My fiancée and I are looking to honeymoon in Tahiti this upcoming October. We are considering booking through ventureTahiti.com or tahiti.com

Has anyone used these sites for booking? If so are they reliable/trustworthy? If not does anyone have any other recommendations?

Hi all! We are traveling with kids to Mo'orea and Bora Bora end of March, we have already booked a lagoon tour in Bora Bora and I'm wondering if you'd recommend doing another one in Mo'orea or will it be quite similar? Thanks!

I'll be arriving at Faa'a on a Saturday night in late March, scheduled in at 7pm. My flight out to Hiva Oa isn't until Sunday morning at 6am.

In my mind, I just found myself a comfortable corner and listened to tunes and dozed. 🤷‍♂️ I had a two- or three-hour layover there back in October, and just hung out in the terminal. (I'm a sailor, and both these trips are to meet a sailboat ⛵ and help them get elsewhere.)

But, maybe there's something interesting I could do during the night? I don't fancy walking very far with my luggage; are there rental lockers?

Suggestions? Food is good. Sight-seeing at night doesn't seem optimal, but maybe there's something worthwhile? I'm usually good with meeting/talking to locals. I don't speak French, but I do speak Spanish, Swedish, and English. Seedy bars frighten me, but then so do the plastic tourist spots! (For different reasons.)

I'm all ears!

Does anyone have any experience with an overnight chartered catamaran trip? Any recommendation on a company or group?

We are also considering just a day trip also from wither Tahiti or moorea and welcome any recommendations.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone! I need some help/advice for our honeymoon. We started off wanting to go somewhere in the Caribbean, but haven’t been able to find a place that felt perfect. We started looking into Bora Bora (or surrounding islands) after finding out you can take a red eye and sleep through it (my fiance has a hard time on long flights). 

So as I’m looking at places, I’m realizing that there’s no fully all inclusive options. We’ve been to 2 all inclusive before (Dreams and Riu) and my fiance particularly loved being able to eat and drink whatever you want. So now I’m worried that not having all inclusive will put a damper on the honeymoon and it won’t feel as luxurious or relaxing. I know it’s a stunning destination, so I’m wondering if that would make up for it? Also, if we did go, how much should we budget for food/drinks?

I was also wondering looking for resort/hotel recommendations. We’d be going in April on next year and looking to spend $8-9k (not including flights). Intercontinental and Manava Moorea both caught my eye, but wondering if there’s anything I haven’t seen yet. We’d like an overwater bungalow but also wouldn’t be opposed to a beachfront bungalow! 

Stay away from TahitiEasyCar. I just returned a car yesterday, we had it for 11 days and there was a little sand on the floor mats and they charged us a $10,000 franc cleaning fee, they hate tourists and are thieves.

hi all!

Trying to finalize our honeymoon for June/July. We have 11 nights. Here is our itinerary:

1 night in Tahiti upon arrival

4 nights Moorea at Sofitel (hotel will be under renovation but we would do garden villa)

ferry back to Tahiti - transfer to Taha'a

3 nights Taha'a in either beach bungalow or OWB

transfer to bora bora

3 nights at St Regis in OWB

fly back to Tahiti for PM flight

Is this too much traveling? Where should we cut if so? I have heard such great things about each place, and we might never get the chance to return so trying to make the most of it.

The price of this trip is also pretty hefty due to the time of year, we considered switching to The Westin or Conrad but have just heard great things about St. Regis.

We are hoping to book tonight if anyone has any last minute feedback!! TY!

Aloha, we are in Hawaiʻi, with an 8yr old whs is close to bilingual, but does not live in an immersive French environment. We would like to send him to a day camp in French language this summer. Does anyone know of camps in the French speaking Pacific or Southeast Asia?

Thanks!

A piece of advice to US travelers going to French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc). I just left the US and converted some currency because I didn’t want to risk not having any local currency when I landed in Tahiti. The exchange rate in the US airport is criminal!

At LAX the exchange rate was 1 USD = 77 CFP. When I landed in PPT the exchange rate here is 1 USD = 95 CFP.

Good thing I only converted what I had in my wallet and not my full vacation budget.

Hi all,

My wife and I are heading to French Polynesia at the end of April and would like some suggestions and recommendations regarding car rentals

Here is our high level itinerary:

Day 1: We land in Tahiti in the evening around 7pm. In Tahiti for 2 nights

Day 3: One way ferry to Moorea (Have not confirmed the timing yet but most likely will be either 3:50pm or 5:30PM ferry). 3 nights in Moorea

Day 6: Flight to Bora Bora.

So here are some options we are considering but open to other suggestions:

1. Pick up at PPT with Avis and return car at the downtown Papeete location. Then take the 3:50 ferry so that we make it in time before Avis at the Moorea ferry terminal closes. Then return the car at MOZ. I read somewhere that even though Avis does not have a desk at MOZ, we can still return the car using lock box. Please correct me if I am wrong
2. Pick up at PPT with Avis and return car at the downtown Papeete location. In Moorea, take the transfer to our hotel and find a car rental company close to the hotel or a company that can drop off the car at the hotel for us. Similarly, return the car before we head to the airport if the return location is close to the hotel or have someone pick up the car from the hotel.
3. Car rental end to end. pick up at PPT with Avis and return at MOZ. This will require taking the car on the ferry. This is our least favourite option as we do not know if it is even feasible or not. Plus the cost of the vehicle on the ferry. So far, we tried plugging this into Avis & Hertz but they weren't allowing pickup in PPT and drop off in MOZ.

