<p>I am getting married on May 10th and I am starting to research my honeymoon options so I can book in January. Maybe I can get some advice?</p>
<p>I really want to go to the Caribbean. I became very attached to the idea of St. Lucia but we have a 4-5k budget and would like to go for 10 days, so St. Lucia seems out of budget. I would consider anywhere appropriate in the Caribbean, maybe Hawaii. My fiance likes the idea of Mexico but I am not so sure. I don’t want to do a cruise.</p>
<p>I want the whitest white sand beach and the clearest ocean, I want this to be the most amazing beach I have ever seen. We are not partiers or drinkers. I have a food allergy-- not life threatening but certainly vacation ruining-- so I need to make sure I will be able to make arrangements for my meals wherever we go, I can’t have dairy. I am also not a very adventurous eater anyway and don’t eat fish (which I think means I will starve no matter where I go.) We are interested in a quiet week of sunbathing, swimming in the pool, and maybe some watersports.</p>
<p>My fiance is interested in the Beloved Hotel in Playa Mujeres, which looks awesome, but I am not sold on Mexico.</p>
<p>Any suggestions? I am having THE HARDEST TIME EVER narrowing this down, or finding many options at all that I can afford.</p>
<p>What about the US Virgin Islands? They have tons of villas for rent, in all budgets. You could control your own meals, etc. The views are amazing. Beaches are very good, though I don’t know about “BEST.” </p>
<p>The whitest beaches I have personally seen are in Grand Cayman. But that is NOT an inexpensive trip. Destin, Florida has lovely white sand beaches as well.</p>
<p>Not sure about the whitest sand, but I would like to join Nrdsb4 in encouraging you not to rule out a villa. They can be very romantic for a honeymoon, with a small private pool and indoor/outdoor living. The ones I have stayed in offered great views and privacy in the pool and deck area, as well as daily housekeeping. You can still go out for a meal if desired, but you can save both dollars and allergy aggravation. Don’t hear the word villa and assume it is 3 bedrooms. We have stayed with one bedroom, kitchen, living and dining areas and a small pool with gorgeous deck.</p>
<p>If it were me, I would focus on the “vibe” of the island and how crowded the beaches were likely to be as much as the color of the sand. Villa and hotel rates in the Carribean often drop late April/early May, so you could get some budget and quiet help there.</p>
<p>I love St. John. We went for a week to the camping ground at Cinnamon Bay where you can rent very basic camps with cookstoves right on the beach. However I’m pretty sure you want something a step up from that! Some huge portion of the island is National Park and there are all sorts of resorts, eco-resorts and villas. Caneel Bay is $400 a night for their cheapest room, but they are on the relatively fancy end of resorts, so I’m sure you can find a better deal.</p>
<p>Turks and Caicos!!! Bright white sand and calm water such a brilliant turquoise, the undersides of the clouds reflect the color! This cottage is on Taylor Bay, the most gorgeous secluded beach! The island has great restaurants and also nice markets if you want to eat in. It’s a quiet island with little sightseeing or nightlife. T&C is all about the beach and spectacular water. Kayaking in Chalk Sound is spectacular. The good news is that off season rates begin May 1st. Congrats!</p>
<p>My favorite is Hawaii - but I haven’t been anywhere else - but just so you know, their beaches aren’t white. They’re mostly a brownish/tannish color and there are some black beaches. But that shouldn’t stop you from considering Hawaii :)</p>
<p>And you won’t starve if you don’t eat fish. They have hamburgers and steaks and chicken - and pork! Luau’s are pork.</p>
<p>I’d think a major consideration, is the cost of airfare. If that is included in your 4-5K budget, that could be a big deal. You could potentially get both tickets for less than 1K, or you could spend most of your budget on the tickets, depending upon where you choose to go. That would definitely rule out or make some destinations more attractive. If you can go all the way there on Alaska Airlines, consider getting their credit card, where you can get an unrestricted companion pass for about $100 or so to anywhere they fly. Gone to Hawaii a few times with that one.</p>
<p>Speaking of Hawaii, I think you could go to Maui for 10 days within that budget. You could stay at a well priced condo, that way you also have a kitchen to prepare your food. Plenty of white, beautiful sand beaches, car rentals are cheap there, easy to get around, plenty to do, fairly rural. Of course, maybe you could do the same thing in St Lucia, but I think a key is not staying at a hotel, but the condo. You won’t starve anywhere you go, all of these places have far more than fish.</p>
<p>I just wanted to clarify, do you WANT to cook, or did you mean a destination that would just allow for more food choices. THe only reason I ask is because there is no way I would want to cook anything on my honeymoon, but I also really don’t like cooking.</p>
<p>I wanted to clarify, because a lot of suggestions seem to mention kitchens and cooking vs. places that have restaurants that are more accomodating.</p>
<p>^^I’m sure there are plenty of people who enjoy cooking (not I), but having a kitchen doesn’t mean that you cook. A refrigerator and microwave, glasses and dishes can go a long way. If you don’t really want to spend the time or money to go out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it is very handy to have access to a kitchen. Having a place to store fresh fruit, sandwich material and milk for cereal is really convenient, plus cool drinks and coffee, is very useful. Not necessarily cooking at all, just avoiding hassle and expense, especially for a ten day honeymoon. You can still go out for a nice dinner, but who wants to go out constantly? Plus, we always have leftovers after a restaurant meal, which work great for the next days lunch.</p>
