reef diving honeymoon suggestions?

[zachtos]

I would like to take my wife to be reef diving. We are looking at getting dive certified beforehand.

I would ideally like to find a location that has the following:

- SPS corals (not a bunch of sofy/gorgonians)
- American tourist friendly
- Warm during the months of Feb/March

My goal is to take this trip in lieu of a expensive wedding. Maybe have a cheap reception when we get back. We'd like to get married on the beach in our bathing suits and flip flops (get married at the courthouse beforehand). We would like to go diving for a few days and have some other sites to see afterwards. I would like the entire excursion to be around $5K if possible.

Tips?

-zach

 

[philter4]

If you want to stay in the U.S. you have 2 choices, FL and HI, both have all of criteria you asked for, both of these aren't true coral reefs, HI is a hard top, lava reef, with corals living on them, Fl is a big extinct prehistoric reef with top soil on it. Both have plenty of sps stony corals, FL also has tons and tons of octo corals, HI only has 3 and all 3 are found below safe diving depths, the ones from FL are beautiful and very nice to dive the areas where they are found. FL also has lots of lg corals such as big brains and rose corals, along with the deep reefs which have all of the plate and lettuce corals.

If you want to leave the country, I think the Bahamas and Australia are the most American friendly countries, though I have dove all over the world, throughout indonesia, east africa, off the coast of Madagascar, India, New Guinea, and Australia, and never have I had trouble, in fact I have only had great experiences everywhere I have gone. You could aslo dive Mexico, Costa Rica, or Panama, all are friendly and have the same types of reefs as FL.

 

[snorvich]

Some of the best diving requires expensive airfare to get there. I would tend to suggest Florida or the Bahamas to fit your cost criteria.

 

[zachtos]

I think the bahamas, hawaii or maybe australia then. I was looking at Belize too. Pricing is difficult to nail down, but I wanted to go for 10 nights and spend less then $7000 overall after flying from Michigan.

I asked the girlfriend last night about her dream vacation, and she said ' a european vacation, seeing castles etc...' my heart sank. I asked that when we first started dating and she said a tropical island... I think I can change her mind later. I don't want one of those site seeing vacations because they are so stressful to plan and travel (IE, all the work is done by me and she just follows along).

 

[ackee]

Honeymoon

Honeymoon

You might want to look at North Caicos in the Turks and Caicos Islands. It's about the nicest of those islands. Puerto Rico can be lovely, if you stay at one of the isolated resorts on the western end, or on one of the two small islands off PR's east coast, Vieques or Culebra. Puerto Rico and points south have more consistently tropical weather than the Bahamas or Florida, especially in February. My favorite is Dominica, but it's isolated and very undeveloped, so for a honeymoon you'd want to stay in one of the ecology orientated all-inclusives. Even the best run about $250 a day, most are less. Be warned, though, Dominica is not for everyone. The people are extremely friendly, it's very safe, but even the best resorts can be a trifle primitive, with solar showers, cabins in the rain forest, etc. The scenery can't be beat, but no lazy days on white sandy beaches. There are none. Think of it as the Amazon with spectacular diving. The Honduran Islands have serious tiny biting bug problems, and there are political issues. If you are really adventurous, I'd suggest the Caribbean coast of Colombia. 500 year old cities more beautiful than most in Europe, and small islands with great diving a short motorboat ride away. All things considered, look at North Caicos first. If it were me, I'd probably head down to Colombia or Dominica.

 

[zachtos]

I think I'm leaning towards the bahamas, belize or maybe florida. Mostly because they are closer and hopefully cheaper overall.

I'm not sure if I will be able to scuba dive. I'm not sure how expensive it will be to get certified first. I think it may be easier to just go snorkeling???

 

[AquaAgua]

You might consider the Cancun side of Mexico. It is cheap to fly to Cancun from the US but I wouldn't stay in Cancun (too much like Vegas), go an hour south of Cancun to Akumal (querky fishing village), Puerto Aventuras (Americanized Marina community) or Cozumel island. The diving is excellent so is the the snorkeling, it is the same reef system as Belize. You can stay at an expensive all-inclusive hotel or stay in a rental condo unit or just a hotel. I have seen several beach weddings in Puerto Aventuras, very beautiful.
You can go to Tulum ruins, Coba ruins (tallest pyramid - you can see Belize from the top) or Chichen Itza. Then go to Xel Ha snorkeling park or Xcaret ecopark. You can do all kinds of activities or nothing at all hanging on the beach. BTW there is good shopping in Playa Del Carmen just 20 mins north of PA.
We regularily go for a 2 week trip and it costs around 4K, but we don't go really high end. Have fun and check out tripadvisor com for more hotel info.
In Feb/March it is warm (80s 90s) and the water temp is warm too 80's. It is American friendly and most people speak some english especially the people who deal regularily with tourists.

