Climbing honeymoon- Where should I/We go?

[RideT61]

Looks like I'll be making the plunge soon . It is a bit scary but the fact that she suggested we go climbing on the honeymoon makes me feel better . So... here is the question. Where should we go? I would prefer someplace warm, not in the US, with lots of sport climbs in the 5.7-5.11 range (it's easier to bring a bunch of QD's than a trad rack). Cheap, clean accomidations would be nice too.

Any suggestions? Thailand, Mexico, France?

 

[Dru]

Kalymnos

Spain

Sardinia

Corsica

[RideT61]

I should have known DRU would be the first to respond, thanks for the ideas.

[tlinn]

Tarifa Spain a few hours drive south of Seville. Lots of sport climbs with almost no crowds. Great views of the ocean all the way to Morocco. It's great for windsurfing and the town is cool. It doesn't have a huge number of climbs but you could easily spend a week there.

[tlinn]

Guidebook is called Escalader en Cadiz. It may be covered in Costa Blanca rock as well by Rockfax but not sure.

[Squid]

Holy Moly, Mr!

 

What happened? Last I heard you were firmly entrenched in the lonely-climbing-dude-tribe!!

 

Congratulations

[RideT61]

After Googling Dru's suggestions I have to say he seems to know what he is talking about. Those places look great. Anyone been there or somewhere in the Pacific that they liked?

[RideT61]

Hi Squid! Shhhhh! Nobody knows yet. Well, almost nobody. I haven't sprung the news on the family yet, I'm waiting until I have that little expensive cicular thing you wear on your finger. Or more appropriately, she wears on hers.

[lost_arrow]

thailand

[flashclimber]

Las Vegas...Red Rocks! U cant beat the food, entertainment, and cheap accomodations. If ur looking to leave the US..then I would say SE Australia...Blue Mountains, Arapilies, Mt Buffalo, and Grampians..Check out Air Canada for cheaper flights to Australia!

[goatboy]

Does Air Canada have cheaper flights to New Zealand??

[Skeezix]

Cirque of the Towers

[chelle]

Thailand! Great climbing. Warm water. Good beaches. Other things to do besides climb (snorkeling, site seeing, etc.) Great food. The people are great. From what I know the bungalows on Ton Sai beach near Railay that were set back from the water are fine and are only about 4 years old.

 

If you want a little more adventure you should seriously consider it.

 

Congrats!

[Uncle_Tricky]

As other have mentioned, Thailand. Remember to take swimming lessons first or pack your water wings and invest in Tsunami insurance that covers downing as an act of Gawd.

 

Pakistan! It's exciting! Make sure to sign a prenup first (in the event of abduction) and join the republican party so that the CIA does not mistake you for some John Walker Lindh wannabees, in which case you would be spending your tenth anniversary in in an orange jumpsuit in the luxurious tropical confines of Guantanamo Bay.

 

Afghanistan--word has it there's some killer climbing in the wild tribal areas bordering Pakistan. Good drugs, too, now that the Taliban are gone and warlords run the place. Caving in famous caves such as Tora Bora is a popular diversion on rest days. You wife could probably get a few FUA (first unveiled ascents).

 

Iraq: Assuming you are having a summer wedding, its pretty much gauranteed to be warm in Ramadi or Falluja in July. Word has it that wholesale destruction of Many Iraqi cities has created some wicked urban bouldering possibilities amongst the rubble.

 

Exit 38: There's free camping under the trestle. Bring your own raingear and some Spam and toast. Tip: Park your car down at exit 34 and backpack in so your car isn't ransacked by the Russian mafia. You can also hitchhike, although this is technically illegal in the interstate. Still, with her in her wedding gown and you in your tux, you'll probably get a ride in no time.

[ken4ord]

I don't know maybe your situation is different and I don't mean to scare you off of the idea, but my climbing honeymoon wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Here is the story.

So I am getting married and at the time I had a trip planned with my buddy to head up to the Canadian Rockies. Originally I was planning on 3 weeks up there, but then with a wedding and honeymoon in the near future I was going to have to cut my trip short.

So I planned on taking at least week too two weeks for our wedding and honeymoon. I was thinking along the lines of going to some tropical beach and chilling with my new wife, and just having fun. After bit of time my wife to be wanted to go on climbing trip as well, but could only take one vacation that year and she suggested that just the two of go to the Rockies for a climbing honeymoon. I wasn't to keen on the idea, I was really excited about doing nothing except for chilling on a beach, but she talked me into.

Then I called my buddy and told that we were off because I am going to do the trip with my wife. I felt like a shmuck, oh well. A few weeks down the road my wife to be realizes that I am getting stoked for our climbing trip, since by that time I have 4 guidebooks that I going over and studying every day. She then realizes that maybe it was such a good idea and decided to reinvite my buddy.

So in the end, I never got a cool honeymoon that I wanted with my new wife and I never got the climbing trip that I wanted. We climbed, but we could have done all the climbs we did in a single week. Hope your honeymoon turns out better than mine, congrats!

[RideT61]

Sounds like Thailand comes pretty highly recoomended. Thanks for the thoughts ken4ord. I'm tring to stay away from alpine for the reasons you mentioned. She is a pretty good climber (leads 5.9 and follows 10's) but doing apline routes (which can be stressfull anyway) sounds like a bad idea. At least somewhere tropical, we can skip the climbing and do other things if we feeel like it.

 

Any other ideas?

[cook]

Queenstown, NZ is meant to be super cool

[Off_White]

Squamish in the summer? We were on a budget, so that's what we did, with about 15 of our closest friends. It was big fun, but I suspect not what you're looking for.

[EWolfe]

Potrero Chico is cheaper to get to than a lot of the places suggested, and it is warm, excellent climbing, and good folks.

 

My$.02, Erik

[minx]

spent a good bit of my honeymoon in a tent. highly recommend it. go some place like thailand if you're planning big trip sort of honeymoon. we were being thrifty and stayed somewhat local. loved every bit of it.

[Winter]

Well after taking a three month climbing honeymoon with the new wife this past summer I have lots of recommendations, but none that would fit the bill as a beach/resort retreat for two weeks of cragging. But, ken4ord's story is scary. I've learned quite a bit climbing with Kristin. The most important lesson is that spending good time with your partner is WAY more important than ticking things off the list - sort of like it is climbing with anyone else. Hope you go into it with that attitude, otherwise I wouldn't suggest a climbing honeymoon.

 

[bryson1]

Check out Calpe on the Costa Blanca in Spain. It is a fun beach town centrally located in the middle of a good mix of grags. The Penon de Ifach is a short walk from cheap hotels on the beach. It has great multipitch sport climbs on beautiful limestone with ocean views.

 

[RideT61]

Good advice Winter. I'm not too worried about climbing anything specifically. FOr this trip I'll be happy to swim, drink, sun, and do a bit of climbing. I certainly don't have plans to tick some dream route, just chill with the wife. (Wow, I'm not used to saying that one yet).