Honeymoon help
 

My fiance and I are trying to find the best honeymoon destination for us after giving up on finding affordable rates for Tahiti. We are now looking in the Caribbean, specifically Long Bay Beach Club (BVI), Little Dix Bay (BVI) and Anse Chastanet (St. Lucia). I was also looking at St. Vincent but couldn't find any resorts I liked. 1.) Which of the above three resorts would be the best? and 2.) Is there somewhere nice in St. Vincent I should consider? We are looking under $5000 for about a week. We want a nice beach for swimming and sunning, good food, seclusion, and some nature trips. Please help!

Does the $5000 include airfare? When are you looking to travel? As you know, most Caribbean hotel rates are significantly less expensive from mid-April to mid-December than the rest of the year. How would you rank the various factors? There are some resorts that offer some but not all of what you want. For example, it would be hard to beat some of the Grenadine resorts for seclusion and nice beaches but they might not rank as high as others for dining and nature trips.

The $5000 is exclusive of airfare. Our honeymoon is at the end of July 2006. In order of importance we would rate them: 1. nice beach; 2. good food; 3. seclusion; 4. nature trips.

In July 2006 and with your budget, you can have your pick of any of the Caribbean's outstanding resorts. Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands would be a delightful destination that would meet your needs.

I'd also recommend the Meridian Club (http://www.meridianclub.com/) in the Turks and Caicos (on beautiful Pine Cay). All I can say about the Meridian Club is that it doesn't get any better than this. Secluded, a stunning beach, and world-class cuisine. The Meridian Club Resort also offers a number of eco-tours that should more than satisfy your interest in exploring nature.

Pine Cay and the Turks and Caicos are not the most lush islands in the Caribbean but the beaches are among the absolute best in the world. And the Meridian Club is among the very best resorts I've ever seen. Definitely worth a look. This would be my #1 choice if I was going on a honeymoon today.

Sounds like you have decided on the Caribbean over Tahiti, but I did some searching and found a few things that might change your mind. I have not been to the Caribbean, so I cannot compare the two, but we did honeymoon in French Polynesia and thought it was incredible. I know this isn't the right forum for the South Pacific, but I couldn't really help myself!!

Tahiti/Moorea:
http://www.luxurylink.com/search/ser...ada&save=1

The only bad thing about that package is it does not include any transfers, although it is very easy to take a ferry from Tahiti to Moorea and then catch the local bus to the hotel. It includes breakfast and dinner, which is good because food is EXPENSIVE!! We stayed at the Intercontinental Moorea and a continental breakfast was around $28, add anything hot and you were at $45. The hotel does have dolphins, which you can pay to swim with, but since they are in open pens you can easily see them for free. We actually booked our trip through the hotel directly, which was having a incredible sale ($300 for an OWB) and never actually charged us the full amount.

Tahiti/Bora Bora:
http://www.luxurylink.com/fixedprice...692&save=1

Only includes breakfast, which means lots of $$ for food. Also doesn't include transfers to Bora Bora, which is definitely a plane flight, not a ferry. Still, Bora Bora is amazing and there is a lot to see and do.

Bora Bora only:
1. breakfast only - http://www.luxurylink.com/fixedprice...702&save=1

2. breakfast and dinner - http://www.luxurylink.com/fixedprice...803&save=1

3. breakfast and 1 dinner -
http://www.luxurylink.com/fixedprice...968&save=1

You'd probably need to stay somewhere in Tahiti for a day or so when you first arrive. I'd check with the Intercontinental, which had pretty good rates. I'd skip an OWB here, because the grounds are beautiful enough. You'll also have to find some way to get to Bora Bora.

Moorea only:
http://www.luxurylink.com/fixedprice...932&save=1

Again, you'll probably want to stay a night or two in Tahiti before trying to get over to Moorea, since many flights arrive in the middle of the night.

We loved French Polynesia and especially Moorea, although there really isn't a lot to do except relax. Bora Bora has a lot more to see and do, and some people consider it their favorite. Either way, I would highly recommend seeing more than just Tahiti, which was beautiful, but could not compare to other islands.

Sorry if this isn't helpful at this point, but I wanted to try.

Of course, you can always look at the same website for the Caribbean.

I've never seen a beach to beat that at the Meridian Club. We walk for hours and usually see no one. Food is delicious. It might however, be very hot in July.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines. www.youngisland.com
Do a websearch on the entire SVG or narrow to the islands of Mayreau, Bequia, or Mustique. Nature wise and seclusion you can't get much if any better than SVG. Johnny Depp stayed at Young Island while filming Pirates of the Caribbean. What resorts were you looking into on St. Vincent?

