French Polynesia/Moorea/Bora Bora/ Rangiroa
Written: Mar 28 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great diving,
BLUE LAGOON excursion on Rangiroa,
South Pacific paradise
Cons: long trip from USA East Coast,
no nightlife,
expensive
The Bottom Line: for the ultimate in South Pacific paradise experience, with diving, go to French Polynesia, especially if you are honeymooning. . beware though, VERY EXPENSIVE
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| orionquest's Full Review: Rangiroa |
12 day honeymoon in French Polynesia (FP)
Sept 2002
islands: Moorea, Bora Bora, and Rangiroa
hotels: Sheraton Moorea, Hotel Bora Bora, and Kia Ora Village Rangiroa
travel agent: Lucien Schmidlin, TOPDive owner (based in Bora Bora)
Excellent time in FP. My wife and I figured it would be a honeymooner's
paradise, and we were right. The islands are beautiful and the attractions
both topside and underwater are first-rate.
MOOREA:
after an almost 24 hour journey from NYC via LA via Papeete, we arrived at
the Sheraton Moorea early morning. Unfortunately they were overbooked and
we could not check in until noon, at the earliest. This irritated us
tremendously, since we were exhausted beyond belief.
The good thing is, the overwater (OW) bungalows at the Sheraton were by far
the best we would ever see in FP. They were huge and new, with AC, TV, &
stereo. The other thing I’dmight mention is that the toilet and bathroom
were not fully enclosed, so if you're not comfortable going to the bathroom
in front of your spouse (and I'm not talking #1 here), then you better get
used to it REAL fast (HAHA). There's also a bidet should you require one.
:-)
Moorea is a stunning island, probably the most dramatic in terms of the
contrast of volcanic peaks against a lagoon. Moorea is famous for its
magnificently cut bays: Opunohu and Cook's Bay. We did a jeep safari one
day and it was quite fun. You get to visit a juice factory, a vanilla
plantation, some marae (ancient Polynesian temples), and Belvedere, the main
lookout point. The ice cream at the vanilla plantation was fantastic. The
famous waterfall was disappointing because it was dry season, so all we saw
was a dry slab on the mountain, and the ride getting there is treacherous.
I would still however, unequivocally recommend the safari ride because it's
a great way to get introduced to the island and see some great scenery.
Moorea in particular is better for the safari because the volcanic peaks
there are very unique.
The Sheraton -- overall -- is a wonderful place to stay but not without its
problems. Service was spotty at times, but the spa was pretty good and the
snorkeling in the lagoon is excellent. We got to see all kinds of endemic
Indo-Pacific marine fauna, such as: Huma Huma (also known as Picasso)
triggerfish (who will actually try to chase you out of their "territory"),
moorish idols and their close cousins the longfin bannerfish, cornetfish
(related to the trumpetfish), sea cumcumbers (shake one and check out how it
expels its white intestines), and tons of tridacnid giant clams with
brilliant flourescent mantles. One of the most interesting natural
behaviors I witnessed was large schools of grazing convict surgeonfish
fighting with Damselfish (almost every coral crevice has one) as they
compete for algae.
I booked my open water certification dives through TOPDive, which has a dive
centre on Cook's Bay. These dives were conducted in Cook's Bay itself,
which unfortunately has very poor visibility (Cook's Bay is not where the
main Moorea dive sites are). I got freaked out when I saw a stonefish,
generally regarded as THE most poisonous fish in the world. Waving my hand
over it, I "dusted" it off and sure enough: STONEFISH. Suggestion: wear
scuba gloves if you can. I'm not sure if it would deter a stonefish's
spines, but it might should you be required to grab onto coral and /or rock
for stabilization. Stonefish scare me more than the sharks which I would
see later on in Rangiroa.
Since I was completing my certification, the two dives were very
"lesson-oriented" and as a result, I did not get to explore much of the
marine life there. But I wasn't horribly disappointed since I knew much
better dives lay ahead in Bora Bora and Rangiroa.
