Honeymoon Recommendations?

[BurnItDwn]

Branson, MO.

I will tell my fiance this suggestion, others have compared it to Niagra Falls!

 

[Jeeebus]

I'm still suggesting French Polynesia. 8 hr flight from LA. Plenty of adventure. Plenty of lounging around. Exotic beautiful locale and very safe.

And sexing your wife up from the private porch of your over water bungalow while the Tahitian moon shines down on you is a pretty cool memory.

 

[Jeeebus]

Oh and given that I've gone to Disney 8 or so times with the kids the last three years... please, for the love of all things good and holy in this world do not go to Disney on your honeymoon. I will smile and congratulate you when I see you with your Mickey 'just married' ears on, but on the inside I will definitely be judging you.

 

[dullard]

Thanks for all of the recommendations. To give a little more detail...

I'll revise my suggestion above (Zimbabwe) with your new information. Now I'd say consider Cape Town South Africa. There is a Starwood hotel there. You can scuba dive and surf there (tons of sharks and shipwrecks). The food is fantastic and there is good shopping.

Here are some mild adventure tasks in or very near Cape Town (pictures of me included of course):
1) Swim with penguins (the only penguins in Africa): http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/dullard/S_Africa_Penguins.JPG

2) Boat ride to seal island and shipwrecks: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/dullard/S_Africa_Seals.JPG

3) Cape Town is in fantastic wine country. With several great places for daytrips for food / wine / petting cheetahs, etc. http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/dullard/S_Africa_Cheetah.JPG

4) Cape point is a beautiful drive/hike. http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/dullard/S_Africa_Indian.JPG

Relax at Kommetjie a beach town a few minutes south of Cape Town. If you are there at the right time of year, whales are nearby.

More adventurous people will hike up and/or repel down table mountain. It is beautiful up there even if you just take the cable car. Or, stay in a shanty town for a night.

 

[randomrogue]

Cape Town and South Africa is great fun and lots of adventure but I wouldn't call it romantic at all. I highly recommend going there but I'm skeptical about it being a honeymoon destination. Think of Cape Town as something similar to the San Francisco Bay Area but add in a lot more poverty and ghettos. I wouldn't take my wife to Napa for our Honeymoon anymore than I would take her to Cape Town. With that said it's a great spot to go for vacation if you're the active type.

 

[dullard]

Cape Town and South Africa is great fun and lots of adventure but I wouldn't call it romantic at all. I highly recommend going there but I'm skeptical about it being a honeymoon destination. Think of Cape Town as something similar to the San Francisco Bay Area but add in a lot more poverty and ghettos. I wouldn't take my wife to Napa for our Honeymoon anymore than I would take her to Cape Town. With that said it's a great spot to go for vacation if you're the active type.

It fits his criteria: fewer tourists, natural beauty, unique, wildlife, a range of activities, land and sea activities, Starwood hotel, and price point. He even mentioned Africa in his first post.

I may have missed it, but he never mentioned romantic. If he said romantic then I'd send him to Positano (and the rest of the Amalfi coast) in Italy.

One note: the weather needs to be considered. If it is a July/August wedding, it would be the middle of winter in Africa. Africa never gets that cold and winter is best for viewing wildlife. But chilly weather might not be his fiancée's idea of an ideal honeymoon.

 

[randomrogue]

Fair enough. Then let me recommed a couple things along with Cape Town and Stellenbouch.

Gainsbai for Great White Sharks. It's cheap.

St Lucia for the wetland park, the hippos on the river, and easy access to Influzi.

The Amphitheater for the Drakensburg Mountains

If I was a couple I'd go up to Oodtshoorn. Good hiking and there's a place you stay there that has an outdoor bathtub you can just warm up with firewood.

I liked Wilderness. Good surfing at Victoria Bay (even if you just watch) and some great hiking trails.

Stormsriver had a great park there. Really great. Give it a few days. You can also do the world's highest bungee jump there which was fantastic and highly recommended.

I think you'll be there in time for the Sardine Run. It's on my bucketlist. If you want a vacation you'll never forget do this. It's by Port Edward. This is the largest animal migration on earth.

There's some good diving. You can do Sodwana Bay, Alisol Shoal, and there's some blue dives by Cape Town with 6 gill sharks. Not to mention the Tiger Shark diving but I think you'll be out of season.

There's sand dune surfing somewhere but I never did it.

There's also Kruger.

 

[skimple]

New Zealand

Auckland up to Bay Of Islands for a few days
Couple of Ddys in Rotorua
Cross over to Christchurch
End up in Queenstown with day trips to Milford Sound and Franz Josef Glacier

Its not a beach honeymoon, but in 15 years we've never once heard "oh yeah - we went there" when someone asks us where we went on our honeymoon.

And we met some Aussies that we still keep in touch with!