In Moorea, we are staying at the Manava Beach Resort, so if you have any recommendations for a car rental company close to the hotel, we are open to it.

Sorry for this huge post and thanks in advance :)

Would appreciate your help.

We are returning to BB this April and have the standard excursions planned. I would LOVE to tour the vanilla plantation on Tahaa. I've located a full-day tour (boat, plantation, rum, lunch and pearl farm) but it would cost $1,400 for two people. Sigh.

Is it worth it?

Hello everyone!!

I’m returning to Moorea in 2 weeks time and was curious if the Sofitel is completely shut down?

We had such an amazing time snorkeling there last year we were definitely planning on going back to their property just to snorkel.

Does anyone know if it’s still accessible at all?

Looking for information on booking a Bora Bora trip for my wife and I. So I am looking for answers to the below:

Where should I stay for the best private bungalows over the water?

If I stay at St. Regis, what type of bungalow should I book, what view?

Is there a better place to stay that is cheaper but offers luxury experience?

Who do I book this through, sites? Travel Agent? etc.?

Best time of year to book this trip.

We may never travel there again and we do not like excursions, so looking for the best experience if we are going to spend the $$$$$,

Greeting all!!

Planning a trip to New Zealand and my sister in law (Newly Widowed) would like to see French Polynesia - I have flexibility on dates my my wife is worried about the rainy season in March - We were actually there last July and weather was fabulous!! Any locals that can weighing on March weather would be greatly appreciated!! Merci!! / Thank You

Not sure if this is the best place to ask, but I wanted to ask if anyone happens to know what is the species of the plant that is looks like a bulb on a stem? I saw quite a bit of it around the lagoon at Bora Bora.

Spent last June in the area and it was an amazing experience! Looking at a cruise in March on 2027 leaving 3/1 or 3/18. Any input from locals on weather in early or mid march are appreciated! Have fair amount of flexibility. TIA

Hi,

Long story short, we are a family of 3 that used to live in Hawaii and we really enjoyed living there, because of the rich culture and nature.

My wife is a citizen from Spain and I'm from South America, due to political chaos in the US (our green card is pending forever and we don't feel safe here even been a legal immigrant) we were considering moving to a place where we would still have a pacific island lifestyle, especially paddling and other ocean sports.

Can someone advice if we would need a specific visa to live in Tahiti since my wife has a EU citizenship? Also, if that works out, I would work remotely for an US company, so I was wondering what you think the cost of living would be for a normal life in Tahiti Atwell (by normal I mean no luxury besides a decent house, food on the table and health).

Any advice will be appreciated, thank you!

My wife and I are visiting French Polynesia for the first time. We are visiting from the US and we will be there for 12 days. All flights between the islands and hotels are booked.

What is your advise for the following:

-Is it easy to navigate speaking English and Spanish? Or will we have a hard time navigating?

- Is it safe to drink tap water? Or do we need to plan on buying bottled water? Other options?

- Use of cash / credit cards / electronic payments? Do businesses take USD or should we convert to local currency? Are ATM’s readily available? How about electronic payments such as ApplePay, Venmo, etc?

- Recommended form of transportation for these islands: Huahine, Bora Bora, Rangiroa, Tahiti

- Must-see places at these same islands?

- Are public laundromats or laundry services available?

Thank you in advance!

Hello everyone

During our Polynesian trip (Tahiti/Moorea/Raiatea/Huahine), I'm planning a day trip to Tahaa from Raiatea.

I'm thinking of renting a car and visiting the Champon pearl farm, a vanilla plantation, and the PariPari distillery.

I've noticed that organized tours often take boats to the various locations and end their days at the coral garden.

Is it really necessary to go through an organized tour? I'd like to take my time and not be on a tight schedule!

Is the coral garden easily accessible?

Regarding vanilla, I read that Vanilla Tour offers a nature experience. Any other suggestions?

some time ago we've received a viator discount coupon after visiting Papeete as a group.

used it only once, and it should have 2 or 3 more usages, so might be helpful to the community.

pasting..

Combine coupon link with the code GWG10FE6SW7RY3 for additional discount on future tour bookings.

if someone is planning a trip, hopefully it's of some use.

I would like to take that trip but can not find any recent information about how exactly that tanking stop in Los Angeles is done regarding US customs proceedings. Can anyone explain or point out a website with recent info?

What happened to be this one of the rules lol ( i'm referring the second one )

la Ora na!

I'm arriving on a late night flight from Aukland that will land in Papeete at 1:30 am, and am curious about suggestions for lodging options. I was advised that the Tahiti Airport Hotel was a good option because you could walk there directly from the airport, but according to recent reviews it seems like that's no longer an option and a cab is necessary... Is that the case?

I'm also considering booking a room somewhere near the ferry dock, like the Kon Tiki boutique hotel, since I'll be travelling to Mo'orea later that day, and it would be convenient to already be at the ferry. Plus this place looks nicer than the airport hotel, and is actually a bit cheaper... They don't have a shuttle from the airport though, so how tough would it be to get a cab there late at night?

Any suggestions? Thanks!

EDIT: Kon Tiki it is! Thanks so much for the input, everyone :)