Best place for a herping honeymoon

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Best place for a herping honeymoon

Postby Kristian Bell » Tue Jan 21, 2014 6:23 pm

Hi all,

I am due to marry my long-suffering girlfriend in Australia in early May this year. We will be travelling back to the UK afterwards but I want to find a destination that is broadly en route on the return journey that has a mix of romantic (yawn) luxury but with plenty of reptiles on the doorstep to keep me entertained while my wife sunbakes and relaxes. One example of the sort of thing I'm after is Langkawi, Malaysia as it is en route between Australia and the UK, has some nice hotels and beaches etc but with tropical rainforest right behind. One drawback of Langkawi is we have visited before and wanted to try somewhere new. Any thoughts? I thought about Greek Islands, somewhere in Thailand or India etc but all seem to be either a little too rural/wet/rainforesty for my missus or are too long a trek from the hotel to good herping areas. My girlfriend loves animals and herping but will be looking for some proper relaxation too so I have to disguise the herping credentials of any destination we choose!
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Re: Best place for a herping honeymoon

Postby Bart Smit » Tue Jan 21, 2014 9:12 pm

have you considered visting Islands like Bali (the north of Bali has a nice nature reserve), Lombok, Komodo ? Interesting sea snakes in the mangroves and coral reefs, sea turtles and lots of nice lizards and frogs on land.
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Re: Best place for a herping honeymoon

Postby Niklas Ban » Tue Jan 21, 2014 9:42 pm

I think south africa could be very nice. There are many offers for safaris and also herpsafaris and you can stay in lounges which are quite luxury. Or like Bart said Komodo is good for herping and has been developed for tourists.
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Re: Best place for a herping honeymoon

Postby Borji Heras » Wed Jan 22, 2014 7:02 am

costa rica ?
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Re: Best place for a herping honeymoon

Postby Alexandre Roux » Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:09 am

Nice species in Thailand !
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Re: Best place for a herping honeymoon

Postby Martti Niskanen » Wed Jan 22, 2014 4:39 pm

Where is/are your stopover(s)? Singapore = great, UAE = tough luck. If it has to be roughly en route to the UK, then Thailand is probably the best and most obvious option. Personally I would have gone for Malaysia, but it being a largely islamic country, it won't generally be that easy for your wife to enjoy the beaches unless fully clothed. Especially in the eastern parts.

Then again, chances are you'll have a stopover in Singapore. You can herp there (and in southern Malaysia) or take a bus (around 4h) to Mersing and head off to Tioman island (ferry was about 1.5h if I remember correctly). A very nice island (although check the weather for May) with everything between small huts and posho resorts available. Going herping is easy. Been a few years since I've been there, so my info might be out of date. Some of the inner parts are owned by and barb-wired off by the government, but it was fine to walk around. I'd definitely suggest you look into it if it's not too wet and rainforesty, especially if you've got a stopover in Singapore anyway.

Penang is quite different from Langkawi, so look into that too. More culture than beaches and herping, though.

Thailand is easy to travel and has plenty of herps but can be a bit... well...boring. Also, with this political situation, anything can happen in the next few months (good = less tourists, bad = protests and violence). I went to the Krabi region a couple of years ago and it should have something for the both of you. Resorts and good potential for herping. Touristy, but easy to get away from. I'd avoid south Phuket island.

Bali: Never been, but apparently nice if you get away from the touristy areas, which are often been referred to as the "Grang Canaria for australians".

India has very strict laws regarding herps and just getting caught manipulationg a herp for a photo can get you in big trouble. Agumbe would be a herper's dream, but definitely not what you're looking for now.
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Re: Best place for a herping honeymoon

Postby Kristian Bell » Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:30 pm

Many thanks for all the suggestions.

Costa Rica and South Africa are definitely on the 'to do' list but are miles out of the way for where we are travelling.

I considered Bali but I have been once before very briefly and stayed in the south of the island and it was the worst dump I have ever been to - overcrowded, polluted, congested, unsympathetically planned....i could go on. Looking at Google Earth it looks like there is barely a patch of undeveloped land apart from the far north west of the island but, having said all that, I do hear good reports of herps around Ubud.

Tioman sounds like a great option - I will look into that.

I have been to Thailand many times (both my brothers live there) and that may well be the default fall-back option.

I havent booked flights yet but may actually be stopping off in Hong Kong - is there good herping within easy reach of HK?
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Re: Best place for a herping honeymoon

Postby Kristian Munkholm » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:06 pm

I havent booked flights yet but may actually be stopping off in Hong Kong - is there good herping within easy reach of HK?


There is excellent herping in Hong Kong. Check Kevin Messenger's HK posts on fieldherpforum.com ;)
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Re: Best place for a herping honeymoon

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Fri Jan 24, 2014 2:01 am

Kristian Munkholm wrote:
I havent booked flights yet but may actually be stopping off in Hong Kong - is there good herping within easy reach of HK?


There is excellent herping in Hong Kong. Check Kevin Messenger's HK posts on fieldherpforum.com ;)


+1...........!
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Re: Best place for a herping honeymoon

Postby Borji Heras » Fri Jan 24, 2014 7:54 am

Try Lantau island ,look great todo me
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