Ok need some outdoor board wisdom. I am getting married in early November. We want to get honeymoon at a resort/beach destination. I've been looking at Cozumel, Playa Del Carmen, Cabo type places. My fiancé had never been offshore and I would like to take her offshore if possible. Looking for a recommendation on an all-inclusive resort also a way to go offshore. I doubt we could afford a private charter for just the two of us, but I also don't wanna go on a huge party boat. I've done a party boat trip for snapper and wasn't real impressed. Thanks in advance.

Sandals Ochoa rios Jamaica. It was awesome on our honeymoon. Didn't go fishing though.

I went to Cozumel in November of 07 for my honeymoon. It rained almost the whole time we were there, but we didn't seem to mind. Snorkeling was good, not a lot of beaches unless you go south on the island. We stayed at Park Royal, all inclusive, which is the way to go. Can't help you with the offshore stuff, though.

Take a cruise out of Galveston and you've got your all inclusive and get to go off shore.

Costa Rica

I was married in 08 and went to Riviera Maya stayed at a place called El Dorado Royale. Got a luxury suite that had a personal hot tub and pool on the patio. It was great and a November wedding should make it affordable. They will set up a guided trip for you of you request it.

Is this the cute blonde in your FB photos? Any chance we can talk some sense into her before its too late?

I've been to Cozumel (we got married there 9 years ago), Playa del Carmen, Cabo, Costa Rica, and Jamaica. Depending on your budget I think Playa del Carmen or Cozumel are best bang for your buck and the prettiest placest for a honeymoon.

If you'd like me to recommend a couple of places let me know. We've been to over 15 Mexican resorts and feel like they are by far your best value and of course beautiful.

DVM

Hands down the El Dorado Casitas Royale in Riviera Maya. It's beautiful enough that the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders were staying there and shooting their 2012 swimsuit calendar in April.

Sean- yep and she's a lucky lady to find a class act like myself, ha!
DVM- I'd love some recommendations, I've never been further south in Mexico than Acuna, haha. I was looking at Costa Rica, Bahamas, jamaica. But Mexico looks to be alot closer to what I want to spend. Is there any good fishing out of Playa Del Carmen, Cozumel etc.?

If you want seclusion, priemer treatment and no over-commercialization, then it's British Virgin Islands (Tortolla, Virgin Gorda, etc)

[This message has been edited by Fido 96 (edited 5/16/2012 9:15p).]

dvm1997@gmail.com



DVM

For my honeymoon we went to Cabo San Lucas. It was OK but I don't think I would go back.

Went to Sandals Negril in February for a friend's wedding. It was awesome. Good food and I felt the communication with the staff at the resort was better than Cabo. I didn't go offshore but some people in our party did and they seemed to have a blast. It was nice for them because they were able to go through the resort to go fishing rather than find a charter along the beach.

San Pedro, Belize.
EOT

Going to Dominican republic on sat. I'll let you know

My wife and I got married on the beach in St. Thomas 12 years ago. It was perfect. We went offshore fishing at the famous North Drop with Capt. Red Bailey on the Abigail III while we were there. No billfish, but we caught bigeye and yellowfin tuna. Had them grilled up fresh. Good times!
I have fished and/or SCUBA'd Cabo, Kona, Oahu, Playa Del Carmen, St. Thomas, Cozumel, Aruba, Curacao, BVIs, Grand Cayman, and Boca Paila. I have also visited Jamaica, St. Lucia, Kauai, and Puerto Rico. I would recommend Hawaii or the British Virgin Islands. Best of luck!

[This message has been edited by TRIDENT (edited 5/17/2012 10:13a).]

Antigua, Cocos bay resort. We didn't want a crowded place. Only 15 to 20 Villas that over look the water, 365 beaches on the island. Great island, great people, cheap beer. If I had it to do over again the only thing I would change would be we would spend the first and last night in Puerto Rico and stay at Curtain beach, but we just couldn't afford it the first time around.

We stayed at the Rendezvous Resort in St. Lucia. First Class place and the scenery is unreal. You can book an offshore fishing trip through the resort. All inclusive and worth every penny!

The wife and I spent our's in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos and had an amazing time. Best water/beaches I've been to in the Caribbean and the bone fishing was spectacular.

I'm going to edit this because I didn't read enough into your post.

My recommendation for an all-inclusive place would be Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. You're going to pay just slightly more than going to Mexico, but you'll be safer there. Plus, the beach is a lot better.

[This message has been edited by adpotts (edited 5/17/2012 1:09a).]

Bookmarking for the morning. I have a lot
To say about Cozumel. I've gone every year for the past 15. I'm also planning a honeymoon for December. And I want to do all inclusive etc.

I've gone offshore in CZM before. I wish I hadnt spent so much time trolling for the "big stuff", cause when we moved shallow, tuna and snapper were popping lines like crazy! That was fun!