My new bride Monica, on the other hand, enjoyed herself immensely in the
bungalow's giant tub, as well as sunning herself on the huge 2-tiered
sundeck. Moorea and the Sheraton would prove to be her favorite island and
hotel.
Some other highlights and notes:
• ride a scooter if possible. It's a trip to get around the entire island,
but if you can at least manage to go around the bays, as well as reach Hauru
Point, you'll get some incredible picture-taking opportunities. It'll also
allow you (if you're a guy) to unleash your inner James Dean. HAHA.
• OW bungalows have no bugs whatsoever. The AC was nice but almost unnecessary, given the prevailing winds over the water.
• Sheraton "infinity" style pool is very cool. Their gym was more than
adequate as well. But their beach has this "pineapple seaweed" problem.
They try to clean it up but all this weird pineapple looking seaweed washes
up on shore and collects on the beach, which can be unsightly.
• We ate at ToHonuIti. Nice french restaurant considered one of the best on the island. It's by Cook's Bay and you can feed the stingrays in the water.
• We originally booked the Tiki Village show but decided to cancel, thinking it was probably too hokey and touristy.
• The Sheraton breakfast is a huge buffet. I gorged on brie cheese every
morning. Lunch and dinner were good but not outstanding, especially
relative to the dining we would experience on Bora Bora.
after 4 days in Moorea, we took a 40 minute flight to Bora Bora.
BORA BORA:
Bora Bora, unlike Moorea, is famous not for its inland mountain peaks, but
for its massive lagoon. Bora Bora is even more of a geologic marvel, in
that the one main island is surrounded by several motus (islands in the
lagoon), while being fully encircled by a reef except for one navigable
pass. Bora Bora has a very well-established tourist infrastructure, but the
eastern, more uninhabited of the island was unfortunately a wasteland of
garbage landfills. Not a big deal, since we hardly ever went there.
The airport is on its own motu, and from there the hotels will arrange
pickup by boat to transfer you to your hotel. It's a great ride and nice
intro to see the island from the water.
On our second day in BB we went out with the Lagoonarium, which organizes
half-day and full-day motu excursions, the difference being that the
full-day allows you to participate in a picnic. The excursion itself was
pleasant except Monica suffered from dehydration afterwards. The sun is
very intense in FP. We snorkeled during a shark and ray feeding session
(fun but contrived), and visited several fish farm cages where snorkelers
gawked at the trapped fish before they were eventually spear-fished (NOT fun
and even more contrived, especially from a scuba diver's perspective). But
the pirogue (Tahitian outrigger canoe) ride around the entire lagoon, as a
well as a snorkeling session in the Coral Gardens, made up for some of the
hokey tourist gimmicks.
Hotel Bora Bora (HBB) is a great hotel, probably the most famous in all of
FP. My only regret was that we did not book an OW bungalow, but we had a
nice beach bungalow with our own semi-private beach. The problem is, it's
buggy as hell there, and it's not just mosquitoes. Lots of flies
everywhere, which makes it difficult to relax and / or read on your sundeck.
HBB has a very different vibe from the Sheraton, not only in its level of
service (top-notch) but also in its atsmosphere. Imagine hanging out a
Nature Company theme park and you'll get the idea. Lots of birds chirping,
palm trees, quite gorgeous really. The restaurant is also very good, but
TOPDive would prove to be the better restaurant.
DIVE HIGHLIGHTS:
Since I booked my entire trip through TOPDive, I got a pretty decent rate on
their special "10 dive inter-island package", which allows you to spread 10
dives among their centres on Moorea, Bora Bora, and Rangiroa (perfect for
our trip).
