Where should we go for honeymoon?

JOESBRIDECHARLESTON

Hey ladies! Ok so we are trying to plan our honeymoon but have no clue where to go go an where to stay. We can budget 34000 including flights. We want to go where the water is gorgeous and clear. Btw We will be going at the end of July. Our ideal place will not be an Al or a big place because be want it to have few crowds and don't really care to party. In our ideal world we will will a romantic room with private pool or whirlpool, hammocks or day beds on beach, great food and some fun stuff like a spa day snorkeling and horse back riding on the beach. We don't want to go to Mexico or Aruba but are open to other places any help would be great thanks!

JOESBRIDECHARLESTON

Oops the budget is a range from 3000 to 4000

JOESBRIDECHARLESTON

Oops the budget is a range from 3000 to 4000

hoffse

You're going to be hard-pressed to find a resort that will give you the private bungalow/plunge pool, etc. in that price range and that is also quality.  We aren't big on the AI thing either, but we ultimately went with it because it lets us know about 95% of what our honeymoon will cost beforehand (and that's really valuable as unexpected wedding expenses pop up).  In the future, as finances aren't so tight, we'll do the pay-as-you-go thing but for this one trip we decided the AI deal was too good to pass up.  We went with Sandals whitehouse - got a deal during black friday, and it's on a 2 mile private beach.  It's one of their smaller resorts, and it's not all that crowded according to tripadvisor.

I think you're going to need to make some compromises unless you stumble into an awesome deal.  Our budget was the same as yours, and I researched for months looking for basically your criteria.  They are out there but they were more than we could justify.  That said, I will defer to others who travel more often than we do.  They may know of a gem that we were unaware of.

Amanda1443994

I agree its going to be extremely difficult to fulfill all your criteria on that budget. My FI and I wanted the exact same things (private pool/bungalow etc) and we ended up paying $10.000 for it. And we looked everywhere but I def. did not find anything under 5k. If you really want the private bungalow with pool, it def. is a lot cheaper in Mexico. I know you said you don't want Mexico but I really don't think you'll fiind anything around that price anywhere else.

FloridaMichelle

what about Sandals?  Don't they have multiple locations?

B2Z728

I agree with PP's that you'll be hard-pressed to find those accommodations within your budget without considering Mexico. 

Are you open to renting a vacation home? www.Homeaway.com is a reliable place to start your search. They have vacation homes to rent all over the world. 

For example, here's a search for the Bahamas, beachfront with a pool. 

http://www.homeaway.com/search/refined/bahamas/region:17/Amenities:pool/Location+Type:waterfront#sp=688

alithebride

if you want a private pool just for your room it's going to cost you far more than that.

dazyabbey

I agree with the previous posters as well. What you are asking in your price range is pretty much impossible. But I think you should try other resorts besides Sandals. A lot of the girls on here, and myself, believe they are overpriced for the service and what you get. You can go to many other resorts for cheaper and get better service and better quality.

If you are absolutely stuck on the private pool you will probably have to do a vacation rental instead of a resort or anything. That means no included food, no spa, etc. I think you should figure out your priorities and see what works best for the both of you. One of your biggest prioties you said was privacy and not a lot of people, but places like spa's and restaurants usually have a lot of people or are around popular places. You could get a place further out but that would increase the cost of transportation, etc.

JOESBRIDECHARLESTON

I am not set on the pool thing but I do want a nice room with not lots of people any thoughts of where to go?

MoonlightSilver

Re: horse back riding on the beach - a lot of states / countries have actually made that illegal because the horses were getting germs and bacteria into the water and hurting the local area. 

I wanted to do that when we went to Cancun, but they said it wasn't possible in Mexico. 

That said, we loved the Valentin Imperial Maya in Mexico. It is an AI, but it's a very spread out resort. We aren't big party people either, so we stayed on the beach or in our room or by the swim up pool. These areas were quieter. If you get an Emerald room, they have a huge whirlpool tub in the room which is luxurious. 

Right near by is Xel-Ha, a natural inlet where you can go snorkling with fish and stingrays. 

hoffse

Check out the couples resorts.  They are well-priced and the smaller resorts naturally don't have as many people.

We were planning on going to couples until we caught that deal at sandals.  PP is right - they are usually overpriced, and we would never have booked it if we didn't catch the black friday deal.

Check out tripadvisor - they have very detailed reviews.

cwaggoner07

One thing in our favor is that June is the off season in a lot of beach resorts. Where we stayed may be a very good option for you. We went to Isla Mujeres Mexico and stayed at the Palace resort. It is a small resort, 60 rooms, but there were only about 6-8 other couples there on the entire resort. We had the beach to ourselves most days, along with the private cabana. We also got a room upgrade to their nicest suite. We stay 7 days, 7 nights, and everything with flights, tips, excursions, etc. cost 3100. It was the convenience of an AI, but VERY private and low-key.