HONEYMOONERS STILL SEEKING SLICE OF PARADISE.

Byline: Carol Bidwell Daily News Staff Writer

Take an expanse of secluded beach. Add a grove of palm trees and maybe a hammock. Stir in some soft breezes. Mix in the music of drums or maybe a steel guitar. Add one bride and one groom. Bake in the tropical sun, and you've got yourself what many newlyweds see as the perfect honeymoon.

"For some reason or other, we all have the image of a tropical paradise when we think of a place to go for a honeymoon," said Eva Capps, assistant to the publisher of Honeymoon magazine. "Even with couples who have lived together before they were married, there's a renaissance of wanting to keep romance alive."

Besides being romantic, honeymoons are also big travel business. In 1974, newly married couples spent an estimated $800 million on wedding trips. By 1994, that figure had risen to $4.5 billion, according to Honeymoon magazine.

And couples spent about $1,400 on their honeymoon in 1994, about 60 percent more than the typical traveler on an average trip, according to a Travel Industry Association of America survey.

The Caribbean ranks as the No. 1 international destination for honeymooners, with nearly 40 percent of newlyweds heading there after the I-do's. Hawaii ranks second, hosting more than 25 percent of honeymooners who travel outside the continental United States, said Honeymoon magazine.

Domestically, nearly 25 percent of honeymooners nationwide head for Florida, around 20 percent travel to Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains resorts, and about 10 percent head to California or Colorado.

When planning a honeymoon, many couples with busy careers and tight budgets opt for a long weekend at a bed-and-breakfast inn, where innkeepers cater to newlyweds and often offer special romantic packages, Capps said.

Many of those with more time and a little more money - and a yen to relax without having to make complicated travel plans - are choosing to take a honeymoon cruise, she said.

While sandy beaches have always been a draw for newlyweds, cruises "can be a little bit calming after a big wedding - and they can be less expensive, too, because everything is included," said Sandy Hayes, an agent with Michael's Travel Center in Thousand Oaks.

Thirty-two cruise lines will make special arrangements for honeymooners, such as placing queen- or king-size beds in staterooms, planning on-board receptions and allowing couples to bring their own ministers aboard for an in-port wedding, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.

Many cruise lines also will arrange for weddings on a beach, in a castle or at a teahouse at foreign ports. And many cruises depart on Sunday or Monday, making it convenient for those celebrating a weekend wedding.

Maybe that's why a recent CLIA study showed that 62 percent of frequent cruisers and 64 percent of first-time cruisers consider a cruise the ideal honeymoon.

But many more honeymooners head for what many believe are the world's most romantic spots, with sun, surf, soft breezes and water sports: Hawaii and the Caribbean.

"Hawaii is always very hot for honeymoons," Capps said. "It appeals to people partly because there are so many different activities there. They can go swimming, hiking, canoeing, snorkeling - and there's always the beautiful landscape. And it's so very, very romantic - the moon glistening and all those sunsets."

The Caribbean has the same appeal in a slightly more exotic setting because, after all, its islands are not U.S. states, Capps said.

While many honeymooners want to loll on the beaches and dance the night away on a moon-swept lanai, even more want to spend their time having an adventure, she said.

"When they go on a honeymoon, they want to do something different: white-water rafting, mountain climbing, hiking," she said. "It's no longer just relaxing under a palm tree."

Jamaica is an increasingly popular honeymoon destination, with two resorts catering to newlyweds, said WJavier Mosqueira, an agent for America's Travel Center in West Hills.

"The top accommodations are really deluxe and they have special rooms for honeymooners," he said.

Couples, which boasts that it was the first couples-only resort and celebrated its 18th anniversary this month, and Sandals, which started its first resort in Montego Bay 15 years ago, are seeing a boom in the honeymoon market.

Newlyweds, who often have careers and busy lives at home, like to go someplace where they'll be pampered and arrangements are made for them, said John Lynch, executive vice president for Sandals.

"We have everything here for couples," he said. "We like to think we're built for romance, for people in love. We have lots of Jacuzzis, satellite dishes, hair dryers and four to six gourmet restaurants. They don't have to do anything but come here. We take care of the rest."

That includes planning the wedding itself, in packages ranging from $750 to $100,000. Air Jamaica, of which Lynch is a board member, offers fly-and-stay deals, with departures to be offered from Los Angeles and San Francisco in April.

More than half of the Sandals guests are from the United States, with 30 percent arriving from Great Britain and other European countries, Lynch said.

At Couples resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, honeymooners can concentrate on each other or can sample such activities as horseback riding, tennis, windsurfing, sailing, snorkeling and scuba diving.

"The honeymooner is a substantial part of our travel market," said Couples spokesman Bernard Payne. "Honeymooners tend to be from 25 to 50 years old. And a lot of people will come and have their weddings right on the property. We do it for them for free."

For instance, the Couples resort will arrange for on-site gazebo weddings, complete with a cake, champagne and music. Prices for weddings and other services vary.

Romance is the buzzword at Couples, which is mainly visited by newlyweds from the United States, Canada and SouWth America, Payne said. Features include hammocks for two, tables for two in the restaurants, massages and romantic music piped into guests' rooms.

"Nowadays, both people work and they really don't find time to be intimate and take care of each other," he said. "We like to make things really romantic here, and they really respond to little touches of romance."

Not to be outdone, Club Med - which has destination resorts in the Caribbean and in French Polynesia, a total of 114 vacation "villages" in 36 countries that host about 1.5 million guests annually - also caters to honeymooners. About 7,000 honeymoon couples visited the resorts last year, said spokeswoman Edwina Arnold.

Honeymooners are welcomed with a bottle of sparkling wine, "bar beads," Club Med's currency, and either a tour of the island or a one-day free car rental so they can explore on their own.

At Club Med Paradise Island, honeymooners can choose to stay in their own two-story honeymoon cottage, complete with first-floor terrace, second-floor balcony, and breakfast in bed.

"We get lots more honeymooners in spring and summer and try to make sure they have a memorable time," Arnold said. "We have all kinds of honeymooners - people who've just gotten together, and then you have people who've lived together for five or 10 years. Those people seem to like the camaraderie we offer, along with lots of sports. And, coming here, they know the total cost. They know they're not going to be nickeled and dimed to death."

"When they want to be alone, they can be alone," Arnold said. "When they want to be with people, they're not just with other honeymooners unless they want to be."

For newlyweds who stay hitched and return to celebrate their anniversaries, Club Med also offers special discounts at its resorts in French Polynesia: a percentage discount off the $5,200-per-person price equal to the number of years a couple has been married.

"With more than half the marriages today ending up in divorce,W we're celebrating anniversaries as well as weddings," Arnold said.

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Photo (1) Club Med Columbus Isle is one of the resort giant's 114 vacation "villages" that can help provide the perfect, activity-filled honeymoon. Special discounts are available for couples celebrating anniversaries. (2) Honeymooners aren't just relaxing, with many using their post-wedding vacation for outdoor pursuits such as white-water rafting. (3) The Couples resort in Jamaica, which caters to newlyweds, pampers its guests with massages and has tables - and hammocks - for two.