Honeymoon questions/advice - Tahiti, Thailand, S. Africa... other suggestions?

gmc22 · August 2010

Hi Ladies! I frequently post on the Pittsburgh boards but thought I'd pop over here to ask some honeymoon advice. My FI and I are getting married May 28, '11 and we're at a point where we want to start planning our honeymoon. We have both decided that we want a once in a lifetime experience that we will probably never be able to do again. While throwing around some ideas, we seemed to have narrowed it down to island hopping in Tahiti (Bora Bora, Moorea, and Tahiti), Thailand, or S. Africa.

My question is - can anyone please share suggestions or experiences they have had in either of these places?? Just a bit of background info - While FI and I love to relax, we also are looking for things to do (i.e. shopping, restaurats, cultural activities...)

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to go to Tahiti for my honeymoon... Now in doing some research, along with the massive price tag, it doesn't seem like there is all that much to do there besides bum around on the beaches... We don't mind paying a lot to have the perfect honeymoon, but I also don't want to spend a small fortune to just sit on a beach with nothing else to do. Has anyone been there that can share some experiences with me?

So after that, we came across Thailand - we thought it had the perfect blend of what we were looking for, but are concerned about the safety and political unrest in the region... Has anyone been to Thailand that can share their experiences? I realize that similar qu's have been asked in previous posts - I will also check them out to see the comments!

Lastly, if anyone has any OTHER suggestions of places to go that fill our criteria I would appreciate it!! Thanks so much ladies and I look forward to hearing from you! TIA for the help!

girlinchicago · August 2010

I can't really speak to Thailand or S. Africa, but H and I considered Tahiti before landing on Fiji, which might be worth a look! The thing about Fiji is that the people are ridiculously nice, the resorts are smaller than a lot of Tahiti's, it's more cost efficient and still really gorgeous.

We spent 12 nights at two 5 star, adults only resorts. One was a tiny private island with only about 20 guests on it. We had an amazing balance of relaxing on the beach and doing activities - we kayaked, participated in a kava ceremony, did guided snorkeling, tried scuba diving, a village visit and a secluded sandspit picnic. They also had deep sea fishing, white water rafting, ziplining and a bunch of other options. With the money we saved by not going to Tahiti, we were also able to do helicopter transfers, drink more (meals were included), get more spa treatments, etc.

We still definitely want to go to Tahiti someday because it looks beautiful, but Fiji is an amazing place and definitely once in a lifetime if you go to the outer islands and stay at the less crowded, more unique boutique resorts.

We stayed at Royal Davui and Likuliku. Likuliku also has the overwater bures, if that's a must-do for you. Some of the other popular smaller resorts in Fiji are Qamea (hopefully SummerKutie will weigh in here), Namale, Taveuni Palms, Vatulele, Tokoriki....there are a bunch.

Let me know if you have any questions about Fiji - there are a few of us who recently HMed there!

heathercraft1 · August 2010

GirlinChicago,

I am going to be staying at Royal Davui and Intercontinental this upcoming October for my honeymoon - and I am very excited.

For the activities you posted, above, did you book those through a separate agency, or did you book your island activities through the concierge at your resort(s)?

Also, did you take the helicopter transfer to Royal Davui (or vice-versa) - and did you find it worthwhile?

We are contemplating taking the helicopter transfer from the main island to Royal Davui, and was curious to speak with someone who had done the same or similar.

Thanks in advance!
Heather

girlinchicago · August 2010

Oh my gosh, Heather, you are going to LOOOOOVE Royal Davui! We've been back for a month and I really miss it. It's seriously the most incredible place I've ever been. We booked everything at the resort. The kayaking and snorkeling didn't need any sort of reservation, of course. The rest of the activities we just booked the day before or the day of at Royal Davui. There are so few people there that you really don't need too much advanced notice. I will say that we booked the sandspit ahead of time because we got married at Royal Davui and really wanted to go to the sandspit the day after. That, by far, was one of the coolest things I've ever done and I highly recommend you book it.

