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Honeymoon- Tahiti or Hawaii??

posted 3 months ago in Honeymoons
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    sschwartz    May 18, 2013   Florida

    We still have a very long time to go but I constantly find myself getting ahead of my to-do list with things like this that are going to be the most fun for me.... Things like picking a honeymoon destination! One of the very first things FI and I decided was to honeymoon in Hawaii. How could we not want to go there? I would feed my guests grilled cheese in order to afford a trip to Hawaii :-). Now I have stumbled upon Tahiti. I don't know why it didn't cross either of our minds earlier but I can't stop thinking about those beautiful overwater bungalows. Has anyone been (ridiculously lucky) to both and could recommend one over the other? Or even just have some inputs on either to help in the decision?

    Thanks!

     
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    aliavenue    August 4, 2012   Kansas City

    I would choose Hawaii just because its a US state, which would uncomplicate everything. But, I'm THAT bride who trys to keep everything simple. Wink

     
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    pinkshoes    July 2011   MA

    How much time do you have off and how often do you get to travel out of the country?

     
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    lamkky    August 11, 2012  

    Interesting you brought it up as my FSIL did go to Tahiti for their honeymoon and "swing by" Hawaii for our friend's wedding at the end of their trip. She thought about shortening Tahiti and stay longer at Hawaii but very glad she didn't.  SHE LOVED TAHITI.  Hawaii is pretty, but still very commercial.  Tahiti is a whole different level - it's a paradise. 

     

    That being said, I think you need to ask yourself how much you are willing to pay for your honeymoon and how often do you travel out of country.  Your wedding is out on EC, I assumed you live there as well, so Hawaii would be a nice place to go to since you probably won't go to WC that often. 

    I love to travel but I don't get to travel a lot so I would love to use the honeymoon opportunity to go somewhere I normally can't afford to go.  That's just me :)

     
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    Mrs. Cooper    July 30, 2011   MD

    I went to Tahiti for my honeymoon. Thought about Hawaii but both my sisters went there on their honeymoons so I wanted to break tradition. Tahiti is amazing and a once in a lifetime trip. Even though Hawaii is still expensive, I feel like at some point I will go to Hawaii.

     
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    sschwartz    May 18, 2013   Florida

    @aliavenue - I have never really been one to want to travel outside of the US but the pictures of Tahiti make me more adventurous

    @pinkshoes - We will be taking a 10 day honeymoon and I have never been out of the country

    @lamkky - I feel the same way with wanting to splurge and go somewhere I could not normally even consider - I'm thankful for your sister's insight :) lucky her

    @Mrs. Cooper - I don't have sisters of my own but FI has two and they both went to Hawaii; Plus I completely agree and think I will at some point make it there, I really don't think I would ever make it to Tahiti

     
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    yellowshoe    December 2011   Laguna Beach, CA

    Please don't take this the wrong way, but if Hawaii was a stretch for your buget Tahiti will be out of your budget. We have been to both Hawaii and we went to Moorea and Bora Bora for our honeymoon recently (Tahiti is not the paradise we all think of when we hear Tahiti). We spent the same amount of time on both trips, 8 days and the Hawaii trip was 1/3 the cost of our Moorea and Bora Bora trip.

     
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    pinkshoes    July 2011   MA

    @sschwartz:  I definitely vote Tahiti!!!  Normally I wouldnt go for that long a flight under 2 weeks, but sounds like this would make for a trip of a lifetime and an amazing honeymoon.  Hawaii is definity easier to get to, I've been there 3x now, so I think you'll definitely make it to hawaii in the future- and its very kid friendly.  But what better excuse to go to Tahiti than a honeymoon!

     
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    Gemstone    July 2011   Cincinnati

    I'm totally biased because did we Hawaii for our honeymoon and looooved it! It was amazing, and definitely didn't feel "commercial" to me.

     
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    LGenz    May 21, 2011   New Jersey, Wedding in Clearwater, FL

    Have you priced this out? Hawaii is expensive but Tahiti is Expeeeensive. I'd chose Tahiti just because its more exotic.

     
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    sschwartz    May 18, 2013   Florida

    @yellowshoe - thanks for the input - did you like your Hawaii trip or your Tahiti trip better? I was joking with the grilled cheese thing though, just trying to get the point across that to me the honeymoon means more than the reception food and that is where I will splurge if need be :-)

    @pinkshoes - Thanks! That's what I was thinking, I can still go to Hawaii one day with the kids one day since it is so much cheaper (not cheap, but cheaper than Tahiti, which I'm sure we would never want to spend the kind of money to make an entire family trip there)

     
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    LibertyBelle    October 2013  

    I would think it ultimately comes down to what you can afford. The differences in airfare may not be enough to break any budget constraints, but see if you can afford those resorts with bungalows over the water for 10 days. If you can, it sounds like that may be what really gets you excited.