 

[zachtos]

You might consider the Cancun side of Mexico. It is cheap to fly to Cancun from the US but I wouldn't stay in Cancun (too much like Vegas), go an hour south of Cancun to Akumal (querky fishing village), Puerto Aventuras (Americanized Marina community) or Cozumel island. The diving is excellent so is the the snorkeling, it is the same reef system as Belize. You can stay at an expensive all-inclusive hotel or stay in a rental condo unit or just a hotel. I have seen several beach weddings in Puerto Aventuras, very beautiful.
You can go to Tulum ruins, Coba ruins (tallest pyramid - you can see Belize from the top) or Chichen Itza. Then go to Xel Ha snorkeling park or Xcaret ecopark. You can do all kinds of activities or nothing at all hanging on the beach. BTW there is good shopping in Playa Del Carmen just 20 mins north of PA.
We regularily go for a 2 week trip and it costs around 4K, but we don't go really high end. Have fun and check out tripadvisor com for more hotel info.
In Feb/March it is warm (80s 90s) and the water temp is warm too 80's. It is American friendly and most people speak some english especially the people who deal regularily with tourists.

OH THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU.

That sounds wonderful. I will start researching soon. That is exactly the type of place I was picturing. I love this community. Thanks for all the suggestions, I can't wait to ask now!

 

[smb2]

I'll put my two cents in for Curacao. Regular flights from Miami. Feb and March
are usually beautiful in terms of weather and the diving is quite good, especially for those newly certified.
I would avoid the hotel package deals and look to be a little more adventuresome. Look up the lodge Kura Hullanda in Westpunt and diving with Ocean Encounters West.[A PADI center were you can do the open water part of your cert.] Might be to your liking. There is certainly plenty non diving things to do on the island as well.

 

[rc4kinu]

I would look at Bonaire, its like Curacao but with better diving if you want to stay close to home. I've been to Australia, and you know for what you would pay to visit Europe you can do Ausie. It is far way to travel but its worth every mile. Keep in mind that Feb/Mar is cyclone season down under.

 

[Pdubss]

Look into either the Bay Islands in Honduras, or various islands off the coast of Belize. My girlfriend and I spent a week diving on Tabacco Cauye in Belize and it was amazing. The diving is good and your only on a five acre island with very few other ppl.

*Also it is relatively cheap to fly there

 

[Paul B]

I still remember my Honeymoon in Hawaii 36 years ago and since then I have hit just about every dive location I could imagine on more islands than I could remember but by far the best trip I have been on was the WindStar cruises. I have taken them to Tahiti, the Caribbean and the Greek Isles. It is the only way to go and no where near those mega ship sardine factory cruises. The best part is that the back of the ship opens up like a landing barge and the dive shop is right there. They launch Zodiak's right from the ship. There are three ships and they are all modern sailing ships with cruise ship engines. They only carry about 200 people compared to 4,000 for those factory ships.
No children and I think all couples. They have many cruises to the Caribbean for all different prices. The Caribbean would be the cheapest from where you live.
It is a great cruise which sails at night and you are in port for the days. No seating arrangements, no meal times. As I said, I have been to just about all the places mentioned and some of them are great, especially Turks and Cacios but on this smaller ship you can get to 7 or 8 islands and dive them all right from your ship. After the dive you can watch movies of you diving and buy them if you like.
You can even visit the Capt in the bridge.
I have been on the megga ships many times before I found a real ship and now we would never go on one of those ships even for free.
Nothing like it.
Paul

http://www.windstarcruises.com/

 

[zachtos]

Lot's of great ideas. I'll keep reading into these more. I am liking the mexico/carribean areas the best so far for price and flexibility.

The windstar ship looks much neater then the big cruise ships. not into the casino stuff, but still looks really nice. I'll investigate further.

Any suggestions on scuba dive vs snorkelling? Should I pursue getting scuba cerifications or will that end up being too costly overall?

 

[Paul B]

not into the casino stuff

I am not either, I think they have one slot machine and they call it a casino.
You can get a resort course very cheap on a resort in the Caribbean. It will allow you to dive there with them. Just make sure they offer it where you go, then when you get time, you should take a real course. The resort course only lets you dive to 30 feet and you must be with the instructor.

 

[DOTZ]

My wife and I renewed our vows on a cruise ship (actual wedding) and went to Cayman Islands. The snorkeling was awesome. We also went to Cozumel it wasn't good at all.

 

[Paul B]

DOTZ I agree with the Cayman and Cozumel thing also

 

[AquaAgua]

You can see an awful lot just snorkeling, but if you want to hang with the fish and really see their faces you gotta dive. Check out your local shops and find out how much a referral would cost. You can do all the pool work and the theory at home and then do the check out dives in a nice warm ocean.
Don't sweat the diving certs, if you don't have time just snorkel.

 

[AquaAgua]

have fun

 

[zachtos]

I'll start looking into diving certifications and costs. Not sure where to start on those yet.

I believe I will either go on that carribean cruise w/ the windstarcruises, go to cancun area, or a resort in the bahamas. I'll have to decide which is the best bang for the buck and fits our needs best.

 

[zachtos]

I think the windstar cruise is off the plate. That's just too darned expensive for me right now. Maybe someday. I am in process of planning out certification in michigan, seems about $800 for 2 people for certification, and I am unsure of how much diving equipment I will have to buy. Sounds like about another $800 or so for 2 sets of equipment minus tanks, regulators, buoyancy compensators or dive computer. I'm not sure how common those materials are for rental, but hopefully they are common?

I really like the carribean zone. I'm trying to narrow it down so I can stay somewhere for 7 nights and fly back for under $5000 total ($7000 max). I guess I will need access to a good scuba rental area as I would like to go atleast every other day for a few hours. Maybe there are places where I can rent gear locally for a few weeks and return it later?