Honeymoon ideas under $2500, Also is that possible for Napa valley ca or Oahu Hawaii ?

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Which resort did you go to? Thanks!

I wanna go to Hawaii super bad for my honeymoon but EVERYONE I've mentioned it to tells me that it's astronomically expensive.

View Quoted Comment I'm real curious because we are planning on going to Oahu. I researched hotels and flights for the 2 of us for 4-5 days and it was around $2500. I keep hearing it is so exapensive but I dont see it. How long was your trip?

View Quoted Comment Oahu has alot to do for tourists but everyone I know who has been there says its super crowded, touristy and basically florida. I really wanted to go to Maui because it is more nature focused and perfect for people who like to hike and be outdoors. There is more free stuff to do. Maui is supposedly more expensive than Oahu is. I dont know how true this is, I havent been to Oahu.

Food in Hawaii is more expensive than you think, everything is because they have to fly all those items in. Everything costs twice as much. I read online to expect $25 a meal alone.

I think the biggest expense are airline tickets and lodging. After that, don't buy $300 helicopter tours and $100 luau tickets and you should be able to manage a trip at $3,000. If you are renting at a resort or hotel or a place with a ocean view expect to pay extra! Going to Hawaii on a budget is definitely possible but even saving what you can, I wouldn't expect to go cheaper than $3000.

Keep in mind, you can also shorten your trip to afford it. However, the flight will be so long you loose a day!

For expenses, are you including your car rental? It's also tough to find airplane tickets anywhere cheaper than $1,200 for two. And dont forget state tax!
Airbnb is more expensive than you think. Every host charges a cleaning fee, service fee, and this doesn't even include the Hawaii 14% tax!

Is this what your budget looks like?5 days in Oahu for two people

Car-200 (guess, depends what car you get and how many days)

Airplane-1,200 (cheapest, most likely it will be more)

Food-500 ($50/day per person for 2 meals)

Groceries-200 (sunblock, toilet paper, breakfeast, ect.)

Activities-300

Lodging- $700 =rent for$500 (100/day) +cleaning fee, service fee, hawaii tax

=$3100 total

Assumptions

You got the cheapest possible flight at 1,200 (unlikely unless you go off season)
This is assuming you are making your own breakfast. Meals in Hawaii are usually about $25 a person a meal. so expect $50 a person a day if you make breakfast.You also are losing an entire day when you fly to Hawaii so you are really only there for 4 days.

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Taxes are really high in Hawaii. You pay 14% for lodging. Add in cleaning fees and service fees and suddenly your lodging gets a lot more expensive! You can cut expenses by going fewer days but for the airplane ticket cost it doesn't seem worthwhile. And the fact you lose a day traveling to Hawaii.

MAUI

After reading other comments my goal was $3,500 for tickets.

I ended up WAaaaay above that. $5000 is more realistic for Maui Hawaii.

But to be fair my husband chose a more expensive car to rent, and our plane tickets prices went up. We also chose a place right across from the beach which cost more. We sacrificed having the perfect beach view thou.

Week long trip

$1,600 for two plane tickets (about $800 each person round trip)

$1,200 for lodgings (more info below)-airbnb

$400 for car rental

$700 for food ($50 a person a day is $100 a day. we made our own breakfast each day. got eggs and sausage at store and made them at the kitchen in the place we rented.We assumed each meal would be $25 a person in Hawaii).

$300 for activities (We did mostly free hiking on hana road for two days, one day just at the beach snorkeling. So we really only needed snorkel gear, entrance to garden fees and aquarium, etc.)

=$4,200

This is off the top of my head so my numbers might be slightly off but it should give you a better idea of expenses. Plane tickets and lodgings cost the most.

Lodgings

Dont rent a hotel or all in one resort. IAll in one resorts are for places where you never plan to leave the resort!Go on airbnb. The closer you are to the ocean the more expensive the place will be. And ocean views even more so.You can be a five minute drive away for cheaper.

Before you book on airbnb though, check their about page. Does it mention a company? Alot of real estate agencies own the airbnb rooms being rented out so if you go directly to their website you can book directly without the airbnb service fee.

Airplane:Book the airplane the first or second time you view it! Every time you look at it, the price will increase.

1 stop is cheaper on flight but if you can get a direct flight it is worthwhile since Hawaii is such a long flight and the time difference means you loose an entire day. I recommend leaving late from Hawaii your last day like 9pm so you can enjoy the full day there without paying for lodging and sleep on the way home.

We made the mistake of checking our airplane flight a few times before we decided to actually book and thought it was just chance. Then I started googling it and apparently airplanes raise it everytime you look. The first time I saw the flight it was only $1,200 for two people! But we waited too long and kept checking and it was $1,600 when we finally bought.

Note:groceries are expensive there, bring what you can with you.coral safe suncreen is a must, people steal from cars so do bring everything with you from car

Food:We plan on cooking our own breakfast each day. We also assume for hana road we will pack our own lunch.We also googled cheap best places to eat in maui to make sure we stay at our food budget.

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No resort. Found place on airbnb, But booked directly with that company.

No point in renting an expensive resort you will only sleep at lol. Plus, renting a condo or house you can get a kitchen to cook and laundry machines and if you wanted an entire house to yourself.

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Wow! That was all great advice! Thanks a ton

View Quoted Comment That is beautiful! Where are you located?

View Quoted Comment Our airBnb was located in Okaloosa Island, FL. It was a really beautiful trip but is definitely more laid back of a town with less excursions or nightlife