mysalsa

Hello everyone!

My fiance and I are avid travelers, but due to so many unforeseen circumstances, we have procrastinated on planning our own Honeymoon! We want to take our honeymoon in the beginning of December. We plan to travel for at least 14 days.

However, we are 100% undecided on which honeymoon to take: Maldives & Singapore or Bora Bora & Moorea!

We have been to neither. I was really hoping to plan a Maldives and India Honeymoon, but apparently it is very difficult to fly between the two countries. So, in order to make things run smoothly, Singapore will have to do.

We have plently of research to do on our own, but I was hoping to get your trusted advice from this forum on the subject. Which is a better trip? Have any of you experienced both?

Any advice you can share would be wonderful!

simpsonc510

Well, I've never been to the Maldives, but I recently met another Asia traveller who had been a number of times, and he said it is one of the most romantic places on earth. He said it would be absolutely lovely for a honeymoon.

I have not been to Singapore either, but look forward to going there maybe this December (while in Bangkok) for a few days. No tickets yet... still thinking about it. I think I understand that Singapore doesn't require a lot of time to see all it has to offer. For what it's worth, Bangkok has a lot to do and see!!! I'd recommend Bangkok for 4-5 days, if you have the time and/or the interest in Thailand.

I have been to Bora Bora. It's beautiful, romantic, and all that, but also extremely expensive. I'll just bet it's more touristy as well. I think your dollar might go farther in the Maldives.

Just my opinion.

Enjoy your honeymoon, whatever you decide to do.

Carol

Kathie

Both the Maldives and Bora Bora are very expensive. I've been to Bora Bora and thought it was the definition of tropical paradise. The food is wonderful- all the fresh fruit and fresh fish with a French flair. The islands of the Maldives were all uninhabited prior to the building of the international resorts, so expect to have no contact with any culture other than luxe international beach culture. Bora Bora does have a small local village, Viatape, and you'll have some exposure to traditional Polynesian culture. Moorea has more local culture, but is not as spectacularly beautiful as Bora Bora. Both Moorea/Bora Bora and Maldives are exclusively beach vacations.

I'm not as convinced as Carol that the Maldives will be less expensive. Take a look at resort prices in both locales. Note that in the Maldives, you will have no dining choices other than your resort (or, in some places, another resort). There are a few free0standing restaurants on Bora Bora, more on Moorea.

Singapore is a fascinating city. Clean and safe, it is a multi-cultural city. it has an infinite variety of local foods to try. There are plenty of honeymoon-worthy hotels. Local transport is easy, with a clean, efficient and air-conditioned subway system.

If you want more experience of another culture, there are gorgeous beaches in Thailand and Malaysia, for instance.

simpsonc510

For yet a different and farther afield island experience, you might consider the Cook Islands. I really liked them better than Bora Bora, personally.

Rarotonga is the most populated island in the chain, with the most hotels and one major town. It has been 6 years since I was there, and I believe a hurricane or typhoon or cyclone or some such storm did some damage a few years ago, but I'm sure the islands have recovered. There is more culture on display in the Cook Islands than on Bora Bora, in my opinion. It seems less touristic. More natural.

Aitutaki, an hour flight from Raro, is the most remote place I've ever been. It is another island in the Cook Islands chain. It has a gorgeous lagoon!! It doesn't quite have the backdrop of the mountain peaks on Bora Bora though. But the over water bungalows looked really nice (not as many to pick from as on Bora Bora though). Dining and night life options are (or WERE 6 years ago) rather limited. But if you want remote and remantic, this might be an option for a few days, along with some time on Raro. I'm not so sure about being there two weeks.... might not be quite enough to keep you entertained...??? I guess I don't know if you want remote.

The beaches along the coasts and the islands offshore from Thailand have some really fantastic scenery, with limestone 'mountains' that jut right up out of the sea. One of the really nice things to do is to take a speedboat or a longtail boat to visit the nearly empty beaches on the unpopulated small islands off shore, for a day or an afternoon. In some cases, you might have a beach all to yourselves. Oh, and December weather is really terrific on Phuket and at Krabi, Phi Phi, and islands off the west coast of Thailand, in the Andaman Sea.

