#83988 - 01/23/10 09:06 AM
Help please
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lesliesu
Junior Member
Registered: 01/23/10
Posts: 2
Loc: Montpelier, VA
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I have never been to Tahiti, but have always wanted to go...mostly because of my degree in art...Gaugin being one of my favorite artists...and islands...well I love going to islands. So far I have only been to Caribbean islands and love them, but want to go Tahiti, want to plan a trip, but just don't know the best way to go about it or the best possible places to go since there are so many islands in the area. I will be somewhat limited to 14 days or less due to work restrictions. Can you possibly give me some suggestions of where to go, what time is best and what to see. I love nature...flowers, water..swimming. I'm not big into touristy stuff or party life...would want to experience the real Tahiti, the people, the culture, the food. Not really into roughing it but don't need fancy either. Any help would be appreciated. You can email me at lesliesu123@gmail.com
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#83989 - 01/23/10 11:07 AM
Re: Help please
[Re: lesliesu]
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holte
Expert Advisor
Registered: 11/19/04
Posts: 2417
Loc: Duluth, Minnesota
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Then I suggest the island of Huahine. There is a Gauguin museum, but they have hardly any of his work, in Tahiti.
What is your budget like?
I personally like the winter months as it is nice and hot there. I have never been in our summer months there. It sounds too cold to me.
We have had absolutely fabulous weather there . I have been there from Dec 18- January 4 and Feb 12-March 4. Several times with varying types of days, but that's the time periods I have covered.
I would suggest Villas Bougainville to you on Huahine. If you can get even a couple more days, the rate would be lower.
You get a car and a boat in the price, although you may not use the boat, having the car makes it worth it anyway. It's right across a little street from the water, although you can't swim in the water there because of agricultural run off. But you have a view of the mountains-like NH size, and with the car, you can go anywhere at any time.
There is a kitchen and you can cook , if you wish, to save money. The grounds are gorgeous and the ownner, Raphael, is fabulous.
If you have more money, then Relais Mahana is fabulous as it is on the water. But you pretty much have to eat out, which is expensive. Or if you have more money, you can stay at the TE Tiare. Fabulously lovely in every way.
So that's what I say and I too am an art major.
The beauty of Polynesia will make you cry.
There are no pictures that can do it justice.
Any pictures you see look fake because they are so beautiful. They don't even come CLOSE to the beauty of Polynesia.
And there is an artist, Melanie Dupres that you may enjoy meeting on Huahine. Also, Huahine was the place for Bobby Holcomb, and incredible artist who is no longer alive.
Look him up on the net for a treat for you.
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#83990 - 01/23/10 01:13 PM
Re: Help please
[Re: holte]
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Old Wife
Expert Advisor
Registered: 02/21/03
Posts: 2369
Loc: Burlington, Ontario, Canada
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Assuming it will take you a day to get there and a day to get back, you're left with 12 (more or less). I'd suggest 3 islands of 4 nights each. Definitely Moorea (beautiful, lush green mountains) and I'd probably go with Huahine (untouched, more natural and very Polynesian) and maybe Bora Bora because it's hard to go all that way without going there (it's beautiful to see, especially the lagoon, but more expensive than the other islands to stay, for the most part and more touristy). Or you could spend extra time on Tahiti itself and then spend 5 and 5 days on 2 islands. What kind of budget do you have?
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#83991 - 01/23/10 07:32 PM
Re: Help please
[Re: Old Wife]
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lesliesu
Junior Member
Registered: 01/23/10
Posts: 2
Loc: Montpelier, VA
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I really didn't know what to budget...I know airfare will be expensive for me coming from the east coast and will have to allow for 2 of the days for travel time. I would like to stay at different places...some more moderate and maybe cook for myself some and then a fancier place for a night for a little bit of luxury and pampering. I've never been so I don't a thing. The thatched huts over a lagoon looked nice, and some kind of lunch in the water looked nice too. SO, everyone is recommending places (islands) that aren't Tahiti...help me understand why I wouldn't want to go there most of all? Again, I know nothing about the islands or polynesia so it will all be new to me. What kind of budget will I need..excluding airfare. If you could put together a dream itenerary, what would it look like? As I said, I will want to try and stay in some modest/less expensive places and then some really wonderful/top of the line for a night or 2 as well. I will have to save depending on what you guys tell me. Always wanted to go to Tahiti...it's a dream of mine that I hope to make happen.
