An unreal swimming hole
This year with all the craziness of the pandemic, the thought of an international trip seemed impossible. My wife and I have a tradition where we save up all of our extra funds and put it towards an out of country vacation to somewhere that we have never been before. It’s a huge motivator for us, and keeps us passionate about seeing other cultures.
Seeing new vistas
Due to covid I was put on active orders with the military and my wife lost her job. Between my busy schedule and the scramble to find employment we put the thought of our tradition on hold, until I came across an email about cheap tickets to Costa Rica. It wasn’t on our list of countries we planned to visit but after looking at pictures for an entire evening we decided to go for it!
The Lush Costa Rican Jungle
The wildlife blended in with the scenery
The trip was an incredible experience! Getting the chance to trek through the jungle, live with the locals and embrace the culture was completely life changing!
A beautiful secluded beach in Costa Rica
The breathtaking sunset!
We are so thankful we saw that email and didn’t let the pandemic stop us from creating new memories.
Kenny S., Free Subscriber
A trip to Europe! I couldn’t believe it
Beautiful Historic Windmills
Photoshoots in Greece!
Cheesin’ next to ancient ruins
Beautiful little walkways
Lovely seaside towns
Stunning flowerbeds
I had been teaching online English as a second language to elementary age students in China for two years when I heard about Pomelo Travel. Some of my students I had taught for those whole two years, five days a week. When Pomelo sent out a flight alert with $400 roundtrip tickets to Beijing I jumped at the chance to get to meet my students in person! Spring of 2019 I experienced the trip of a lifetime! Students from all over China met me in Beijing where we explored The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, The Summer Palace, and local markets and cuisine. I know I wouldn’t have made these unbelievable lasting memories and stronger connections with my students without the help from Pomelo Travel’s deal alerts.
Lindsey G., Premium Subscriber
I currently live in Hawai’i where airfare is always so expensive for any destination. However, Pomelo posted a cheap fare to Fiji. My friend and I scored round trip tickets to Fiji for $520! This is unheard of. We had an amazing time. Visited a small little island and even captured this gorgeous sunset over Cloudbreak on our last evening.
Tammy T., Premium Subscriber
I met my boyfriend, Xavier, two years ago in my hometown Atlanta, GA. He was visiting as a delegate from Santiago, Chile for a Bible convention that was, ironically, titled “Love Never Fails”. Since we started dating during a worldwide pandemic, we were not able to go and visit each other. We did everything possible to keep our dating life fun. We both love to travel, so we virtually travelled to Hawaii, South Korea, and India (to name a few places). Of course, we were also planning all the things we would do together when we would meet for the first time as boyfriend and girlfriend in person.
In May of 2020, I purchased a ticket to visit Chile in June 2021 that I found through Pomelo. But as time dragged on, we found it harder and harder to wait to see each other. Then, ONE AMAZING DAY, I checked my email and found a deal to visit Santiago, Chile during my Christmas vacation. I figured if I travelled on Christmas day, the airplane would be less crowded and not many people would be flying, thus minimizing the risk. So, I decided to buy a ticket. IN TWO WEEKS, I WAS GOING TO SEE MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE WORLD! THANK YOU, POMELO TRAVEL!
Chile was still in lockdown, but we were able to get a permission slip to visit one place that we chose. We decided to go to Pelluhue, Chile. In Pelluhue, we visited beautiful black sand beaches. The beaches were SO WINDY. Yes, it was chilly in Chile. To celebrate another month together, Xavi and I made a fort on the balcony of our cabin and watched the sunset over the beach. It was gorgeous. We ate the BEST STRAWBERRIES IN THE WORLD. Seriously, the strawberries in the south of Chile in the summer are incredible. I have never tasted strawberries that good. I want to go back just for that to be honest (sorry Xavi I hope your not reading this). We visited these beautiful caves/arches called Los Arcos de Calan which were breathtaking!
My absolute favorite day is when we were trying to visit a waterfall and we took the truck to do some off-roading to find it and we found a river. I had never swum in a river before, and it had always been a dream of mine. It was so refreshing and cool. There was a bed of moss on the bottom of the river, but I just tried my best not to touch the floor. Xavi tried scaring me saying that there were snakes, but I didn’t care at all. One night we were sitting in the hot tub looking up at the stars. A few bats were making their appearance and swooping down over the pool nearby. As we looked out over the ocean, a huge shooting star fell. I had never seen one before.
