for our Honeymoon because, to date, Hubby's longest flight is still only about 3 hours. I couldn't imagine him stuck on a plane (or set of planes, more appropriately) to Fiji. :nono:
 

Blackpaw

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 26, 2008
Messages
2,469
vc10um|1357253105|3346706 said:
Blackpaw|1357245282|3346589 said:
Star Sparkle your honeymoon sounds fab! please please tell us how diving in Fiji is, i love diving myself and like a good recommendation!

id like to incorporate it into our honeymoon somehow but i doubt it will work out logistically...

Blackpaw, the Blue Hole in Belize is suppose to have some of the best diving in the world, it may be worth looking into! We stayed on Ambergris Caye (you take a little plane over from the mainland) which has TONS of resorts lining the beaches at all price points. We stayed at Victoria House but TripAdvisor says there are 51 different Hotels in San Pedro (the town at the center of the island) so there are a ton to choose from. And we got really reasonable airfare from the states. We lucked out and got our R/T tickets for less than $1000 total.

Starsparkle...Fiji is on my list of places to go, but we opted out for our Honeymoon because, to date, Hubby's longest flight is still only about 3 hours. I couldn't imagine him stuck on a plane (or set of planes, more appropriately) to Fiji. :nono:

VC, funnily enough we ended up doing the blue hole this summer just past! It was cool huh?! we backpacked from costa rica up to mexico so we did a weeks diving in roatan, then did 3 days on caye caulker - it was a bit more budget friendly than amergris as we were away for 6 weeks. And then we dived in mexico, did the cenotes (cold!!).

Starsparkle, just read back on the thread, so many PS divers! i cannot wait to hear about fiji, ive heard such great things about the south pacific islands. Id really like to do trips to palau, sulawesi and sipadan in malaysia, but alas they're all so expensive to get to, seems like they're exclusively dive spots. For our honeymoon, we'll be in europe so our only chance really is if we can swing the dollars and the time to get to egypt for a liveaboard. They're amazing and i highly recommend, just not sure if we'll be able to fit it in (i plan to eat heaps of italian food to put back on the weight i lost for the wedding!!). But ours is a long way off so who knows what will happen...

Either of you guys want to get your pumpkin carving certification since that dive thread? i know i do :bigsmile:
 

star sparkle

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
1,706
vc10um|1357253105|3346706 said:
Blackpaw, the Blue Hole in Belize is suppose to have some of the best diving in the world, it may be worth looking into! We stayed on Ambergris Caye (you take a little plane over from the mainland) which has TONS of resorts lining the beaches at all price points. We stayed at Victoria House but TripAdvisor says there are 51 different Hotels in San Pedro (the town at the center of the island) so there are a ton to choose from. And we got really reasonable airfare from the states. We lucked out and got our R/T tickets for less than $1000 total.

Before we settled on Fiji, we had considered Belize for our honeymoon as well! We know there is great diving there, but ultimately we decided to go big or go home. We figured we wouldn't be able to justify the expense of a dive trip to Fiji to ourselves for just some random trip, but that for our honeymoon we could do it without feeling the slightest bit guilty.

Belize, and more specifically the Blue Hole, are still on our must-dive list eventually!

Starsparkle...Fiji is on my list of places to go, but we opted out for our Honeymoon because, to date, Hubby's longest flight is still only about 3 hours. I couldn't imagine him stuck on a plane (or set of planes, more appropriately) to Fiji. :nono:

Haha, oh no! Best start getting him acclimated to the longer flights! FI HATES flying, but he sucks it up and does it anyway. A couple of years ago he was on a 24 hour flight to Indonesia on a cargo plane that required fueling in mid-air, and if he survived that I know he'll survive anything. :wink2:
 

star sparkle

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
1,706
Blackpaw|1357312555|3347142 said:
VC, funnily enough we ended up doing the blue hole this summer just past! It was cool huh?! we backpacked from costa rica up to mexico so we did a weeks diving in roatan, then did 3 days on caye caulker - it was a bit more budget friendly than amergris as we were away for 6 weeks. And then we dived in mexico, did the cenotes (cold!!).

