Question Dive/Surf Honeymoon - Where??

[SetheryJ]

I'm hoping you all can help me with this one,

My fiancé is a surfer and I'm a diver. I want to learn to surf and she's learning to dive. We are eloping in June and hoping to go on our honeymoon in September. She did discover scuba in Cozumel, but I'm not sure if she will end up getting her open water cert before our honeymoon or not. That being said, we are trying to piece our honeymoon together and were hoping for some insight if you all would be so kind.

We are looking for a place that has great novice/intermediate surfing and great diving. We would prefer somewhere exotic, i.e. nothing Caribbean or US based. We are looking to take two weeks and want spend time in a place that takes more effort to get to. Some people have recommended Bali, Mauritius, and the Seychelles...

A bit about us: 30's, both adventurous, both experienced world travelers, she's an intermediate surfer, and I'm a CCR tec diver.

Looking for: Good consistent novice/intermediate surfing, good diving - i.e. no cruise ship dead "reef" dive sites, open to resorts or Airbnb concepts, great food/drink experiences are a plus but we are not 21 year old party animals, beaches are always great and if we can contain the screaming children to the airplanes that would be icing on the cake haha.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk and I appreciate your advice and feedback.

Seth

 

[broncobowsher]

No offense meant, but we don't want to take our honeymoon at a place that we can be at within 1.5 hours flight time. Plus, Socal's diving leaves a lot to be desired, not to mention the surf scene.

Thanks for your input.

Seth

To be fair, your location isn't exactly accurate. And your requirements for a location leave a very broad window. I know of several people who did a honeymoon in San Diego, including my parents. While it may be local for you (how am I to know?), for a lot of the country it is a vacation destination. Eloping is generally associated with low budget, so that was the angle I was going with. I know you said preferred something exotic, but that was only a preference, not a requirement.

I'm only working with what is given to me.

 

[undrwater]

El Salvador? Ocean diving may not be great, but you can dive the volcanos. That's exotic!

 

[SetheryJ]

It’s been a few years since I surfed Bali but it is rammed with Aussies, Brazilians, Japanese , locals, quite a few Americans and loads of European surfers plus backpackers. Amazing choice of waves, but the standard of surfers is high so most waves are very competitive

you will always get a wave on the beach breaks and north of Kuta. Not surfed socal but should imagine some break in Bali are worse, but you do have Lombok close which is less busy.

How long is your honeymoon?

Awesome thanks. We are aiming for two weeks.

El Salvador? Ocean diving may not be great, but you can dive the volcanos. That's exotic!

Would prefer to stay away from Central America, but I will look into it! Thank you!

To be fair, your location isn't exactly accurate. And your requirements for a location leave a very broad window. I know of several people who did a honeymoon in San Diego, including my parents. While it may be local for you (how am I to know?), for a lot of the country it is a vacation destination. Eloping is generally associated with low budget, so that was the angle I was going with. I know you said preferred something exotic, but that was only a preference, not a requirement.

I'm only working with what is given to me.

The opening post literally says nothing US or Caribbean…not sure how else to say I have no intention of honeymooning in the US or Caribbean??

As for eloping, your assumption is incorrect on two fronts- Eloping hasn’t been “generally” associated with low budget since the birth of Gen X and we are not looking for a low budget honeymoon. It’s always better to ask than assume…

Seth

 

[noserider]

The

Awesome thanks. We are aiming for two weeks.


Would prefer to stay away from Central America, but I will look into it! Thank you!


The opening post literally says nothing US or Caribbean…not sure how else to say I have no intention of honeymooning in the US or Caribbean??

As for eloping, your assumption is incorrect on two fronts- Eloping hasn’t been “generally” associated with low budget since the birth of Gen X and we are not looking for a low budget honeymoon. It’s always better to ask than assume…

Seth

other obvious one is Australia, surf will be crowded but you could go to noosa have some lessons and then go up to the GBR for diving

 

[Manuel Sam]

You asked about French Polynesia. Definitely checks the "exotic" box. To me, a top notch dive destination in the Tuamotus, and June is an excellent time to dive both Rangiroa and Fakarava Atolls.

Since your dates happen to be in June, go there the days preceding and including the full moon (first week of July this year) and you might catch the Marbled Grouper mating aggregation in South Fakarava - which is a spectacle in of itself (easily over 10,000 groupers) before you add the increased number of sharks that come to feast (a researcher counted 750 in the pass). I say "might" because it is known that it can happen in June and July of each year, but sometimes it only happens in one of the two months. And lest we forget, it is still Nature, so there is an element of unpredictability to this.

