Anneversary trip ideas

[Proteus]

So mama bear and I are going to get away. Half anneversary half honey moon

Looking for ideas on where you have been. (Tropical)

So far I'm caught on fiji, or Tahiti/bora bora

[Myka]

The other half and I visited Kauai, Hawaii this past April. I wasn't too excited about going to Hawaii of all places to see, but it was a really great trip. It would be a wonderful anniversary/honeymoon island. The pace is slow. If you like hiking there is the Napali Coast which is absolutely incredible and some stunning helicopter tours too. It's called The Garden Isle for a reason.

Hawaii is a bit pricier to visit, but with the dollar on par it is a good time to go.

[Proteus]

I'd be game for that. I'm more into gardening than reefing so I'm sure the hiking would be awesome. I will honestly say that I was never crazy about the idea of Hawaii

Only thing is I don't care for crowds of people.
Thanks

[Myka]

Crap I hit the back button and deleted my message...grrr.

We went to Kauai at the end of April and we didn't see any crowds anywhere. It was later in the season though. Kauai is definitely the most relaxed of the islands though. The big islands are very, very busy. Kauai was definitely not what I was expecting Hawaii to be like. There are 3 botanical gardens on Kauai as well which are all worth seeing. One is quite naturally laid out, the other much more tended, and the third is in between. There are several snorkeling areas, especially at the north end near Tunnels beach...lots of shallow reef. We went on a snorkel tour that took us out to swim with Green Sea Turtles and also found this underwater ridge off the coast that was teeming with fish that was super cool to see too. The lady who runs that tour is a marine biologist (aka fun to talk to!). Kauai is also known for the underwater volcanic caves if you're into SCUBA.

You can drive up to the highest point on Kauai which is 5400 ft if I remember correctly and also the wettest place on Earth with 400 inches of rain per year. It is absolutely stunning up there with amazing views and lush rainforest. The south coast is quite warm and quite dry, very sandy there. Only 10% of the island can be seen by land, the other 90% is only accessible via helicopter because the breathtaking straight up and down ravines and ridges are too steep to climb. They are covered in green plants and have waterfalls all over them. When we flew into those mountains the walls were maybe 50' away on each side and the ground a couple thousand feet below! Words can't describe. The Napali Coast (the west coast) is only accessible via boat or hiking. The trail has I believe 58 km of trail, and countless beaches and waterfalls.

http://www.napali.com/na_pali_coast/

I suggest you don't look at too many pictures of wherever your destination will be. Seeing things in person is always way more amazing than pictures, but sometimes pictures ruin the surprise!

Kauai is the setting for many big movie, most recently The Descendants, but most famously the Jurassic Park Falls (at the beginning of the movie).

[Proteus]

I'm def into that. I'll talk to the boss. All she wants is sand and rum. Lol

Thanks for that. I'm interested now

[Myka]

You're welcome!

I'm into gardening too, not as much as reefing, but I really enjoy gardens and garden tours. I really enjoyed checking out all the many Orchids growing "wild" (outside is wild to me haha) in the botanical gardens. Kauai is a perfect destination for a garden lover.

Let me know if you go there, I will give you contact info for the snorkel tour, and give you the low down on the different areas to visit. The island is small enough you can do a pretty good job exploring it by the seat of your pants too.

PLUS, you can go to Snorkel Bob's and berate him for trying to shut down the aquarium fish collectors.

[saltcreep]

You will find that Fiji is a bit cheaper than French Polynesia. Most nice places are all-inclusive where with FP meals will generally be an addition. I haven't been to FP, but I have been to Fiji. My honeymoon was there and both places were in the running.

A lot depends on what your budget is and what you are wanting to do. There are great places in Fiji in both the Yasawa Island group and the Mamanuca Island group. Both island groups are off the main island of Viti Levu where you fly into (Nadi). The northern island, Vanau Levu, is where the majority of the great diving is. It'll be more expensive and takes a little more effort to get there.

There are lots of great places and things to do.

[Delphinus]

Kauai is great, I really loved it there. Very much less developed than the other islands and not many people. I found it much cooler though than other islands, they do have a bit of seasonal variation more so than the others (mostly on account of the rain). The rain itself is actually pretty neat: it rained every day while I was there but usually not more than 20 minutes at a time in a raging torrent and then the sun would come out. You can't have all that green without some way to keep it green. But when I was there (in February/March) I think the warmest it ever got was around 23-24. It is warmer in the summer months.

Going back to the Big Island this year though. I've now been to Maui, Kauai and the Big Island and they are all great places and each has their own unique character and charm - but I found that 2 weeks was nowhere near enough to explore the Big Island and so I'm going back. Plus the diving was nothing short of spectacular off the Kona coast. Just to give you an idea, one of the guys I dove with, ran his own dive shop in Oahu and for his own dive vacations he chooses to dive at Kona.

[MarkoD]

My parents are going on the oasis of the seas next week for their 25th

[Proteus]

Well we are going to see a agent on sat. I also asked the wife about Costa Rica but she's worried about crap she sees on tv ( locked up abroad) haha. There no govt warning there

Apparently there rain forest is untouched and the sea is calmer than the gulf