Sandy

Tahiti is definitely out for now- the airfare is so expensive that when we go there we want to stay longer than a week. But thanks for that info!
I've looked at everything I can find around St. Vincent: Firefly on Mustique, Tamarind and Raffles on Canouan, Young Island, Palm Island, Petit St. Vincent. Most are too expensive for us but I might check out young island again. We are now actually looking at Cocobay Beach Resort and Grand Pineapple Resort, both in Antigua, because it sounds like the beaches and food there are good. We also got quotes including airfare from our travel agent and they seem more in our price range. Also still considering Long Bay Beach Club. And would anyone recommend Ladera on St. Lucia?

Just to let you know that Young Island Resort on St. Vincent, and Cocobay in Antigua are usually on Luxury Link auctions. Very good deals.

Several St. Lucia properties are on Luxury Link as well.

Looking at the auctions may allow resorts that you thought were too expensive to end up within your budget. I wish I would have been familiar with LL when I was planning my own honeymoon.

You might check about St. Vincent for hurricane damage because it's close to Grenada and Grenada sustained massive damage. Also, if Tahiti is out, consider Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. It's half the cost and truly amazing. I prefer it to the Caribbean. Air New Zealand and Air France and Cors Air fly there. There are lots of affordable accomodations in the Cooks with amazing waters, snorkeling, hiking, beaches to die for.

Ivan had minimal impact on St. Vincent. I visited the last week of Nov 2004 traveling both Leeward and Windward coasts. Windward sustained what damage St. Vincent did experience. Mostly affected people who lived in poorly built homes along the eastern coast. There were some roofs blown off at that time(during the hurricane) some broken and uprooted trees otherwise not much else. The average person would have had a difficult time determining what damage Ivan left behind unless they visited immediately after the fact. I was just there @the beginning of Dec 2005 and the unusual amount of rain had been the concern.

I visited Grenada too. There is much rebuilding and recovery evident although you are clearly able to see the damage wrought by Ivan in certain sections of the island.

Historically the southeastern Caribbean has been almost free from hurricanes for several yrs. Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda FL had not had one in 40 yrs. Ivan hit Pittsburgh, Pa. where I live. Would anyone really expect damage from hurricanes in southwestern Pa? I saw what Ivan did in my neighborhood as well as others. We were lucky. Whole communities were devastated. Here's a switch for you, when Ivan reached Pgh. I received phone calls from friends in St. Vincent making sure I was OK. Like I said when I visited St. Vincent a few months later in comparison the damage in SW Pa. was more evident.

Antigua is one of my favorite islands, but the two places you're considering there are of a much lower caliber than the other resorts you're considering. If you're looking at the likes of Little Dix, Ladera, or Anse Chastenet, you would be quite disappointed, I believe.

Check out www.luxurylink.com for weeklong packages to the Caribbean at some very nice spots--some of the prices on LL are hard to beat.

I would recommend that you check out Biras Creek on Virgin Gorda in the BVI (same island as Little Dix). It's a Relais & Chateaux hotel, so that will tell you something about the quality of the food they serve. It's on a large property that has hiking trails and provides bicycles to its guests, and they also provide Boston whalers for going out on your own for snorkeling or exploring the coastline.

hi trumpetchik,

i know you probably don't want to hear it, but i ditto snowsong's response. :) i've been to the pearl beach bora bora, and it was simply AMAZING. i am actually trying to "re-live" that experience by finding an island on the caribbean (that is cheaper). SO many people on this board (incluing Laby) have helped me narrow my decision. i know the two places cannot be compared though.

mah1980 mentioned luxury link, and i saw bora bora pearl beach resort on there for just over $3000 (over $2000 off)! i couldn't believe it.

okay, back to the caribbean...i am leaning toward turks and caicos coral gardens because the snorkeling is supposed to be amazing off the beach (i don't like deep water). like i said before, the people on this board have helped me a ton! also in the running for me is antigua, belize, bonaire, and maybe somewhere near cancun, but t&c tops the list.

good luck! :)

just thought i'd include this link:

http://www.luxurylink.com/fixedprice...968&save=1

i don't know anything about luxury link, but found this deal to be really good.

What about Parrot Cay in the Turks and Caicos

I had never heard about luxury link, and its definitely giving me some things to think about. Thank you everyone who suggested it.