TOPDive is a big operation, very professional and hi-tech. The boats are
big and fast. They expect you to set up your equipment, which I actually
liked because it made me double check everything on my own which gave me
more peace of mind. Every regulator has a basic dive computer attached,
showing max depth, length of dive, and current depth in a LCD readout. One
very nice quality about Bora Bora diving is that none of the major sites
were more than a 10-15 minute boat ride, which really economizes your time
(not to mention helping you manage your dive schedule should you have a
non-diving spouse). I did a total of 5 dives.
Dive 1: Manta Ray Dive in Anau Pass
Anau is the premier manta ray site, in the eastern side of the lagoon.
Supposedly seeing a manta is an almost 100% certainty. TOPDive usually
includes a cameraman on each dive, and I purchased my personalized dive
video without hestitation, considering I saw 3 mantas (which is actually
considered a low turnout). These creatures are absolute marvels, one
juvenile with a 6 ft. wingspan hovered about 2 feet over my head, while a
giant mother with a 12 foot wingspan also came by. They look like
underwater stealth bombers. The mantas congregate here because it's a
cleaning station, so you'll see all sorts of cleaner wrasses dart out from
the coral and begin their work. The nice thing about the site being a
cleaning station is that mantas will swim slowly, often circling back two or
three times. Interestingly enough, if you swim calmly enough the cleaner
wrasses will sometimes try and clean YOU. It was one of the most special
experiences in my entire life.
Dive 2: Tapu
Tapu is just outside the main pass, past Motu Tapu (hence its name).
Gorgeous site with unlimited visibility. One major highlight is the
resident 4 foot napoleon wrasse, not unlike a huge underwater teddy bear
with a voracious appetite. It's amazing to be able to pet such a massive
fish, even more so considering how docile it was. Morays and sea turtles
abound, and fish are EVERYWHERE. Unicornfish, free-swimming black
triggerfish with lyretails (Niger triggers?) that swam high in the water
column and would encircle you as soon as you jumped in the water. Blacktip
sharks relentlessly patrol close to the reef, and further below you'll see
lemon sharks. It was also great to finally see a zebra lionfish in its
natural habitat, as well as a tomato clownfish. It was such a trip to see
the cleaner wrasses FURIOUSLY cleaning the morays; they literally will
burrow their bodies inside the moray's gills, so that only the wrasse's tail
will show. And sometimes two or more wrasses would be doing this.
Dive 3: Lagoon Dive
This was the "bapteme", or introductory dive, for Monica. Overall, a nice,
easy going lagoon dive, with a max depth of about 20 feet. There was a
slight sloping reef wall down to about 100 feet or so on one side. What
killed me however was this one Japanese guy, who completely ignored the dive
master's instructions and proceeded to swim off on his own and ALL OVER the
place, to the bottom of the reef, back to the surface, down again, probably
getting both narcosis and the bends at the same time. He was pretty crazy,
to say the least, but he cracked me up and I almost coughed out my
regulator.
Dive 4: Teavanui Pass
Unfortunately, the visibility on this dive was rather poor. The Pass is of
course the main entranceway from the ocean into the lagoon, and although
there was no current, the plankton level was high and it was a bit difficult
to see. Nonetheless, I got to see a manta go flying by (mouth wide open), 2
eagle rays, a gorgeous nudibranch (sea slug), and huge schools of jacks.
The best part were definitely the huge coral buttresses, which overhang a
narrow gorge. Pretty amazing to swim over this gentle reef, to see it
suddenly stop and have a canyon magically appear. We briefly entered the
gorge, and this is where you saw the hundred or so big jacks swirling about.
This was a deep dive, almost to 100 ft., but like an idiot I forgot to
remember that the deeper you dive the more air you use up, so by the 25
minute mark I was already low on air and had to ascend with another "heavy
breather". The rest of the group went on without us.
