r/Tahiti

Hi everyone! My wife and I are planning a 15 year anniversary trip to Bora Bora in September 2027 (I know, starting early!).

So far, we’re considering OWB bungalows/villas at the Westin, Le Bora Bora, and the St. Regis. We’d love to do the Four Seasons but I don’t think that’s in the budget. I was hoping to get some first hand opinions between the 3!

I think the Westin is #1 due to the views followed by Le Bora Bora. The St. Regis looks nice but a little dated and dark.

I would greatly appreciate your opinions on the 3 and also any tips/tricks you may have about getting the most out of a trip to Bora Bora!

Hi Everyone,
I’m a travel agent and frequently participate in this subreddit to (hopefully) provide valuable insight to people planning trips to French Polynesia. I always encourage people to compare rates via Costco, Amex and a TA. Many people like to do the planning themselves and are hesitant to reach out to a travel agent or don’t know how to go about finding one.
I now have a client facing booking portal that can be used to compare rates and self book. Most of our partner promotions show up on the portal so it’s an easy way to check rates at multiple hotels at one time. The rates listed are direct booking rates so you will still earn loyalty points at participating hotels and any status perks will apply.
The portal is private but if anyone would like access to it, just shoot me a message and I will send you the link.

hi all, i’m thinking about where to go for a big birthday trip. For context I’m Australian so have had the privilege of access to great snorkelling, beaches etc over my life, locally and in the South Pacific, SE asia etc

I have always wanted to go to FP and am thinking about Moorea, based on affordability, ease of access, and family friendliness. We have previously been to Rarotonga and still swoon over those memories. From what I can see Moorea looks pretty similar, however based on the video blogs i have seen it seems more touristy and the snorkelling, eg between the motus, honestly looks pretty average. Everything i read about Moorea is GLOWING and people are amazed by it. I know i would still have a great time but but will we be a bit underwhelmed if we have already been to Raro/ Aitutaki?

Would love to hear from anyone who has spent time on both. Thanks!

Trying to research good options for the best experience

Hi! My flight lands at 21:30 (9:30pm), the last Artemis ferry depart at 17:30 (5pm), there is any other option?

Hi everyone!

We are starting to plan our honeymoon for August/September 2027. Based on research I’ve done so far, we would do 10-12 nights across Bora Bora, Moorea, and maybe another place (Taha’a?). I’m great at planning trips myself, but I want this to be very stress-free. I’m curious if people recommend using a travel planner (I’ve reached out to Tahiti.com and Tahiti Travel Mate so far), or booking yourself, or buying the Costco travel packages? As of now, the Costco packages only seem to be available for next spring and are only usually 5 days long.
We’d also love to have excursions and honeymoon perks, which I’m not sure if it’s best for a planned to coordinate or the hotel.

I’m open to any recommendations for hotels and excursions as well! It seems like Sofitel in Moorea is one of the best options, and then I’m not sure for Bora Bora - Westin, Four Seasons, Conrad, or St Regis?

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

Title sums it up - my husband and I have our honeymoon planned for end of this September to French Polynesia. We have had this planned for over a year and we just found out last week I’m pregnant (yay!). Little poor planning on our part but very excited. I’ll be probably ~10 weeks for the trip. I called and my OB appointment isn’t until right after the trip (around 12-13 weeks)…. I’m thinking I’m going to call around and see about getting in somewhere before we leave just to make sure everything is okay beforehand.

I’m somewhat worried about the mosquito-borne illness warnings. Looks like no ongoing Zika transmission and there hasn’t been an outbreak in >10 years so I would just be very cautious (mosquito repellent).

My biggest fear is something awful like ectopic or miscarriage while abroad and going to get travel insurance. Is this a terrible idea? I’m getting kind of nervous and wanting to postpone it. Does anyone else have experience traveling here or anywhere else tropical while pregnant?

Hi guys! I am traveling to Tahiti in October. We will be staying at the Hilton Moorea for 3 nights and the Conrad Bora Bora for 4 nights.

I am looking for some insight on food options.

Moorea we are definitely going to hit up North Shore Poke for lunch. But dinner I am having trouble narrowing it down. I want to make reservations soon. We plan to eat our twice in Moorea and can't decide where. These are some ideas I have.

• Holy Steak
• Ke'iki
• Restaurant Tiahura
• Casa Vincenzo
• Le Lezard Jaune

As for Bora Bora, I have no idea... send me some recommendations, please!

And for those have that stayed at either of the resorts, what do you suggest eating there?

TIA!

Of these two, which would you recommend? Most other BB locations are out of my price point. Looking at probably 4 nights in April-ish for my wife and I. Le Moana is about $1500 cheaper for the same time frame. On the other hand, it looks like Le BB by Pearl has been recently renovated. This will be my first time to the south Pacific, so I have no experience with either.