Oh, nice! How was the diving in Roatan? We've heard great things and it's on our list!

How cold was it in the Cenotes? Where we live and dive regularly (Northern California), the water is generally 48-55 degrees. So I'm a bit dubious when people say that other places are cold. :wink2: The last time we went, it was 45 degrees! :-o

Starsparkle, just read back on the thread, so many PS divers! i cannot wait to hear about fiji, ive heard such great things about the south pacific islands. Id really like to do trips to palau, sulawesi and sipadan in malaysia, but alas they're all so expensive to get to, seems like they're exclusively dive spots. For our honeymoon, we'll be in europe so our only chance really is if we can swing the dollars and the time to get to egypt for a liveaboard. They're amazing and i highly recommend, just not sure if we'll be able to fit it in (i plan to eat heaps of italian food to put back on the weight i lost for the wedding!!). But ours is a long way off so who knows what will happen...

Either of you guys want to get your pumpkin carving certification since that dive thread? i know i do :bigsmile:

We also really want to do Palau, and we're aiming for that for next year. I hope we can do it!

And yes, DEFINITELY want to do the pumpkin carving cert! FI and I laughed when I told him about that and said we want to travel around collecting all the obscure PADI certifications. When we were in the Virgin Islands, we became "Lionfish Search Diver" certified. :lol:
 

vc10um

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Messages
6,006
star sparkle|1357318125|3347229 said:
vc10um|1357253105|3346706 said:
Blackpaw, the Blue Hole in Belize is suppose to have some of the best diving in the world, it may be worth looking into! We stayed on Ambergris Caye (you take a little plane over from the mainland) which has TONS of resorts lining the beaches at all price points. We stayed at Victoria House but TripAdvisor says there are 51 different Hotels in San Pedro (the town at the center of the island) so there are a ton to choose from. And we got really reasonable airfare from the states. We lucked out and got our R/T tickets for less than $1000 total.

Before we settled on Fiji, we had considered Belize for our honeymoon as well! We know there is great diving there, but ultimately we decided to go big or go home. We figured we wouldn't be able to justify the expense of a dive trip to Fiji to ourselves for just some random trip, but that for our honeymoon we could do it without feeling the slightest bit guilty.

Belize, and more specifically the Blue Hole, are still on our must-dive list eventually!

Starsparkle...Fiji is on my list of places to go, but we opted out for our Honeymoon because, to date, Hubby's longest flight is still only about 3 hours. I couldn't imagine him stuck on a plane (or set of planes, more appropriately) to Fiji. :nono:

Haha, oh no! Best start getting him acclimated to the longer flights! FI HATES flying, but he sucks it up and does it anyway. A couple of years ago he was on a 24 hour flight to Indonesia on a cargo plane that required fueling in mid-air, and if he survived that I know he'll survive anything. :wink2:

I'm not a diver, so I was just going on heresay and the sheer number of people I saw going out to dive daily! Glad you've had the chance to go, Blackpaw! And SS, even as a non-diver I had an amazing time in Belize, so I definitely suggest you go!

As for FI and planes...next stop is Europe (direct, from Detroit)...possibly this Spring if we find a good deal. That'll give him 6-8 hours at a time under his belt. THEN before Fiji will hopefully be South Africa, which I think is 12-13 hours from most European transfer locations. So by that point, I figure he'll be a pro and we can head to Fiji for our 10th anniversary. :naughty:
 

star sparkle

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
1,706
vc10um|1357318774|3347239 said:
As for FI and planes...next stop is Europe (direct, from Detroit)...possibly this Spring if we find a good deal. That'll give him 6-8 hours at a time under his belt. THEN before Fiji will hopefully be South Africa, which I think is 12-13 hours from most European transfer locations. So by that point, I figure he'll be a pro and we can head to Fiji for our 10th anniversary. :naughty:

Woot, sounds like a great plan - ease him into it!