<p>^^^^I agree. One of many great things about renting a condo or villa is the savings on meals. Breakfasts are particularly pricey in hotels. It’s nice to have the makings for a simple meal right at one’s fingertips. Also, DH and I appreciated the savings on things like a cocktail or glass of wine when you have it in your own dwelling. This enabled us to go out for the occasional fabulous dinner and not cringe so much at the price because we have really economized on our other meals.</p>
<p>I agree that you can save a lot just by cooking your own breakfast. I wouldn’t want to cook a lot on my honeymoon but breakfast is a simple meal. We had our honeymoon in a VW camper driving from LA to SF and making stops at wineries. Nothing fancy, but I have very fond memories of the whole trip.</p>
<p>I guess I am the odd person out when it comes to the food issue.</p>
<p>All of my vacations are on a pretty tight budget, as I am just starting out, and I know how to make it work. I mostly stay in hostels, pick the cheapest flights, even if it means crazy transfers, etc. In other words, I am not high maitenance at all on trips. However, the one thing I don’t want to worry about is meals. That would be a thousand times more true on something like a honey moon. I am there to relax, and it’s one of the most memorable trips of one’s life, presumably. I don’t want to do dishes or grocery shop or even worry about simple preparations, like breakfast. It may be just me - I would much rather save money on some other part of the trip.</p>
<p>The OP may well feel like the majority of people there, but I just threw it out there, just in case.</p>
<p>How about Puerto Rico or Vieques? I think they are more affordable than other options. And congratulations! For beautiful beaches and pristine (but coral tinged sand) you can’t beat Bermuda, but I think it’s more expensive.</p>
<p>Our favorite vacation place is Hawaii (I second busdriver’s recommendation of Alaska Airlines credit card companion fare). However, flying to Hawaii from the east coast can be a pain. If you are not ruling out Mexico, there are places around Cancun that are gorgeous, quiet and affordable. We stayed in a beautiful resort called Bahia Principe Sian Kaan which is located not too far from Tulum. It is an adults-only all inclusive property. We stayed there in March in the middle of the spring break, but unlike Cancun’s main hotel strip, the place was NOT crawling with drunken college students. It was quiet and gorgeous, and the people who stayed there were mostly honeymooners or 40-plus empty nester crowd. I have not noticed a single drunk person during our stay, despite freely flowing booze at the lobby bar. The hotel security was always patrolling the property, but unlike in other places, these were not machine-gun armed police, but nicely dressed getlemen with walkie-talkies. The hotel’s buffet restaurant deserves 5 stars! Mr B has serious food sensitivities, but he was able to eat in there without any problems and without limiting himself to just a few plain choices. The variety of food offered was mind boggling! Every day, the buffet offered a selection of dishes from other corners of the world in addition to the regular fare. One could eat as healthy or as unhealthy as he wished! The property belongs to a cluster of other Bahia resorts, and Sian Kaan guests can dine and enjoy the amenities at all other properties, but not vice versa, which keeps the resort quitet and not overrun by unruly kids.
[Luxury</a> Bahia Principe Sian Ka’an - Hotels in Riviera Maya](<a href=“http://www.bahia-principe.com/en/hotels/riviera-maya/resort-siankan/]Luxury”>Bahia Principe Luxury Sian Ka'an - Bahia Principe Hotels)</p>
<p>We booked the hotel directly via their website and took advantage of their airport shuttle service, which, to my surprise worked very well. The property is not located directly on the beach, but it has shuttles that take you to the sister hotels and the Sian Kaan exclusive beach. The staff is fantastic, and most speak enough English, which makes life for non-Spanish speakers easier. :)</p>
<p>I like the idea of a condo or villa so we could make our own breakfast and lunch. I want to spend all day at the beach, not in a restaurant-- but I do want to go out for dinner. </p>
<p>I’ve found a few places in our price range on St. John and St. Thomas, but they don’t seem to do much in the way of all inclusives… which might be ideal for us anyway because we will barely drink and AI may not be worth the money-- but then I am not sure how the meals work out, are these fairly developed places? Am I going to be able to find a grocery store with food I recognize and restaurants that are close to what I am accustomed to at home? If we don’t do AI, meals have to fit within the same 4k-5k budget, can that be done? </p>
<p>I had kind of forgotten about airfare. If it’s under $1000 I can probably swing it in addition to our 4-5k budget, for sure if we come in closer to $4. If it were more than that we would probably have a hard time. Looking at current airfare prices, that looks like it would rule out Hawaii. We’d be flying out of Detroit Metro. A flight from DTW to Nassau, for example, looks like it comes in right about at $1,000.</p>
<p>ETA: Odd, I expected if Hawaii was out Mexico would also be out, but a flight from DTW to Cancun is pricing out at less than Nassau, so I guess Mexico might still be doable?</p>