Honeymoon destinations??

Hi All,

I will be heading off on my honeymoon in December 2011 and wanted to get some ideas on places to go.

My wife-to-be would like to see either a whalesharks (or whales as a second option)

I would love to see some Manta-rays.

Open to travelling to 2 destinations if nearby. Any ideas would be very helpful!

We live in Sydney, Australia and would ideally not like to travel too far (eg Pacific islands, asia/asia-pacific)

Thanks

Evan

For whale sharks, best place for you is Donsol, Philippine Islands.

They show up sometime during the months of October and November, and peak in the months of February to May. Not been there though.

For manta rays - Yap

For whale sharks, have you considered Ningaloo? Not sure when the season is, but might be worth looking into.

You won't see whale sharks in Bali, but there are mantas at Manta Point and it is generally a good place for honeymooning.

Do the accommodations have to be honeymoon like? Do you want to do a liveaboard?

December is sorta like the off season of whalesharks in the South West Pacific for some reason. The only places I can think of that have good hits for whalesharks in Dec are in the Indian Ocean.

The Maldives are great for honeymooners with a plethora of wonderful resorts with chances to catch whalesharks and mantas to boot. The South Ari Atoll is one of the areas they lurk. Check for liveaboards or resorts offering snorkel/diving cruises.

Djibouti/Kenya and to a lesser extent Tanzania (Pemba, Zanzibar, Mafia). Djibouti would be on a liveaboard and you get both mantas and whalesharks around the area. Viz isn't the best in the world but that's why the plankton feeders are there.

Kenya/Tanzania would be from resorts. Kenya's better areas would be off Diani, Malindi and Mombasa. I like Pemba and Zanzibar in Tanzania for romantic getaways (done it a few times), Pemba being the least luxurious of the 3 places.

For something closer to Oz, you could try X'mas island off WA since the crabs will have dumped all their eggs by then. I can't remember any nice accommodations there though and certainly don't consider it a romantic place.

no guarantee of mantas or whalesharks, but Lord Howe Island is a great honeymoon destination, with some excellent diving, just one direct (all be it expensive) flight ex Sydney. Here's some pics from above the water anyway... Lord Howe terrestrial gallery

Donsol is a good destination for both whale sharks and mantas - but not in December! The average sitings of whale sharks in that month are a fraction of those in March/April. You might see some but then again you might not. Mantas are year round but the weather getting to the site can be uncomfortable in that month

You could consider Malapascua or Moalboal in the Philippines, both of which have likely opportunities for both species as well as honeymoon-quality accommodation, but again December is really not the best month here

Humpback whales are in the south Pacific (e.g Tonga or Niue) around mid year, sorry. But if you could defer your trip until then I would enthusiastically recommend either destination!

kona is good for humpbacks towards from late december on.

And full of mantas.

I thought you need special permits to get in the water with whales in Hawaii, due to IWC rules? Mantas are awesome for Hawaii and I thought of that as a destination, but I always respect the lady's requests first... and she wants whale sharks

Yes, you cannot drive a boat too close to whales, or jump in on top of them.

But if they come to you, what is one to do?

You see them from dive boats all the time, breaching, spouting, slapping.

I've had many dives there filled with whale song, vibrating my whole body.

Only seen one underwater once...

The pilot whales are there year round, and not nearly as shy.

Thanks everyone for the ideas!!

It looks like we are going to investigate Donsol further with Kona, Hawaii being a backup option.

Appreciate the help

Christmas Island off the Western Australia coast for whale sharks in December January. If you're lucky, you'll see the red crab migration too.

I have done both C.I. and Ningaloo. Ningaloo have big boats with too many tourists and their season is not December.

We used Wet and Dry at Christmas Island. Small boat equals small numbers with shark and no waiting your turn.

Mary