My husband and I rendezvoused in Papeete after I had spent several weeks abroad on personal travel. Though slightly belated, this trip to Tahiti was our honeymoon, hence a bit more of a splurge than usual for us. We arrived in Papeete to connect then flew to Bora Bora the next morning to begin our island hopping.

EXPERIENCE

Bora Bora is beautiful! Be sure to get a window seat when flying in to take is the heavenly island scene. I have never seen water this blue or clear and the way the motu surrounds the mountain to create a protected lagoon is stunning. Tahiti is part of the Society Islands and the languages are Tahitian and French. The French influence to a tropical island makes for a unique vibe. The only reason to come, is for the beach. Since neither my husband or I are eager beach goers in the “lay around and read a book” sense, I had planned the trip to keep us I had arranged in advance for us to keep pretty active while in Bora Bora.

That said, weather was one aspect of our honeymoon I had not predicted being disappointing given we were traveling in high and dry season. After arriving, the clouds and rain rolled in and our plans required some modifications. All three of our planned excursions were sadly cancelled: jet skiing, a snorkel trip to see the Manta Rays and a romantic sunset catamaran trip with champagne (which was a fantastic wedding gift!). After managing to do just a bit of sandy snorkeling around the hotel, we decided to suck it up and do a questionably still enjoyable jet ski trip around the island of Bora Bora despite very choppy waters in the lagoon due to high winds. This trip was a bit unpleasant but certainly memorable and exciting. It was made much more entertaining by the fact that the other couple on the tour, crazy enough to brave the conditions, was Alfonso Ribero (Carlton, from 90’s show Fresh Prince of Bel Air) and his wife. In addition to the one activity, we mostly just enjoyed our fancy schmancy overwater bungalow and views of that insanely blue water from the hotel.

STAY

In Papeete we kept it simple and stayed at the InterContinental Tahiti. This hotel is close to the airport and gets the job done. The rooms are a bit older but the place has a great ocean view and really beautiful pool. As a note, I’d minimize time on the main island and treat it more as a travel hub to embrace the most of what lures people to French Polynesia.

Upon arriving in Bora Bora we stayed our first night at the Pearl Resort since each night at the InterContinental Thalasso Spa was so indulgent. The Pearl Garden suite was quite nice though older. The room had a neat outdoor shower and was pretty spacious. I would say switching hotels is my biggest regret of the planning process. Because most of the hotels are situated around the outer ring of lagoon, they are only accessible by boat, and man do they make it impossible to move between them. The direct boat route option (a 10 minute boat ride) was priced at nearly $300 and the other option which involved two boat rides and a taxi was not much better. Lesson learned- pick one hotel and plan on being essentially trapped there for the duration of your time in Bora Bora.

The InterContinental Thalasso Spa which we transferred to for our two night stay in our overwater bungalow, was immaculate. This really is a stunning resort. The bungalows here are rumored to be some of the largest and best on the island, and they completely exceeded expectations. While extremely pricey, this is an iconic experience not to be missed while in Bora Bora. That said, let me reiterate that the prices on everything here were absolutely outrageous ($30 cocktails, $80 breakfast buffet, $1200 spa packages!) and we felt a little outside of our budget and comfort zone at this very exclusive and quiet property. We also had the feeling of being trapped at this resort. The vibe here was pretentious to the point of feeling robotic and empty. None of the guests spoke to one another and there was not much sense of fun or friendliness to be found in this hotel. Service from staff seemed very limited to the prescribed protocols and none of the employees seemed equipped or empowered to exercise judgement to resolve seemingly minor complaints or guest needs.

EAT

It came as no surprise that the food options in Bora Bora were high quality but expensive. One of the best decisions of the trip was picking up a bottle of vodka at duty free and toting it along throughout the week to mix with juices acquired from the morning breakfast buffets. We also were able to take a quick drive through Vaitape thanks to our complex hotel transfer, which allowed us a quick stop at the island grocery store for peanut butter, Brie and French bread which offset the costs of eating every meal at the fancy resort hotels. If you happen to travel to Bora Bora without a travel agent arranged package (which seems to be how most other people did this), be sure to sign up for her hotel points programs in advance. Even at the IC Thalasso Spa this paid off with honeymoon champagne, half priced breakfasts, and a club cocktail hour one night that we certainly made the most of. We spoke to other tourists who had a much better dining experience by staying on the main island where they had more freedom to explore outside the hotel options.

While it’s impossible to deny Bora Bora is at the top of its league when it comes to idyllic island splendor, we honestly found ourselves a bit out of our league with the exclusive vibe and remoteness. With Tahitian tourism on the steady decline since the economic crash, there is also an element of outdated-ness in Tahiti that we felt strongly driving around the island. Sadly, it’s also not a place where the local people feel very genuinely welcoming or happy. With such a high percentage of the eight thousand residents working for resorts, it’s easy to understand that they may be a bit burnt out on rousing. If we make a trip back to Tahiti, I am not sure we would visit Bora Bora again. If so, a second try at a sunset catamaran ride and diving with the manta rays would be on the must do list.