We are narrowing down our honeymoon choices and had just about settled on Caneel Bay in late October or a tbd resort in Hawaii....

We have been to Hawaii before and loved it, but were also excited to try something new. Here are our concerns with Caneel Bay in late October-
1)is the island "shut down"? The reservation agent said many restaurants will be closed and most Caribbean resorts do their remodeling during this time.
2)the obvious uncertainty- hurricane season and rainy weather
3)bugs. specifically in late October, but in general- what is the mosquito and sandfly situation? Will we be covered in bug bites or insect repellant the whole time?

Our concern with Hawaii is the top rated resorts do not seem to have the same intimate atmosphere and proximity to the beach. Are there any suggestions for a comparable resort to Caneel (i.e. beachfront, small, but still upscale) in Hawaii?

hi mika,

have you considered bora bora, tahiti? i've been to maui twice and kauai once, and am going to stj tomorrow. but, i think there is nothing like tahiti. we are spending pretty much the same amount of money on caneel as we would on a second trip to tahiti, but i wanted to try something new, and stj looks beautiful. where do you live? tahiti is a 7 1/2 hour flight from los angeles. just wanted to throw that option out there. here is a link to the resort we stayed in six years ago for our honeymoon:

http://pearlbeachresorts.com/bora/main.asp

also, i stayed at the four seasons in wailea in maui. the room was beautiful, service was great, shopping was excellent, but it's not steps from the beach, on the beach, or over the water like in bora bora. not as intimate as caneel should be. there are a lot of experts on this board who have been to caneel though. they have helped me so much.

good luck!

Mika,
Have you considered Kauai,Hawaii? If so, check out the Princeville Resort or Marriott on Poipu beach.

Christie

For Hawaii, try the Kona Village Resort on the Big Island for intimate. October would be a good time for the BI. Look into Hotel Hana Maui for another secluded, intimate location.

-Bill

Thanks so much for all of the helpful replies!! I would love to go to Bora Bora, but a little too difficult for us to get to... And as far as Hawaii- we have stayed briefly on Oahu and spent most of our time before in Maui and Kauai.
I would love to hear some feedback about our concerns on Caneel bay from some of the other Fodorites! As well as more suggestions for small, upscale, beachfront resorts in Hawaii. Keep it coming!! thanks!

hi mika,

tripadvisor.com has lot of reviews on caneel. some bad, some good. i'll be sure to post when i get back (i'm leaving tonight for caneel).

I had heard mixed reviews about Caneel, but our stay was AMAZING!! I fell in love with Caneel and St. John in general. I don't need to be pampered and doted upon, so the "relaxed" attitude with regards to service didn't bother me. The people who worked there were friendly, the beaches are unbelievably private and gorgeous. (My favorite day was my husband and I on turtle beach--we were the only ones--2 good books, our snorkeling gear, and a bottle of rum...ahh). We had room 148 (a huge courtside room); those rooms are the cheapest, but we lucked out with a very very big room with a large deck. We basically slept, got ready, and had coctktails in our room, so to us it wasn't worth splurging on the more expensive rooms. I cannot wait to go back.

We went to the Virgin Islands the last 2 weeks of October last year for our honeymoon. We split our time between BVI's and USVI's. We spent a week on St. John and loved it so much that we are going back in December (I can't wait). For the most part we had great weather. There was one day that it was pretty rainy and windy. The only bad part about that was that the next day it was tough to snorkel because the storm had churned up the sand so the visibility wasn't good. But other than that there would be very brief rain showers once or twice a day. But I think that's typical of the islands, and it never lasted for more than a few minutes. We actually welcomed those short showers sometimes because it cooled us down. Most of the restaurants were open when we were there. I think it's a good time to go because it wasn't crowded at all. Just get trip insurance just in case! We didn't stay at Caneel (almost did, but chose a villa instead), but we visited and it looked great. I have a couple of friends who have stayed there and they really liked it. I think the biggest plus is the easy access to so many nice beaches just on their property. Mosquitos--they were pretty bad for me, but for some reason they really like me, so I had tons of bites. But my husband didn't have any bites.

On another note, we have been researching Hawaii for a trip next year. It seems that all the nice beach resorts are quite large. We like smaller beachfront resorts too, but haven't had any luck finding that in Hawaii.

here's what i would like to tell you about caneel bay.
we honeymooned in little dix the sister property so i was not under any mistaken expectations about what it would be like at caneel in terms of mod cons.
i would choose a much more intimate property for my honeymoon. despite the high price tag- the main beach is public and day trippers are in all day long. at night, it's dead but also crowded feeling compared to a smaller resort. the grounds feel like a large golf course.
at those prices, you are now in a league that will buy your privacy.
yes, the snorkeling is lovely, but it is not as good as the snorkeling in hawaii.
i had heard about caneel for a long time before making it there and by the time i did i had stayed in some really lovely places including several former rockresorts. it just did not feel special.
have you thought of some of the boutique properties in anguilla (cap juluca) cuisinart, or round hill jamaica. parrot caye? you are talking about that stratosphere and you should really have a luxury agent give you some comparisons that are more specific than caneel versus hawaii.
pick up a brides magazine- they constantly review honeymoon destinations and you can see a pretty picture and decide that way.
i did not find caneel to have the mystique that many rockresorts properties have. i was there in december.
kerikeri

If you stay at Caneel at least 2 of their restaurants will be open. In Cruz Bay in Oct. my 1 visit at that time was that 75% of the restaurants, shops are open. Late October you remove 90% of bad weather other than maybe 1-1 1/2 of rain, but it's a honeymoon.