Caribbean Honeymoon Help

Janmichele5 · July 2012

My fiancé and I are looking to book our honeymoon the end of June (2013). We are looking to the Caribbean but I’m a bit overwhelmed with the choices for both islands and resorts. We have been to Jamaica before and I loved it. Stayed at an AI (Secrets Wild Orchid). Loved everything about Jamaica but obviously looking to go somewhere new. Would like to stay away from Mexico and Dominican. Open to both all inclusive options and not AI.

We are beach people. While it is our honeymoon, we’d like a nice mix of relaxing on the beach, doing a few day trips….maybe charter a boat for the day, explore the island. A decent nightlife would be a plus but not a necessity. (Similar to Jamaica)

Any suggestions you can provide would be good. Would like to keep everything when all said and done around $7k - $8k.

Summer2011Bride · July 2012

I haven't been personally but have heard from more than one person that they absolutely loved St. Lucia. The pictures they took look stunning. One person I knew stayed at the Sandals La Toc and said it was awesome. There are a few Sandals AIs there if I'm not mistaken and probably others as well (I have heard that Sandals can be overpriced).

mikkiwin8 · July 2012

I was only in St. Lucia for a day while on a cruise but it was the most beautiful place I have ever been! It is just stunning. I know Sandals had 3 resorts there, I have heard people talking about ziplining too. While we were there, we went to the valcano. You hike to the valcano where you put the sulfur water (prob not the proper term) on you and then you wash off in the natural hot springs. It was pretty cool and supposed to be good for your skin. I also remember they passed out these amazing coconut candy things they make there, I wish I could have those every day! I believe we passed by cocoa fields as well, it was a while ago.

AurorasEnvy · July 2012

We went to St. Lucia, and it was beautiful. I'd definitely recommend going there! We stayed at the Sandals Grande, and of all the 3 (we visited the other 2) I am glad that we picked the Grande. They also have other resorts there (AI and non-AI). While we were there we did a 1/2 boat trip to see the volcano, mud baths, and waterfalls. They took us to see the Pitons, where there was also great snorkeling. We also did a rainforest canopy zipline tour, and hiked around the national park to an old historic fort (the park is right next to Sandals Grande).

All in all I was really happy with our honeymoon. On our boat tour we saw several other resorts that also looked awesome - normally I am super into researching ALL options for travel, but at that point with all the wedding planning going on, I just booked at Sandals and called it a day.

I'll send you a PM if you want to see all of photos!

[Deleted User] · July 2012

We've been to 4 AI's so far,one was in cancun and three sandals, St.lucia grand twice,negril Jamacia, antigua grand. I have reviews and pics of all in the link above my siggy pic. HTH and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Getting2Vowels · July 2012

Went to Aruba, stayed at the Marriott. Loooved it!!! Would go back everyday. Nothing bad to say at all about the staff or hotel.

alithebride · July 2012

off the top of my head these are the ones i'd look into. barbados-larger, lots to do. st kitts perhaps no AIs but very nice, fun to explore and can ferry to other islands such as nevis. st lucia, lots to do, beautiful island.

why not mexico? it actually fits your requirements to a T.

dazyabbey · July 2012

What is your budget as well? That will have a huge effect. But I agree with other posters, how come you have completely nixed Mexico. It has everything you are looking for, and very affordable.

roseofdeborah · July 2012

Negril Jamaica is amazing as well. If you loved MO bay I'm sure you would like Negril. Similar but less crowded and the people there are so friendly. Plus there is more to do like cliff jumping at Ricks Cafe, going to the river for rafting, and shorter trip to Dunns River Falls which is my favorite thing to do in the world.

Janmichele5 · July 2012

Budget is between $7k-$8k.

We were in Jamaica last year so trying for something new. Thats the same deal with Mexico - we've been before and weren't very impressed. Its also not the safest place to travel too. I am okay splurging a little more since it is a honeymoon and would like to go somewhere new and exciting!

dazyabbey · July 2012

I think almost all Caribbean destinations are pretty similar then if you are looking for something completely different I would go to a different region or area. Most of them are going to be very beachy with touristy stuff to do.

Also, Mexico in the tourist regions is completely safe. I was just on the governments website and it said no travel warnings for those areas.

nextrightthing · July 2012

With a budget that high, you might be able to do a mediterranean cruise or something more exotic than Jamaica or Mexico.

Mingatobinks · July 2012

That is the beginning of hurricane season, I would look at going below the hurricane belt. Aruba, Bonaire or Cauraco are all beautiful. That is also the end of the tourist season in the Caribbean.

ejheart · July 2012

That's a huge budget to work with, so I think you'll find lots of options within your reach. There are a few really gorgeous (but expensive) resorts in St. Lucia that we were looking at (Jade Mountain and Landera Resort). If you decide to go there, I would suggest looking into booking one of those for half of your trip and one of the Sandals (to make it cost-effective but to still get a little luxury out of it). Of course, I haven't been to any of them but they were recommended by our travel agent.

Since we realized we couldn't really afford to do the "luxury" side of St. Lucia (to stay within our budget, we would have had to do Sandals for the whole trip), we decided to look elsewhere. The only reason I didn't want to do Sandals for the whole trip was that after reading reviews I realized it may be difficult to get good beach chairs without having a butler room or getting up at the crack of dawn (which I wasn't willing to do). I really didn't want to have to fight crowds on my HM. We ended up going with Galley Bay in Antigua. It's much more quaint but seemingly quiet and relaxing. It would probably come in way under budget for you.

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