Hawaii V Mexico for honeymoon

dmm82

Hi all, we are planning our honeymoon and had kind of decided on Boston, San Francisco and Hawaii however our travel agent has said Los Cabos in Mexico could be better value for money with a nicer hotel and an all inclusive package for around the same price as a room hotel hotel in Hawaii. She also mentioned flight times were shorter to Mexico.

Has anyone experienced either of these? Any info on either would be great!!

OU812

Haven't experienced either, but would pick Hawaii in a heartbeat.

Cabos is a real party town & depending in when you go could be over run by spring breakers

Jogathon

Have been to South coast of Mexico, Puerto Escondida and it was fantastic..surfy town and theMexicans are a great fun and friendly people. Was in Mexico City, loved les Pyramides, and stayed in Cancun for the last few nights of the holiday and loved it too...beachy, luxurious, and great nightlife but very touristy. I haven't ever been to Los Cabos though.

Also loved Hawaii, when on Oahu found the North Shore to be gorgeous, quiet and unspoilt...definitely worth spending a few days there for the romance!! Waikiki Beach was very touristy but great fun with good nightlife and fab restaurants. Then, when in Maui I found it too windy to sunbathe on the beach, but there are some seriously luxurious hotels that you could stay in for your honeymoon. My sis stayed in the Hilton for hers and just loved it.

Flight times were long in both cases! We stopped in Atlanta for Mexico, and stopped a tour of the west coast before flying on Hawaii.

pwurple

Not been to los cabos, but cancun and mexico city. Both fab places, we have friends there, stayed with them rather than a hotel. i loved it, defo on my list to go back to, was only 2 weeks there, was living in LA at the time, so flights weren't a big deal. Loads to do, weather was great. Bit if spanish is handy.

Hawaii, I spent a month in total there. Oahu, spent one week there, seems pretty touristy, but very much set up for it. We were on the west side by Pearl Harbour... Went down to waikiki as well. Very built up, like any american beach resort. Maui, I spent most of my time there. Loved it. Stunning, very lush. Loads to do there, the volcano Haleakela was like being on the moon, stunning beaches, jungle. Amazing place. Been to the big island (hawaii itself), very mountainous. Gorgeous as well. No language probs on hawaiian islands.

I got the impression that hawaii is safer for tourists than mexico, but both are pretty safe as worldwide travel goes.

I would easily recommend both places as destinations. What your hotels are like is up to you, some people love the luxury of all inclusive, others feels restricted by it. It's all up to what you prefer.

What a nice decision to be making! Enjoy!

dmm82

Thanks everyone, think we've settled on Hawaii, just seems to be so much to see and do

Next decision is which of the islands to go to! Would really like to get to at least two of them but would there be enough time in a week/ ten days?

cycnus

we went to maui.
Its a really small, relaxed, laid back sort of place. If you are going there, remember. its pretty small. So you can probably see the whole island in just a few days. Theres all the usual stuff to do, surfing, scuba, etc. Plus some nice scenic walks with waterfalls, a volcano which you can cycle or drive up and down, but its 3000m up, so it takes a while. We actually started with a trip to vegas, and finished with maui.
We spent 9 days on the island. Too much if you are the adventurous kind. But probably ok if you just want to sunbathe. hope this helps

pwurple

dmm82 wrote: »

Thanks everyone, think we've settled on Hawaii, just seems to be so much to see and do

Next decision is which of the islands to go to! Would really like to get to at least two of them but would there be enough time in a week/ ten days?

You will be landing in and out of honolulu anyway, so might as well see some of Oahu. I second Maui, spend most of your time there.

Chocoholic84

+1 for Maui - it was our fave! Do the road to Hana...it's certainly an experience! Probably the slowest you'll drive in your whole life
Did snorkelling for the first time there, which was brilliant. Also, we went up Mount Haleakala...it's truly amazing! Sunrise is beautiful. Also, for something to do in the evening, Warren & Annabelle's Magic Show is great! (if staying around Lahaina)

The Big Island is also great - we went to Volcano, which is where the Volcano National Park (stayed in Bamboo Orchid Cottage, which is a B&b close by and it was amazing, out of all the 4 and 5* places we stayed during the honeymoon, this was half the price and way more impressive...the breakfasts!! and 4 poster bed! Blisssssss :-)) and it's very impressive Here, we also did a tour to Mauna Kea - it's the higest point in the state of Hawaii, and saw sunset there, also did some stargazing. Very cool!
Punaluu Black Sand Beach is great as well...

We went to 3 out of the 4 islands - Maui, Big Island and Oahu - and spent 4 nights in each. Oahu, we stayed in Waikiki which has some fab beaches and shops...2 nights was probably enough tbh as we didn't find it that great in terms of stuff to do etc...apart from Pearl Harbour.

PS. You will most definitely need a car!

TAPA2012

I would suggest some off the beaten track places like Jeju island south Korea, okinawa island Japan, Indonesia.......Less commerical and unxplored places would be what I would go for.......Thinking of Okinawa for my honeymoon!

Corkbah

dmm82 wrote: »

Hi all, we are planning our honeymoon and had kind of decided on Boston, San Francisco and Hawaii however our travel agent has said Los Cabos in Mexico could be better value for money with a nicer hotel and an all inclusive package for around the same price as a room hotel hotel in Hawaii. She also mentioned flight times were shorter to Mexico.

Has anyone experienced either of these? Any info on either would be great!!

I cant say anything about Mexico - apart from the couple of hours I spent in Tijuana I didn't explore the place and basically have no experience of it.

Hawaii ... myself and the OH visited in 2009 (Sept) .... (Car rental is a must in my opinion)
We flew Toronto (went down to Niagara) and back up to fly to san fran.