Take a look at places such as Railay Beach in Krabi Thailand. Krabi airport is about one hour from Bangkok. Then, it is about a 40 minute ride (by taxi is fine) to the Aonang/Krabi beach area. I believe you have to take a longtail boat (a very short ride) to get to Railay beach, from the boat dock area at Aonang. There is plenty to do to fill your nights with food and night life here. Krabi area does not seem as tourist oriented as Phuket and Koh Samui. The locals do not have to rely on the tourists, as they have other means to make a living. This makes it more natural, IMO.

justshootme

Of the destinations you mention, I've been to Singapore and the Maldives.

Singapore deserves a few days, and if your flights to the Maldives require a connection here, definitely spend a few days.

The Maldives will burn $$$$ quickly, very quickly. You must choose your resort carefully, you'll be stuck here (literally) and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Obviously, prices and quality of accomodation do vary. One of the highlights of the Maldives for me was a sea plane ride. You will have to pay for a transfer to your resort, which can be done by boat or sea plane (sometimes you'll only have one of these options), and flights in/out of Male can be at unearthly hours so you could find yourself staying overnight in Male the first or last night because of this.

simpsonc510

OK, so it sounds like the Maldives are very expensive, just like Bora Bora! I really did not realize that when I posted.

Cicerone

Some random thoughts and suggestions:

1. It is not really difficult to fly between India and the Maldives. While there are few direct flights, there is an easy flight via a connection in Sri Lanka (Colombo). You can fly non-stop to Colombo from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Trivandrum and Trichy. I have done that trip several times (from Bangalore and Mumbai), and really it is quite easy. However, that being said, with only 2 weeks, IMO it would be hard to do justice to India and also see the Maldives. With the distance to and from the Maldives and the US (and then to and from resort islands in the Maldives from Male airport), IMO you want at least 6-7 days there. That leaves about a week for India. It is quite hard to “do” a trip to India of only a week. It would be possible, but I am not sure you would enjoy it. (And if you want to go to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, that really eats into time. ) With very careful planning, it might be possible, but you would have to really limit your itin in India to probably 1-2 places at most. Not sure it is worth it, and India deserves more time. On the other hand, if you can extend your trip to say 3 weeks, then you could get a good flavour of India with 14 days there, and then have a week in the Maldives.

2. I believe that the weather in Bora Bora in December will be fairly rainy, check weather websites and guidebooks. I believe it is the beginning of the rainy season. The weather in December in the Maldives will be a bit on the rainy side as well, as it is the end of the rainy season. Make sure you are OK with the possible rain, as it can affect things like diving and snorkeling, not to mention just beach time. However, toward the end of the month in the Maldives you will have drier weather. (As I mentioned in my response on your other post, India has some lovely beaches as well, and the west coast like Goa and Kerala are in great weather then. I will say that the beaches are not nearly as beautiful as the Maldives or Bora Bora, but certainly very lovely. You could also do something like renting a houseboat in Kerala and wander the canals.)

2. You don’t give a hotel budget. As I have mentioned on a previous post of yours, there are lots of affordable places in the Maldives, including many all-inclusive in the 3 star range. The Maldives was for a long time the package/budget vacation place for Europeans, esp. Italians, and still is to a large extent. You just hear about the luxury hotels because they make a splash in the market, but there are only about 10-12 of those out of about 90 hotels total in the country (admittedly more are being built these days too). You have many options in the Maldives that would not be US$1500 a night. I would look at things like Veligandu Island Resort http://www.veliganduisland.com/ and J Resort Handhufushi http://www.jhotelsandresorts.com/handhufushi/ Rates for J Resort Handhufushi run from US$300 and at Veligandu Island Resort run from US$500. Both <i>include</i> full/half board (a nice plus). I have not been to Bora Bora in so long that I can’t really speak with any knowledge about the range of hotel prices there.

