The soothing rock of the sea is an obvious choice for serenity and seclusion, and for good reason. While stretching sands may connote a high price tag, we’ve compiled a set of strategies for creating a week of romance that’s both effortless and affordable, and a list of destinations we’d slip away to. With a cost like this, we could on a whim.

Far-flung to local luxury, the honeymoon offers couples the chance to escape with their love and bask before returning to real-life as a wedded pair. Derived from the skeptically optimistic root words ‘honey’, symbolizing the youthful joy and sweetness of marriage’s early stages, and ‘moon’, representing the passage of time and fading of novelty, a ‘honeymoon’ now conceptualizes a standardly week-long retreat taken by the just-married to rest in an oceanside paradise post nuptials, and prior to setting off to a life together. The term can also be traced back to an ancient tradition of bestowing a couple with a month’s-supply of a ‘honey-drink’, mead, believed to bring fertility and good fortune.

Whether seeking luck or novelty before it’s lost, these four key-considerations can craft a getaway that’s one for the books - and the wallet.

Replace a registry with a honeymoon-fund

Instead of curating a registry of goods, create a ‘honeymoon fund’ where guests are able to contribute to airfare, lodging, and even an excursion-wishlist, such as wine tasting, sunset sailing, and a cooking class.

Seek boutique, not name-brand

Large, luxury hotel chains with recognizable brand names are appealing, but often, smaller, boutique lodging not only cuts costs, but is tailored to your chosen region by locals who truly know and treasure it.

Lean into shoulder season

Booking your retreat in the sweet spot between peak-season, when prices skyrocket and availability trends the opposite, and true off-season, when workers take leave and resorts shutter til summer, can render a previously out-of-budget location well within yours.

Take advantage of honeymoon packages

Travel agencies and resorts commonly offer couples honeymoon-packages, in which accommodations, dining, activities, and transportation are packaged together, tagged with a lump sum price. While one figure may be affronting at first glance, paying up front reduces overall cost, and amenities being serviced through one party lends an ease to the experience.

With these tactics in mind, we’d play with the idea of the following beachside locales, knowing they’re only expensive if you want them to be.

Goa

A small state off the glimmering west coast off India, Goa offers an earthy luxury and barefoot living that feeds the soul. Hazy evenings and rich, navy waves wait to soak and still the honeymooner.

Turks & Caicos

Tucked between the Bahamas and Dominican Republic, Turks has become famous for platinum sands and glimmering teal seas. Towering palms give cover to silky beaches, shading the dreamiest of afternoon naps, paired with a good book and tropical tan.

Brazil

From remote beaches to colorful city ambience, Brazil suggests honeymooners take a taste of everything, with the ability to indulge in rich cultural atmosphere or untouched paradises.

Zanzibar

The Tanzanian archipelago offers a couple’s retreat that’s slightly off-script. The adventurous pair sinks into serene waves, aromatic spice markets, and daring views.

Seychelles

Playful waves and endlessly stretching oceans skirt the coast of Africa’s smallest country. Seychelles is the perfect place to dive in and rest in a world made up of just two, glistening sands and technicolor reefs painting its landscape.

Mexico

Infamous and rightfully so, Mexico’s warm, indigo waters and iconic cultural dining have risen it to the top of the tropical destination list. Little-known havens, such as Bacalar, known as the ‘Maldives of Mexico’, and the car-free island of Isla Holbox, provide an escape from tourism and traffic with all of the best of a Mexican getaway.

A seaside honeymoon guide