Honeymoon advice...

As a lurker I know you all get this a lot, so apologies in advance.

It may be early, but our honeymoon is going to be the first week of August
in '05. Neither of us have been to the Bahamas, Grand Cayman, or that area
at all. We did dive Cozumel this January and loved it, but I'm looking for
someplace new.

I'm leaning towards Grand Cayman, but could be talked out of it. Ideally I
prefer dive sites to island features. I'd also like to go all-inclusive
just to make the honeymoon as care-free as possible.

So a few questions...

Can you all recommend your favorite resorts and how you booked them?
Which dive sites are your favorites?
Are there any dive shops that are head and shoulders above the rest?
If not Grand Cayman, where else?

I'd really appreciate any help you all can provide.

Feel free to email me at tomhawver@N.O.S.P.A.MhotmailN.O.S.P.A.M.com
(remove the N.O.S.P.A.M

Thanks,
Tom

Tom,

It doesn't matter much where you go. Find a place you can remember as
paradise. Take lots of sun screen. Pre-tan a little bit before you go at
least. The worst thing in the world to remember from your honeymoon is
"Don't touch me!!!!" You hear enough of that later in your marriage. :)

You can't triple-stamp a double-stamp, Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid>!!!
You can't triple-stamp a double stamp!!!

> Tom,
>
> It doesn't matter much where you go. Find a place you can remember as
> paradise. Take lots of sun screen. Pre-tan a little bit before you
> go at least. The worst thing in the world to remember from your
> honeymoon is "Don't touch me!!!!" You hear enough of that later in
> your marriage. :)
>
>
>

That may be the best advice I'll ever get!

Tom

"Tom Hawver" <thawver@NOSPAM.kc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:Xns954EE3D1D93BthawverNOSPAMNOkcrrc@24.94.170 .87...

> I'm leaning towards Grand Cayman, but could be talked out of it. Ideally I
> prefer dive sites to island features. I'd also like to go all-inclusive
> just to make the honeymoon as care-free as possible.

You should be talked out of it. I like Grand Cayman, but it might be a tad
over-built for romance, at least in the Seven Mile Beach/Georgetown area,
and you can certainly find better diving. If you are going with GC, try the
East End for better diving and a bit more seclusion. The nice thing about
GC is that you can have your carefree Caribbean vacation with all the
amenities and service you'd expect back home. It's hardly a laid-back
Caribbean island. Electricity functions 24 hours a day, all the roads are
paved, and you can even drink the tap water. Best bet for honeymooning the
Caymans would probably be Little Cayman or Cayman Brac, but I can't advise
you on specifics there.

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 05:59:33 GMT, Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> wrote:

>Tom,
>
>It doesn't matter much where you go. Find a place you can remember as
>paradise. Take lots of sun screen. Pre-tan a little bit before you go at
>least. The worst thing in the world to remember from your honeymoon is
>"Don't touch me!!!!" You hear enough of that later in your marriage. :)
>
Make sure only one of you gets sunburned on your back. Otherwise, get
a chair.
--
dillon

When I was a kid, I thought the angel's name was Hark
and the horse's name was Bob.

I would advise against a locale with topless/nude beaches on your
Honeymoon. Your new wife will apreciate you concentrating on her assets
completely. After the warranty period, then anything goes!

Bart F.

Tom Hawver wrote:

> As a lurker I know you all get this a lot, so apologies in advance.
>
> It may be early, but our honeymoon is going to be the first week of August
> in '05. Neither of us have been to the Bahamas, Grand Cayman, or that area
> at all. We did dive Cozumel this January and loved it, but I'm looking for
> someplace new.

It would be easier for folks to give advice if you told us what you
like/don't like in a vacation/honeymoon. August is going to be very hot
in the caribbean and is also the start of tropical storm season, so you
might give thought to that in choosing a location. Look for access to
shady spots and air conditioning for sure. The southern caribbean seems
to escape the worst of the storms, but this is one thing you can never
really plan for.