Traveling to Tahiti in 4 weeks and trying to get in touch with the Hilton Moorea to schedule activities does anyone have an email? I tried calling but language barrier unfortunately do you think it would be ok to wait to schedule once we’re there or will we be out of luck

I'm looking around at possibly booking a Bora Bora trip next year. Specifically, this post is about Le Bora Bora - Pearl. To my limited knowledge and observation, it looks like all of their over water bungalows are the same except for the view and a few extra-large suites. I found what appears to be a decent deal through the Capital One travel portal, however there are two room options that appear the same, but have different prices. Of course, I'm also comparing it to the direct booking site. What am I missing? All dates are identical; all options offer free cancelation to the same date; all options include breakfast.

My primary question is: What is driving the difference in price between the Capital One listings? Yes, one listing says Balcony but, as previously mentioned, I believe the bungalows are all the same. The Balcony listing also has a much more thorough description of amenities. Further, they don't mention with/without Balcony options when booking direct. Leading me to believe there isn't a real difference.

The prices shakedown as follows.

Direct Book for reference - Lagoon Overwater Bungalow, Early Bird 20%: 624,960 XPF ($6,020)

Direct book for reference - Lagoon Overwater Bungalow, Flexible Rate: 781,200 XPF ($7,525)

Capital One Travel Portal - Bungalow, Lagoon View, Overwater, Bed Type Subject to Availability: $4,788

Capital One Travel Portal - Bungalow, Lagoon View, Balcony, Overwater, Bed Type Subject to Availability: $5,670

Obviously, I'd like to go for the cheapest rate, but not at the cost of booking something I don't want.

The water is obviously nicer in Moorea, but Tahiti was so much cooler to me.

Taharuu beach and the black sand is so cool and there was a lot of sand to enjoy. Going out to Teahupo’o to watch WSL was incredible it felt like a movie, even the drive there the mountains and seeing the waterfalls from the road. Mahina beach was great for begineer surfing and was also beautiful. Punaauia is where I stayed, there was still some beautiful blue water.

I liked being able to go to bigger stores like Carrefour for grocery options and I had to buy a adapter I forgot at home. It was cool to see things they had we dont have in America. The restuaraunts also seemed nicer and more grand, many more young people. Moorea felt a bit trapped and the beaches had much less sand and more rocks specifically Temae.

At lest for me, I think Moorea is the kind of place I would really only wanna be in a nice resort like the Hilton. I went to tipaniers and that place looked kinda sad, no one looked happy and the restuarant was like a food court. I think I can see why people would prefer Moorea over all the islands if they're not trying to spend obscene dollar amounts like in Bora Bora, but still get some of the best water and snorkeling in the world while having a bit more out of resort options compared to Bora Bora.

I am going to Bora Bora tomorrow and thats where id like to really just be a bum and live at the resort.. the Westin.

I think I just couldn't imagine myself having a home in Moorea. Tahiti felt much more alive and exciting to me with many more options and people. It also seemed quite a bit cleaner with better roads and more manicured beaches.

With that said Cooks bay and the lagoons are gorgeous, but it just felt harder to enjoy. Public beaches are not as large, roads are worse, there was always a terrible smell of something burning.

I could see myself one day buying a house in Tahiti. Moorea though, maybe I just did it wrong because even the locals often tell me they prefer Moorea but I just didnt care for it.

We are starting our trip in Rangiroa to do some diving in November. any recommendations on dive shops there? We’ve tried to reach out to our hotel to help, but they haven't gotten back to us. Hoping to be able to email and setup some trips before we get out there so we don’t get skunked. thanks!

My fiancé and I are planning our honeymoon for late April/early May 2027 and are looking at French Polynesia. I’ve been going down a rabbit hole trying to figure out which islands to visit and would love some advice from people who have actually been. Some info about us, we love camping, hiking, exploring and going off on our own. We We’re super active and aren’t the type of people to sit a resort pool all day long. Like when we went to Hawaii are favorite thing was packing sandwiches and exploring road to Hana and just pulling over at every cool thing we saw and hiking off the path to random sites. So we want that kind of vibe mixed with relaxing on a beach.

We’ll have 14 days and want a mix of relaxing and exploring. We want to get out and see the islands, not go on a cheesy tour with 20 other people.

Things we’re most interested in are:
Really clear blue water
seeing marine life
Waterfalls and swimming holes
Hiking and good viewpoints
Beaches that are worth going out of the way for
Boat trips/private charters
Exploring on our own and finding less touristy spots
Obviously some romantic honeymoon stuff too, like one fancy dinner and we’ll probably book an overwater bungalow for a couple nights

Right now I’m looking at Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora, Raiatea, Taha’a, Huahine and Rangiroa, but I’m definitely open to changing that.

If you had 14 days, how would you split your time? Are there islands you think are absolutely worth visiting, or ones that you’d skip?

which island you think has the best hiking/waterfalls? We’re super active, like 10 mile hike sound like a blast to us.

Also, are there any specific places, swimming spots, local bars, hangout areas, that you think are a must-do but don’t necessarily show up on the typical tourist lists?

Basically we want the full French Polynesia experience. We want the beautiful water and honeymoon resorts, but we also want to actually explore and see some crazy scenery.
Would love to hear what you guys would do if you were planning this trip.