1. what time of year would you recommend? Thinking November/Dec or waiting until May 2. What place would you stay at? Would you switch resorts? 3. Stay in overwater bungalow the whole time or switch it up? 4. Did you pay for a food package or no? (I heard the food is $$$$, so maybe a better deal to include food?) 5. Any excursions you recommend?
We went to Bora Bora for our Honeymoon 8 years ago - we went at the beginning of November and it was perfect.
We stayed at Hotel Bora Bora. It was as if we were the only people on the resort. We were happy with that resort.
We stayed in an over water bungalow for 3 nights and a "regular" room for the rest. I say "regular" because even those rooms were amazing.
We just paid for the breakfast package, not the other meals. Food is really expensive, but weirdly enough, Corona's were only $5/bottle.
Funny story - when we got there, we were welcomed by the hotel manager who asked where we were from. We told him San Francisco. He said "I have a friend who lives in San Francisco, he was just hear a few months ago. You may know him? Sean Penn." LOL. We told him we know him but we don't know him!
Post by dearprudence on Aug 6, 2014 17:47:21 GMT -5
We were there right before heyitsme! 8 years ago in August.
We stayed at the Sofitel and did a tour of all the hotels while we were there. Personally, I liked the hotels on "the mainland" better, because it was easier to access things.
We also stayed in an over water bungalow and it was amazing. The Sofitel had coral under every OWB, so there were always fish underneath. Plus, it felt really secluded since the angles of the OWBs meant you couldn't see into anyone's rooms or even onto their sunning patios.
I think heyitsme had the right idea with just getting a breakfast package. If/when we go back, that's what we'd do. We ended up eating out every night anyway. Maybe because we're in an HCOL area, but the food wasn't really any more expensive than nicer restaurants where we are. Location is also important - staying at the Sofitel we could have gotten away with no meal plans because we were across the street from a market. So we picked up cheap wine, cheese, bread, and fruit and could have used that for breakfasts.
On Bora Bora my favorite excursion was the swimming with sharks. But I love the motu picnics also.
@sfgal530, did you book the Sofitel through an agent, or did you go straight to the hotel? I'm starting research on a 15th anniversary trip, and your trip is giving me lots of inspiration :-)
We've been twice. Both times a split between Moorea and Bora Bora. First time Sofitel Moorea/ICThalasso Bora Bora. Second time Hilton Moorea/St. Regis Bora Bora. I liked the Sofitel and Hilton equally. The St. Regis was larger and the food was very very good. I actually liked the OWB better at Thalasso and their spa was far superior. And their beach was superior. But the food was horrendous. Moorea is fun to drive around and go to restaurants off property. Bora Bora is fun to take a boat to dinners on main island but not a ton to do otherwise. The swim with sharks was the best excursion I've ever done though.
Oh...both times were in July. It's cooler and windier....but the only time we can travel for extended periods. I would prefer to go when it's not so windy.
Post by udscoobychick on Aug 18, 2014 12:28:47 GMT -5
We went in April...were there for 14 days, booked through a travel agent. End of March is the end of the rainy season, so we had a day or so of rain, and the locals were all complaining about how hot it was, but we didn't mind (highs in the upper 80s-ish). We spent 5 days on Fakarava (Pension Raimiti), 1 on Tahiti (Hotel Minareva or something along those lines), 4 on Moorea (Intercontinental), and 4 on Bora Bora (Intercontinental Thalasso). I recommend breaking up your trip into a couple different islands--Bora Bora is the most expensive, so you'll get more bang for your buck elsewhere. We were only in the overwater bungalow in Bora Bora. It was neat, but not worth the $$$ to stay in one for the whole trip, IMO.
Our package included breakfast in Moorea and Bora Bora and all meals in Fakarava. We stocked up on some snacky stuff (bread, cheese, etc.) at the grocery stores in Tahiti and Moorea, and would just eat a heavy breakfast at the resort, snack on that stuff in the afternoon, and have dinner either on or off the resort. It helped us keep food costs way below what we budgeted, which was awesome. On our resorts, a hamburger was around 2000-2400 XPF and entrees started at around 2700 XPF and went up from there. The restaurants off the resort were similarly priced. However, the meal packages are also pretty pricey. I'd say if you're a big eater (i.e. you like to have an appetizer, entree, and dessert with dinner every night), the package is probably worth it. Otherwise, not so much. A beer would run around 500-700 XPF, a glass of wine 1100-1400 XPF, and cocktails were astronomically priced at 1800-2500 XPF. My biggest tip: if you like liquor, bring it duty-free from LAX. There's also a juice concoction that's about 8% alcohol that's ubiquitous there called Tahiti Drink that is delicious (pineapple, orange, and passion fruit juices spiked with cane liquor) and relatively cheap--you can buy it at the factory in Moorea or grocery stores or gas stations for somewhere between 900-1100 XPF for a quart-sized carton of it. It's cheapest at the factory. We drank a LOT of that--usually spiked with the aforementioned duty-free liquor.
In terms of the resorts, the IC in Moorea was nice, but the Thalasso blew it away in terms of elegance. The downside of the Thalasso was that you need to take a ferry to the mainland (where all the restaurants are), and that costs extra in the evenings (because they want you staying on the resort to eat). I would probably stay on the mainland next time, even though it's not considered as desirable/fancy/romantic/etc, because it would be much more convenient.
Moorea was easy to get around--there's basically 1 road. We rented a car and explored, which was fun. The car was handy for getting to our dinner reservations, too. Most of the restaurants on BB will pick you up from the mainland hotels, which is great. On Moorea, we did the 4x4 tour, which was fun--loved stopping at the Agricultural School, the pineapple plantation, and the Fruit Juice Factory. Highly recommend. Did a 4x4 tour on BB, too, where you get to see some of the old WWII relics--cannons, bunkers, etc. Neat if you like history. Did the "romantic tour" on BB, which we found to be a happy medium between a private circle island tour ($$$$$$$) and the big group tours ($, but crowded). It's limited to a few couples (6 max, I think, but there was only 1 other couple on our tour), and you snorkel in a couple spots as well as watch/help with a shark and ray feeding, which was really neat. Ended with a BBQ lunch that was tasty. Would recommend that one, too.
Fakarava was our favorite of all, though. It's out in a more remote island chain, there are no resorts (just pensions, which are small, family-run, and tend to be pretty basic in the amenities), and it just felt so wonderfully private. The scuba diving there is some of the best in the world, especially for shark diving. It's not for everyone (no butler service, no air conditioning, no Egyptian cotton sheets, etc.), but we found it to be simply magical.