I've spent a good deal of time in the European chat sections in the past and found the advice very valuable and accurate. So, now I'm faced with the "dilemma" of planning my honeymoon, which is in Oct/Nov '02. After eliminating several destinations, I am faced with the choice between Costa Rica or Maui. Any guidance on which might be the better choice? Language will not be a problem as we both speak spanish. Thanks!

Spend your greenbacks in the USA son!
Now, vaya con dios, amigo. Vamanous Maui! Pronto!

Maui versus Costa Rica is like comparing a Cadillac to a Hyundai.
Maui has it all.
There's nothing wrong with CR or with Hyundais, but by comparison, Maui's the hands down winner on every count (except cost).

I love both but they are very different. First, if cost is any issue, choose Costa Rica, it is one of the cheapest vacation spots anywhere. Hawaii is more upscale and developed with a totally different culture. Costa Rica on the other hand is very natural and undeveloped and remember the peeople there are generally very poor so crime is a problem. I traveled with 2 girlfriends and we are all suavvy travelers and we were robbed once at our rental beach house (while we were out) and one of my tripmates had the shoulder sstraps of her backpack cut ant it was ripped from her. If you are into a pampered type honeymoon go Hawaii. If you want to do hiking, backpacking, riverrafting, rainforest exploring etc, do Costa Rica.

I have been to both. Personally, I preferred Costa Rica, but it depends on where in CR you go and what you are looking for. Both are great. If you want luxurious resorts, fine dining, and great beaches, you should choose Maui. If you want to see pristine tropical rainforest and exotic wildlife in an unspoiled setting, go to the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica.

One factor to consider: October is the tail end of the rainy season in Costa Rica. Your chances of having good weather in CR are better in November than they are in October (we were there in late November-early December and had good weather). By contrast, October-November is a great time of year to be in Maui (I was in Maui in October and had perfect weather).

Maui will be a bit more expensive than CR, but neither one is cheap.

If you are into beaches and snorkeling, Maui is better for that than CR. However, in terms of wildlife above the water line, CR has it all over Maui. After having seen toucans and scarlet macaws and 4 species of monkeys in the wild in CR, when I went to Maui and looked into the trees, I couldn't help feeling something was missing.

So much for patriotism and Buy USA.
=/:^(>

Go to "Warreneand Annabelle's" show in Lahiana one night. You'll laugh your heads off. It's a great night of entertainment.

All the best!!!

Michael, I've been to both and they each, of course, have their own charm and personalities.
However, for a honeymoon which "I" would prefer to be as stress free as possible, I would choose Maui.
Reasons? Renting a car is more expensive in Costa Rica ($400/week) and the roads can be quite bad depending on where you want to go. As it's the end of the rainy season, many as-yet-unrepaired potholes (we were there end of November), road signs infrequent and poorly marked, more chance of getting lost, detours due to washouts, San Jose is the most charmless capital city I've ever visited (crowded, lots of traffic, dirty streets and sidewalks, polluted air, with very few attractions). That said, we found the country itself had some great scenery and we liked it very much once we got away from San Jose. If you want a more adventurous honeymoon with the chance to view some wildlife and if the transportation costs are considerably less to visit Costa Rica, then go there.
If someone offered me the choice of either place at the same plane costs, I would choose Maui for its natural beauty, ease and price of renting a car, decent, well marked roads, many more restaurants offering a variety of cuisines and prices; beautiful scenery and great beaches easier to get to and with more choices of hotels and/or condos and a variety of prices.
All this said based on my personal opinion, of course.

Although Costa Rica was an adventure and beautiful is some ways I would definitly rec Maui. We arrived at our hotel in Costa Rica at 7 at night although they had our reservation they did not have a room. The people who had planned to check out went on a day trip. They sent us into town in a cab. The room was horrible-toilet paper stuffed in the screen windows. No airconditioning. We complained and they moved us to a room with air conditioning but the windows would not close. We traveled the next day out to Playa Tambour. Beautiful place but the first day my boy friend got food poisoning. Maui is USA and much less stress. It is beautiful with plenty of adventure on the road to Hana and the trip to the volcano.