#67925 - 11/06/07 10:42 AM
Re: Fakavara: north or S.? If south, tatemanu vil. or Motu Aito?
[Re: Old Wife]
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Finnano
Member
Registered: 12/25/05
Posts: 188
Loc: Novato, CA
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Peter, we had similar AT flight dilemmas when we were scheduling, and then decided to just stay in Raimiti for the 8 days. For us, it was a good decision, because we hate to waste those precious days on packing/unpacking, transfers, airports etc. We only went from FAV to Huahine - left Raimiti at 8.30 AM, and (via PPT) didn't get to our Huahine hotel until late afternoon.
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* Life is a beach *
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#67926 - 11/06/07 11:08 AM
Re: Fakavara: north or S.? If south, tatemanu vil. or Motu Aito?
[Re: Old Wife]
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maimiti
Member
Registered: 04/29/07
Posts: 63
Loc: CA
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My understanding is that you can go from the society island group through PPT *once* in transit to another island that you cannot otherwise fly directly to, however, Fakarava>Tikehau doesn't qualify. You have to go Fakarava>Rangiroa>Tikehau, etc... I think the transit times are also a subsequent flight within one hour or something close to. I agree with Finnano, I wouldn't fly back to PPT to see Tikehau for essentially one and one half days (time lost in transit to and from), unless you were simply dying to see that island. My inclination would be to say that it would be better to explore more of Fakarava (ie: the North pass for diving) if a change of scenery/experiences is desired.
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#67960 - 11/07/07 07:37 PM
Re: Fakavara: north or S.? If south, tatemanu vil. or Motu Aito?
[Re: maimiti]
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garnet3691
Junior Member
Registered: 08/10/07
Posts: 3
Loc: OR
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Tokerau Village, most amazing place I have ever stayed...pretty new bungalows, inepxensive, beautiful beach...sharks, rays, right in front of the site... The hostess is a really nice Polynesian woman; great cook, really authentic experience. It pains me to think of not being able to get back there for awhile yet.
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#67962 - 11/07/07 08:09 PM
Re: Fakavara: north or S.? If south, tatemanu vil. or Motu Aito?
[Re: garnet3691]
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Peter 2
Member
Registered: 03/12/05
Posts: 164
Loc: Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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Thanks for all the advice!
Old wife, I emailed my schedule to Air Tahiti a week ago to see if they will charge me only just one "Bora Bora-Tuamotu pass" or they will charge extra for another set of roundtrip ticket for PPT-TIH-PPT, but I still have not heard from them yet as you know they work super slow, or the summer schedule for 2008 has not come out yet. Also I think maimiti is right about the T&C of the pass, but I'm still hoping they only charge me for one airpass.
Finnano and maimiti, yes, I do agree with both of you. It is such a waste of precious time for moving from one island to another one. I have a feeling that we might end up staying 8 days at FAV, but my wife is pretty eager to go to Tikehau, so I won't have any excuses to go back to Tahiti again so soon; however, she is the one who gets seriously sick from the Tihitian flu. lol
Garnet, thanks for sharing the information about Tokerau Village. Since it is pretty far away from south pass and it doesn't have a dive center there, and most likely the dive center at north pass won't pick us up for diving, so we have to eliminate it from our list although the price is very attractive.
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#67968 - 11/07/07 11:20 PM
Re: Fakavara: north or S.? If south, tatemanu vil. or Motu Aito?
[Re: Peter 2]
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maimiti
Member
Registered: 04/29/07
Posts: 63
Loc: CA
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Peter,
As you are in the village of Rotoava, Te Ava Nui should be able to pick you up for diving in the North pass. This is pretty standard. When they dive in the south they want to stay for a few days to maximize the time and gas expense. This is why they have an arrangement with Motu Aito.
I got a number off of this site for an agency in Los Angeles where they were able to help me understand the details about the different passes within one coversation the same day and I did purchase the passes through them and international tickets elsewhere. The man I worked with was very helpful and helped me figure out what I could do to both have my itinerary and avoid paying fees. He was willing and helpful. I can try and get that number for you, and you can also check with Tahiti Travel of course to see if they will issue you your international and inter-island, or the inter-island only.
Thinking back to what I said earlier- you "might" be able to go from Fakarava to PPT to Tikehau on the pass. In the meantime, and more importantly, you can look at Air Tahiti's website for a timetable to see which flight days and times would help you to minimize transit in PPT, and that way you can see if there is a schedule that would make it worth it for you to go to Tikehau. Are you guys thinking of the Pearl resort? You might enjoy this place for the luxurious aspect of it, located on an otherwise quiet atoll.
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#67996 - 11/10/07 02:40 AM
Re: Fakavara: north or S.? If south, tatemanu vil. or Motu Aito?