4. Finally, in terms of trying to “compare” Bora Bora and the Maldives, some thoughts are below. I have been to the Maldives numerous times and have been to Bora Bora once probably a decade ago. I’d actually say there were quite different experiences, both geographically and culturally. (I have not been to Moorea so can’t make any comparison, but believe it would be qiute similar to Bora Bora.) Bora Bora is one large island and is volcanic with high mountains in the centre of the island. There are about 6 other islands in the group, all of which I believe have similar geography and culture. The Maldives are thousands of islands spread over a huge area, and are coral, basically flat islands with no elevation. Bora Bora is Polynesian culture with a polytheistic religion which includes worship of physical forces (like volcanoes), as well as a good bit of Catholics from the French presence; the Maldives are a Muslim culture based on monotheism and are quite conservative. Bora Bora is a French protectorate and is quite heavily influenced by the French, the Maldives have never been colonized and are a democracy. Bora Bora cuisine has a lot of coconut in it, I have not found this to be the case so much in the Maldives cuisine. It is more curry based as it is influenced by India, its nearest neighbor.

In terms of the holiday experience, Bora Bora has the one main town, and the resorts which are near it, and then some smaller resorts located on other islands. On the main island, you can drive up into the hills and I think there are some smaller villages dotting the island. The Maldives are thousands of tiny islands, and are set up so that there is one resort per island and resort islands are not located on islands which have local inhabitants living on them (other than hotel staff). You would eat all your meals on your hotel island, unless your island were located near to another resort island, and then you could boat over to that island for an occasional meal. Other than Male (the capital and not a place for a vacation), there is quite limited opportunity to visit “inhabited” (i.e., non-resort) islands, although you can make escorted visits, and if you stay in the south in Gan, you do have more opportunity for an extended visit on your own. There is very little shopping available in the Maldives, other than hotel shops, or if you were to make a day trip to Male (assuming you were at a hotel which was close to Male.) But I would not go to the Maldives for shopping or independent restaurants, as there really are none. Bora Bora has a good bit of shopping in the main town, including art galleries, and also the black pearls; they also have independent restaurants in the main town. Neither Bora Bore nor the Maldives has any nightlife to speak of. No alcohol is allowed on the inhabited islands in the Maldives, only on the resort islands. I believe there are no restrictions on alcohol in Bora Bora, and there are bars in the main town on the island. As everything has to be imported to both Bora Bora and the Maldives, food and goods are on the expensive side as you probably know.

That being said about the differences, the beaches and water colour in both are very very lovely, the snorkeling and diving are very good. Bora Bora has giant clams, which I have not seen so far in the Maldives, but the Maldives has excellent fish life, including the manta rays. I have to say that the Maldivian people are probably the kindest and most hospitable people I have met anywhere in the world so far. I don’t think you would be unhappy with either, but I would not say that they are a similar experience, other than perhaps when you are in the water. But if you want to see a mountain vista, you have to go to Bora Bora. If you want to watch or hear the surf break on the reef, you should pick the Maldives (although you can get this at Bora Bora, but not as well, IMO).

5. Just as a personal bias, in December I would pick Hong Kong over Singapore, as our weather is so great then. Singapore can be rainy in December (although rain won’t affect your ability to tour very much, but can put a damper, so to speak, on things). Hong Kong offers tons to see and do.

mwwyong

Hi,

I'm not sure when you are planning to visit Singapore but it's really a great place to travel or consider as a stop over en route to other countries around the region.

Take September for example; it's a great month to visit Singapore because of festivals such as the Mid Autumn Festival in Chinatown where you can take part in festive activities such as the mass lantern walk or eat traditional mooncakes.

Also, Singapore happens to host the world's only Formula 1 Race at night in September!

Here's a site to the official attractions and stuff you can do in Singapore. Do set aside some time to partake in the cultural activities. I'm sure you'll find it eye opening and an interesting experience!

http://bit.ly/9Od0rF