    As for the differences in Hawaii, it depends on where you go. You could hit up the fancy resorts on the Kohala coast of the Big Island that might be something close to what you want to experience in Tahiti (though Kona Village Resort, the closest copy I can think of, won't be open again until late 2013 due to tsunami damage) or you could do something completely different with bed and breakfasts or vacation rentals that allow you to explore the islands beyond the busiest tourist destinations. I haven't been to Maui or Kauai to give you any similar resort recommendations there, but I'm sure you can find things online.

    In all honesty, run the numbers and then figure out if you can afford the dream vacation abroad. If you can't, explore the options on the various Hawaiian islands because they are all very different and see if you can recreate what you're starting to imagine now.

     
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    sschwartz    May 18, 2013   Florida

    @ gemstone - I have heard it is definitely dependent on where you go in Hawaii to whether it feels commercial or not - how long did you stay there, what island?

    @LGenz - I have unfortunately priced it out but we both agreed that if there is ever a time to splurge on a vaca it is definitely for the honeymoon - I actually saw a groupon to Tahiti that made me even consider it to begin with, I'm hoping that since I have long enough to plan I might be able to catch some good deals *fingerscrossed*

     
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    sschwartz    May 18, 2013   Florida

    @LibertyBelle - great advice, thanks! Such a shame about the Kona Village Resort

     
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    yellowshoe    December 2011   Laguna Beach, CA

    @sschwartz:  Both DH and I love Hawaii, but for us it's a common trip (this was DH's honyemoon choice though-cheaper!). I wanted our honeymoon to be some where neither of us had been before. With that said, we both LOVED Moorea and Bora Bora. It was amazing, we kept saying we wanted to go back and DH said it was worth it! Laughing So if you have the money go for Tahiti. The flight time is only 2 hours more to Tahiti than Hawaii (from LAX). I noticed most flights from USA to Tahiti come out of LAX. Let me know if you have any questions.

     
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    sschwartz    May 18, 2013   Florida

    @yellowshoe - Thanks! I read somewhere that the only flights out of the US to Tahiti go from LAX. We have a million Southwest points so it would actually be free to get us to LAX (which would help a lot) - then we would just book separately the flight to Tahiti - Ideally we would maybe even take a day in between if we can swing extra vaca time. The flight from Tampa to LAX alone is pretty tiresome. I might message you as we get closer to actually booking things to see where you stayed, what you recommend doing, etc. Thanks :-)

     
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    yellowshoe    December 2011   Laguna Beach, CA

    @sschwartz:  For the time that we went, all the flights were red eyes, around midnight, if that helps. :) Definitely feel free to ask questions. We worked with a wonderful travel agent that saved us a lot of money and my friend who I recommended her to as well. Smile

     
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    youngliz    May 7, 2011   Santa Barbara, CA

    If budget os not an issue and you can afford Tahiti, go for Tahiti.  Now days, there are a lot of deals out there, it is more affordable to go then when we went.  

     
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    Melie12    July 6, 2012   MA

    I say Hawaii but I'm partial since I booked my honeymoon for Maui and Kaua'i. Living in MA, our roundtrip flight is very expensive but heck I havent flown in 4 yrs so everything is expensive to me lol.

     
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    Gemstone    July 2011   Cincinnati

    @sschwartz:  Oh I'm sure it totally is! We were on Maui for eight days. I guess we don't have the luxury of traveling to Hawaii very often, so it felt incredibly special and romantic to us. Hawaii could never be common in our opinion!

     
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    ananeele    April 23, 2012  

    I would kill to go to Tahiti, but when just the plane tickets for 2 people cost over $5,000, there isn't a chance I'll be going there anytime soon. :(

     
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    Miss Orchard    September 8, 2012   Cambridge, MA

    I have been to Fiji and we are choosing to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon.

    Reasons: cheaper, better food/entertainment and U.S. currency.

    Tahiti and the whole S. Pacific is awesome...but there isn't much to do in the way of nightlife. If that's what you want, go for it...also, those awesome over-water bungalos are like $800/night. If you have the money, go for it! But just keep in mind it's going to take an entire day to get there, you will have major jet-lag due to the dramatic time difference and it will take an entire day to get back...so make it a longer honeymoon!

     

     

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