Help with warm honeymoon trip in December

[Jake]

Hi all-

Hoping some of the more experienced travelers can help me pick a good honeymoon destination. Some notes about diving:

1. Want somewhere warm (and possibly tropical) with above average diving. Somewhere like Misool looks amazing, but it's a lot of travel to get there.
2. Would probably want to stay in one place, but likely not on a liveaboard (or at least, not a liveaboard for the whole trip)
3. Big animal encounters would be a plus (whale sharks, manta rays, humpbacks, etc). After spending time in the water with humpbacks and orcas in Norway we're pretty hooked, but it's not absolutely necessary.

Some notes about the trip in general:

1. We'd be flying out of LAX and could possible devote up to two weeks to the trip, including travel. A little flexible on dates and could do something between mid-December and mid-January.
2. Decent WiFi would be a huge plus for work reasons.
3. An English speaking country isn't necessary, but the occasional English-speaking staff member would be nice; I'm passable in Spanish and French and can read Arabic and Cyrillic, so I can get by pretty broadly.
4. Clothing optional/topless would be a plus, but not necessary. We've already been to Hedo, and while we really enjoyed it, I don't think we'd want to return for honeymoon.

I'm not too sure about budget. If we were to go someplace like Misool we'd have to budget about $10k US by the looks of it. Maybe we say that's the upper end of the budget. That's a lot of money, but hopefully it's my only honeymoon.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Lorenzoid]

When I first saw the post title, I thought "Caribbean," but since I see you're open to somewhere farther afield but perhaps not "a lot of travel to get there," how about these as honeymoon destination candidates: Bali, Fiji, or Tahiti. Bali offers resorts for honeymooning, plus good diving. You say you want to stay in one place, but it is easy to move around there. There's always someone willing to drive you wherever you want to go, for next to nothing. For big animals, take a day trip or side trip to Tulamben. So that's Bali. Fiji, well, I've only been there once, but returning in May, so I'm not the expert. Just tossing it out there. I bet Tahiti has something clothing optional.

 

[runsongas]

tahiti hands down

 

[Jake]

tahiti hands down

Any chance you'd be able to recommend a resort or two?

 

[Jake]

Bali, Fiji, or Tahiti.

Thanks. All of those are on the list for sure. Do you have any personal experience with any resorts or dive ops you can recommend?

 

[runsongas]

Any chance you'd be able to recommend a resort or two?

kia ora overwater bungalows on rangiroa or maitai rangiroa to leave some funds for a few days in fakarava.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Thanks. All of those are on the list for sure. Do you have any personal experience with any resorts or dive ops you can recommend?

Bali is made so easy for visitors, I'd just cross-check Tripadvisor with whatever you find on Scubaboard. Maybe the Amed area? Ask @billt4sf , an American living there.

 

[Dan]

Here are some of the honeymooner dive resorts that I have been staying while in Indonesia:

1. In the Northeast of Bali, check out Mimpi Resorts Bali - Menjangan and Tulamben Bali Dive Resort & Spa Tulamben Mimpi Resorts is nice for honeymooners. You can just walk out to the beach & dive in the USS Liberty wreck. Some of the big fish you may encounter there are the brown marbled grouper & bumphead parrotfish.

2. In the Northwest of Bali, you can check out the Menjangan Mimpi Resort. Some of the bungalows have natural hot spring streams piped up directly to jacuzzi in the bungalows.

3. In the south of Bali, check out AYANA Resort and Spa BALI You can take a private dive boat ride to Nusa Penida to see manta.

4. In Misool, Raja Ampat (Papua), you already know Misool Eco Resort Home. If you choose to go there, don’t miss to dive in Magic Mountain for the oceanic manta cleaning station.

5. In Tomia (Southeast Sulawesi), you probably heard of https://www.wakatobi.com/ however don’t expect big fish there.

6. In Moyo (Sumbawa), check out Amanwana - Luxury Resort in Moyo Island, Indonesia - Aman
I stayed in the bungalow where Lady Diana once stayed. Nice place for honeymooning, but don’t expect to see big fish.

 

[billt4sf]

Yah, we live in Bali. Above average diving on the island, and decent accessibility to Raja Ampat for the greatest diving in the world (and I can say that with confidence because I have not been that many places ). Misool is off-the-charts good: great diving, great snorkeling, and an outstanding tropical location. You could get a villa that I think would work for clothing-optional. There are also a few topside adventures.

Sorido Bay in central RA is also a very, very nice resort with excellent diving and a little easier to get to than Misool.

Bali also offers some nice topside activities, and/or you can get a nice villa and just relax, get massages, and go for a nice dinner. We're in Ubud. Traveling around Bali is not so easy because of the traffic congestion. The highlight of Bali is the very gentle people, and they are used to serving tourists. It's a Hindu island, there are temples to see and statuary everywhere. Nice place, but you can find hordes of tourists and kitsch, depending on where you go and what you want to do.

Personally I would not consider to come from the US to here unless you have three weeks - especially if you're going to go to Raja Ampat.

Feel free to PM or ask more questions if you want. Happy to help.

- Bill

 

[Jojo Soriano]

Yah, we live in Bali. Above average diving on the island, and decent accessibility to Raja Ampat for the greatest diving in the world (and I can say that with confidence because I have not been that many places ). Misool is off-the-charts good: great diving, great snorkeling, and an outstanding tropical location. You could get a villa that I think would work for clothing-optional. There are also a few topside adventures.

Sorido Bay in central RA is also a very, very nice resort with excellent diving and a little easier to get to than Misool.

Bali also offers some nice topside activities, and/or you can get a nice villa and just relax, get massages, and go for a nice dinner. We're in Ubud. Traveling around Bali is not so easy because of the traffic congestion. The highlight of Bali is the very gentle people, and they are used to serving tourists. It's a Hindu island, there are temples to see and statuary everywhere. Nice place, but you can find hordes of tourists and kitsch, depending on where you go and what you want to do.

Personally I would not consider to come from the US to here unless you have three weeks - especially if you're going to go to Raja Ampat.

Feel free to PM or ask more questions if you want. Happy to help.

- Bill

I have a good friend who fits your description who also lives in Ubud Bali.