Where will you be going in Europe? FI and I have an Eastern Med cruise on the books for this October that begins/ends in Rome and stops in Sicily, Athens, Ephesus, and Crete. I've been to Rome before and LOVE it so much, but FI has never been and I'm super excited to show him around. The other ports will be new for me. We've dubbed this cruise our "second honeymoon." :naughty:
 

zoebartlett

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Messages
12,461
I'd actually like a do-over for my honeymoon. We met 9 years ago and our first mini-vacation was a trip to Quebec City for NYE. Neither one of us had been there and we had an amazing time. QC's Old Town is beautiful, and we loved our trip. When we were planning our wedding four years ago, we originally had planned on going to Portugal for honeymoon, but then decided to save $ and return to QC. We had been talking about going back someday anyway, and we thought it would be romantic to go to the place where we had our first vacation. It ended up being a very tense week or so, and I learned that I would have MUCH preferred a slower-paced destination after all the running around we did before our wedding. We still LOVE QC but if we had a do-over, we'd go someplace tropical and relax.

ETA: We delayed the start of our honeymoon by 2 days because we were having so much fun hanging out with family and friends the day after our wedding. Once we arrived in QC, we spent most of our time walking around Old Town. We took a few trips around the area, too. Our favorite part of the trip was probably checking out the various restaurants and seeing the beautiful architecture of the buildings. We had an amazing brunch at the Chateau Frontenac on our last day that my husband still talks about. It's a beautiful place. Although I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for a honeymoon, I'd love to go back.
 

Blackpaw

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 26, 2008
Messages
2,469
star sparkle|1357318392|3347234 said:
Blackpaw|1357312555|3347142 said:
VC, funnily enough we ended up doing the blue hole this summer just past! It was cool huh?! we backpacked from costa rica up to mexico so we did a weeks diving in roatan, then did 3 days on caye caulker - it was a bit more budget friendly than amergris as we were away for 6 weeks. And then we dived in mexico, did the cenotes (cold!!).

Oh, nice! How was the diving in Roatan? We've heard great things and it's on our list!

How cold was it in the Cenotes? Where we live and dive regularly (Northern California), the water is generally 48-55 degrees. So I'm a bit dubious when people say that other places are cold. :wink2: The last time we went, it was 45 degrees! :-o

Starsparkle, just read back on the thread, so many PS divers! i cannot wait to hear about fiji, ive heard such great things about the south pacific islands. Id really like to do trips to palau, sulawesi and sipadan in malaysia, but alas they're all so expensive to get to, seems like they're exclusively dive spots. For our honeymoon, we'll be in europe so our only chance really is if we can swing the dollars and the time to get to egypt for a liveaboard. They're amazing and i highly recommend, just not sure if we'll be able to fit it in (i plan to eat heaps of italian food to put back on the weight i lost for the wedding!!). But ours is a long way off so who knows what will happen...

Either of you guys want to get your pumpkin carving certification since that dive thread? i know i do :bigsmile:

We also really want to do Palau, and we're aiming for that for next year. I hope we can do it!

And yes, DEFINITELY want to do the pumpkin carving cert! FI and I laughed when I told him about that and said we want to travel around collecting all the obscure PADI certifications. When we were in the Virgin Islands, we became "Lionfish Search Diver" certified. :lol:

Hmmm diving in Roatan was good, there was some beautiful coral and reef life on certain dives, but the diving in belize was better. Id say Roatan was on par with Jamaica, we were there 2011 i think it was. however, its a catch 22 because the diving in roatan is crazy cheap, we paid about $30 each for a dive and did 11 total over 4 or 5 days. Belize, conversely, is ridiculously expensive, and the best dive sites (the blue hole, the atolls) are 2 hours or more from shore. We had a great operator and they werent the most expensive but i think for 3 days diving we spent over a thousand bucks... The blue hole was fun, im glad to have done it though no-one will tell you its mind blowing or anything. but we did see a good dozen reef sharks which are always fun to see. We did another day at an atoll which was good, and then one day on the belize barrier reef which doesnt get as good reviews. And true, the viz wasnt great and there was clearly some reef damage, but they were pretty good dives, we were surrounded by nurse sharks the whole time and they were great fun...

sorry that was a novel! to me the best diving ive done has been the red sea, it was just spectacular, and i dont think anything in the caribbean matches it.