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#83992 - 01/23/10 09:09 PM
Re: Help please
[Re: lesliesu]
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holte
Expert Advisor
Registered: 11/19/04
Posts: 2417
Loc: Duluth, Minnesota
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Well, I spent the day in Tahiti this time with friends. It was fun because I was with my friends that live there.
But, as an art person that is looking for nature, I don't recommend it. You could take an island tour, which I never have, that would let you see the more beautiful parts.
There is also Le Truck which cost a couple of dollars and is the local transportation, and that would be fun for the local experience of it.
The longest we have stayed was 23 days on Huahine, and it wasn't long enough.
I drove with my friends ,and people on this site have driven in Tahiti, but I don't know how they do it. The signs make no sense and are foreign. My friend and I got a ride with someone at one point, and I swear we took a corner on 2 wheels. But you might like to drive yourself if you are confident.
The over-water bungalows are at least $600 or more a night. You will pay at least $30 for breakfast. I don't remember any other prices. We have not stayed in resorts for several years, so I just know about how much when I glance at a menu quickly.
Moorea is the first island that you can take a ferry to or fly. The ferry is fun, I feel. BarbiJKM has a place that she recommends on this site. She has stayed there over 50 times I bet.
There are also resorts that people love on Moorea. I would get a car, or you can take excursions there as well.
Then Huahine is my favorite island, of course and there are the options I mentioned, but others as well. I just think those are the best choices for what you might be interested in.
If you plan on going to FP only once in your life time as my hubby and I did (now we are addicts), then you should go to Bora Bora as the lagoon is beautiful to say the least. But it does not have the friendliness and the Polynesian feel of Huahine or Moorea. The over waters are very pricey there, and I think you would be better off money wise to get one in Moorea ,or the Te Tiare in Huahine which is stunning.
You could stay at Chez NoNo in Bora Bora to save money, but be on the best beach in Bora Bora.
Seriously, the other islands are the dream. Not Tahiti.
This is a travel site, so you might wish to get a hold of them. Since you plan on staying in resorts sometime, he could come up with a package price for you and maybe you could include some other places as well.
Most of the pensions don't deal with travel agents, so if you are looking for something like that as well, you would have to arrange that part yourself.
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#83993 - 01/24/10 12:01 AM
Re: Help please
[Re: holte]
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Gary & Cath
Expert Advisor
Registered: 04/01/06
Posts: 1284
Loc: Wollongong, Australia
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Definitely agree, Holte, although we found that the locals on BB this time were friendlier than other times (perhaps because of the tourist down-turn??) Also, another idea for further info is from Jan Princes latest book (2008 edition I think was the last one) as it has all the Pensions etc listed for each island - we got ours from Amazon.com
If you are going to go to multiple islands (eg Moorea, Huahine and BB) then I would definitely get the airpass as it works out cheaper.
Edited by Gary & Cath (01/24/10 12:07 AM)
_________________________
Is there anything better than a sipping a Tahitian Mai Tai on an Overwater Bungalow in FP?
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#83994 - 01/24/10 07:00 AM
Re: Help please
[Re: Gary & Cath]
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Old Wife
Expert Advisor
Registered: 02/21/03
Posts: 2369
Loc: Burlington, Ontario, Canada
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Since it's your first time, you really should use a travel agent (especially if you aren't fluent in French, but even if you are, I still would). A first (or only trip) to FP usually includes Moorea (the island just beside Tahiti) and Bora Bora. Most people don't spend much time on Tahiti. It's the main, most-populated island of FP and most people want to get out to the other islands to enjoy the culture, views and swimming/snorkelling. Our first trip, we used a travel agent for booking the whole trip (7 nights on Moorea and 5 on Bora Bora) in resorts and everything was arranged for us (international flights, inter-island flights, transfers to the resorts, etc.). That really made the trip hassle-free. Our second trip was to small pensions (family-owned mini-resorts) and a bungalow in a guy's backyard and we did all the arranging ourselves (actually, I did book our flights through a local agent because she was able to get us a better deal than I could find online and because one flight was at midnight and I was afraid of messing up the dates!). But we'd already been there & understood how things work. We went back to Moorea, to Huahine and to Fakarava (which is much farther away from Tahiti & in another chain of islands, though still part of FP).
You can get to Moorea by plane or ferry. If you're going to several islands in the Society Island chain, you're best to buy an airpass so your flight to Moorea would already be paid for.
