How to Look Good and Feel Good on Your Honeymoon

Picture this: you’re on your dream honeymoon in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, bathing in surreal turquoise water, sipping pineapple and passion fruit cocktails, and indulging in couples lomi lomi massages. But, after a few days of relaxation and ultimate pampering, you take an hour or two to put on gloves and pick up litter on the beach. Or, you set off on an exciting ATV or helicopter tour that ends with the planting of a native seedling as part of a reforestation effort. Or maybe you and your new spouse mingle with some locals while clearing invasive algae from a shoreline, help clean up a royal fish pond, or attach coral fragments to a nursery to help propagate a new reef. .

These are just a few of the super simple and endlessly enjoyable ways to give back to the earth and the community during the most romantic trip of your life. Doing a little good in no way diminishes the glamor or excitement. In fact, being exposed to new activities, learning a bit, and meeting new people can actually lead to not just more fun, but an even more rewarding and memorable experience in paradise. Additionally, engaging on an equal footing with the people who live in a place, beyond the hotel staff who are there to serve you, can help you gain perspective and appreciation. Then there are the tips you might glean on local restaurants and secret places to visit. Here, a few handfuls of ways to work in a small voluntary action around your tropical honeymoon.

Hawaii

The Hawaiian Islands are a mecca for heavenly honeymoons laced with feel-good elements. In many cases, couples participating in a community project or volunteer organization will receive special perks, discounts, or even free nights at their hotel or resort. It is thanks to a compelling and inspiring initiative called malama hawaii, which means “taking care of Hawaii” in Hawaiian. The term is usually used alongside the word ainameaning “earth”, or kupuna, meaning “elders”. It is a concept rooted in responsibility, or kuleanato be Hawaiian or to live in the islands.

For visitors, participating in these efforts goes a long way to showing respect, and you’ll likely get it back too. There are dozens of ways to malama across the islands, and many can be found on line. (Note that in some cases, COVID has temporarily altered volunteer schedules.) But the beautiful island of Hawaii—full of varied landscapes and very few cars—is a great place to start if you’re looking for an over-the-top adventure, a breathtaking beauty, and a meaningful connection. There, plant lovers should head to Waikoloa Dry Forest Initiative (the fortnightly Saturday volunteer days end with a potluck!), an organization that has had an impressive impact in restoring endangered lowland dry forest and native flora like wiliwili. Do meaningful work sorting seeds, removing native species, or planting shrubbery while learning traditional Hawaiian stories and mythology of these plants. (Fairmont Orchid offers the fourth night free for those who participate.)

Take a magnificent tour of Hualālai Crater above the clouds with Uluha’o or Hualalai is a special opportunity that isn’t actually volunteering, but is about saying thank you for deep immersion in a very sacred place by planting a baby koa on the mountain. Some resorts have packages or opportunities for couples who want to get involved, like Mauna Kea Beach Hotelwhich offers a fifth night free to those who clean up the beach themselves using a provided DIY kit. (Prince Waikiki on Oahu is offering the fourth night free for this effort, a partnership with Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii.) Get there early to beat the heat and you might just be able to join the sunrise chant E Ala E. Mauna Lani, Inn Resorts CollectionMālama Honu, from , is a program to raise awareness of endangered sea turtles and care for hatchlings who, around the age of three, are released on Turtle Independence Day (aka July 4 ) in an evocative ceremony well worth the pilgrimage.

On Oahu, Hawaiian Heritage Reforestation Initiative is one of the efforts you’ll hear the most about, as the organization brings together locals and travelers to help reforest 500 acres of land in Gunstock Ranch with native species like milo and kou trees. A ceremonial planting wraps up some ATV or horseback tours of the sprawling and spectacular ranch, and the energy is so special there have been proposals along the way. ‘Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beachfor its part, offers the fifth night free, plus a $200 F&B credit (use some of it on their sustainable Earth to Cup happy hour menu) and a day car rental for those who make the scenic drive up. ‘to the north coast for a plantation, which also means you can follow your love tree long after you’ve left the island.

Of course, you don’t have to let any hotel perk direct your energy or activities. Ocean enthusiasts – and anyone who doesn’t want to miss a day at the beach – can join a community hukior volunteer event, with Malama Maunalua, for example, and discover and eliminate the exotic seaweed that clogs scenic Maunalua Bay. Also consider who your dollars are supporting: people of color Kaimana Beach Hotelfor example, fresh out of a highly Instagrammable renovation, is one of the few local hotels in the area.

On other islands like Kauai, Timbers Kauai to Hokuala partners with Sustainable Coastlines for periodic beach cleanups that guests of five-star resorts can participate in. Couples can also help harvest or pack seasonal produce from the 450-acre property with Farmer Cody to donate to the Kauai Food Bank. maui Ko’a Kea Hotel & Resort on Po’ipu Beach offers a mālama package that includes a volunteer beach cleanup activity and your fourth night free, while many island resorts including Hana Maui Resortwhich also includes a daily breakfast for two, offer a free night to volunteer with the Pacific Whale Foundation to pick up litter at any Maui beach. Some opportunities are a little more offbeat, like Wailea Beach Resortthe promise of a fifth night free for guests who make an appliqué and sew it on a quilt to donate to kupuna (elders).

Remember, none of this means you can’t treat yourself yet. Feast on the freshest, most mouth-watering seafood at Mauna Lani’s CanoeHouse and discuss history with resident cultural keeper Uncle Danny. Rent a longboard and hit the constant waves in Waikiki. Get a heavenly Huki Huki mud wrap, scalp massage and lomi lomi massage at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beachthe spa. Walk on the rolling lava of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Climb aboard a helicopter to admire the surreal coastline of Nā Pali. Head out after dark to sip a craft cocktail White sands hotelis a hidden bar. Relaxing on the beach. Balance is a beautiful thing, and a bit of mālama along the way can bring it all to light.

Guatemala

During your stay on the idyllic hillside of Lake Atitlán, the deepest lake in Central America, in the dream property Relais & Châteaux Casa Palopo, lovers can (with a donation) arrange to spend a few hours or a day painting facades of vibrant homes and buildings in the charming technicolor town of Santa Catarina Palopó. The opportunity is with a community revitalization initiative called Pintando Santa Catarina Palopó. Plus, guests get 10% of their nightly rate back in vouchers they can use to shop at local artists and boutiques. Residents then exchange voucher payments for cash at the hotel, greatly benefiting the city’s micro-economy.

Florida

If you have a special affinity for sea turtles, you and your love may want to spend part of your honeymoon helping them from the plush Juno Beach. Water Palm Beach Resort & Spa. With a two-night minimum stay, the Sea Turtle Voluntourism package includes an evening visit to Loggerhead Marinelife Center to feed hatchlings, care for current patients, learn about conservation, and release turtles back into the sea. of a turtle patient is also included, so you can get updates on your little boy or girl as they heal.

Maldives

The eco-friendly but luxury JOALI has set up a Coral Table Nursery to accommodate the varying skill sets of clients in assisting with coral restoration and expanding their sustainable coral gene bank. And, in a super luxurious island resort Soneva Fushicouples can engage in sustainability initiatives that include beach cleanups and placing coral fragments in the ocean to grow new reefs.

Costa Rica

In the Blue Zone of Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula, all-inclusive eco-luxury Hotel Punta Islita offers all the thrilling and relaxing activities the newlyweds could want (zipline, horseback riding, spa treatments) plus deep community involvement in the form of cleaning up the school, church or city beaches, from gardening at the Sports Plaza, harvesting fruit to give back to the community, and teaching local children at the Islita Education and Nutrition Center.