Ever been to Tahiti? You have to go. Someone once said that to me and in late 2021 we made it happen. Flights and hotels in hard to get to places were priced at levels too good to be true. So we got a test, put on a mask and jetted off to French Polynesia. Once we arrived no one cared about worldly problems, it was truly paradise.
Nothing says luxury like over water bungalows. This was at the Manava Beach Hotel on Morea, it's a quick ferry ride from the international airport on Tahiti, in Papeete. Arriving is nice, they do something similar to that Hawaiian thing and immediately upgraded us to a room with a private pool, it wasn't that busy. We might go back.
We spent most of the vacation in the water. For the trip we bought a GoPro with the fish lens as the diving here is unparalleled. You would see hundreds of types of fish, sea turtles, reef sharks, rays and all sorts of corals or other critters. They had stand up paddle boards and kayaks. We also stayed at the Royal Bora Bora Hotel. When in French Polynesia you should island hop and Bora Bora is often a person's first choice.
You have to fly Tahitian Air to get there, it really adds to the trip. This is the island where celebrities stay. We ate at Bloody Mary's which has a celebrity wall with hundreds of names of famous people who went there. They usually stay on the Atoll off the island at one of those $10,000 per night and up places. The island was nice however no better than any other island there and we hung out on Matira beach most of the time.
French Polynesia is in the middle of the pacific ocean. It was colonized by France and people speak French there, because of this is has a unique island flair mixed with continental Europe culture. The food was great, we would eat baguettes with cheese for breakfast, go to the cafe and eat at food trucks or restaurants for dinner. It was much better than doing the same thing in Paris.
This is a Polynesia dish, Poisson Cru. It's sort of like Ceviche and you can find it anywhere there. It's coconut, raw fish, lemon, and some salad mixed together.
They have food trucks, just like in Hawaii, where you can get a nice meal for a reasonable price. Let's say $20 per person, which isn't bad considering where you are. They had rules about staying out late, curfews which meant things closed at 9pm, which is fine. Locals seemed to really enjoy their lives here regardless of the rules.
This is one place you want to busy souvenirs from when you visit. We got a mask and an original piece of art. Who knows when you will be back and it's made on one of the islands. They had cute lizards too but they weren't for sale.
One day we rented a car and drove around. There's a few sites to see on the island such as the Belevedere Lookout. They have some cultural centers where you can watch fire dancers and traditional entertainment, they also had lots of diving and whale excursions. We have a ton of photos but most of them are private. Driving around the island takes an hour or so if you don't stop at every single beach or lookout.
This was the hotel we stayed at in Bora Bora. The snorkeling off shore was great and I'll follow up with a post just on that. The only excursion we did was to take a boat to a private island and swim the the sharks and rays. The guide was amazing, it was on Morea and is a must do.
They taught us how to make poisson cru, how to open a coconut without tools, how to tie one of those Polynesian dresses all while preparing this lunch. If we go back we will do this again 100% and the only change would be substituting Bora Bora for another less busy island.
They feed the reef sharks what looks like cheap baloney. So they swim around you and you can get photos with them next to you. It's not scary, there are whale tours and bigger shark tours that involve deeper water. Since this is in the middle of the ocean, once you leave the reef, the waves can get wild.
This is me petting a stingray. You can hand feed them too, it feels weird. They climb you for the food. These aren't the stinging type, much too friendly for that. I should really access more photos to share for next time.
Photo's taken on a Gopro Hero 8, Sa70 and iphone 11pro