Adventure and beach honeymoon, where to go???

chez88 · August 2012

My fiance and I are getting maried next August in Spain, after spending the run up to the wedding with friends and family out there we are going on a mini moon to Barcelona for a few days but we still want a proper honeymoon. I always want to travel and I want our honeymoon to be an adventurous trip of a lifetime and an opportunity to create amazing memories together. We are really undecided about where to honeymoon as I love the idea of spending a week doing adventurous activities such as trekking up mountains, seeing incredible wildlife and understanding the culture and traditions of our location. Then I want to spend a week by the beach with beautiful seas and exotic sea life. Any ideas for where we can go? I know I want an awful lot! We were thinking about Malaysia or Africa???

NotATotalBetty · August 2012

Southern Africa sounds perfect for what you're looking for. August and September have great weather for your adventure activities. I'd fly to Cape Town first, see the main sights, and start on the adventure portion. Cage diving with great white sharks, hiking the Drakensberg mountains, and embarking on safari in Kwazulu-Natal's great national parks or in Kruger. You can pair with a side trip into Swaziland for more of a focus on culture and traditions. Then go to Johannesburg, and hop a flight to Mauritius or Mozambique for beach paradise. Mauritius is far more luxurious and would be very romantic, but can be very expensive. Mozambique has far less tourist infrastructure right now, so you get more of a feeling of adventure in your stay. You could also fly to the Maldives from Johannesburg for a different kind of Indian Ocean beach escape. Just my two cents. Good luck planning!

NotATotalBetty · August 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_adventure-and-beach-honeymoon-where-to-go?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:eb6df7ad-42e6-46b1-8c97-233260412ca1Post:376f35df-265d-46a0-b416-310c96204d18">Re: Adventure and beach honeymoon, where to go???</a>:
[QUOTE]My first thought was Thailand. Spend a week in the northern part of the country, then a week at Phuket.
Posted by cfaszews25[/QUOTE]

Monsoon season and heavy rains in August and September could put a damper on Bangkok, Chiang Mai and northern Thailand. It's rainy season in Phuket too, so Koh Samui on the gulf coast is a better option weather wise.

Along those lines, the Indonesian island of Bali has great weather in Aug/Sept: maybe a bit less adventure opportunities other than surfing/hiking, but good beaches and lots of culture in Ubud. Could also pair Bali with adventure travel in Java or Sumatra.

NotATotalBetty · August 2012

That's true. I assumed she wanted to go straight from Barcelona, but she didn't mention when she's planning to go or leave from. OP, when are you planning on taking the bigger honeymoon? You'll get different responses based on when you're going.

hz80408 · August 2012

I agree that it'd be smart to go straight from BCN because I'd assume that'd save a decent chunk in airfare (assuming you live in US). I think South Afric sounds up your alley.

Jells2dot0 · August 2012

I've been to Mauritius and the Seychelles, flying from Johannesburg. A lot will depend on budget. Mauritius is expensive, but not nearly as expensive as the Seychelles or the Maldives. We actually found a lot of our activities in Mauritius to be a bargain and the rooms where we stayed started at around 250 Euros. We went in late August and the weather was not that great, as it's their winter. However, we went up to the Seychelles after that and it was much warmer and their dry season. I can't speak to the S. African part as we are not safari people and chose not to spend any time there. Also, just so you are aware, our flight from J'Burg to Mauritius was around 4 hours; a flight to the Seychelles from there would be longer (we flew direct from Mauritius to the Seychelles, which was only 2.5 hours) and a flight to the Maldives even longer still. If you really wanted to do the Maldives, I recommend doing it with Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Sri Lanka (not sure of the weather patterns there.)

