We are undecided as to whether to take our 1 week honeymoon (September 2009) in Aruba or St. Lucia. Any suggestions and where we should stay, activities and anything else recommended? Thanks.

Check out www.ladera.com on St. Lucia, wonderful !
Aruba too Americanized for our taste...imo

Congratulations! When is the wedding? We love aruba so I will admit my bias right up front. Yes, it is "Americanized" but what's wrong with that? We just returned from our second visit to Aruba. The temps were in the mid 90's every single day, the Caribbean Sea/Atlantic Ocean was a wonderful....clear turquoise waters....just beautiful. You can walk for miles along a gorgous white sand beach on Palm Beach where most of the major hotels are located. Aruba is also out of the hurricane path which may be a consideration for a September trip.
We stayed @ Marriott Ocean Clucondos). If you are looking @ hotels the top ones in Aruba are Marriott, Hyatt, Riu and Radisson (& maybe Westin ...I don't know anything about Westin in Aruba so can't comment.) I like the Hyatt but they do not have true balconies where you can sit & enjoy your morning coffee & drinks @ nights.

Don't know where that weird face came from in my post...Marriott Ocean Club...without the face, I hope!!!
Sure wld be nice to have that old "Edit" function we had b/f Fodors changed the format.

Sorry for all of my typos......

Both islands are opposite in what they have. StLucia will be more lush and is not as developed. The beaches and restaurants will be better on Aruba.
We have only been to Aruba on your list, but enjoyed our trip and also stayed at the Marriott (hotel section). A smaller hotel on Aruba that gets a lot of attention is the Bucuti. It is more of an adult only hotel. The marriott, hyatt and Radisson are on the busier beaches.
For more info on aruba go to aruba-bb.com It is a website forum all about Aruba.
The dining is excellent, the weather generally great, windy, some nightlife, watersports, etc..
St Lucia will be prettier over all with the lushness, but you will be more resort bound. I don't think traveling around st. lucia is that easy.

As others have said, it entirely depends on what your tastes are and possibly what time of year you're heading down for your honeymoon. I prefer lush, mountainous islands with fewer high rise developments and a rich West Indian culture, so St. Lucia would be my choice, for example. But you might like stunning white sand beaches, casinos, and enjoy the ease of getting around that Aruba is famed for--they've got good restaurants, good shopping, and good bus transport.

There's no right or wrong as long as you choose the island that's better suited to what you're looking for on a vacation!

I can't think of a more romantic honeymoon than Ladera....well...may Jade Mountain - very similar in my mind.....Jade Mountain in on St. Lucia too.

Thanks for your responses. The honeymoon would be at the end of September into the first week of October. If interested in all-inclusives, would Sandals in St. Lucia be better or Occidental or Rui in Aruba? Taking trips within the islands would be a bonus and not something we would necessarily do.
Thanks again for all of your input.

I just looked up Ladera-beautiful! Would that be a better place than Sandals resorts?
Thanks again.

Aruba's dining is too good to be at an all inclusive.

We've been to both Islands. We stayed at the Sandal Grande in St. Lucia. We were disappointed in the hotel. We thought the food was pretty mediocore for the price we paid. It was our second stay at a Sandals resort and they are definatly not created equal. We also did a day trip over to the Sandals Regency. Again not impressed. Now that we've been there, I would definatly chose a hotel like Ladera over Sandals.

We really enjoyed both Islands and found many things to see and do. It really depends on what you are looking for in a honeymoon. Both Islands are totally opposite of each other. St. Lucia is lush with flora and waterfalls. The beaches are darker brown color and the water is not as clear. Aruba is flat and arrid. Palm Beach and Eagle Beach are gorgeus with white sand with clear water.

Aruba has tons and tons of really great resturants and places to shop. You do not want to go all-inclusive there. You will miss out on getting to try all the really great establishments.

We loved the beauty of St. Lucia, but enjoyed the restuarants and things to do more in Aruba. We would return to Aruba, but probably not St. Lucia. St. Lucia is harder to get to and more expensive than Aruba. But, I am very glad we got to experience St. Lucia.

If you're interested we have pictures of both on our site at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/kvrlvn

It's almost impossible to compare Ladera and Sandals, as they are polar opposites. One is a small, intimate, mountainside boutique hotel that is highly individualized; the other is a large, couples only, full service resort on the beach. One offers traditional rooms, the other other only has rooms with 3 walls, leaving one entire wall open. I personally love the look of Ladera (I ate dinner there once whilst staying at the Jalousie but I never stayed there), yet somebody would have to pay me to stay at a Sandals--your wants and needs for your honeymoon might be quite different from mine, so I can't say which one would be better for you.