For the cenotes, we were only given 1mm wetsuits and we were freezing. Really really unpleasantly cold, i almost wanted to make the group come up in the second dive, and unfortunately both dives i just wanted them to end because i felt in pain i was so cold. That said i know its not nearly as cold water as say la jolla, which is the only cold water dive ive ever done (wasnt as cold on that one thanks to my 7mm wettie!). So i guess im not sure?! im a cold person generally so i may have been too sensitive, though my SO is not and he was freezing too...

still id recommend a cenote dive for something different, it was very interesting...
 

Blackpaw

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 26, 2008
Messages
2,469
vc10um|1357318774|3347239 said:
star sparkle|1357318125|3347229 said:
vc10um|1357253105|3346706 said:
Blackpaw, the Blue Hole in Belize is suppose to have some of the best diving in the world, it may be worth looking into! We stayed on Ambergris Caye (you take a little plane over from the mainland) which has TONS of resorts lining the beaches at all price points. We stayed at Victoria House but TripAdvisor says there are 51 different Hotels in San Pedro (the town at the center of the island) so there are a ton to choose from. And we got really reasonable airfare from the states. We lucked out and got our R/T tickets for less than $1000 total.

Before we settled on Fiji, we had considered Belize for our honeymoon as well! We know there is great diving there, but ultimately we decided to go big or go home. We figured we wouldn't be able to justify the expense of a dive trip to Fiji to ourselves for just some random trip, but that for our honeymoon we could do it without feeling the slightest bit guilty.

Belize, and more specifically the Blue Hole, are still on our must-dive list eventually!

Starsparkle...Fiji is on my list of places to go, but we opted out for our Honeymoon because, to date, Hubby's longest flight is still only about 3 hours. I couldn't imagine him stuck on a plane (or set of planes, more appropriately) to Fiji. :nono:

Haha, oh no! Best start getting him acclimated to the longer flights! FI HATES flying, but he sucks it up and does it anyway. A couple of years ago he was on a 24 hour flight to Indonesia on a cargo plane that required fueling in mid-air, and if he survived that I know he'll survive anything. :wink2:

I'm not a diver, so I was just going on heresay and the sheer number of people I saw going out to dive daily! Glad you've had the chance to go, Blackpaw! And SS, even as a non-diver I had an amazing time in Belize, so I definitely suggest you go!

As for FI and planes...next stop is Europe (direct, from Detroit)...possibly this Spring if we find a good deal. That'll give him 6-8 hours at a time under his belt. THEN before Fiji will hopefully be South Africa, which I think is 12-13 hours from most European transfer locations. So by that point, I figure he'll be a pro and we can head to Fiji for our 10th anniversary. :naughty:

thats the spirit, VC, work him into it! i think because im australian im used to having to fly long distances to get anywhere, but since i move to canada i find longer flights more and more, well, crap! when we came back from mexico for some reason i had it in my head the flight would be maybe 3 hours, then i found out it was something like 6 and i almost cried :bigsmile:

where will you go in europe? so exciting, id love to go this year but we planning a trip to alaska and we have the wedding there in 2014 so its kinda hard to justify...

starsparkle, second honeymoon? i like your style!! we seriously just committed to a wedding a week ago and already i want to cancel and just take the honeymoon and use the extra cash (from not getting married!) to have more time there :tongue: but apparently im travel-obsessed and marriage-phobic (funny how that phobia came out after i got my diamond ring?)!
 

star sparkle

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
1,706
Zoe|1357418784|3348177 said:
I'd actually like a do-over for my honeymoon. We met 9 years ago and our first mini-vacation was a trip to Quebec City for NYE. Neither one of us had been there and we had an amazing time. QC's Old Town is beautiful, and we loved our trip. When we were planning our wedding four years ago, we originally had planned on going to Portugal for honeymoon, but then decided to save $ and return to QC. We had been talking about going back someday anyway, and we thought it would be romantic to go to the place where we had our first vacation. It ended up being a very tense week or so, and I learned that I would have MUCH preferred a slower-paced destination after all the running around we did before our wedding. We still LOVE QC but if we had a do-over, we'd go someplace tropical and relax.