Dive 5: Tapu Iti
A bit further down from Tapu, this was a drift dive that allowed one to
drift over Tapu Nui and Tapu Iti all in one shot. Current wasn't strong
which made the dive much more manageable. One funny thing was seeing one of
those submersible submarine type crafts for non-diving tourists, we swam
around it and waved hi to the people inside. One cool thing was petting
some of the resident morays. In fact, as we were petting one, another one
shot out from the same crevice looking for attention. Pretty trippy to see
two big morays waving about from one hole, if we had a third one it would've
looked exactly like Ghidrah, the 3-headed flying dragon from those old
Godzilla - Monster Zero movies (!)
Some other highlights and notes:
• HBB beach (specifically the "Superior" category) bungalows do not have AC, or a TV. Not having AC was kind of a disappointment. HBB does not have a
pool, spa, or gym either (although spa services can be arranged in your
bungalow). Great water pressure in the shower, though :-)
• Service is outstanding and very personalized. The owner, general manager, and other executives all personally greeted us on our arrival by boat, as
well as saw us off on the day of departure.
• Another nice benefit of HBB its location on the main island, as opposed to being on its own motu. This made things alot easier in terms of renting a
car and taking a ride around the main village of Vaitape and the rest of the
island.
• Don't fall for HBB's "Manta Ray Ballet". Supposedly some mantas get
attracted to the underwater lights underneath the pier and will come by at
nite. Instead I got to see a bunch of mullets (relatives of the flying
fish) chase each other around. At least it was free.
• From what I'm told, the new Bora Bora Nui resort (which is a Sheraton), which will be opening up in October 2002, will become the most exclusive and
expensive resort once it has completed construction.
• TOPDive is one of the best restaurants I've ever been to, ever (!) The
food is exquisite and very "nouvelle" French. Highly recommended.
• We did not goto Bloody Mary's or Bamboo House, feeling that it was
unnecessary. TOPDive's two dinners more than satisfied us.
• We bought 2 black pearls at NYCOS. Although we thought we were getting a good deal at the time, we would realize later that Rangiroa has better
prices.
• Benjamin, one of the dive masters at TOPDive, shared with me one of his craziest dive anecdotes. He and a dive buddy went in the deep ocean with
the intent of attracting the Oceanic Whitetip, arguably the most dangerous
shark in the open ocean. He shook his fin to mimic an injured fish and
within 2 minutes, a group of whitetips surrounded them. He and his buddy
went back to back in a defensive position as to cut down all angles of a
possible attack. Now THAT'S crazy (!)
after 4 days, we took an hour flight to Rangiroa.
RANGIROA:
Rangiroa is an atoll, part of the Tuamotu chain of islands, unlike Moorea
and Bora Bora, which are part of the Society islands. As a result, the
island is quite remote and the lagoon is even MORE pristine than that of
Bora Bora's. Rangiroa is basically a huge ring of little motus, with 2 main
passes into the lagoon. The drift diving here is world famous and
absolutely blew my mind.
We stayed at the Kia Ora Village, the main luxury accomodation on the
island. Not quite the same level as HBB or the Sheraton Moorea, however it
was the best choice available. Fortunately, we were booked for the OW
bungalows again and this made Monica exceedingly happy. We had grown quite
tired of the swarm of flies on HBB.
Snorkeling off the OW bungalow is pretty decent, however the water can get
quite shallow in places, and the coral is thrashed everywhere. The fish
seem strangely unafraid, and it's not unusual to jump into the water and be
immediately surrounded by Pacific double saddle-backed butterflyfish, titan
triggerfish, and mullets. Feeding the fish from the deck can be alot of fun
and creates quite a frenzy in the water.
Blue Lagoon excursion was excellent and one of the best highlights of our
entire honeymoon. An hour's boat ride on the other side of the atoll, Blue
Lagoon is the most beautiful place I've been to on Earth. No joke.
Basically a motu picnic, it's very romantic and the scenery is completely
unspoiled. Baby blacktip sharks cruise the shallow waters, about 1 - 3 feet
deep. Blue Lagoon is basically a "lagoon within a lagoon" and is probably
the embodiment of South Pacific island paradise. Once you arrive, couples
start walking around by themselves to relax, lay in the water or on the
beach, and it's a great opportunity to just spend time with your new spouse.
