vickia

We're planning a trip to Moorea & Bora Bora. Any suggestions on the nicest hotels with overwater bungalows, how many days should a person stay at each location and which airline would you recommend? Is it necessary to stay in Tahiti itself or just to fly in and out of? Thanks

John

My wife and I are going to those two islands in October. You don't need to stay on Tahiti. We are flying Air Tahiti Nui out of LAX and their flight is timed so that you land in Tahiti and catch the Air Tahiti flight to Moorea in the evening. We have an Air Tahiti flight from Moorea to Bora Bora 4 days later. Our return starts with Air Tahiti from Bora Bora to Tahiti, then taking an overnight Air Tahiti Nui red eye back to LAX. <BR>I was a little hesitant about Air Tahiti Nui until I read about them. It is a new airline flying new planes. It was created to bring more tourists to tahiti to fuel the tourism industry, because France had told French Polynesia it was going to have to be more self reliant (Frommers South Pacific guide book talks about this). I can't make any recommendations on hotels, since I have not been there yet. We are booked at the Moorea Beachcomber Parkroyal and the Bora Bora Moana Beachcomber Parkroyal. There was a slight discount booking both of these since they are owned by the same company.

vickia

Thanks for the info John. Did you book as a package through a travel agent?

John

I booked through a travel agent, World of Adventure travel. They have a website www.worldofdiving.com <BR>They are located in El Segundo (L.A. suburb). They specialize in diving vacations but they also cater to the non-divers (us). <BR>Our first choice of hotels on B.B. was Hotel Bora Bora and second choice was B.B. Lagoon Resort. The main reason I chose those was because it appeared from the pictures that their OW bungalows were more over reef than over sand, thus more colorful fish (so I've heard). Even though we booked 4 months in advance, those two hotels were sold out of OW bungalows. It could be because we were booking when Fiji was having problems, thus driving all South Pacific vacationers to book Tahiti, but I don't know.

gail

John's post sounds like the decisions we made last December for accomodations. The only thing I would have preferred was to be further away from the Dolphin Quest Attraction.A bungalow on the outside is much better than being on the man-made lagoon side though! Our room was a thoroughfare for boats. People were very respectful, but nevertheless it is traffic and noise. I also like a quieter area for snorkeling. It was pretty busy there.My husband liked it though(deeper water). <BR>I could have sworn I heard the gray water go into the water under the rooms.Has anyone ever experienced this at an OW bungalow?

Debi

We went to FP last year. Here was the itinerary we took. <BR>Flew to Tahiti - stayed 1 night at Le Meridien. Was good because we were exhausted anyway and it was nice to get a view of Tahiti. <BR>Flew to Moorea - stayed 1 week at Beachcomber in OWB. We loved it. It's an older hotel - but the staff was great and there were thousands of fish off our deck. <BR>Flew to Bora Bora - stayed 1 week there. We stayed at Le Meridien in OWB - but wanted to stay at Hotel BB which was closed for renovations at the time. The previous poster was very correct about the "lots of coral = lots of fish". With some of the new hotels, you don't have many fish - but the Le Meridien was gorgeous, very romantic - and we loved it. <BR>We then flew back to Tahiti - stayed 1 night and caught an early morning flight back home. <BR>You don't have to stay in Tahiti - but it was kind of nice not to have to rush. Also, we did tour Tahiti - and there are some pretty sites. Definitely go to Moorea before BB, though. You will enjoy the islands more that way. They're both fabulous - but very different. BB has the most beautiful water you will ever see - and it's the most relaxing place. As for airlines, we flew Air France - would not recommend them if you have an option. We didn't because of flight times - and they were at least better than United (that, of course, is not saying much.....)