Another thought is Australia or Australia/New Zealand. Again depending on when you want to go the weather could be drastically different. We just got married and honeymooned in Australia this month. We were a little short on time, so we spent our entire two weeks in the Reef area of Queensland. However, you could go to Daintree or the Kimberly for adveture; Uluru for culture, and the Reef for the beach. You'd need a couple of weeks to do this, though. We did not stay in NZ, but we connected in Auckland and were in awe of the beauty as we flew over. TONS of adventure in NZ and then you can fly to Australia, or fly to the Cooks, Tahiti, or Fiji. Again, a lot depends on time and budget. Can you share your budget with us?

chez88 · August 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_adventure-and-beach-honeymoon-where-to-go?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:eb6df7ad-42e6-46b1-8c97-233260412ca1Post:1ac0857b-28fa-4d83-90af-21645082f01d">Re: Adventure and beach honeymoon, where to go???</a>:
[QUOTE]Southern Africa sounds perfect for what you're looking for. August and September have great weather for your adventure activities. I'd fly to Cape Town first, see the main sights, and start on the adventure portion. Cage diving with great white sharks, hiking the Drakensberg mountains, and embarking on safari in Kwazulu-Natal's great national parks or in Kruger. You can pair with a side trip into Swaziland for more of a focus on culture and traditions. Then go to Johannesburg, and hop a flight to Mauritius or Mozambique for beach paradise. Mauritius is far more luxurious and would be very romantic, but can be very expensive. Mozambique has far less tourist infrastructure right now, so you get more of a feeling of adventure in your stay. You could also fly to the Maldives from Johannesburg for a different kind of Indian Ocean beach escape. Just my two cents. Good luck planning!
Posted by NotATotalBetty[/QUOTE]

Thank you for such a great response, we will definitely check it out. It sounds amazing and is making me very excited about booking it all! Thanks!

chez88 · August 2012

Sorry I didn't say I am from England and I work as a teacher so I can only travel in school holidays. So we are thinking of having a break between the two trips and going away either in December or the following easter-2014! That's if we can wait that long! Also price wise we can't really spend more than about £4000. I don't know if we can get what we are after for that or not, I haven't done much research into it yet!

ElleB87 · August 2012

South Africa is a great destination for what you're looking for. I've been once before and H and I are gong back next year. The time(s) of year you're thinking of going would be great for beach weather since it's summer time there. H and I are going to do some hiking, abseiling and waterfall jumping on Table Mountain (in Cape Town) next year. There's also surfing, great white shark diving, wine tours, safaris, tons of history/museums and ground transportation is super cheap.

If you want more info about South Africa, PM me.

NotATotalBetty · August 2012

Ok, with your budget and point of origin and timing in mind, if you go in December, it's optimal time for South Africa, especially the active adventures in the Western Cape. It's also a great time to go to Thailand, and cfaszews's proposed northern Thailand / Phuket split would be a great mix of adventure, culture and relaxation at that time. Thailand is definitely easier on the wallet: after flights, your budget can go farther for longer than in South Africa. It is high season for both, and if you're going around Christmas expect airfare and hotels to jump. With £4,000 as a budget you could reasonably go to either destination but you'd have to figure out where you wanted your budget to go (I.e. cheaper flight but longer duration, or fewer stops to save time but more expensive.) If you're going around Easter, late April 2014, I would still recommend South Africa, as it's very nice there turning to autumn. For an Asian idea with adventure/culture/beach in April, you could look at the island of Borneo (Indonesia and Malaysia). Great beaches, rainforest and jungle hiking, climb Mt. Kinabalu, and orangutans in the wild. Very different type of honeymoon, but could be very interesting, and like with Thailand, your budget can go farther for longer once the flights are purchased.

krizzo17 · August 2012

Have you looked into St Lucia? We went there for our honeymoon, and I'd say more than half the visitors were from the UK - apparently it's quite an easy flight from there. For us, it was the perfect combination of relaxation and adventure - we stayed at Morgan Bay Beach Resort for one week and Crystals the next. Morgan Bay was an all inclusive (right on the beach), but we went horseback riding, ziplining, kayaking, and on other tours. Crystals is (seriously) a treehouse in the rainforest, and while we stayed there we hiked Gros Piton and spent some time at the beach as well.

chez88 · August 2012

Your responses are all great thank you so much. I was looking into Borneo as I like the fact that it's more unusual but SA sounds amazing, I think wherever we choose we will stand on visiting the other places, just on a smaller budget I imagine. Thanks again for the advice, now I am so keen to get researching and planning our dream honeymoon!

sh228955 · August 2012

Another option would be Costa Rica. You can spend a week in Arenal going zip lining in the rainforest, hiking to the volcano etc. and then spend a week on the pacific coast. South Africa also sounds amazing though!

Adventure and beach honeymoon, where to go???

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