dwsjr11

Hello Everyone! I am getting married in June and am looking around for possible honeymoon spots. I have come across these 3 locations and both my future wife and I are very intrigued by all 3.

A little background for ya, as far as the length of our honeymoon, we are looking to go away for 10-14 days. As far as activities we would like to enjoy, Snorkeling is extremely high on our list, having nice beaches close by to enjoy. We are also very adventurous, so pretty much anything outdoors we are game for. I know researching all the places I believe I remember reading that they have, ziplining, canopy tours, jungles(love the jungles), and a bunch of other cool outdoor activities that escape my mind at the moment. I know one thing that really intrigued me about the Riviera Maya was the ancient Mayan ruins. We both absolutely love exploring!

So basically, out of those three places, and reading activities we enjoy, which place do you think we would enjoy most? Also, would you recommend staying at more than one location?

Thank you for your help?

MFNYC

Having been to Riviera Maya and Puerto Rico (San Juan & Rincon), I'd go with Riviera Maya. All that you are looking for is there, plus some great food in Playa Del Carmen. You can also easily take a day trip to Cozumel (the ferry is in PDC) from there as well. With 10-14 days you can do 2 or 3 locations, maybe spend an overnight in the Chichen Itza area, and the rest in Playa Del Carmen or Akumal, and possibly even some time on Cozumel.

MFNYC

I also want to add the from the PDC area, it's easy to take day trips on your own to Tulum or Coba, for ruins or Akumel for snorkeling.

hopefulist

We've had 2 wonderful vacations in the Riviera Maya in the last 6 months. All our photos with blog and travelogue links are below. Congratulations and happy trails!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

JeanH

I hate it when people do this, but, I will anyway. For excellent snorkeling, awesome ruins, ok beaches, awesome caves, and beautiful jungles, look at Belize. Other than really great beaches, it pretty much is what you describe.

Also, the advantage that it's English speaking.

hopefulist

I had the same thought, Jean, what a great honeymoon destination! Honduras is pretty great, too. ;-)

suze

Have you checked the weather? Summer is rainy season some places.

dwsjr11

@ JeanH - Actually Belize was the first place I looked at, and that is def on our bucket list of places we wanna go, but the beaches is pretty high on the list of stuff we would like to enjoy. Costa Rica is also on our bucket list. Thank you though

dwsjr11

As far as weather, unfortunately it seems like at most of the islands in the caribbean or nearby it is the rainy season in June. So forget how I started this post what location would you recommend that has the stuff I said when I started but not rainy season? Thank you for any help and advice.

hopefulist

Roatán, Honduras - beautiful beaches, great snorkeling from shore, cheap diving, nice jungly hiking, laid-back Caribbean feel. The rainy season there usually starts in the fall, Octoberish.

The ruins of Copán aren't close but are easy to combine with a visit to Roatán. In addition to the ruins, the little colonial town is very cute and there are nice museums, a butterfly place, a bird park, interesting villages, and great hiking in the surrounding hills.

Maybe fly into San Pedro Sula (SAP) and out of Roatán (RTB)? From the airport, take a shuttle/bus to Copán Ruinas (~3 hours), stay for a few days, then head back to the airport and fly to a) La Ceiba for some amazing jungle time (check out www.omegatours.info ), then fly or ferry to Roatán or b) fly straight to Roatán; it's possible to bus to the ferry dock from Copán, ~6-7 hours.

My photo collections with blog and travelogue links on the main page of each are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

Roatán and La Ceiba area are in 2006 (and again this summer!), Copán 2005 and 2008. Happy trails!

ambray8

@hopefulist - I originally read this thread to see if I can lend anything helpful (having been to first 3 destinations multiple times)...I think you just planned my next trip... (well besides CR in 3 weeks)

Thanks for the amazing info!

@dwsjr11 - hurricane season in the carribean starts on june 1, obviously there is no guarantees there will be one - some people choose to travel at this time because of the discounted fares offered, buyer beware...

hopefulist

@ambray - great! Let me know if there's more I can do to help.

dwsjr11

Am I just missing something. But how come there is no info about honduras on the destination page?

hopefulist

I think it's because Fodors doesn't sell a guidebook for Honduras; the only CA countries are Belize and Guatemala.

dwsjr11

I see, thank you! I was hoping I was completely retarded using the site.

hopefulist

You could check out the Destinations link at www.lonelyplanet.com

mmc923

Apparently I'm the only one with this opinion, but I'm going to throw in my two cents for Puerto Rico. For great snorkeling/diving, try a resort on the East Coast in Fajardo or therabouts (about a 20 minute drive from San Juan). My husband and I stayed at the El Conquistador a couple of years back and got our advanced dive certifications from the NAUI dive center on site. Great staff, great boats, beautiful dive sites - the most fish I've ever seen! They also took us to a wreck site off the coast of St. Thomas (and we stopped in St. Thomas for lunch, too) - amazing! The rain forest is really spectacular - jump in a natural waterfall pool! Where else can you do THAT? Plus, you can check out the very cool Phosphorecent Bay in Fajardo at night on a kayak - jump in the water and look at yourself sparkling, like you have a million little diamonds all over your skin! (the fish, too). And they don't have phosphorecent bays in Mexico or Belize! Also, nice to not need a passport (only US ID necessary), everyone speaks English, and you don't need any immunizations! Also caves to explore, the Arecibo radio dish (anyone seen the movie Contact with Jodie Foster? - that's it!), ancient Indian ceremonial grounds, Old San Juan's blue cobblestoned streets, the Fort, surfing on the west coast of the Island (try Rincon), etc. etc. etc... all in an island that is approximately 90 x 30 miles. I say Puerto Rico. Have a great honeymoon!!!