Sue in Paradise -- Tahiti 2012

This post is by Sue Tindell of Travel Leaders, Rice Lake.
      
    From that day in 1767 when British sailors aboard HMS Dolphin first set eyes upon the island of Tahiti, the beauty of the Society Islands has lured countless travelers. In November 2012, I was offered a chance to join a group of North American travel agents for a Tahiti Travel Exchange Study Tour. I didn't have to be persuaded; I'd first visited the islands of French Polynesia in 2010 and was anxious to return.



The 118 islands of French Polynesia are in the South Pacific,
an 8-hour flight from Los Angeles, with Australia a little closer to the west.



Wednesday, November 28 -- America to Tahiti    
    It's a long day of travel, from Minneapolis to Los Angeles and then eight hours to the main island of Tahiti, but the time goes quickly when your destination is waiting for you. We landed at Faa'a International Airport in the capital city of Papeete at around 11pm local time, four hours behind US Central Time, the same as Hawaii. I met my roommate, Patty, and we checked into our room at the Manava Suite Resort, where the day finally caught up to us. Before turning in, we were able to look over some of the materials our hosts had left for us.
    Tahiti and its neighboring islands were settled by Polynesians many centuries ago, and first spotted by Europeans when the Dolphin arrived. Several years later, HMS Bounty visited and many of her sailors decided to stay; the story of their mutiny has been told many times in books and movies, most recently in the 1984 film The Bounty, starring Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson. The French have administered the islands since 1842 and granted citizenship to the Polynesians in 1946. Tourism is the main industry, and although Polynesian and French are the main languages, English is widely spoken. Take your credit card when you go, although you can exchange your US dollars for French Polynesian francs; the current exchange rate is about 90 francs for one dollar. Dress is casual throughout the islands, and make sure to bring your sunscreen. 



Even late arrivals get an authentic Polynesian welcome at Faa'a International.



Thursday, November 29 -- Tahiti     

    Our first day featured the typically beautiful Polynesian weather. We spent the day at the Radisson Plaza Resort Tahiti for the Travel Exchange. This was a beautiful hotel, set amidst a tropical garden landscape on the black sands of Lafayette Beach, twenty minutes from the airport.


Lafayette Beach, Tahiti.

    The day was spent in seminars and conversation with our hosts and fellow travel agents, but we were able to see a bit of the hotel and the beach. Coming back to our hotel, we were able to see the regular Thursday and Friday night tradition of Les Roulottes, dozens of small food trucks gathering on the main wharf of the city, offering native cuisine and many other snacks, including ice cream! 


Sunset at the Radisson, closing our first full day on Tahiti.

  

Friday, November 30 -- Tahiti and Moorea

    We began the day with an inspection of our host hotel, the Manava Suite Resort, and then a ride to the InterContinental Tahiti Resort. The Manava Suite features the island's largest infinity pool, facing the lagoon.    
   The InterContinental is the largest hotel in Papeete, with great service and a first-rate dive shop.


Manava Suites man made island..very small
.



Infinity pool at the Intercontintal Papetee.


    We took the double-hulled ferry for the nine-mile voyage to the island of Moorea, a forty-minute ride over calm seas. Moorea is only about ten miles wide and is a popular wedding destination, and not just because from the air it resembles a heart. Arthur Frommer, author of the highly-regarded Frommer's travel guides, called Moorea the most beautiful island in the world. We would stay two nights here at the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa in a garden bungalow, and our lunch here gave us our first taste of the famous crepes prepared by Chef Rudy.
    The afternoon found us visiting two more resorts. First up was Legends Resort, covering about 17 acres and built on the foothills of a majestic valley overlooking the lagoon and ocean. Featuring an amazing infinity pool, the resort is great for a friends-and-family vacation, with the smallest unit consisting of 2 bedrooms with a full kitchen, stainless steel appliances and granite countertop, living room and wraparound deck. 

The Legends inifinity pool, so-called because it seems to have no edge.

 

The spectacular view from a Legends suite. The resort offers shuttle rides to its private beach.

    Our final property for the day was the InterContinental Moorea Resort & Spa, a small and intimate hotel with a pair of pools.


Want to get away from it all? This is the place to go.



The bungalows at the InterContinental Moorea extend over the water.



    After dinner at the InterContinental, I noticed a Rotary Christmas party being held poolside. My fellow Rotarians back in Rice Lake would be a bit jealous when I told them about this one. Our group was entertained by a Polynesian dance show, and we returned to the Hilton for the evening. 


Saturday, December 1 -- Moorea and Bora Bora
   
    Waking up in the South Pacific on the first of December is very nice when you're from Wisconsin. The temperature was well on the way to a daytime high of about 88, and although the humidity is high, it was not at all unpleasant, especially considering there was snow on the ground back home. After breakfast we headed out on a 4-wheel-drive safari provided by Albert Safari.  


Heading out on our 4wd safari to enjoy Moorea's spectacular interior.



    Our lunch destination was the Sofitel Moorea la Ora Beach Resort, a newly renovated resort with 114 rooms.  Their "Creme Brule" is the best!   After lunch we hustled back to the Hilton to shower and headed to the Moorea Pearl Resort & Spa for an inspection and dinner.  The Moorea Pearl is a boutique hotel on magnificent Cook's Bay, 94 rooms in very traditional Polynesian style with over-the-water bungalows. We returned to the Hilton for our last evening on Moorea, truly one of those places you hate to leave.