If you want to do any of the excursions on Viti Levu (ie ziplining or white water rafting), I think you need to let them know a day or two in advance because you'll need to have transportation to the main island, but it's only about a 40 minute boat ride.

As for transportation, we did the scheduled plane/boat transport to Royal Davui. It's an experience in and of itself! We took the helicopter to Likuliku and it was amazing. If you're only going to be traveling out to Royal Davui, I think it would be worth it, though I don't know how much it costs in comparison to the scheduled plane/boat that's included in the price.

What category of room did you book at RD? We were in Premium #5 and it was amazing - put in a request if you can with Julie and Darryl, the managers!

I have hundreds of pictures from our trip if you're interested. Just let me know! I am so excited for you - you will love it!

Schocked · August 2010

I haven't been to any of these places (sad), but I have heard phenomenal things about Thailand! My FBIL & FSIL just went there and said it was by far the best vacation they have ever been on, and they are dedicated travelers.

This is actually on on our shortlist so be sure to share your planning experience if you choose to go there

iamjoesgurl · August 2010

I've been to Thailand but my cousin lived there so I guess it would be different going completely on my own. She just moved this summer to Chile so she is not there now, but I don't think she ever really felt unsafe. Even during the riots, she went downtown into Bangkok and wasn't bothered. It's definitely a less expensive place to visit (other than the airfare there and back).

I don't think you would find the same problems outside of Bangkok (like in Phuket or Chiang Mai) so maybe you could just plan to stay in those places. We did not go to Phuket so other than the beaches, I'm not sure what there is to do. We went to Chiang Mai by ourselves and got around fine. In Chiang Mai, there are a bunch of temples you can visit, a great market, and experiences outside of the city that are unique. We went to an elephant camp where we watched the elephants interact with their trainers and got to ride one. We also went to an orchid farm which was really neat. I loved the trip. I don't know if I'd feel safe there now (it has been a few years) but maybe someone else could say what it is like there these days.

One other comment - the flight was LONG and I would not want to do that on my honeymoon, but it sounds like anywhere you'd like to go would be a long flight.

HilaryH1231 · August 2010

We are going to South Africa on our honeymoon and I am INSANELY excited. We're going on safari for three days, going to Victoria Falls for two days, spending one night in Johannesberg, and then going to Mozambique for 6 days for some R&R. Not sure if you're still considering South Africa, but if you are and you want to do a safari, check out Singita. We're staying at Singita Boulders and I have never heard a single bad thing about it, or any of the other lodges. When we go to Vic Falls, we're staying at Toka Leya camp, which also is supposed to be great.

msaputra · August 2010

We went to Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora and had a great time!
It's definitely a great place for honeymoon...there are some activities that can keep you busy, but mind you there is no nightlife or shopping per se.

We typically do 1 activity per day, and most days we just lounged around the resort and really enjoyed the beautiful view. One of our most favorite activity was just to read from our deck overlooking the lagoon. I think after all the hecticness of wedding planning and the wedding itself, it was really nice to do nothing!

Just to give you an idea of what we did:
Papeete (Tahiti): Downtown market
Moorea: ATV, Polynesian village (similar to a luau)
Bora Bora: Jet ski tour, Manta ray feeding, Spa, 4x4 tour

Some of the other activities are circle island tour, swimming with sharks & ray, snorkeling trip, diving trip, etc....so I would say mostly are water activities.

Hope this helps. I think Thailand or S. Africa sounds awesome too...I think wherever you choose you'll have an awesome honeymoon

gmc22 · August 2010

Thanks so much ladies! I have a lot of thinking to do

Hopefully FI and I are going to meet with a travel agent soon to get the ball rolling but I wanted to go into our meeting with some knowledge of what we wanted.

girlinchicago - Thanks for the info! I might just have to look into Fiji now!!

iamjoesgurl - thanks for the info on Thailand! I knew it was a long flight but exactly how long is it? I looked quickly on priceline and expedia to get an idea and I saw it was a day + trip and that you fly from the US to Tokyo or Hong Kong... Did you have a hard time acclimating to the time difference? How long were you there for? We are looking at two weeks and would like to do a quick stop in Bangkok to do a bit of shopping, then head to Chiang Mai for a few days to do the elephant riding and then head south to Phucket and Phi Phi Island for the remainder of the time...

