Need honeymoon help! Maldives or Tahiti or somewhere else?

[scubadive425]

I'm planning my honeymoon for 2 weeks in late May - early June 2010 and I'm having trouble picking a location! Here are some of the things we're looking for:

-staying in an overwater bungalow (not 100% required, but preferred)
-warm water
-amazing diving (We dove the Similan Islands from a Thailand liveaboard last year and that diving was amazing. Somewhere with a huge amount of marine life is best, beautiful coral is great, and large-animal marine life is ok but not necessary. Less current is better: we are certified Advanced divers, but don't really need or want every dive to be advanced.)
-trip-of-a-lifetime (I'm trying to plan a trip that we would never otherwise plan in terms of hotels we stay in, place we travel to, and cost)
-beautiful scenery and hopefully some other activities in addition to diving
-nightlife can be non-existent, we won't be going out partying

Again, we're going for 2 weeks. We're coming from the East Coast of the US. We'd like to visit 2 or 3 different places on our trip. We aren't looking to go on a liveaboard this time. We don't want to do the Caribbean or Hawaii.

Right now I'm thinking the Maldives or Tahiti because those are the two places that have the overwater bungalow hotel rooms and seem to have the other stuff too.

Any suggestions and opinions would be much appreciated!!!

 

[UnderwaterAsia]

A couple of places that come to mind that fit most of your criteria are Kapalai Resort, near Sipadan in Malaysia and Misool Eco Resort in Raja Ampat. On the downside, there are limited activities away from diving at both, but if you plan to travel around, they could fit in to your plans quite nicely.

 

[@sea]

In the Maldives it won’t be too difficult for you to find both resorts and liveaboards.
Resorts with Water bungalows are very common. So you will have many to choose from.
If you are planning to do both, a resort and a liveaboard. I would recommend you to start from the liveaboard. So that you will have the island to relax after the busy dive trip where you will be most of the time making 3 dives a day for at least 6 to 7 days.

Maldives is famous for its drift dives so do expect some strong currents on some of the dive sites.

But do make reservations in advance to make sure you get what you exactly choose.

Hope this helps
Happy dives

 

[mantajohn]

Between the Maldives & Tahiti - there is no bad option. it just depends on your preferences. i am a little biased as i have visited the Maldives many times & Tahiti only once. That mainly due to the relative accessibility from UK.

Tahiti is generally more sophisticated. It has a strong French influence (which i quite liked). You almost feel that every meal has been freshly flown in from Paris! In the better quality resorts, the over water bungalows can be fantastic. Glass floors over the reef - floodlit at night etc. They go the extra mile on 'honeymoon extras' eg replacing your duvet with a deep carpet of petals etc etc. Apologies but i didn't dive in Tahiti & so cannot comment on that.

The Maldives however have a much greater desert island effect. Each island (& most are v small) has only i hotel. The only people on the island are its guests & its staff. Very safe, secluded & tranquil. No need to do a liveaboard. Almost every resort has a dive centre running multiple dive trips each day -typically within 40 mins distance. Look for a resort with a house reef - great for night dives and snorkelling. Rooms, food, service & ambience can be great.

You have a choice of about 60 or even 90 islands (i've lost count). They range in quality from rustic/pleasant to '6*'. Some of the very luxurious resorts are charmless & somewhat lose the point of a desert island.

i hope this helps?

 

[Midget]

I'll also give a vote to Kapalai Resort in Sabah Malaysian Borneo. It is absolutely beautiful! Sipadan diving is far superior to the Similans. There is nothing to do but relax, dive, snorkel, and eat at Kapalai. However, there are many other above water activities elsewhere in Sabah.

 

[deepstops]

The crown of thorns have invaded the Society Islands and the coral in Bora Bora, Moorea, and Papeete was somewhat "underwhelming" IMO (visited in April 2009).

On the other hand, the there were plenty of sharks and other large sealife (but the coral was just sad to look at).

I haven't been to the Maldives so I can't comment about the diving there.

 

[mantajohn]

if you are considering the Maldives, check out the attached link. Its a UK Agent (so probably no use to you for reservations) but the site is great to compare/contrast different resorts.

Maldives Direct (ATOL6062) | Tailor-Made Luxury Holidays & Honeymoons | Call JIM The Expert

 

[gee13]

I have stayed the overwater bungalows in Sipadan Water Village Mabul, very good resort if you want to relax and get away rather than seeking nightlife. There are other luxury choices such as Kapalai and Mabul Water Bungalows (SMART). If your a keen diver Sipadan is one of the best up there, but just be wary that the diving is that good they have a permit system. It would cost you much less than Maldives or Tahiti.

 

[Polpessa]

I second the vote for Misool Eco Resort in West Papua, Indonesia...
They have the over-water bungalows, the amazing diving (the soft corals are stunning) and the beautiful scenery. The macro life is superb (the most plentiful pygmy seahorses I have ever seen for example) but there are also some larger creatures - occasional mantas, eagle rays, mobula rays and reef sharks as well as giant trevally, barracudas, mackerel etc.
Enjoy your honeymoon where ever you decide on!

 

[Tapas bali]

scubadive425
If you plan to visit 2-3 places for your 2 weeks honey moon trip, I would like to suggest Indonesia with the following itinerary:
- Arrival in Indonesia via North Sulawesi - Manado
- 4 nights stay at Gangga Island Resort (white sand beach island, great facilities for honeymooners) dive Bangka area
- Fly to Sorong
- 7 Nights stay & dive Raja Ampat with Misool Eco Resort (accommodation above the water as you requested)
- Fly back to Manado
- 3-4 Nights stay at Siladen Island Resort (same level of resort with Gangga but for Bunaken area)
Some land basis activities that can be done in Manado: Minahasan highland tour, Mahawu Short Trekking, White Water Rafting, Horse Back Riding, romantic seafood dinner at the restaurant that located on top of the sea.

PM me if you want to know more about the itinerary I suggested to you above.