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, talking and taking pictures. The picnic
wasn't bad and our guide was pretty funny. When we left there was a brief
shark feeding session where he dragged some sharks onto our boat and did a
dance with them while they flopped around in his arms. Before we went back
to the hotel in the afternoon, we stopped by "The Aquarium", also known as
Motu Nuhi Nuhi, for a snorkeling session. Nice site overall since it's at
the place where the Tiputa Pass drift dive ends, so you'll see tons of fish
there, including a giant green moray (again, with the requisite cleaner
wrasses digging in its gills). The water is about 30 feet deep here.
Diving, though, is what puts Rangiroa on the map. The drift dives are
challenging yet exhilarating, and the passes are packed with sharks. Only
done in the morning, the drift dives starts outside the pass in the deep
blue, and you ride the current into the lagoon. It's very important to
conserve air as the ride itself is over 1km long (!) Hard to describe
really, basically imagine strapping on a jetpack and flying over another
planet's surface, and you'll get the idea. The western side of the pass,
where Shark's Cave starts, has a much stronger current. I've heard stories
of people grabbing onto rocks to slow down, only to have their mask get
pulled off their face!
DIVE HIGHLIGHTS:
As with the other islands, I dove again with TOPDive. Equipment again was
first-rate and the same as on Bora Bora and Moorea. Rather than a dive
boat, all the dive centres use Zodiacs, which are these high-powered
inflatable type rafts, to bring you out to the dive site.
An additional bonus for people with non-diving spouses is that since the
drift dive is done early in the morning, it allows one to complete the dive
and be back in time to spend the rest of the day with your spouse.
Dive 1: Tiputa Pass, outside Barrcuda Point (wall dive)
This was by far the steepest wall dive I've done in my short diving career.
On the east side of the pass the plateau gently slopes down before it
plunges vertical to the abyss. Visibility was so clear it defied
description. Almost like glass, I could see probably almost 200 feet.
Originally booked as a drift dive, the current was not working in our favor
and the divemaster decided to do a wall dive instead.
The absolute highlight of this dive was at the end, when an entire pod of 20
or so dolphins came and played with us! I initially heard them from far
away by their echolocation, the clicking noises they make to communicate
with one another. Sure enough, the surface above us turned white with their
splashes as they breached the water and then came down and swam all around
us. The way in which they swam and moved was effortless, and to look in
their eyes, one could see just how intelligent these marvelous creatures
really were. One baby was even nursing from its mother as they swam around.
It was also then that I truly appreciated just how powerful they were,
especially in comparison to the feeble movements a scuba diver makes
underwater.
Tons upon tons of fish along the wall, too many to mention. Huge schools of
sennet (a type of barracuda) would swarm by like a shimmering wall of
mirrors.
Dive 2: Tiputa Pass (drift dive, Shark's Cave)
I booked this dive through Blue Dolphin, Kia Ora's on-site dive shop. It
was the only way I could do a drift dive in the morning and make it back in
time for the 9am departure for the Blue Lagoon excursion. Blue Dolphin was
a nice enough shop, its very obvious that they command the bulk of the
business on the island vis-a-vis their relationship with Kia Ora. However,
I thought their equipment was old. I wasn't even provided an Octopus or
depth meter, much less a dive computer! However, almost all of their
clientele is Japanese, and they usually had their own equipment.
Nevertheless, Blue Dolphin is usually fully booked, with 2 full Zodiacs
every morning. I was on the wait list and able to dive only because someone
had canceled out.
Regardless, the dive was phenomenal. We were dropped off at Shark's Cave,
where I saw dozens of blacktips swimming below me at around 100 feet. When
I first felt the current upon entering the Pass, I was initially taken aback
by how strong it was. Let me tell you, it's SUPER STRONG. It's difficult
to slow down and grab onto a rock, you might be able to hold on for 5-10
seconds and you'll also look like a flag flapping in the wind. Not to
mention the possibility of grabbing onto a stonefish.