I don’t believe in wishing on the shooting stars, but this felt like my dream-come-true already. I’ll never forget the crazy adventures we shared together this week in Pelluhue. If it wasn’t for Pomelo travel, I wouldn’t have been able to get this last-minute flight to see my best friend and love. I can’t wait to go back and see him again.
~Shauna Yap Maxwell
My wife and I have been subscribers for years and have used the Pomelo for trips to Cambodia, Malaysia, Paris, Thailand and more. Our most recent trip was to the Maldives for $417 round trip.I never thought I would have the ability to travel to the Maldives without having an expendable $25k+. The MOMENT I saw the deal I just booked it for 12 days at the end of November. The flight was out of LAX, and took us 15 hours to Shanghai. We had a 20 hour layover in Shanghai and it gave us the opportunity to see the city a bit and more importantly try the food. We woke up the next morning and went back to PVG with our bags in tow and hopped on the next leg to Malé. Our leg to Malé took another 8 hours and we landed right at sunset. As we came in through a thunderstorm the skies opened up and we could see the cerulean atolls that we have only seen in pictures to this point.We landed in Malé and we were met at the airport by an individual from the hotel for the first night in the capital city. We were staying here for one night because we could not book a seaplane to the resort after sunset.
Our night in Malé was not the experience we were expecting, however it was filled with all the hustle and bustle you would expect from one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The next morning at 5am the Muezzin was chanting his morning prayer and we were back to the airport.We ended up in an annexed part of the airport, which was technically a seaport. Taking a seaplane to Westin Miriandhoo Resort and Spa. We were flown in a tiny 10 person cabin at very low altitude over islands and atolls that looked like they were plucked from the mind of Captain James Cook. Just the most unbelievable colors, that are very difficult to describe.
Some of the islands were uninhabited and it made me day dream of the possibility of trying to live year round in that habitat.We landed at the Westin and were greeted by a large number of staff including the GM of the property. We started our stay in a beach villa with direct access to the beach, and quite a few “flying foxes” in our trees. Later we moved to an over water villa that did not have a view of any other structures, nor a beach. It was just water as far as you could see with the occasional silhouette of an island on the horizon.The biggest difference between this trip and every other I have taken, was there was NO itinerary. We would wake up around 7 or 8, get dressed, go get breakfast, and then… whatever we felt like. We would read for a couple hours, go snorkeling, read again, eat, nap, play billiards, and then it was dark out. It was the first time that I had ever experienced what a true “vacation” should be. We were vacating our phones, our jobs, our expectations of staying busy and much more.I cannot recommend this trip enough. We got the deal through Pomelo, and continue to go back for more deals just like the Maldives. We were given $1million view for $417 round trip. In retrospect, I wouldn’t have changed a thing and my wife and I will always have the Maldives.
Philip K., Premium Subscriber
My Husband and I have been Premium Pomelo subscribers for a few years now. They have made travel so much easier and cheaper for us. One of my favorite Pomelo deals we have taken was a $400 flight from San Francisco to Papeete French Polynesia. We spent 10 days exploring the islands of Tahiti and Moorea. My husband and I have been to the Hawaiian islands a handful of times and we were expecting a somewhat similar experience – but we were very wrong.
The beauty of French Polynesia is like nothing I have ever experienced. We saw shades of ocean blue I didn’t know existed. We hiked through thick jungles to amazing lookouts, waterfalls, ruins, mountain peaks and more. We kayaked out to a spot where we were able to swim with sharks (yes sharks!) and rays. We snorkeled through vibrant coral that was teeming with sea life. We walked along the most beautiful beaches imaginable. I think one of my favorite parts of the trip though was all of the fruit stands that were on the side of the road. We ate the most amazing fresh fruit I think I will ever have in my life. My love for those islands runs deep and I cannot wait to go back and explore more of the islands. A big thanks to Pomelo for making this trip and so many more possible.
Alexandra S., Premium Subscriber
