Fiji / Tahiti / Bora Bora / Pape'ete - preferences?

[BlondeSpiders]

I turned 49 today, which means it's time to start planning my bucket list 50th birthday trip!

For many years I've wanted to vacation in a tropical paradise with a bungalow over the water. I don't know much about this area at all, and the websites I've researched don't help much. Fiji is nearer NZ, so if it's reasonable we'd want to take 4-5 days to explore the north island.

My main goals are: relaxing in a hammock, jumping into the water as soon as I wake up every day, and great food. I also love snorkeling, but I know these huts are typically not near reefs, so there's not a lot of fish to see. I don't expect that we will be travelling much outside the resort, so AIs are fine.

Do you have any recommendations? We don't have a budget yet, but we'd be right below VIP level, if that helps. Just the 2 of us!

TIA!

UPDATE

The trip is booked! I contacted Mary from Collecting Memories Travel Co (she's here on the boards) and she helped me plan something amazing.

We'll fly nonstop from Seattle to Papeete and stay one night at the InterContinental Tahiti Resort & Spa, then the next morning take a ferry to Manava Beach Resort on Moorea for 3 nights. Then fly to Bora Bora for 5 nights in an overwater bungalow at Le Bora Bora by Pearl.

Then a loooooong flight home

Any recommendations for Moorea or Bora Bora?

[dcrunnergirl52]

I don't know if you're set on the South Pacific, but I've seen some amazing flight deals to the Maldives lately for early next year, and there are tons of overwater bungalows there. I was seeing $700rt from DC to the Maldives on Emirates. It looks amazing there!

[calico]

We went to bora bora for our honeymoon about 15+ years ago. It was the most amazing location we’ve ever been even now. We booked accommodations through Costco (booked flights ourselves since we were not flying back to where we departed). I picked the Le Meridien partially because of the turtle sanctuary on property and got to swim with and get up close to them on the resort. Nowadays there are more options to choose from especially close to where we stayed (we didn’t see other resorts from the OWB but now I think you can). We’ve thought of going back at some point and maybe going to Tahaa next or Moorea but don’t miss bora bora if you go to FP and can afford it!

[G22]

We just went to Tahiti in July for our anniversary. We stayed at the InterContinental Resort Tahiti in one of the over water bungalows. It was a major bucket list item for us! It was amazing. We snorkeled off our deck often. There were always tons of fish and we even saw a shark one night 😱 We found a local guy who took us on a private snorkeling tour of part of the reef off our resort.

We spent a week there. We planned a couple days of excursions to explore the island of Tahiti as well as Moorea next to it. But we mainly relaxed around the resort/water. We did go into downtown Papeete a couple times to wander shops and get food.

It was such an awesome trip! I wish we could have stayed longer. If we had more time, we would have loved to island hop a bit more.

[tarzanswife]

Costco Travel has a deal right now to Bora Bora..

[BlondeSpiders]

Nov 16, 2021 1:31:54 GMT -5 G22 said:

We just went to Tahiti in July for our anniversary. We stayed at the InterContinental Resort Tahiti in one of the over water bungalows. It was a major bucket list item for us! It was amazing. We snorkeled off our deck often. There were always tons of fish and we even saw a shark one night 😱 We found a local guy who took us on a private snorkeling tour of part of the reef off our resort.

We spent a week there. We planned a couple days of excursions to explore the island of Tahiti as well as Moorea next to it. But we mainly relaxed around the resort/water. We did go into downtown Papeete a couple times to wander shops and get food.

It was such an awesome trip! I wish we could have stayed longer. If we had more time, we would have loved to island hop a bit more.

Thanks for the tip, this place is amazing! If I'm looking at it correctly, I can get 11 nights in a bungalow for about $USD890. If I'd had any idea it would be this inexpensive I would have done it years ago!

[G22]

Nov 17, 2021 14:12:02 GMT -5 BlondeSpiders said:

Nov 16, 2021 1:31:54 GMT -5 G22 said:

We just went to Tahiti in July for our anniversary. We stayed at the InterContinental Resort Tahiti in one of the over water bungalows. It was a major bucket list item for us! It was amazing. We snorkeled off our deck often. There were always tons of fish and we even saw a shark one night 😱 We found a local guy who took us on a private snorkeling tour of part of the reef off our resort.

We spent a week there. We planned a couple days of excursions to explore the island of Tahiti as well as Moorea next to it. But we mainly relaxed around the resort/water. We did go into downtown Papeete a couple times to wander shops and get food.

It was such an awesome trip! I wish we could have stayed longer. If we had more time, we would have loved to island hop a bit more.

Thanks for the tip, this place is amazing! If I'm looking at it correctly, I can get 11 nights in a bungalow for about $USD890. If I'd had any idea it would be this inexpensive I would have done it years ago!

My husband scored a good deal too, which is how we ended up going. It was one of the best trips we've taken in a few years!

If you are interested, I can pass along the name of the local guide we used for our snorkel/sunset tour. He was awesome (and legit lol) and does all kinds of personalized tours. You won't be disappointed if you used him

[BlondeSpiders]

Nov 18, 2021 11:47:00 GMT -5 G22 said:

Nov 17, 2021 14:12:02 GMT -5 BlondeSpiders said:

Thanks for the tip, this place is amazing! If I'm looking at it correctly, I can get 11 nights in a bungalow for about $USD890. If I'd had any idea it would be this inexpensive I would have done it years ago!