There are two ways one can approach the drift dive: 1) as a "ride", where
you just enjoy the current and fly over the coral bed, or 2) as an
opportunity to take pictures, especially sharks. This requires one to
constantly swim against the current, as well as grab onto rock or coral from
time to time to slow down. I found this to be particularly difficult,
because I didn't wear gloves and I didn't like careening towards a rock at
such a fast speed while trying to grab onto it at the same time.
Unfortunately, the choice is not up to you. If you're with a bunch of
Japanese divers with their own video and camera equipment, you'll be
expected to stop and grab ahold of something during the drift as they
explore caves and take pictures and whatnot. The important thing is to not
drift away and be separated from your group. Buoyancy control is also
paramount (!) It's easier to stay closer to the bottom, where the current
is weaker. If you stay in the middle of the water column you will more than
likely blow right by your divemaster and go hurtling through the pass by
yourself.
But once you get your buoyancy JUST right, go into cruise control and enjoy
the sights. The pass is saturated with life: tons of snappers, barracuda,
sharks, you name it. Many of them are swimming in place against the
current, and the smaller fish have their mouths open feeding on the
plankton. The fish, believe it or not, provide a visual cue on the
current's direction, which is extremely helpful when trying to swim against
the current (especially when the current changes as it hits a formation that
juts out into the pass).
Dive 3: Tiputa Pass (drift dive, Turtle's Point)
Back with TOPDive again, I did the same drift dive but along the eastern
side of the Pass. This would prove to be my best drift dive, as I
established good buoyancy almost immediately and enjoyed the ride rather
serenely. The current wasn't as strong which probably made things easier.
We also weren't with a bunch of camera freaks so we didn't stop at all for
pictures. One amazing fish I saw was the Great Hammerhead shark, a good
9-10 feet long. It wasn't very close but it still sent a chill down my
spine. It was cruising around looking for other reef sharks to feed on.
Now you know a shark is a bad-ass if OTHER sharks are on its menu.
Blue Dolphin has a very famous poster of a 6 metre tiger shark eating
another reef shark in their shop. Using a rebreather appartus (which allows
a diver to recirculate his bubbles), the divemasters remain ultra-quiet on
the bottom of the reef and observe tiger sharks feeding. NUTS (!) (I've attached at the beginning of the report, I'm sure you didn't miss it!!)
Some other highlights and notes:
• Kia Ora's restaurant is not open all the time. Sandwiches are available
in between breakfast and lunch, and between lunch and dinner, but that's
about it. Room service is also not available during this "down" period.
The restaurant however has a twice weekly BBQ and Polynesian dance show,
which was a nice diversion. Get there EARLY if you want to try their spiny
lobster puff pastry, as it almost always sells out fast (the waiter
accidentally served one of the last ones to me, which apparently belonged to
another customer). I couldn't resist and dug in .
• Kia Ora's OW bungalows have ACs (again, made Monica very happy), but they have no cd player or TV (which probably was a good thing actually).
Unfortunately there was no tub which made Monica NOT happy.
• Supposedly Kia Ora's hot water is solar-powered. So if you encounter a day which is overcast and gloomy, expect cold showers the next day.
• Scooter ride was fun. Go from one end of Tiputa to the other end of
Avatoru, about a 6 mile ride. Not a whole lot to see but it's a very
pleasant ride. If you hang out at Tiputa Pass around sunset, you will see
the wild dolphins playing in the surf.
• Tico Pearls is where we bought another black pearl. Prices were bargains compared to NYCOS on Bora Bora. Tico is within walking distance to the hotel.
• The diner/snack stand at the end of the dock at Tiputa Pass is pretty
good. Sit near the railing and feed the fish, who have obviously become
very habituated to handouts.