Quick note: I have never felt "unsafe" on CZM. My first trip there, I was 10 years old, if that helps you decide on safety.

I'll second the BVI suggestion. My wife and I spent our honeymoon on St. Thomas but the BVI were much more secluded. Plenty of boat charters available down there as well.

Ok, what the heck, I can't sleep anyway...

We're planning on saving as much money as possible for our honeymoon while still having a great time.

So far and unless something changes, we're going to stay at the Hotel Cozumel. It's nothing special, but it's clean and the staff is friendly and the food is good. It's a "dive resort" kinda. There are not a lot of other activities beside the regular nightly entertainment and sometimes day entertainment as well. There is not a real sand wash in beach. It's a cut out of the rocks with a multi level stair deal to get to the water. But above that is sand with palm trees and lounge chairs.

It's within walking distance to town if you ever want to visit the cigar shops or the sports bar (Aggie owned and operated, he posts on Texags somewhere too). (don't buy 'Cuban' cigars from street vendors, go to the shop that has the statue of Castro out front, I'm always happy with them).

For a 6 night stay in a junior suite it's going to run around 1500. Thats pretty budget IMO, if you email ahead and pay in full before you arrive, you save a substantial amount of money, FYI.

We always dive with "Dive with Martin". My family kinda helped start the operation with the late Martin. They can provide gear for you for free as well.

In regard to fishing, I believe DWM also has someone they work with. To put it frankly, if DWM trusts them, I would to, but that's just how I feel with them.

I have also stayed at the Fiesta Americana, the Allegro, the Iberostar, and something else I cant recall at the moment.

Fiesta Americana has no real beach and a poor excuse for a pretend beach, it's basically a pier. The rooms will be nicer than hotel Cozumel. Think newer higher quality entertainment centers etc. Far from town, would need a taxi.

Allegro and Iberostar have great beaches are pretty darn nice. However they charge per day that someone picks you up at their piers. Pretty damn stupid if you ask me. but the rooms are great! Pretty far from town, you would need a taxi if you wanted to get there.

Went to Grand Cayman this past summer for my sister in laws wedding. Place was awesome. I have also been to CZM about 10 years ago and had a blast there as well. Can't help you on the fishing but the diving and snorkling in Cayman was the best.

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Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve.

Punta Cana- Iberostar Grand. Was there in March for my honeymoon. 6 nights and we only left the resort once and that was for a snorkeling trip. Pretty awesome.

http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=2086633&forum_id=54

I did the Sandals Negril on the west side of Jamaica. Gorgeous beaches and great sunsets for a honeymoon. Plenty of fishing charters leave out of there.

Wife and I did Nanuya Island Resort in Fiji.

Can't recommend it enough.

Capella Pedregal in Cabo. Every room has its own private pool. Think about the implications of that for a honeymoon. Really, just give it a second to set in.

Our favorite is the Riviera Maya area of Mexico(South of Cancun). There are lots of good places to choose from. Just check out all the websites for prices, and tripadvisor.

We last stayed at the Excellence several years ago, and thought it was great. Truly 5 star accomodations, perfect beaches, and they even had shows every night, with locals doing various acts that were pretty good. Johnny Knoxville was there vacationing with his friends too.

We typically plan to spend a set amount. That set amount got us 5 * resorts in the Riveria Maya and 3* resorts elsewhere like Cabo San Lucas and Aruba. (That was a few years ago now.) It's also a quick flight out of Houston. We'd go more frequently if we didn't have small children at home.

Full disclosure: My wife is a Mexican national, and everyone treats us like locals when she talks. Before the drug violence got bad, we used to take buses to go walk around villages and even downtown areas. And it felt a lot safer than doing that in the US. We're a lot more careful now, but the resorts still seem fairly safe, especially the all-inclusive ones.

Royal Hideaway all-inclusive in Playacar is on a different level from any resort we've stayed at. I highly recommend it.

My wife and I went to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos and stayed at the Veranda Resort. I would highly recommend this. There is only a couple of all-inclusive hotels in Turks and Caicos.

I am also getting married in November. We just booked our honeymoon to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (Iberostar Grand Bavaro).

As others have said, Riviera Maya is awesome. We stayed at the Eldorado Royal Casitas last summer. We wanted to go somewhere different, and the travel agent suggested Punta Cana.

plus 1 for above

Willie you will have a great time. I loved the resort. Only negative at all was the airport on the way back. We got there 2 hrs early and just got to the gate as boarding started. Then Miami was Miami.

I took 200 in ones and fives for tips and always had great service. If I were you I'd call a week ahead of time and book a restaurant reservation each night since those are kinda a pita. Then if you don't want to go, cancel it day of and go to the buffet (which was awesome).