HilaryH - your honeymoon sounds fantastic!! We're definitely still considering Africa! Again, we want to talk with someone to price things out and go from there but you gave me a lot of great ideas! Thanks!

msaputra - your honeymoon sounded lovely! Thanks so much for the itinerary! We're definitely going to price things out and see what we want to do! My big thing is that I have a terrible fear of the ocean so *most* of the water sports are out for me! lol... FI loves those things though! Just a quick qu - you say there is not a lot of shopping etc. what about restaurants? Are they mostly on the hotel property or is there a 'town' area on the islands that you can go for restaurants/local shops?

Thanks again everyone for the input! I'll keep everyone updated on what we decide!

heathercraft1 · August 2010

Thanks a million GirlinChicago for the advice!

With regards to our Bula at Royal Davui, I actually am not sure which villa we're staying in. I do know that we opted to do an Island Villa, so as to mitigate some cost...

Although, truth be told, we're just excited to be going at all....and Royal Davui seemed to have all the qualities we were looking for! Frankly, after all the wedding pandemonium, we wanted a "hybrid" experience; which is why we're staying on the main island (Intercontinental) first (so that we can experience more tourist activities) ... and then Royal Davui, secondly (so that we can rest & relax!)

Congratulations again! I'm sure I'll be checking in...and I hope I'll have lots of positive experiences and beautiful pictures to show, this coming October

msaputra · August 2010

gmc, how terrified are you with the ocean? Is it in general or is it really for the activities like diving, jet ski, etc. I guess the reason I ask is because if you are staying at the overwater bungalow, you will be surrounded by lagoon waters...although it is quite lovely.

As far as restaurants, there are some local restaurants, but they are usually not in the same area (there isn't a strip mall with restaurants). Usually the restaurant will pick you up for dinner (included in the price). In some cases you will find maybe a supermarket and a couple small restaurant in the same area, but generally the restaurants are not that close to each other.

The town is really small. For example, I think Bora Bora has 3000 people living there. There's only 3 small towns, and main shopping in Vaitape is really just one main road with some small shops. So if you're really looking for lots of shopping/restaurant/nightlife, I'm not sure if Tahiti/Moorea/Bora Bora would have a lot of that (unlike Hawaii, for example).

It also depends on which hotels you are staying. Our hotel (Intercontinental Thalasso), along with 3 other hotels are located on a motu (island) which is around a 15 minute boat ride from Bora Bora itself. So it's a little bit of a hassle to go to town for dinner, so we ended up eating most of our meals at the resort.

I think for what we're looking for, it was the perfect honeymoon for us. I actually like being on a secluded island, while still having access to tha main island. But I know some people actually like being in the middle of everything and having more activities to do. Something to think about

gmc22 · August 2010

msaputra - My fear of the ocean is more of being in the ocean as opposed to staying in a bunglaow over the ocean. I love looking at the ocean, laying out on the beach, and even going in waist deep (if I can see below me) but diving, snorkeling, jet skiing, etc. are all pretty much out of the question for me b/c I will honestly have an anxiety attack (stinks I know... I've really tried to overcome this fear but with no luck).

Thanks so much for the info - it really has been super helpful! We're going to meet w/ a travel agent hopefully next week to figure things out!! Your recs and advice will really come in handy! Thanks again!

msaputra · August 2010

You're welcome. If you have any further questions feel free to PM me.
Check out Trip Advisor's board too!

ehevans · August 2010

I went to Capetown, the wine country and small seaside towns in South Africa a few years ago and it was probably the best trip of my life. That being said I am dying to go to Thailand and we are heading to the Maldives and Dubai for our honeymoon. I wasn't able to do a safari but I can not wait to go back one day. I just loved South Africa. The food was unbelievable, the wine, the people, everything was just so great. It was pretty cheap too.
It doesn't sound like you can go wrong with any of your choices.

Honeymoon questions/advice - Tahiti, Thailand, S. Africa... other suggestions?

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