As for budget, we flew from Toronto (Canada) both times. In Canadian dollars, we spend $18,000 on our first trip (12 nights in resorts, including an overwater bungalow on Bora Bora). Our second trip was 19 nights and we spent $10,000. Those prices included everything we spent (flights, accommodations, food, excursions, and minor souvenirs). You can pay anywhere from about $20/night for accommodations (sharing a dorm room) to $100ish (off-resort) to well over $1000/night for resorts (though many are less...but still expensive). Personally, I don't think spending one single night in a fancy resort is worth the price. You'd be better deciding to stay 2 nights if that's what you want to experience so that you have one full day there. Are you travelling alone? If you're going by yourself, you can save a lot of money by staying at Pension Motu Iti on Moorea (google it) in the dorms. When we were there, I think there were only 3 people in the dorm (there's room for 20).
Any time of year in FP is nice. There's a rainy season and a dry season, but the weather is the luck of the draw. Personally, living in Canada, I want to get away in our winter so that's when we go.
If you have time, start reading through all of the forums here. I did that when I first start visiting here and a ton of my questions were answered by reading.
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#83995 - 01/24/10 07:05 AM
Re: Help please
[Re: Old Wife]
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Old Wife
Expert Advisor
Registered: 02/21/03
Posts: 2369
Loc: Burlington, Ontario, Canada
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Just to add, if you don't have a huge desire to see Bora Bora, you can really keep your costs down by flying to Tahiti, take Le Truck (the local bus) to the docks in Papeete and take a ferry over to Moorea and stay there the whole time. The ferry's cheap and transportation to your resort/pension is also cheap if arranged ahead (or buy 'chits' at the airport). When we stayed at Pension Motu Iti (and the same will be true for most places), they arranged for someone to pick us up and the transportation to the resort/pension was about $10 Cdn. You could try staying in 2-3 different places on Moorea and get totally different experiences doing that. Club Bali Hai is on Cooks Bay and has a beautiful view, nestled in the mountains. Then you could stay at a pension like Motu Iti or the one Barbi stays at (you'll likely see her description in her posts--the one she stays at has a kitchen so that cuts the cost down while Motu Iti has full- or half-board that's reasonable). And then you could spend a couple of nights at a big resort if you want. I've often thought that Moorea really does have it all that way and different parts of the island have different feels (to me, at least). Do at least one excursion (one land and one water is actually ideal, in my opinion).
Edited by Old Wife (01/24/10 07:05 AM)
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#83996 - 01/24/10 09:59 AM
Re: Help please
[Re: Old Wife]
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holte
Expert Advisor
Registered: 11/19/04
Posts: 2417
Loc: Duluth, Minnesota
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Old Wife, you are so right. The first time a travel agent is the only way to go, unless you speak French quite well.
Even if people travel all of the time, it seems like FR presents some different challenges. If it is the first and perhaps only time, why ruin it with things that you have done wrong and not anticipated.
And it is more difficult now because there is not the wiggle room as there was even a couple of years ago. Flights have been cut back tremendously, so if you goof up for some reason, there may not be a quick remedy as there was in the past.
There are deals out there that the travel agent can get for you that you can't. All transfers are arranged. Convenient. If anything goes wrong,, you call the travel agent.
If you rent a car, and I recommend that, you can see other parts and make schemes and plans for the next trip.
If you are an art person, as I am, you will do anything to go back, over and over again.
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#83998 - 01/24/10 11:12 AM
Re: Help please
[Re: holte]
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6150
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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Definitely buy Jan Prince's guide (link here to amazon.com): http://www.amazon.com/Tahiti-French-Polynesia-Guide-Best-Selling/dp/1593601034/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264359957&sr=8-1
It's the best of the travel guides for French Polynesia, and will give you SO much information about the different islands.
I agree with the above posts: (1) get a travel agent for your first trip -- the one on the home page here is EXCELLENT! (2) Most people with 2 weeks vacation (12 days after travel) go to Moorea and Bora Bora (some to Huahine), and don't spend much time on the island of Tahiti.
When people talk about "Tahiti," they are sometimes using that word as a generic term to mean all the islands of French Polynesia. (It's sort of like when we say we are going to "Hawaii," we might not specifically mean the Big Island, but Maui or Kaui.) You may have to spend at least one night (and part of a day) in Papeete on Tahiti because of the airline schedules, but will probably enjoy the outer islands more. (Again, compare downtown Honolulu to Maui!)
We can certainly give you more recommendations when you know your budget! You have choices of big resorts, medium priced smaller hotels, places with kitchens, and small family-owned pensions.
Welcome to the forum!
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