4 Places for Opposites-Attract Couples

Sure, getting engaged means fancy parties in your honor and a legitimate excuse to shell out on cute, new outfits and beautiful flowers, but behind closed doors, wedding planning can be a relationship stress test. From family drama to disagreements on timing, seating charts and even minute details, the honeymoon might seem like the light – sunlight even – at the end of the tunnel, beckoning you into breezy honeymoon bliss.

You’re dreaming of lounging on a postcard-worthy beach, tropical drink melting in your hand, and suddenly, your partner announces that they want to go whitewater rafting. Disaster? Not at all!

Central America is beautiful, sunny, and tropical, making it the perfect spot for a multi-destination honeymoon that delivers on all of you and your spouse’s honeymoon hopes and dreams, no matter how diverse your interests. Think volcano sunrises in Guatemala followed by beachy bliss in Belize, charming colonial cities followed by ultra-exclusive private islands, canyoneering through emerald-green rainforest in interior Costa Rica before whiling your days away in a private plunge pool overlooking the ocean.

So what exactly makes Central America such a natural fit for the couple who wants it all?

The region is compact, and easy to get around

There are few places in the world where you can easily get from coast to coast in a matter of hours, but it’s a breeze in most of Central America, making it easy to pack more than one destination into your honeymoon (though we’d never recommend more than three places over the course of a week). Even in the region’s largest countries, Nicaragua and Guatemala, an hour in a propeller plane can get you from one end of the country to the other. There are a few exceptions of course – if you’re traveling long distances by road or forging your way off of the beaten path, make sure to account for some additional travel time.

It's a land of contrasts

Despite being diminutive in size, Central America is a study of contrasts, with incredible geo- and ecological diversity throughout. The two coastlines – Pacific and Caribbean – are equally seductive, one with white and black sand beaches, and wild, crashing surf, the other with powdery white sand speckled by palm trees, calm turquoise water, and hundreds of picturesque islands within easy reach of the mainland.

Between the coasts, there's a land of bubbling volcanoes and impenetrable cloud forest, immense lakes and vast expanses of rainforest packed with exotic wildlife. It’s easy to spend a few days summiting volcanoes and rappelling waterfalls, or prowling through jaguar territory before you unwind in beachside bliss.

All sorts of activities – from A to Zipline

The strikingly diverse terrain in Central America offers something for every honeymooner, whether you seek sun, nature or adventure – you’ll find everything from hiking to beach lounging, scuba diving to volcano boarding, ancient Maya ruins to sublime jungle spas. It’s the perfect place to do anything, or nothing at all.

You pick your speed

With so much of Central America still relatively unknown to tourists, there’s no shortage of wild, remote areas waiting to be explored, even in already-popular honeymoon destinations Belize and Costa Rica. If you’d like to spend your entire honeymoon hardly seeing another face, that’s doable here.

On the flip side, if your new spouse wants to dance the night away and sip cocktails at a happening beach bar, the well-hewn gringos trail, popular with backpackers, winds its way through several spots (think cute, colonial cities and pretty little beach towns) that cater to visiting foreigners and keep the party going from dusk ‘til dawn.

This isn’t just any trip – Your honeymoon is the trip. This is your first adventure as a married couple and an excuse to push beyond the boundaries of what a typical vacation might look like. Use this as the perfect time to exercise that new skill – compromise. Focus on building an experience that offers new memories for you both. Tap into things you love together, and indulge one another in the things you love separately. We promise, you won’t regret it.