[Re: maimiti]
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Peter 2
Member
Registered: 03/12/05
Posts: 164
Loc: Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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Hello Maimiti:
Thanks again for trying to help. Its very nice of you! However, my travel agent in Hong Kong offered me a very special (early-bird booking) package rate for flying business from Hong Kong to Papeete (1 stop via Auckland) by Air New Zealand wirh 1 night hotel stay at IC tahiti and 5 nights at IC Thalasso Bora Bora. The package also includes inter-island PPT and BOB roundtrip. However, my T/A do not have any packages for FAV and TIH stays, so I asked them to take off the PPT-BOB-PPT inter-island flight charge as I want to buy the Bora-Tuamotu pass instead so that I can go to FAV and TIH. My T/A was willing to do so, so they deducted couple hundred US dollars from the package without PPT-BOB-PPT tickets. Now all I need is the inter-island pass and hotel at FAV and probably TIH. If the pass is not including TIH, then I think most likely I will just stay 8 nights at FAV(3 at north and 5 at south).
We also thought about Tikehau Pearl Resort, but even though my TA offered us some early-bird rate for this trip, it still cost us a fortune, so we will cut down the cost by staying at pensions in FAV and TIH instead. In addition, I also heard that snorkeling at TIH Pearl resort is not that good, so we won't consider it. Kahaia Beach sounds exciting from what you described early in the other thread. You said "The accomodations at Kahaia Beach, however, would probably be too rough for many on this board and should be taken into consideration. The location is idyllic, food good (lobsters!), owners charming and friendly, motu privately owned with only the guests staying at the pension." That's what we are looking for! ... good food, nice host and some adventure by your own. We should enjoy that kind of roughness. lol
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#68008 - 11/10/07 12:30 PM
Re: Fakavara: north or S.? If south, tatemanu vil. or Motu Aito?
[Re: Peter 2]
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maimiti
Member
Registered: 04/29/07
Posts: 63
Loc: CA
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Peter! I guess your travel agent can let you know what the pass requirements are regarding TIH (ie: whether you have to fly back to PPT, pay, and connect to TIH). I don't remember the details anymore and could have them wrong. Post it here and let us know!!
Happy to hear about TIH. While the resort there is of course lovely, the beach is artificial? The motu where Kahaia beach islocated is gorgeous and idyllic. Pink and white striped sandbars (if not washed away now) 50 feet from the beach you can wade out to, hoa channels to swim in and cross to neighboring motus outside your bungalow complete with rays swimming around right off your deck. We stayed at the last bungalow on the far end of the away from the fare pote in complete privacy looking out onto this paradise. At the time, water would be shut off (shortage) during the day. Private bath and hot shower in the bungalow (no toilet seat on the toilet, scorpion in the shower #$@!). Wash basin set in driftwood on the deck overlooking the magnificent scenery. A rat ate my bikini after leaving it outside to dry from swimming. Good thing when I discovered this, it was our last day in FP!! That's what I mean by rustic, but I thought the scenery and location was the best of any I had seen in TIH and I visited all the main pensions on the main atoll- we were there a total of 10 days. This was 4 years ago, so I can only imagine how much more rustic it's become. I loved the privacy of being on the motu (kayaks provided), and I loved with a kayak we could go around exploring in both directions, but particularly to the main motu where we'd find (aging) bicycles propped up against the coconut tree for us to ride down the main road into the towns only grocery store for sandwiches, juice, egg rolls, etc. The combination of the private motu coupled with the ease and proximity to the village was ideal.
Some traveler's we met at FAV said when they passed by Kahaia this summer on their trip, it looked like it was not operational but one of the neighboring motus heading towards the Pearl Resort appeared to have some lovely bungalows (their new family pension, or another?) Why don't you contact Kahaia and ask them what the story is. And if you don't have a good guidebook that goes into pensions into detail, you may consider picking one up or perusing at the bookstore for any new names. On the main atoll Tikehau Village is probably the pension of choice. I could also get a recommendation from the couple we met in FAV. Don't remember where they stayed but they were quite pleased. She researched their 7 week trip for 3 years, and when we compared notes on the best pensions I was in full agreement with her with regards to those I was familiar with. I'd take her recommendation.
Have fun planning!
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#68881 - 12/30/07 10:05 AM
Re: Fakavara: north or S.? If south, tatemanu vil. or Motu Aito?
[Re: maimiti]
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Silvanocat
Advisor
Registered: 04/03/04
Posts: 696
Loc: Los Angeles
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The owners of Kahaia Beach do not stay there when there are no guests (they have a house in town) so that's why it may not have looked in operation. I would contact them or http://www.haere-mai.pf/index.php?page=accueil&lg=en (Association of Guesthouse and Family Accomodations, with whom I booked KB back in 2006). I was the only guest there during my stay and loved being the Queen of the motu.
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