Bora Bora? Belize? Elsewhere?

We're doing Bora Bora and Moorea. You may want to look at the island of Tahiti too. I went through a travel agent and after activities and food though it'll probably be closer to $13k. Good luck!

I won't be too much help, but Belize is on our list too. I spent 5 weeks there in 1999 doing a Tropical Biology field course so it was quite a long time ago and sleeping in a tent isn't quite so romantic as an overwater bungalow. I actually took out two books from the library on it that I haven't cracked.

Belize is super awesome! The culture is amazing and the people are amazing and they make the best beans and rice and rice and beans (that's two different dishes). Our base camp was an eco reserve (Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary) but we did travel to some amazing places. If you can check out Mountain Pine Ridge they have a huge cave up there called the Rio Frio Cave and in the same area are the Rio On pools. The Rio On Pools were amazing, google the images. If you have time its worth hopping the border into Guatemala and go see the Mayan ruins of Tikal. If not there are ruins in a few other places. I saw Tikal and Xunatunich. Caracol is there too but it had just been discovered back then. There is an eco lodge that does a bunch of cave tours. What I want to do is do some cave tubing. Google Caves Branch Jungle Lodge. They might have some nicer rooms as well.

Then we spent a couple weeks on the reef. We stayed in Caye Caulker and then on our own island on the turneffe atoll, calabash caye. I think that there was a resort on the next island on Blackbird caye. The snorkelling and SCUBA diving were amazing.

I know that you're after the tropical ocean paradise, but there are some other things worth seeing too. I hope that helps somewhat.

We did Rarotonga in June. Thatʻs their winter time in the south pacific so temperatures are not super warm, but not freezing either obviously so just make sure to check the weather

If youre interested in belize, you may want to check out costa rica. It is similar in cost and activities/things to do, but lots safer.

I don't know where you are flying from or what your HM budget is, but we are going to Maldives with all meals included and staying in an Overwater bungalow with a jacuzzi for ~$6,600 I believe (7 nights). Check out Meeru Island Resort and Spa. This was way less than many other resorts in Maldives. I actually originally wanted to go to Bora Bora but it seems that all inclusive does not exist there and I would be paying $10-15k easily so that trip will have to wait for me!

Oh I should have commented, we're staying for 11 nights, so if you stay less time then it may be cheaper than $10k. We're staying at the Intercontinental Hotel which includes breakfast but other meals and activities are extra. We're also flying from California so that made the flights a bit easier since we're flying direct.

@M&M, I'm so surprised there is that big of a cost difference between the Maldives and Bora Bora. I thought the Maldives would be at least the same if not more since it's so far away! You must have gotten an amazing deal on flights!

I think the problem with Bora Bora and Maldives, is the distance from the US. You can check Roatan, Honduras. It will be the closest to the bungalow experience you can get. Ive heard is an incredibly beautiful island. Hope it helps. Let us know what you decide

We stayed at the Hilton in Bora Bora. One thing that really helped was that we got the Hilton credit card which gave us free breakfast and wi-fi everyday. Traveling there is long, but it was amazing and would go back there in a heartbeat! We flew from Houston to Honolulu to Tahiti to Bora Bora. Next time we are going to fly from Houston to LA then to Tahiti. I'm not exactly sure how much we spent since I let DH take care of that for us.

These are amazing! Thank you for all your help! Please keep the ideas coming

I also found out about St. Lucia last night while looking some more. It looks like a beautiful place, but no overwater bungalows, though some of the properties looked gorgeous and more affordable.

Thank you again, everyone! Looking forward to more ideas and advice!

There are overwater bungalows in Panama... though not ultra luxurious like the ones in Tahiti and the Maldives.

We're planning ours for around 8k. We'll be staying in Prague for a month. Granted our only costs up front will be the suite for a month, airfare for 3(we're taking our daughter with us on the honeymoon) and a few tours that we're interested in. The hotel offers breakfast and we can't wait to try as many local eateries as possible while visiting. Also, my great grandparents live about 20 minutes from the hotel we're looking at and have offered to host a few dinners while we're there.

edit for grammar

Another thing we did for our Bora Bora trip was bring our own alcohol. I can't remember how much you can bring in, but you can google it. Customs there didn't even check our bags. We also went to the grocery store in Vaitape and picked up some snack food.

Sarah-- FYI Sandals has said it is going to build overwater bungalows in St. Lucia and Jamaica, but I have no idea where they are in terms of projected opening day.

Look for some groupons they have a lot of all inclusive trips.

FH and I spent a week in Placencia, Belize in early 2014. It is AMAZING there and we felt very safe. We stayed on an all-inclusive (Placencia Hotel and Residences), but took the hotel shuttle into town a few times. We loved it.

When we were there we heard about a resort that has private islands for rent. And the prices weren't crazy. I believe both islands have four cabanas, but they're over the water which is what you were looking for.

EDIT: Here is the link: http://www.robertsgrove.com/belize-private-islands

Pricing: http://www.robertsgrove.com/belize-private-island-vacations

I wanted to do Tahiti and Bora Bora, but yes costs were near $10,000. I worked with a couple travel agents for them to get my deals and prices. Since we will be wanting to get a house shortly after our wedding I didn't want to spend that much right now for our honeymoon. As other posters have said one of the biggest things with Bora Bora and Maldives (I checked into those as well) is the distance from the US. We live in NY and all of the packages priced from LAX, so I needed to do a flight to LA too.

I've been to Belize as a stop on a cruise. It was very nice with what we did, however our excursion was on a little island. When we got back to the ship and took a tender to Belize there wasn't a whole lot to do right in that area, but if you are on a resort it would be better! The water was perfect there. A couple of my other favorite stops that you could check into would be Grand Cayman and St. Kitts.

Before we decided on our honeymoon I was all of the place too. Try to narrow it down by a region. If price is a factor then you need to really focus on that. Go to a travel agent - they don't charge you, at least they should. Try AAA or any local agent in your area. Tell them you are starting to plan a honeymoon really not sure where you'd like to go and give them your budget. They will be able to recommend places. Good luck!

We went to Belize as well. Flights into Belize City are very reasonable. We hopped on a small plane and 15 minutes later were on Ambergris Caye. We stayed at Victoria House. I can't say enough wonderful things about the staff there. They have private casitas and a variety of packages. Tons to do - snorkel, scuba, Mayan ruins, etc.

I felt safe there. Although, they don't let you use the golf carts to get into town after 4pm. It is poor there, but people are friendly.

@HiH, I am flying out of NYC which makes Maldives closer and cheaper for me in terms of flights because I fly east from the east coast versus Bora Bora I'd have to fly west to California first and then go from there.