Honeymoon Discussions

Punta Cana vs Riviera Maya

We're starting to look at honeymoon options and hope to book an all inclusive by February for our December honeymoon.  

Punta Cana and Riviera Maya are the two recommendations we seem to hear the most.  FI and I have never been to Mexico or the Caribbean so we don't really know what to expect or what either is like.  What are your thoughts / recommendations / reviews?


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Re: Punta Cana vs Riviera Maya

  • I've been to both, and would definitely recommend them, however it depends on what you're looking for. 

    Punta Cana was gorgeous, we went the last week in June and the weather was perfect, hot but absolutely beautiful the whole time. I spent one night at Zoetry Agua -which might be the most amazing place I've ever been, and then 5 nights at Breathless.  The resorts were the complete opposites! Zoetry is very spa like and relaxing, when we went they were almost completely full and we barely saw anyone. Breathless was more of "party" atmosphere. I have friends who have stayed at the Hard Rock and loved it, and I also toured Dreams La Romana which was really nice. We didn't go on any excursions, so I can't really comment on anything to do outside of the hotels.  

    We went to Riviera Maya for our Honeymoon, and just booked a return trip for our 1yr anniversary. We stayed at Secrets Maroma Beach and it was amazing. We went the first week of June and it rained from the time we got off the plane for about 3 hrs, and then the weather was perfect the rest of the trip. We would have been content spending the week just relaxing and hanging out at the hotel but figured we should go on at least one excursion, so we went to Tulum and saw the Mayan Ruins. It was a lot of fun.  Everyone I know who has been to the area absolutely loves it, there are a million different things to do/places to see, and plenty of hotels to choose from. 

    I think you have to decide whether or not you want a strictly relaxing trip, a fun & excursion packed trip, or a little of both and then look at what each place offers for you. These boards & trip advisor had a lot of great reviews and helpful tips too.  Also, your budget and where you are traveling might have a big impact too.  Hope this was a little helpful!

  • From where I am (Indiana), we can get much better packages to Riviera Maya vs. Punta Cana. Usually a 7 day trip for the price of a 6 day at Punta Cana and usually save some $$ on top of that. I want to go to Punta Cana but we just haven't made it since we can get better deals to RM. A good friend has been to both and prefers RM because she didn't think there were as many options for excursions in Punta Cana, though that could be just bc of what they were looking to do and where the hotel was.
  • kvruns said:
    From where I am (Indiana), we can get much better packages to Riviera Maya vs. Punta Cana. Usually a 7 day trip for the price of a 6 day at Punta Cana and usually save some $$ on top of that. I want to go to Punta Cana but we just haven't made it since we can get better deals to RM. A good friend has been to both and prefers RM because she didn't think there were as many options for excursions in Punta Cana, though that could be just bc of what they were looking to do and where the hotel was.
    Do you think that's an airport hub thing  or a Northern States/Midwest thing?
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  • kvruns said:
    From where I am (Indiana), we can get much better packages to Riviera Maya vs. Punta Cana. Usually a 7 day trip for the price of a 6 day at Punta Cana and usually save some $$ on top of that. I want to go to Punta Cana but we just haven't made it since we can get better deals to RM. A good friend has been to both and prefers RM because she didn't think there were as many options for excursions in Punta Cana, though that could be just bc of what they were looking to do and where the hotel was.
    Do you think that's an airport hub thing  or a Northern States/Midwest thing?
    I imagine airport plays a large part in it based on what airlines/flights/packages are available. We actually fly out of Cincinnati instead of Indianapolis on these trips because of the same factors as above (longer trip/better price) but that is tied more to the company we've booked through than anything else. We have used Vacation Express and have had good luck though they don't fly direct from a lot of places.
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