Riviera Maya or Hawaii?

Rivera Maya is absolutely beautiful. It was probably one of the best places I've ever visited. We stayed at the grand bahia principe and It was Amazing!! It's also all inclusive. Hawaii is too "cliche" for a honeymoon, everyone goes there. I'm going to Punta Cana, DR. Can't wait!!

RM is one of my favorite areas to visit! If you like sightseeing, you'd have a blast here. I've been twice, it's where we are going for our honeymoon as well. Cancun is fun, but if you do go I would stay a bit further down the coast toward Playa del Carmen. There are a lot of excursions you can go on, plus things like shopping in Playa, a day trip for snorkeling over to Cancun, and the most AMAZING thing to do is Rio Secreto (an underground series of caverns that you get to swim through).

Hawaii is fun if you want to lay on the beach, but I find myself getting bored when I'm there (been to Kona, Honolulu, and Maui).

If you want a list of all the things I've done while there and which I recommend, definitely let me know. I'd be more than happy to share!

I went to Riviera Maya and it was so nice. I haven't been to Hawaii, but honestly if budget wasn't an option I'd love to try Hawaii. I'm surprised it's only cheaper by $400. But Hawaii might not be all-inclusive as most hotels in Riviera Maya are all-inclusive. Keep that in mind.

Hawaii I'd visit Maui and Kauai. I hear they're the nicest from my travel agent.

We are honeymooning in Rivera Maya! I have been there before with my mom and loved it! Hawaii is beautiful too, but much more expensive. You will not be disappointed if you choose Rivera.

Kylene Please do share!!

Melissa, i am def leaning towards riviera maya now, i looked up Punta Cana and it's beautiful.

Nic.Dee, It's actually cheaper, i mean for just hotel and flight but Riviera maya is all inclusive so it WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY times 10 cheaper lol

I think i will leave hawaii for a future time when i'm not poor haha or after wedding poor haha

Thanks for you're reply Brittneymarie, I think my mind is made up Riviera Maya it is, my purse/hubbys wallet will thank you guys!

@Mr. & Mrs. Chavarin - when is your honeymoon going to be?

Here is a list of the things I think you should ABSOLUTELY do if you go there:

1. Chichen Itza - We went to Tulum which was great, but we've heard amazing things about Chichen Itza and how much better it is. We'll be doing this on our honeymoon. If you have to decide between the two, I'd go for CI before Tulum ... but Tulum is closer so it depends on how much time you want to spend on a bus/taxi.

2. Rio Secreto - this is a MUST see. I've attached one of my pictures below. And here is the website link. It's probably the coolest thing I've ever done in my entire life. No joke.

www.riosecreto.com

3. Playa del Carmen - this is a cute little down for shopping. We absolutely loved it. If you're football fans there is a great little bar there where they show all the games every weekend (we watched the Hawks play while we were there and it was so much fun!).

4. Cozumel - You'd have to take a ferry over but well worth it. Great shopping and some of the best snorkeling. If you're going to snorkel, definitely do it from over there rather than anywhere on the mainland side of things.

5. Xcaret is something to look into. It's a theme park but has some pretty awesome stuff supposedly. We'll be checking it out on our honeymoon as well -- thought about it both other times I went but didn't get around to it.

6. ATVing! I'll try and look up the company we used - there are a ton - but one of the ATV tours is a great experience. My friends and I did one the last time we were down there and it was great. Some are super expensive though so make sure you're getting the best bang for your buck (more hours for less month isn't always best if the location is SUPER far away! You spend more time on the bus than actually ATVing).

There are a few more things that I'm not thinking of right now ... I'll update when they come to mind. But honestly, you can't go wrong going to the Riviera Maya. Such a great place.

Amazing!! Thank you so much, We will be going either April 20, monday after our saturday wedding and staying for about 7 nights. I'm soooo excited now!!!

Yes RM!

