decisions decisions...Need help/advice on where to go

[deepdestroyer]

My fiance and I want to travel to the pacific for our honeymoon, and some advice would be greatly appreciated. We originally wanted to stay in one of the many overwater bungalows in French Polynesia, but at 600-800 a night for 10 days, that is out of our price range. Then I focused my searches on the Federated States of Micronesia, and found the Manta Ray Bay Resort, which seems great. I have heard a lot of good things about it, but it seems as if the manta rays are the main focus....I've seen my fair share, so that's not that big a deal to me. If anyone has some first hand experience that would be wonderful!

Where else would you all recommend? I have never been to that side of the world, so am pretty clueless. Diving doesn't even have to be the main focus. Any place that has nice accommodations, a relaxed atmosphere, decent food, and reasonable prices will be just fine.

Also, as a side note, any place that would allow me to spear a few fish freediving for a day would be great! I am dying to get a wahoo and tuna.

Edit----We will be traveling during the month of October 2011. Any info on the weather that time of yer would be great also.

Thanks in advance, John K

 

[robint]

wow... lots of things to discuss here.

spearfishing and scuba diving don't mix in most dive locations around the world. Since your profile is blank, I can't really compare it to where you have been already. Maybe you would like to fill that in for us?

honeymoon, romantic, and relatively inexpensive....
Wananavu resort in Fiji may have what you are looking for
Beqa Lagoon resort in Fiji, ditto
Paradise Resort in Fiji, ditto
several options in Philippines, Puerta Galera, El Galleon, ...
Malaysia has a couple of options with over-water rooms
check out Island Dreams website: Pacific Scuba Diving Vacations Pacific Scuba Travel Adventures

robin

 

[deepdestroyer]

Hi Robin, thanks for the info. I will look into all those places.

I live in Rockledge, Florida. My home port is port Canaveral. I have dove all over Florida's east coast, the Bahamas, BVi's, USVI's, Jamaica, Belize, and Hawaii.
I know spearfishing and scuba don't mix in most places, but I am an able freediver, and that's usually more accepted. Anyway, this is the least of my concerns. It would be more of a bonus if possible.

Anything else that would help let me know

 

[Laurie S.]

I just booked three nights in an over water bungalow at the Tahiti Intercontinental Resort for $351 a night plus tax with expedia.com. This is for February 2011. Can't wait!

 

[ncchuck]

I spent a week on Moorea a few years ago and had a great time. We didn't stay at the over the water report because of the absurd prices but still have a great time.

I spent a week at Matangi Island in Fiji and can't recommend it high enough for someone wanting a romantic getaway. The owners live on site and are great people with a great staff. You'll have a private Bure and the opportunity to picnic on a private beach if desired. Check this place out.

I spent a week at Manta Bay Resort just 2 years ago. It's nice enough but not a place I'd personally recommend for a honeymoon. There's another place on the island that is much nicer sitting on top of a hill overlooking the bay. It has better food but of course is more expensive.

I recommend Fiji, Moorea and Yap in that order. By the way it probably cost twice as much to get to Yap as any of the other places mentioned.

 

[deepdestroyer]

Thanks everyone for your help so far, It is most appreciated! Any other input you may have is more than welcome.

 

[juanNC]

Great thread. I was thinking about a similar vacation and don't know much about that region. It looks like October is a good time to go weather-wise, at least to French Polynesia. The dry season ends in October, so you'd miss the rainy season from November to March.

The Tahiti Traveler - Tahiti weather, seasons and climate

 

[bbarada]

I agree, French Polynesia is a wonderful place for a honeymoon, but very, very expensive.

Wananavu in Fiji is truly great. Much better than Beqa, and I have been to both.

As for Yap, Trader's Ridge has better food and nicer accommodations.

 

[Mossman]

There's a vast difference between the luxury of an overwater bungalow in rather heavily developed French Polynesia which offers honeymooners a vast range of things to do and the hotel accomodations available in rather primitive Yap where there's not much else to do besides dive and take in a cultural show or two.

If you do French Polynesia, there is far better diving in the Tuamotus. Check out Rangiroa (Kia Ora Hotel) or Fakarava (Mai Tai Dream) for a more remote honeymoon experience than you'd find in Bora Bora or Moorea, and definitely avoid spending too much time on the island of Tahiti itself.

For Micronesia, Palau has fancier offerings that seem more befitting of a honeymoon (though if Manta Ray Bay Hotel still has waterbeds, those can be fun too , and Palau offers a wider range of diving (though there are plenty of beautiful reef sites to dive in Yap that don't involve waiting for mantas to dance in the channels). While it lacks overwater bungalows, an oceanfront room at the Palau Pacific Resort would be a nice place for a honeymoon, one of the excellent dive ops can pick you up right at the resort, and they can easily arrange a "romantic dinner for 2" on the beach as well as offering a comprehensive room service menu for those nights you don't want to leave the room.

You might also want to consider Bali for the combination of beautiful oceanfront resorts in the south (priced far, far less than FP) and excellent diving in the north, plus a wide range of land touring available in the middle. We recently came back from spending a few nights at the Laguna Resort in Nusa Dua (though our diving was done elsewhere in Indo) and were blown away by the quality of the hotel grounds, rooms, and restaurants.

 

[Bredman]

What Mossman said is right.

Consider Bali, Indonesia. Its a different culture than the Pacific Islands, but it sounds like it meets what you're looking for. Mantas are reliably seen, its not expensive, and the diving is exceptional. You may not find the overwater bungalows, but there are some wonderful Villas around for 1/4 of the price listed above.