Honeymoon resorts: Choose the perfect overwater hotel

By the time you consider the four steps below, you’ll know everything you need to choose and book the perfect destination for your special holiday. Links to all the resorts can be found at the bottom of this page. We discuss whether each resort is good for or popular with honeymooners on each separate resort page.

Being perfectly honest, the best overwater bungalow resorts in the world are in the South Pacific, primarily on Bora Bora and Moorea, and in the Maldives, which is just southwest of India. If you are coming from the Americas then the South Pacific will be faster and cheaper to reach, and if you are coming from Europe then the Maldives is the better choice.

Believe it or not, it’s extremely popular for honeymoon couples to stay at two or even three different resorts during one holiday. This is especially true in the South Pacific, where each resort has dramatically different scenery from each other.

Many couples stay first at a resort on Tahiti or Moorea, which are the easiest two islands to reach, and then after a few days they move to a resort on Bora Bora or elsewhere in the South Pacific. Since getting to the area is a bit expensive and time consuming, it makes sense to experience more than just one place as the cost to get from one to the other is usually minimal.

In the Maldives the resort hopping tends to be less common, and since all the islands are perfectly flat the scenery doesn’t change much from one to another. Still, many couples do prefer to spend part of their trip at a small boutique resort and the other part at a larger resort with more variety available.

Since every one of these resorts is popular with honeymooners, nearly all of them have special “honeymoon packages” available. You can often save money by booking these online, though some are easier to arrange through a travel agent.

Once you choose the resort or resorts you are interested in, check for honeymoon specials and you are likely to find something. In some cases it’s just a bottle of champagne and some other special amenities once you arrive, or in other cases it’s an upgraded bungalow combined with a romantic dinner served on a secluded beach plus other extras.

Even if you don’t buy a special honeymoon package, you’ll usually receive some special treatment once you arrive and announce the reason for your visit. These resorts know that they get a lot of referral business from past guests, so they are highly motivated to make special guests feel like they are being treated even better than normal.

We answer that question more completely in our other article discussing the locations of overwater bungalows around the world, but we’ll give you the short version here as well.

Bora Bora overwater bungalow resorts – This is where you’ll find the greatest number in the South Pacific and perhaps the most beautiful overwater bungalows in the world.

Moorea overwater bungalow resorts – This island just off Tahiti has five excellent resorts with overwater bungalows.

Tahiti overwater bungalow resorts – There are only two such resorts on the main island of Tahiti, both of which are rather large, and quite affordable.

South Pacific overwater bungalow resorts – Spread through the rest of the South Pacific you’ll find about 8 more resorts that range from cheap to ultra-luxurious.

Caribbean overwater bungalow resorts – While they aren’t the types set over clea-water lagoons, there are 7 resorts in the Caribbean that have overwater rooms of one type or another.

Maldives water villa resorts – This group of islands just southwest of India is home to about two-thirds of the world’s overwater bungalows (called “water villas” here) spread through over 50 resorts. It’s fast and easy to reach from Europe, but quite a long haul from North America.

Asia water villa resorts – There are a number of other resorts in Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines that could be ideal if they are convenient to reach.