If you enjoyed the "activity level" in Cozumel, you may enjoy Grand
Cayman as well. Expect your dollar not to go very far, especially in
regards to eating out, but food is very good across the board. Expect
the DMs to be more "hands off" than Coz. There are several decent shore
dives to be had and most boat diving will require you to swim to and
from the boat rather than being "picked up" as in Coz. For basically
dive oriented vacations in the caribbean, I prefer Cozumel or Bonaire
(shore diving freedom!) to Grand Cayman for myself. For a honeymoon
Caymans would win out over Bonaire, however.

For a more upscale, seclusive, romantic honeymoon setting and a
top-rated hotel/spa type of facility, take a look at St. Lucia (if your
pocketbook is not stunned by the rates, that is). The island is very
beautiful and lush. I dove the house reef, did a boat dive and ate a
very nice lunch here, but didn't stay at the resort during Christmas
holiday in 2000. Expect very guided dives with the nicer dive sites
located around the Pitons.
http://www.ansechastanet.com/default2.html

My last dive vacation was a rented house with a pool, and equipped with
a cistern in case the piped in water got shut off. It was walking
distance to a "town" on an island that didn't even have a pharmacy, let
alone "shopping" and that had torn up all their roads to lay underground
utilities making driving in town impossible. The island was located off
the big island of Puerto Rico. The beach was secluded and just
gorgeous, and dives were enjoyable as well. The car rental guy hand drew
a map for us and gave us a quickie tour of the island in his car. We
had a great and relaxing stay far from traffic and crowds, but it's
probably not most peoples idea of a great vacation spot. The biggest
negatives were that boat diving was expensive, and the rooster out back
thought mornings happen before 4am. How does something that little have
a voice that carries so well?

Tom Hawver <thawver@NOSPAM.kc.rr.com> pounded away at his keyboard
resulting in:
:I'm leaning towards Grand Cayman, but could be talked out of it. Ideally I
refer dive sites to island features. I'd also like to go all-inclusive
:just to make the honeymoon as care-free as possible.

Go on a liveaboard dive boat. Doesn't get more carefree than that.

I did my honeymoon on the Sun Dancer in Palau. On my last trip, one
of the other couples on the Fiji Aggressor II was on their honeymoon.

Dan Bracuk
If at first you don't succeed, you run the risk of failure.
The Best of rec.scuba http://www.pathcom.com/~bracuk/RecScuba/


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Dan Bracuk wrote:
>
> Tom Hawver <thawver@NOSPAM.kc.rr.com> pounded away at his keyboard
> resulting in:
> :I'm leaning towards Grand Cayman, but could be talked out of it. Ideally I
> refer dive sites to island features. I'd also like to go all-inclusive
> :just to make the honeymoon as care-free as possible.
>
> Go on a liveaboard dive boat. Doesn't get more carefree than that.
>
> I did my honeymoon on the Sun Dancer in Palau. On my last trip, one
> of the other couples on the Fiji Aggressor II was on their honeymoon.

How much, um, privacy is there on those boats? That might be a factor
in choosing a honeymoon locale.

Gordon in Austin

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 09:56:14 -0500, rwjg40
<identity.available@upon.request> wrote:

>Dan Bracuk wrote:
>>
>> Tom Hawver <thawver@NOSPAM.kc.rr.com> pounded away at his keyboard
>> resulting in:
>> :I'm leaning towards Grand Cayman, but could be talked out of it. Ideally I
>> refer dive sites to island features. I'd also like to go all-inclusive
>> :just to make the honeymoon as care-free as possible.
>>
>> Go on a liveaboard dive boat. Doesn't get more carefree than that.
>>
>> I did my honeymoon on the Sun Dancer in Palau. On my last trip, one
>> of the other couples on the Fiji Aggressor II was on their honeymoon.
>
>How much, um, privacy is there on those boats? That might be a factor
>in choosing a honeymoon locale.

"oh god Hank, stop! oh oh oh"
That from the cabin next door.

Of course, I was in a motel where the couple next door were going at
it for hours. I finally banged on the wall and shout "make her come!"

Didn't help.
>
>Gordon in Austin

--
dillon

When I was a kid, I thought the angel's name was Hark
and the horse's name was Bob.