San Fran (Golden Gate, Bus Tour and general wandering)...would have loved more time here.

Hawaii (Big Island - managed to do an illegal tour which had us 20foot from flowing lava - when we looked down at our feet you could see the glow underneath ...cool and freaky, did a helicopter tour over the volcano and general relaxing, we flew into Hilo which is not a very touristy side of the island but still enjoyable)

Hawaii (Maui) ...stayed in Lahaina...did the road to Hana, relaxed on the beaches, snorkelled, (highly recommend the snorkelling), visited Turtle Bay (get up close to actual turtles in the sea)....swim alongside them (great for photos), sunsets are amazing but quite fast (in Seotember they were around 8pm) and once the sun sets ...the place (Lahaina) is almost dead...not a whole lot happening at night....everyone is up early though...I would recommend snorkelling and diving around here (I did a tank dive in the aquarium ...in a shark tank..great experience, but you need to be open water certified to do it and need to book well in advance)

Las Vegas - we stopped off here for a few days after Maui (scared a few people by putting up facebook pics "just mauied") - completely different pace to life from extremely relaxed to ...everything's hopping ...Vegas is great though, we visited the and canyon, got a show in, did some shopping and gambling, we stayed in the Bellagio.

New York.... spent another few days wandering new york, booked and went up into the crown of the statue of liberty, went to the rocker feller centre, visited ground zero and more shopping.

all that in a month ... we've heard others did similar for their honeymoon or did the west coast of USA (Vegas, LA, San Fran), were getting married in August this year and looking at Cook islands Raratonga, Akitaki and Moorea (pacific Islands)

NOTE: Hawaii is expensive...but worth it.

if you want to chill out and relax or do stuff Hawaii (Maui) would be my recommendation - but its best to explore the islands see what the less commercial islands have to offer.

old hippy

dmm82 wrote: »

Thanks everyone, think we've settled on Hawaii, just seems to be so much to see and do

Next decision is which of the islands to go to! Would really like to get to at least two of them but would there be enough time in a week/ ten days?

We spent around 2 weeks on Oahu, Big Island and Kawai. If I had to chose; it would be the Big Island simply because of the trips to Mauna Kea and the volcano. We stayed in Hilo which has an awesome outdoor market and rains a bit much

Some of the local Hawaiian beers are worth checking out, too!

Honolulu is ok but very, very touristy. If you do go, get a bus out and see Pearl Harbour, highly recommend it.

80s Child

Wow!
May I ask, how much are you talking here, cash wise? We're thinking something similar and just want an idea.

Cheers

Corkbah wrote: »

I cant say anything about Mexico - apart from the couple of hours I spent in Tijuana I didn't explore the place and basically have no experience of it.

Hawaii ... myself and the OH visited in 2009 (Sept) .... (Car rental is a must in my opinion)
We flew Toronto (went down to Niagara) and back up to fly to san fran.

San Fran (Golden Gate, Bus Tour and general wandering)...would have loved more time here.

Hawaii (Big Island - managed to do an illegal tour which had us 20foot from flowing lava - when we looked down at our feet you could see the glow underneath ...cool and freaky, did a helicopter tour over the volcano and general relaxing, we flew into Hilo which is not a very touristy side of the island but still enjoyable)

Hawaii (Maui) ...stayed in Lahaina...did the road to Hana, relaxed on the beaches, snorkelled, (highly recommend the snorkelling), visited Turtle Bay (get up close to actual turtles in the sea)....swim alongside them (great for photos), sunsets are amazing but quite fast (in Seotember they were around 8pm) and once the sun sets ...the place (Lahaina) is almost dead...not a whole lot happening at night....everyone is up early though...I would recommend snorkelling and diving around here (I did a tank dive in the aquarium ...in a shark tank..great experience, but you need to be open water certified to do it and need to book well in advance)

Las Vegas - we stopped off here for a few days after Maui (scared a few people by putting up facebook pics "just mauied") - completely different pace to life from extremely relaxed to ...everything's hopping ...Vegas is great though, we visited the and canyon, got a show in, did some shopping and gambling, we stayed in the Bellagio.

New York.... spent another few days wandering new york, booked and went up into the crown of the statue of liberty, went to the rocker feller centre, visited ground zero and more shopping.

all that in a month ... we've heard others did similar for their honeymoon or did the west coast of USA (Vegas, LA, San Fran), were getting married in August this year and looking at Cook islands Raratonga, Akitaki and Moorea (pacific Islands)

NOTE: Hawaii is expensive...but worth it.

if you want to chill out and relax or do stuff Hawaii (Maui) would be my recommendation - but its best to explore the islands see what the less commercial islands have to offer.

funstuff

Anybody been to Kauai - Going in August and looking for recommendations.

old hippy

funstuff wrote: »

Anybody been to Kauai - Going in August and looking for recommendations.

Check out Waimea Canyon State Park. A fantastic gorge, like a mini Grand Canyon, if you like. Take a tour out on a boat to see the amazing Na Pali cliffs. If you're lucky, you might see dolphins, as well.

LCD

Been to Big Island 3 times, amazing & small enough to travel around. Kona completely different to Hilo. Night life is non existent in Kona, but lovely restaurants. Don't know your dates but avoid Big Island first 2 weeks in October. Big event in Kona, road closures, prices of everything shoot up.

rok

pwurple wrote: »

You will be landing in and out of honolulu anyway, so might as well see some of Oahu. I second Maui, spend most of your time there.

Depending on the airline you choose you can fly direct in and out of Maui / Kauai (thats what we did) so you can skip Oahu altogether if you prefer to visit the other islands.


OP you might get more suggestions if you post this on the Travel forum.

funstuff

Cheers lads - heading to honolulu (waikiki) for 5 nights, 3 nights in Kauai and 6 nights in Vegas