Honeymoon: Dive Resort or Live Aboard?

[El Orans]

A liveaboard is hard work, not what you'd want for your honeymoon...

 

[jakubson]

That is quite a recommendation. Quite beautiful from the pictures I seen. I will have to email and them and get some pricing information.

I would recommend Matangi Island in Fiji. The price includes all meals, non-diving activities. When I was there, there was one honeymooning couple there, and another couple that got married on the island and of course stayed for the honeymoon. All were divers. Matangi is in the North, just off taveuni. If you can get a good airfare deal (or use miles), it will be in your budget.

http://www.matangiisland.com/

 

[MikeC]

Well neither one of us are "shy" about boats...Both of us were in the NAVY and were deployed on Aircraft Carriers often ...But i haven't been on a live aboard and have read about the berthing issues. So I think that that will have to wait for next years vacation.

That being said, what are some good resort recomendations that's wallet friendly (trying to stay around $2-3k tops for the both of us)?

You may not be shy, but remember there are other paying customers with you. They may not want to see you two being "not shy".

 

[Damselfish]

Well neither one of us are "shy" about boats...Both of us were in the NAVY and were deployed on Aircraft Carriers often ...But i haven't been on a live aboard and have read about the berthing issues. So I think that that will have to wait for next years vacation.

That being said, what are some good resort recomendations that's wallet friendly (trying to stay around $2-3k tops for the both of us)?

What do you mean by "the berthing issue?" If you've only heard about the boats where you're kind of "roughing it" like Blackbeards and you've just got a bunk and shared bath, I definitely wouldn't do that on a honeymoon. (I wouldn't do it at all, but that's me.) But there's plenty of nice liveaboards with all private cabins and baths and if you both wanted to try that kind of trip I think it would be fine. People on liveaboards often all get friendly quickly and you may get some extra "attention" if they know it's your honeymoon, but that's a different matter.

A bigger problem would be getting on a nice one for 2-3k for both, especially if that has to include airfare. And it might be nice to add on a few days at a land resort on one end of the trip, but of course that's more $.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

For your honeymoon, take your wife to a resort not a live-aboard.

trust me on this one.

 

[pcowboy6196]

We have definately decided on a resort...now its just choosing where to go. Right now its between Bonaire, St. Lucia, St. Thomas, Palau, or possibly Fiji.

 

[diveborg]

We have definately decided on a resort...now its just choosing where to go. Right now its between Bonaire, St. Lucia, St. Thomas, Palau, or possibly Fiji.

Let me rank those in the order I'd pick

1. Palau - Definitely a place I'd want to go for diving, honeymoon or not.
2. St. Lucia - Don't know about the quality of diving, but topside looks cool.
3. Bonaire - Good diving, but not a lot else, from what I've read.
4. St. Thomas - Not spectacular diving, and the island can be over-run with pod people (cruiseship passengers)

 

[pcowboy6196]

I know what's gonna happen now...gonna spend all this time researching and end up just going to the "keys". Don't really matter to me. I've been to key west but not diving. Haven't been to any of the others. I just want to get some good diving in so I really don't care where we go, so as long and the diving is good. I don't necessarily have to get out of U.S. Territory. But heck that could take me out to the Marshall Islands. But that can wait cause I am gonna be out there on Kwaj on business when February rolls around.

 

[jakubson]

Well neither one of us are "shy" about boats...Both of us were in the NAVY and were deployed on Aircraft Carriers often ...But i haven't been on a live aboard and have read about the berthing issues. So I think that that will have to wait for next years vacation.

That being said, what are some good resort recomendations that's wallet friendly (trying to stay around $2-3k tops for the both of us)?

Given your budget, look into CocoView in Roatan. It is all-inclusive, so there are no surprises. There are many threads about Cocoview in the Central America forum.

 

[Divedoggie]

Given the current tropical storm/hurricane season, go to the Hawaiian Islands.