ETA: We delayed the start of our honeymoon by 2 days because we were having so much fun hanging out with family and friends the day after our wedding. Once we arrived in QC, we spent most of our time walking around Old Town. We took a few trips around the area, too. Our favorite part of the trip was probably checking out the various restaurants and seeing the beautiful architecture of the buildings. We had an amazing brunch at the Chateau Frontenac on our last day that my husband still talks about. It's a beautiful place. Although I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for a honeymoon, I'd love to go back.

Thanks for sharing, Zoe! QC sounds amazing, I'd love to go there someday! Sorry your honeymoon ended up being tense - maybe you can do a fun anniversary trip as a honeymoon do-over?

We'll also be leaving for our honeymoon a few days after the wedding. Our guest list is so small (only 16) and a good chunk of them have to travel to get here, so we want to spend as much time as we can with our nearest and dearest who are flying in just for our wedding.
 

star sparkle

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
1,706
Blackpaw|1357420174|3348201 said:
Hmmm diving in Roatan was good, there was some beautiful coral and reef life on certain dives, but the diving in belize was better. Id say Roatan was on par with Jamaica, we were there 2011 i think it was. however, its a catch 22 because the diving in roatan is crazy cheap, we paid about $30 each for a dive and did 11 total over 4 or 5 days. Belize, conversely, is ridiculously expensive, and the best dive sites (the blue hole, the atolls) are 2 hours or more from shore. We had a great operator and they werent the most expensive but i think for 3 days diving we spent over a thousand bucks... The blue hole was fun, im glad to have done it though no-one will tell you its mind blowing or anything. but we did see a good dozen reef sharks which are always fun to see.

Good to know about Roatan vs. Belize. We want to do Roatan just because of what you said, how inexpensive it is relative to other dive locations.

sorry that was a novel! to me the best diving ive done has been the red sea, it was just spectacular, and i dont think anything in the caribbean matches it.

Don't apologize, I love hearing about other peoples' diving experiences!

For the cenotes, we were only given 1mm wetsuits and we were freezing. Really really unpleasantly cold, i almost wanted to make the group come up in the second dive, and unfortunately both dives i just wanted them to end because i felt in pain i was so cold. That said i know its not nearly as cold water as say la jolla, which is the only cold water dive ive ever done (wasnt as cold on that one thanks to my 7mm wettie!). So i guess im not sure?! im a cold person generally so i may have been too sensitive, though my SO is not and he was freezing too...

Wow, 1mm? I'm ALWAYS cold, I just ordered a new 3mm for Fiji and I'm afraid that I'm going to get cold even in that. We dove in 3mm's in the Virgin Islands and I got cold, so fingers crossed 3mm and Fiji are a good combo.

We were diving exclusively 7mm's here at home, and eventually even that got to the point where I was getting too cold. As you said, it's PAINFULLY cold. We've recently purchased dry suits, though haven't gotten the chance to use them yet. Can't wait, though! Should be a completely different [pleasant] experience to dive here in a dry suit - there's so much to see, I'd rather focus on what's around me than how I'm shaking from the cold and can't move my fingers!
 

Blackpaw

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 26, 2008
Messages
2,469
wow id love to try dry suit diving! there is diving in a lake right where i live (in the summer only of course), its basically a town underwater that they flooded when they dammed the lake. people dive in wetties and sometimes you see a dry suit, to be honest though every lake round here is glacier fed, and dark, and im not too fussed on getting down there ;))

so cool that you have good diving close to home!

Hopefully you'll be right with the 3mm, if not id just hire a thicker one. I find that when im doing multiple dives a day over several days i get cold much quicker!
 

vc10um

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Messages
6,006
You ladies are starting to make me want to get PADI certified!

I think DH and I will probably end up in Germany this spring if we're able to swing a trip. I went as a teenager (short 2-week exchange program through my high school) and I have been DYING to go back! There are direct flights from Detroit to Frankfurt, and then we'd take the train from there...I'm not sure if at this point I'd want to revisit the places I went as a teen (Munich and the Bavarian Alps (Neuschwanstein!) and Muenster in the NW of the country) or travel to different and new cities (Berlin, Hamburg, etc.). The other options, most likely, would be London and Paris. I'll be trolling for great deals for the next few months for sure!
 
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top