Also there was mating activity among the Grey Reef sharks in Rangiroa when I went in late June 2021, and that brings up the bigger sharks (Great Hammer and Tiger) to feast.

Whether it measures up as a surfing destination, I don't know. I know nothing about surfing opps in the Tuamotus, but this link could be informative.

Stormrider Surf Guide to Stormrider Guide to surfing Tuamotu

Stormrider Guide surf guides and ebooks direct from Low Pressure. These surfing books document the worlds best surf spots and surfing beaches. Accurate surf maps show where to surf and detailed text describes the surf environment, surf culture and surf travel information. The Stormrider Guides...

www.lowpressure.co.uk

What I have seen tho, is that under the right conditions with the changing of the tides, there is no lack of waves in the Tiputa Pass in Rangiroa because the bottlenose dolphins love to surf them. But whether they measure up to human surfing standards, no idea. Also, the incoming currrent in the pass is strong enough that I'd find it doubtful that one can paddle out.

You can also not rule out an offshore storm providing big swells, as we had during that late June 2021 trip. The swells and resulting waves were outright scary riding out there in a 20-some foot RIB.

I do know that Teahupo'o is a world-class surfing hotspot on the island of Tahiti, but I think that their season is similar to the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii, which is to say, during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. Having seen videos of the surf action in Teahupo'o, tho, it looked more like suicidal than fun to me. That's why I'll stick to diving.

 

[noserider]

You asked about French Polynesia. Definitely checks the "exotic" box. To me, a top notch dive destination in the Tuamotus, and June is an excellent time to dive both Rangiroa and Fakarava Atolls.

Since your dates happen to be in June, go there the days preceding and including the full moon (first week of July this year) and you might catch the Marbled Grouper mating aggregation in South Fakarava - which is a spectacle in of itself (easily over 10,000 groupers) before you add the increased number of sharks that come to feast (a researcher counted 750 in the pass). I say "might" because it is known that it can happen in June and July of each year, but sometimes it only happens in one of the two months. And lest we forget, it is still Nature, so there is an element of unpredictability to this.

Also there was mating activity among the Grey Reef sharks in Rangiroa when I went in late June 2021, and that brings up the bigger sharks (Great Hammer and Tiger) to feast.

Whether it measures up as a surfing destination, I don't know. I know nothing about surfing opps in the Tuamotus, but this link could be informative.

Stormrider Surf Guide to Stormrider Guide to surfing Tuamotu

Stormrider Guide surf guides and ebooks direct from Low Pressure. These surfing books document the worlds best surf spots and surfing beaches. Accurate surf maps show where to surf and detailed text describes the surf environment, surf culture and surf travel information. The Stormrider Guides...

www.lowpressure.co.uk

What I have seen tho, is that under the right conditions with the changing of the tides, there is no lack of waves in the Tiputa Pass in Rangiroa because the bottlenose dolphins love to surf them. But whether they measure up to human surfing standards, no idea. Also, the incoming currrent in the pass is strong enough that I'd find it doubtful that one can paddle out.

You can also not rule out an offshore storm providing big swells, as we had during that late June 2021 trip. The swells and resulting waves were outright scary riding out there in a 20-some foot RIB.

I do know that Teahupo'o is a world-class surfing hotspot on the island of Tahiti, but I think that their season is similar to the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii, which is to say, during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. Having seen videos of the surf action in Teahupo'o, tho, it looked more like suicidal than fun to me. That's why I'll stick to diving.

We are talking a beginner surfer here and intermediate wife (which I read as someone who can manage 1 or 2 turns on a green wave max), Teahupo or "Chopes" to surfers is probably the heaviest wave in the world and something neither should looking at unless they are in the top 500 surfers in the world. It would be a bit like sending a DSD diver on a 100+ metre deep dive as one of their intro dives without an instructor. I have surfed fairly large waves 4 metre faces etc, been in breaks with at the same time as a lot of the WCT surfers, surfed many waves on the our and even at my peak fitness would never dream of surfing Chopes.

There maybe suitable waves in Tahiti for French Polynesia but these would not be my first choice, the couple should be looking a soft beach break location for their lessons rather than a heavy, hollow reef break,

The stormrider books you reference are great and I have used them since issue one to help plan surf trips and would recommend them to the OP