• the Japanese divers are also very hardcore. They are usually fully decked out in matching gear, and even the dimimutive female divers are experts.
One guy (who's now my diving idol) must've had thousands of dollars worth of
video/camera equipment. Every day, I saw him wear a t-shirt of some exotic
dive destination (Blue Corner in Palau, Sipadan in Borneo, etc.)
• Much kudos to Stephane, Kia Ora's activities desk manager. He arranged for us to have another scooter ride, free of charge, during the time after
we had already checked out but before our airport shuttle arrived. He's
really nice and personable (unlike the Sheraton activities desk woman).
SOME FINAL NOTES AND HELPFUL HINTS:
• French is by far the most widespread language, with English a distant
second. Although possible to get around on English, most people feel much
more comfortable conversing in French. Thankfully Monica can speak a little
so it made our trip a bit easier. The natives are much more engaging when
they know you can spreak French, too.
• Pools and sometimes beaches are topless. Just an FYI :-).
• If you booked your trip through a travel agency, a guide will present with a book of vouchers upon arrival at the airport. Don't lose this, as it
contains all your transfers to/from the hotel, inter-island plane tickets,
and hotel reservations.
• To order red wine by the glass means COLD wine (in all of FP). I have no idea why. It took some time to get adjusted to this. But the fresh
pineapple juice more than made up for it.
• FP is a total honeymooner's paradise, and everything is geared towards the newlyweds. We hardly saw kids at all, and no single people whatsoever. Get ready to do a whole lot of nothing, especially at nighttime. FP is a place to relax, and there's not much in the way of shopping. Most people
goto bed rather early, soon after dinner.
• 110v outlets are generally provided in the major hotels, however it's
strangely absent at the Kia Ora. You must charge your equipment at their
front desk.
• Internet access can be found at the Sheraton business center (for a small fee), and HBB's lobby (free). No internet access at Kia Ora, except at a
pearl shop near the hotel.
• Sheraton has a payphone in the lobby. HBB unfortunately does not, and neither does the Kia Ora.
• Phone cards are easily purchased and a breeze to use on a public payphone, and by far the best way to call the US. To call the US, dial 001 - area
code - number. That's it. However the minutes get used up much faster on
the card when dialing overseas. We bought our cards in $10 increments for
30 minutes each.
• Very often, you'll see smoke and smell trash burning on every island.
Apparently the French Polynesians dispose of waste by burning it.
• Be prepared to see geckos running around in your bungalow, even in the OW ones. We found a dead one floating in our coffee maker one morning.
• Booking full board reservations with the hotel (i.e. meal plans included)
is very convenient, and probably in the long run will save you money.
Problem is you feel somewhat obligated to eat at the hotel, otherwise you'll
be wasting a meal should you elect to eat off-premises. Try and pre-arrange
some dinners at other places thru your agent. For example, Lucien arranged
2 dinners at HBB and 2 at TOPDive while on Bora Bora. But the nice thing
about having a meal plan is that since your meal is already pre-paid, you
can go ahead and order the most expensive thing on the menu(s). I almost
overdosed on fois gras every night. The drinks however are not included.
• Hold onto your wallets. Everything and anything is usually expensive, and the mini-bar will kill you. We usually went out to buy some drinks and
snacks at nearby markets (Chin Lee on BB and a small grocery store on the
Avatoru end of Rangiroa). It was a good opportunity to check out the local
life, too.
• We converted $400 US into CFP upon arrival at Papeete airport, but still managed to have some left over. Credit cards are almost always accepted,
and you can always charge things to your room at the hotels.
• We also dined at Le Mandarin (Chinese restaurant) in Papeete, since we had a few hours to kill before our flight back to the States. It was great
to go into Tahiti's main city, if just for a little while, before the long
flight home.
• It's very romantic there and I can't recommend it enough. Just watching the stars at night on your OW deck is alone worth the price of the trip. I
love the South Pacific and hope we go back one day.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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orionquest
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Location: NYC
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