We did jeep tours on Cozumel (amazing snorkelling! And a great place!)

Did tulum

The cave pub crawl dealy (I didn't but some of the other guests did).

Playa del Carmen was great.

I've never been to Hawaii, but I'd love to. The price is prohibitive though for us!

Okay well I'm the odd one out here but I say go for Hawaii...because I live here and it's pretty much the most amazing place ever! I live on Oahu but I just got back from my first trip to Kauai and it was AMAZING! It really felt like a honeymoon. We stayed at this hotel that was extremely affordable (About $140 a night, first pic is the view from my room) and it had a couple different restaurants (one was really nice and delicious) and a few pools with waterfalls and a pool that had a sand beach, an area to get a couple's massage overlooking the ocean, it was just perfect. I can give you the name if you want. Then we did all kinds of things mostly sightseeing (pic #2) but I would highly recommend staying there.

Then if you want you can stay on other islands too, Maui is also quite romantic, the Big Island is very laid back but has really cool stuff to see (like volcanoes) and Oahu has good food and a little bit of everything (pretty views, adventurous outings, secluded beaches, fancy resorts, etc). Please let me know if you want more info, but I have been living here for three years and I still feel like I'm on a permanent honeymoon here! You can't go wrong!

Happy in Hawaii, I hope your wedding was amazing! I think we're sticking with RM, I would love to go to hawaii but I don't think its in the cards for us for our honeymoon. Maybe after we both start making a little more money we will plan a family vacation or a second honeymoon lol

Hawaii, hands down!

Happy in Hawaii, any recommendations on restaurants (fancy and hole in the walls), we should try in Maui? We want to go to places that locals go to and secret gems. Chain restaurants are out of the question.

Sorry for highjacking your post Mrs. Chavarin. My vote is Hawaii

All is fine fit Bride My old attorney/boss moved to Maui last year so i would love to go but since we're trying to buy a house and plan our wedding/honeymoon we have to go with what gives us the most bang for our buck. Not hatin on Hawaii, i'd love to go but maybe a future me will ha-ha

I've never been to RM but I've been to Hawaii three different times. That gets my vote! I've been to Oahu, Maui and the Big Island. Maui was my favorite and I would say ideal for a honeymoon. Though they are so close you can do more than one island. The first time I went we did strictly Maui. Second time we did Oahu and the Big Island, last time was Maui and Oahu. I've always wanted to see Kauai but haven't made it there yet.

The cost is higher than RM, but it's worth it to me.

@Fit Bride, I wish I could help you with food places in Maui, but I've only been there once (I know a lot more on Oahu) but ItsGoodtobeKing probably can help you since she lives there! When I went we stayed at a place with a kitchen in the hotel room. We were staying with my FH's parents and they wanted to save money so they just went to Costco and cooked. We did go to a couple nice places though, we had brunch at the Hyatt which was delicious and we also went to Merriman's for a fancy dinner: http://www.merrimanshawaii.com/kapalua/ . We also did a luau one night (unlimited pina coladas!). Other than that I can't help much, sorry!

@Mr & Mrs. Chavarin, I definitely recommend Hawaii some day. I just calculated it last night, depending on the time of year and where you live I estimated a flight of about $800 per person and 8 days of a honeymoon would probably add up to about $4000 based on the hotel we stayed at, how much a rental car is per day, splurging at different restaurants, and doing a few different tours. So yeah, that's a lot of money, but at least it isn't impossible! HHave fun in RM, I've never been!

We went to Hawaii with the FIL's a few years ago and it was super expensive for everything once we got there, since it's all imported. We too were looking between Mexico and Hawaii and Mexico won due to the all inclusives and how much we'd save with what was included.

We are staying at the Excellence Playa Mujers Resort. It's an all adult, all inclusive and has amazing reviews, plus quite a few girls on here had great things to say about it...and when I booked they had a sale for 40% off!

Not a hard choice for me... definitely Hawaii!