Sunday, December 2 -- Moorea and Bora Bora

   

    On another spectacular morning, we checked out of the Hilton and headed to the small airport for our Air Tahiti flight to Bora Bora. About 140 miles northwest of Tahiti, Bora Bora is just as exotic as the name suggests. In World War II the island was the site of a major U.S. air base, and after the war many American servicemen chose to stay there or returned later. That's certainly easy to understand.

    After disembarking our plane, we were ferried over water to the St. Regis Bora Bora Resort, our host for our two nights on the island. After lunch we inspected the property during the afternoon. The St. Regis is the epitome of luxury, 44 acres of lush landscaping and villa suites.

The view from our over-water bungalow at the St. Regis Bora Bora.

Finally with an afternoon free, the girls hit the water.

   We would spend the evening on a private island, ferried there by a boat provided by our hosts, the Sofitel Bora Bora Marara Beach. We dined at a splendid restaurant and spent the rest of the evening exploring the property, making for a very pleasant way to end our day.



The view from the Sofitel Bora Bora Private Island.




The grounds feature one great discovery after another.



    It had been a great day, but when we were ferried back to Bora Bora we were more than ready to turn in. Tomorrow we would have a full day on the island, highlighted by swimming with some of the local residents--- black tip sharks.

Monday, December 3 -- Bora Bora

    Our hotel, the St. Regis, is actually situated on Motu Tofari, a section of the barrier reef that surrounds the island of Bora Bora. This morning we took a ferry to another resort on the reef, the Four Seasons, for breakfast and a site inspection. Even early in the morning, the resort was beautiful.

   
    Another ferry ride, this time a longer one, took us around the northern promontory of Bora Bora to the larger reef island of Motu Tevairoa and the Pearl Beach Resort.

Across the bay on the main island, the twin peaks of Mount Apoovaro rise into the clouds.



It's easy to tell how they came up with the name Pearl Beach.



If you prefer the pool to the beach, you can't go wrong with this one.

    It wasn't even noon yet and we were off on our third ferry ride of the morning, this time along the western edge of the reef to the small island of Motu Toopua and the Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa. Located at the base of Mount Toopua, the resort boasts of its "million-dollar view" and although it doesn't cost nearly as much to stay there, the view is certainly worth the price.



You won't pay a million dollars to stay here, but you'll feel like a million with a view like this.




Or this one.



Or even this one!



  

    We had a delicious lunch at the Hilton with an amazing ice cream dessert using the famous Tahiti vanilla. Then, you guessed it, back on the ferry, but this time it wasn't for another site inspection. Our boat was provided by Moana Adventures and took us to Faanui Bay, across from the Pearl Beach, to swim with sharks and rays.

   You don't find swimming experiences like this in the lakes of northern Wisconsin, that's for sure. It was great! Thank you to Barbi who took these great photos!

The rays are very friendly...



We are all watching the Black Tip Sharks swimming below us!

    

    We returned to the St. Regis to change and then, after another ferry ride, we arrived at our evening destination, the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa, located on Matira Point at the southern tip of the main island, where we were greeted Polynesian style.

                                                

    We toured the Deep Ocean Span and aside from its idyllic location, Deep Ocean Spa is the first thalassotherapy center ever built in the South Pacific, as well as the only establishement in the world using the benefits of water drawn from the Pacific Ocean at depths of over 900 meters to administer care of unrivaled intensity. 

    It had been a great day, but a long one, so we were a tired bunch of Tahiti specialists when we arrived back at the St. Regis for our final night on Bora Bora. Tomorrow we would be leaving for Tahiti for our last day in paradise.


Tuesday, December 4 -- Bora Bora and Tahiti, and we depart for home

    We had one last breakfast at the St. Regis which was a "canoe breakfast".  Our breakfast was delivered by canoe to our villa.  What a treat! But, before we knew it, we were off by ferry to Le Meridien Bora Bora, a newly-renovated luxury resort on the western reef with a spectacular lagoon and view of Mount Otemanu, the tallest peak on the main island at nearly 2400 feet.

   We had a terrific lunch at Le Meridien, but before that we got to watch the turtle feeding at their marine sanctuary. They were pretty hungry!


Guests can "adopt" a turtle and help with their care and feeding. Mine was named "Lea".



Our own lunch was served a bit more elegantly.

         After lunch we ferried back to the St. Regis to pack and then our last ferry ride took us to the airport, located on the reef island of Motu Muta at the northern point of the reef. Our long return home had begun: the short flight back to Tahiti, then an evening at Faa'a International as we waited for our flight to Los Angeles, departing just before midnight local time.
    We were anxious to get home, but at the same time very sorry to be leaving this beautiful place, which has entranced travelers for almost 250 years. The French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville arrived here in 1768 and named it New Cytheria, after the birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. He wrote, "The mildness of the climate, the beauty of the scenery, the fertility of the soil everywhere watered by rivers and cascades, everything inspires sensual pleasure."
    I can't wait to go back.



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