sjukich

Hey guys and gals, I need some help deciding my next trip or two. First of let me give you all some background so you can get a feel for what I enjoy. My wife and I are both in our late mid 20's, no kids and live in California. We love to do all things outdoors and love trying new things and going on adventures. I feel like I just filled out an online dating profile......Anyways we have traveled a bit over the last few years, making it to a few parts in Mexico, some Caribbean islands, Belize, Fiji, and each of the Hawaiian islands a few times. Through these travels we have found many things that we like and many things that we have not. Starting off with the diving, obviously that is one of the best parts of the trips and I feel it will be hard to beat what we saw in Fiji and the Rainbow reef and shark dive. We love all of the "off the beaten path" non tourist stuff that we found in Belize and Fiji. I did find that Mexico and the Caribbean islands we went to were just too touristy and everything was overpriced because ship loads of people show up to snorkel and zipline. I loved that I was able to explore the country in Fiji and Belize and still feel safe yet have a sense of adventure because of the culture. We're not huge fans of big cities while on trips either. Hawaii has been amazing each time we have been there but we want to try someplace new. Like I said before we love to dive, fish, snorkel and pretty much do anything in the warm ocean water, which is why I'm hesitant to travel to a place like New Zealand where there may not be as much time spent in the water. That being said, we also loved spending time in the jungle of Belize and seeing all of the wildlife and doing the hikes(most of which aloud us to be the only ones on the trail). So a good mix would be awesome. Lodging should be nice but doesn't have to be 5 star. Pretty much we want to do lots of stuff besides just sit on a beach and have a great adventure doing things we will be talking about for years to come! We have kind of looked into Honduras(Utila and Roatan), Costa Rica and Australia but are not stuck on just those destinations. Looks like we be able to travel about 8-10 days in April and then 14ish days in late July or early August. Any info or ideas would be great!

Katzgar

Roatan is a great dive destination. Did you get to the atolls in Belize? Look at things on gmaps and youtube. There are too many islands in the pacific to list. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islands

look at vanuatu

suze

I'd look at Central America in part because it is so much closer to you (less money and time on air travel). And (not knowing exactly where you have been already) I wouldn't rule out all of Mexico as too touristy and over-crowded.

Stewbear

To each their own but New Zealand is next on my bucket list after this year.

Cris004

Costa Rica is all about nature, one of my best country until now. Well, actually, my favourite one.
But I'm afraid that snorkeling will not be THAT good as Belize (hey, I go to Belize in February...hope I'll like it)
but yes, there are some good spot.
My sister who do diving went to Cano Island and she really really enjoy it. She stayed at her Villa in Ojochal and took a day tour. Ojochal is in the Osa Peninsula...a must see if you're a nature's lover. Toucans, sloths, monkeys, morpho, parrots...do I need to say more?
My favourite national parks are:
-Manuel Antonio
-Corcovado
-Marino Ballena
Oh, about Marino Ballena...it is not well-known yet, but at low tide, you can snorkel at the end of the "whale tail". It is very nice! I did that in 2008.

Hope this info can help you!

volcanogirl

If you like hiking and wildlife, check out Bosque del Cabo on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula. We really love Tulemar Bungalows in Manuel Antonio, but that area might be too touristed for you. We also love Belize and Hawaii.

RAC

For Honduras, you could do the Roatan/Utila/Cayos Cochinos area for snorkeling and combine that with a stay on the mainland in the La Ceiba/Pico Bonito NP area. Pico Bonito is awesomely jungly and beautiful.

colibri

I love the South Island of New Zealand for hiking - loads of national parks with excellent trail systems. I was there in spring, so the water on the coast was way too cold for swimming/diving and I'm not sure if it would ever warm up being so far south. The yellow-eyed penguin reserve is awesome!

We went snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef off Cairns, but there were lots of people in the area we visited. I'm sure you could find somewhere not as popular as Cairns.

But for wildlife, the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica is tops in my book, followed by Tortuguero, then Sarapiqui regions. We stayed at Bosque del Cabo on the Osa, sat on the deck and saw spider monkeys, herds of peccaries, scarlet macaws and toucans....and that was before hitting any trails. Bosque is considered on of the top nature lodges in all of Central America.

You would probably enjoy the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica around Cahuita and Puerto Viejo. We loved the canoe trip up to the Bribri indigenous village, hiking in Cahuita NP and trying out the different cafes in the village. But it was too windy for snorkeling, so that was a bust.