My husband scored a good deal too, which is how we ended up going. It was one of the best trips we've taken in a few years!

If you are interested, I can pass along the name of the local guide we used for our snorkel/sunset tour. He was awesome (and legit lol) and does all kinds of personalized tours. You won't be disappointed if you used him

I had my sweetie look at the listing and he pointed out the obvious: it's $885 PER DAY. Duh...lol

I would love to get your contact, thank you!

[G22]

Nov 18, 2021 18:00:06 GMT -5 BlondeSpiders said:

Nov 18, 2021 11:47:00 GMT -5 G22 said:

My husband scored a good deal too, which is how we ended up going. It was one of the best trips we've taken in a few years!

If you are interested, I can pass along the name of the local guide we used for our snorkel/sunset tour. He was awesome (and legit lol) and does all kinds of personalized tours. You won't be disappointed if you used him

I had my sweetie look at the listing and he pointed out the obvious: it's $885 PER DAY. Duh...lol

I would love to get your contact, thank you!

I'll PM you with the info!

[jwright]

In 2019, for my 40th birthday, we traveled to one night Tahiti, 4 days Conrad Bora Bora, 4 days at Hilton Moorea and 1 night at a local Moorea Hotel called Fenua MataIoia. We used Costco travel to book everything and they were the best at interisland travel and rental cars; definitely a savings.

Conrad was at the time the newest hotel and it was the nicest place I have ever stayed. Simply incredible. We did a catamaran cruise with Vitamin Sea that was awesome but otherwise just hung out at the hotel.

In Moorea, there was more to do on land outside of the resort. Make sure you get a a reservation at Cocoa Beach. It's a private island off of Moorea that has such a fun island vibe, an amazing chef and grill and the shuttle boat back and forth was so fun. It's reservation only and you get your own picnic table for the day; they don't book any additional people. We also found some good local restaurants on Moorea, especially the blue food truck!

[neeps]

I’m at the St. Regis Bora Bora right now. We’ve been here 8 days. It’s amazing. So good in fact we changed our reservation to cancel leaving to go to Moorea.

The hotel is huge - 44 acres (each room has a bikes for easy getting around, but walking or having the butler service come get you in a golf cart are options too) with its own Lagoonarium. The Lagoonarium has been my favorite spot. The snorkeling there is so nice and easy. With the Napoleon fish Terry and Moana being the highlights. We’ve also enjoyed the naturalist’s talks and fish feeding. (It’s hot as hell with no shade so my pro tip is to snorkel or swim before and come to the talk wet)

We’ve also seen plenty of fish off our over water bungalow - Puffer fish, Eagle rays, black tipped reef sharks, other stuff I don’t know the name of.

There’s plenty to do if you’re inclined. Vitamin Sea is here, 4 restaurants, shops, 2 pools (1 adults only), Polynesian show, flower crown weaving, free shuttle to town on the main island, etc.

We’ve never been AI inclined, but it’s been the right vacation at the right time for us.

[egishere]

neeps, etc who did you book your trips thru? Looking at this for our 20th anniversary next year because its about the same flight time compared to flying to the Caribbean for us being in CO with layovers etc. I know costco has decent deals so I might go thru them but I see several Tahaiti vacation specific travel sites. We will probably do a split stay which includes Bora Bora.

neeps, it sounds amazing there! Is it not AI correct? Just clarifying. But did you get breakfast/dinner included? I was leaning toward the St Regis or the Conrad. I think the Four Seasons will be out of our price range but I want to stay somewhere higher end.

[neeps]

[mention]egishere [/mention] You’re correct it’s not AI, but the complete lack of logistics here make it feel that way (until you get the bill lol). We booked directly because we burned all our Marriott points and Marriott status got us free breakfast too. Tip on the breakfast though, order a mountain of food and they will pack up the leftovers for you to take to your room - the fruit plate and salad work particularly well for snack or lunch.

The Le Meridian is the next resort over and undergoing a major renovation. It may be ready next year and the over water bungalows they’re building look nice from here.

[orangello]

We looooved our trip to FP. Shockingly, Bora Bora was the least favorite of our stops, but it was still amazing. For a slightly off the beaten path recommendation, look into Vahine Island resort. It was amazing and the food was incredible. We also really loved our time in Moorea - we took an ATV trip that was super fun, and the lagoons had amazing fish life. We stayed at the Hilton and loved it.

[BlondeSpiders]

Update: booked trip in OP.

[jwright]

Moorea - you have to do a day trip to Coco Beach! They are reservation only and you basically reserve your own table for the whole day. The food, drinks, service are so great. You can have a drink, get in the water, order lunch, lounge in a hammock, get back in the water, get more drinks and snacks. They provide transport via a private boat from various docks around Moorea.

We also loved the food truck A l'Heure du Sud (had to google and copy and paste the name). We found several other little cafes just wondering around that had great seafood.

We stayed at Hilton Moorea and mostly hung around the resort other than our Coco Beach day, we did an ATV tour that was fun!

In Bora Bora we stayed at the Conrad and scheduled most of our days through the resort as well. We took a catamaran cruise with Vitamin Sea Bora Bora which was awesome. We went to Bloody Marys to say we did it, but it was only okay. We just loved the resort so much we didn't leave too often.