I do think that Ladera takes a certain kind of guest, though. First of all, since it's open air, you have to be comfortable with the possibility of sharing your room with critters. At that altitude mosquitos weren't a problem, but you could be sharing with any number of small lizards or spiders. Birds might dart in and out. Second of all, you'd have to want to get out & explore St. Lucia because there's not much to do on site during the day at Ladera--you could visit a couple of the different beaches, go to the botanical gardens & the volcano, see Soufriere, go hiking, rent bikes, go sailing, snorkeling, diving.

If you think that after the stress of a wedding that you'd rather sit around the beach or pool all day, relaxing and not having to think about renting a car, picking out a restaurant...or if you don't want a room that's open to all of the elements, you'd be much better off in a traditional resort--Sandals might be one. But there are others, too. Something that might be in between a Sandals and Ladera would be either Ti Kaye Village or Anse Chastenet, also both on St. Lucia. Ti Kaye is much more moderate in price than the others but it still looks utterly charming.

How important is a very special, unique resort as well as an escapist/get away from it all concept to you? St. Lucia, in my opinion has many more of these choices and you will really feel like you are somewhere different. While I like Aruba, I don't find it to be very unique as it is so Americanized and the main resort area is one long beach lined with mostly high rise hotels that, while nice, are not particularly special and don't have a Caribbean personality. I spent my honeymoon at the Holiday Inn on Paradise Island (now sadly part of Atlantis) because we didn't know any better. It was a nice time but if I knew then about all the incredibly special resorts that were out there, I would have chosen differently. Ladera, Anse Chastanet and several others on St. Lucia are honeymoon-worthy.

I agree somewhat with eileen that Aruba is a nice stretch of beach with nice water and good restaurants. It is not spectacular island by any means. It is a desert with a great beach and nice hotels, some gambling and good food. We liked that.
Honeymoons are supposed to be relaxing, but not a trip you would do every year. We also went to the Bahamas and stayed at the old Paradise Island Hotel and Casino (pre Atlantis). It was nice good food, beach, etc.., but it was not spectacular. It was affordable.
I have never been to StLucia, but heard it is really pretty. The Hilton used to own a property called the Jalouise. Not sure who owns it now, but it is supposed to be a very picturesque setting.
There are many other islands as well to choose from if you are still looking.
I would definitely pick a nice resort for your honeymoon and splurge. A few years from now, you may have kids or a mortgage and a lot more bills. It will be awhile before you may be able to splurge again. Maybe not, but most young couples are usually buying a house or saving for one, etc..
So, while I loved Aruba, that would be a place I have taken the family for a trip.
Bermuda is one of my favorite islands. It is quite pretty, nice beaches, very flowery and kept nice, expensive, and is also nice in late september.

I have been to both Aruba and St. Lucia. They are very different islands as many have already said. I stayed at the Sandals Grande in ST. Lucia and would not recommend it. The food and cocktails were not what you'd expect paying that price. The beaches were nothing great either. Aruba is definitely a fun place with lots of things to do. It really depends on what you're looking for. If you'd consider other islands I'd suggest the USVI, BVI, or Anguilla. I'm all about the beach, that's why these are my favorites. I'm sure you'll have a great honeymoon no matter where you choose. Look into trip insurance since it is hurricane season. Congrats!

Neither one would be on our list, but if those were the two choices, we would go with Aruba.
We stayed at the Sandals in St Lucia and were disappointed in the food and beverage service, among other things.
When we went to Aruba, our friends stayed at the Occidental and we stayed at the Radisson. They liked it and are huge AI fans!!!! In fact their room had alcohol in it, which they were happy about.

I have not been to either place, but I would like to recommend Puerta Vallarta if your options are still open. I went there in November and found it to be very romantic and the sunsets were absolutely gorgeous every evening. PV is located in a bay, and the bay is surrounded by mountains. You get beautiful dark blue water, mountainous terrain and stunning sunsets. They also have some amazing restaurants of every kind. They have a one mile boardwalk (actually concrete)called the Melecon that is right downtown along the ocean and restaurants are shops are right across the street. I stayed at the Marriott Casa Magna which I highly recommend because of the service, great pool, fabulous spa and location that away from the busy area (located across from the marina). My favorite activity there zip-lining in the mountains. They also had parasailing right on the beach at the hotel. If you need more information,let me know.Have a great honeymoon.