Honeymoon ideas.

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by zukes

On our honeymoon we went to Panama, it's like Costa Rica, but less expensive. We stayed at the Royal Decameron.

They treated my wife and I amazing there. Free upgrade of the room, a la carte dinner on arrival day (the rest of the people arriving do not get a la carte the first day).

At the Mr. & Mrs. Decameron contest my wife and I won and were recognizable by the resort all weekend (good ice breaker to meet people afterwards). We are average looking people and ended up in the final against this couple...the dude was jacked and the chick was stacked. (My wife and I called them Muscle-bound freak and Silicone woman quietly and to ourselves of course). They should have won, they were a great looking couple, but obvoiusly the place had stacked the odds and made sure we won because we were on our honeymoon.

The Decameron has many day trips, including zip lining, ATV rides, trips into Panama City etc.

I highly recommend it. I know it has probably gone up since we went 6 years ago (tomorrow is my anniversary, wow), but we paid $701 each all in.

^^^ this...100% agreed. Its like Costa Rica without the trappings, and cheaper. The Decameron is an awesome resort and you can do a number of trips from there including a ride down the Canal to Monkey Island and a nice hike through the rain forest.

Or....Cuba! Varadero is awesome and one of the best beaches in the world.

[GirlySports]

Vietnam is the new Thailand

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nha_Trang

[Bunk]

^ Vietnam is amazing. Much better than Nha Trang though is Mui Ne.

If you're going in early september, are you not in the rainy season in Costa Rica? My friends went there last summer, it rained 8 straight days. Just a consideration.

[cmyden]

Costa Rica is great, but definitely consider the fact that it's the rainy season between May and November.

http://www.worldheadquarters.com/cr/climate/

On the Caribbean slope the rainy season begins from mid to late April and continues through December and sometimes January. The wettest months are July and November, with a dry spell that occurs around August or September. Major storms, called "temporales del Atlantico" occasionally buffet this slope between September and February, when it will rain continuously for several days; but an average rainy season day will begin clear with a few hours of sunshine that will give way to clouds and rain by the afternoon. In contrast, the driest months of February and March, might be almost entirely without rainfall.


On the Pacific slope the rainy season begins in May and runs its course until November. Here again, days often begin sunny and pleasant, with rains coming later in the day. This is a period in which the trade winds coming from the north-east are much reduced in intensity, and as a result storms often come in from the Pacific Ocean in September and October. In the northern half of the country the Pacific slope experiences an intense dry season, in which no rain may fall for several months.

Panama & Nicaragua would be a similar situation as far as rain in September/October.

I would almost be tempted to suggest Peru. Spirit Airlines has ridiculously cheap flights to Lima out of U.S. airports (although I'm not sure the airline is honeymoon worthy). It's also not overly hot in September, about 20C as the high. Not much rain though.

Asia & Australia would be a bit too far for 7-10 days in my opinion. Definitely a real weather risk in the Caribbean. That basically leaves Europe. Could consider Iceland if the volcanic ash isn't suspending air traffic. No beaches or jungle but plenty of nature.

[calf]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Thanks for all the great ideas guys....some really awesome insight here. A lot of you kept coming back to Costa Rica, which seemed like a nice mix of what we wanted. We've always had a great time with self-driven tours, as we don't like to be beholden to strict timelines, so I think we've settled on a self-drive trip to Costa Rica such as this:

http://www.gapadventures.com/trips/c...e/TCR2DN/2011/

Has anyone ever used Gap Adventures?

We used Gap Adventures for a trip to Peru last month, and my brother had used them for a couple of trips before. Highly recommend them. We had guided tours, but I'm sure an independent one will be smooth as well.

[Hockeyguy15]

Don't let the rainy season in Costa Rica fool you. We went in June and it was awesome because everything was green and in bloom. The locals told us if you go during the dry months everything looks dead because there is no water for the plants.

It would rain almost everyday around late 3 or so for about 30 mins to an hour, most of the time we didn't even get out of the pool/ocean while it did this.

[Flash Walken]

Croatia!

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/croatia

[Bunk]

Croatia is amazing. I went on my honeymoon there. Dubrovnik, Hvar and a day in Split. The walled city of Dubrovnik must be one of the most underrated destinations on earth.

[QuadCityImages]

It doesn't fit Table 5's criteria, but I highly recommend Ireland for honeymoons. We did ours there last October, and are considering going back for our 1st anniversary. Stuff is crazy cheap because they're so broke over there, and in the early fall tourism drops off and it gets even crazier cheap. We did 6 nights in 4+ star hotels (Ritz Carlton and 2 different castles), automatic rental car, and airfare from Chicago for under $3k for both of us. The driving was great fun, and everyone was very nice/desperate for our money.

Definitely not much in the way of beaches though.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Table 5

However, there was one other option.

As I'm sure more than a few guys, I've always had this vision of buying a really nice car and doing a road trip across the continent.....last night I pitched a modified version to the GF, and she was pretty receptive.

The idea: Buy something fun and otherwise impractical (ideally an older 911 or Cayman, or something a little cheaper like a Miata, s2000) and then either go on a road-trip as a honeymoon.....eg. up to Quebec/Martimes, or down to the Carolinas, Georgia, Texas etc. We're most likely going to be spending most of the summer in Long Island closer to the beach, so it would be a great car to have regardless. Then at the end of the fall most likely sell the car, and take whatever hit on the value, and (hopefully) bask in the memories!

It's probably not very rational or practical.....but we're at the stage where it's now or when I'm 50. I have to say I'm pretty tempted. Has anyone done something of this nature?

My wife (gf at the time) and I drove from Calgary to St. John's NFLD, and even hopped on a boat and took in Saint Pierre and Miquelon (French islands off the coast of Newfoundland).

We had just graduated university and did the drive in my Explorer with the back seats folded down and converted into a pretty sweet bed. So it wasn't a fancy car, but there are some similarities to what you're proposing. It was an amazing trip, but not honeymoon material. Plus driving long distances is really expensive (gas, eating most of your meals out, etc.).

Another thing about your idea that I think is bad is the car. Like an S2000 or a Miata would be so boring and uncomfortable on that drive. And loud. A Cayman would be better, but if something goes wrong with the car not many mechanics in the middle of nowhere are going to be able to help you.

Anyway, if you do it make sure your girl knows what she's in for. Expect 25% super fun times, and 75% just driving along in a car eating cheezies and smelling your farts.