Island Hopping the French Polynesian Islands

Tahiti, Moorae, Raiate, Huahine, and Bora Bora are just some of the places we visited during our time at the French Polynesian Islands.

Okay, guys here's the scoop on my latest adventure with my family to the French Polynesian Islands. Let me just go straight to the important stuff.

Getting there

It seems like Air Tahiti Nui is the only airline that has daily flights to Papeete, Tahiti(PPT) from Los Angeles. Check the other airlines for specific dates.

To get to any of the French Polynesian Islands you have to fly to Papeete to get to the other islands, such as Bora Bora. There are no direct flights to Bora Bora from the U.S.

San Francisco (SFO) 8 hour flight: United Airline (UA) and French Bee (BF)
- United Airlines departs at 2:00 pm and arrives at 8:40 pm.
- French Bee departs at 10:45 pm and arrive next day at 5:15 am
Los Angeles (LAX) 8 hour flight: Air Tahiti Nui (TN) and Air France (AF)

Air Tahiti Nui has various departure times depending on the date of departure. Departure times are; 3:30 pm arrive at 9:55 pm: 4:35 pm arrive at 11:00 pm and 10:55 pm arrive next day at 5:05 am.

Air France departs at 11:40 pm and arrive at 6:15am

Honolulu, Hawaii (HNL) 6 hour flight: Hawaiian Airline (HA)
- Departs only on Saturday at 3:30 pm arrive at 9:30 pm

Non-Rev Airline Employee Tip: Hotwire.com shows seats that are available!

Where to Stay

There are no shortage of hotel chains at Papeete or Bora Bora. If you are a hotel member for Marriott, Accor, or IHG check out there websites for deals. If you are traveling with a family of 4 there are several AirBnB to choose from. Travel websites such as Booking.com or Agoda.com is also a good place to find places to stay.

Airline Employee Travel Tip: Check out the employee discount at flying together. There are several corporate codes that you can enter to get major discounts. "Thank you ACCOR" hint!

If you are not a hotel member just sign up for free to get members rate. If you want to be a member and can't decide which one to go with, I would totally recommend being an IHG Member. I became a platinum elite member when I applied for their credit card promotion and became an ambassador member to get the added benefits of free upgrades and weekend nights free. As a IHG member you get 1 night free with the credit card. If you think I'm getting paid to advocate IHG, I'm not. I am also a Platinum member for Marriott. But with the merger with SPG, I'm just not feeling the love like most members.

Shout out to my United Airline Employees! Call IHG 1 888 211 7996 and ask for our corporate rate at Tahiti and Moorea. Room discount is upon availability. So book early.

How can you explore the other islands of the French Polynesian?

Most people take a cruise on Paul Gauguin cruise line or Windstar cruise line. Special rates for travel industry employees often show up at vacationtogo.com or dargal.com.

We wanted to take the Paul Gauguin cruise on December 29, 2018 for 7 nights for $1400 pp oceanview cabin but it was sold out. So, I ended up booking a Multi Island pass on Air Tahiti airline for $1700 for a party of 4 from Tahiti-Raiatea-Huahine-Bora bora-Tahiti. But, if your sole purpose is to go to Bora Bora only, a round trip ticket from Tahiti(PPT) to Bora Bora(BOB) is about $1600 for 4 tickets and that's just one island.

This is Solely for Airline Employees and Their Family: Can you go on standby? Yes, if you have time and no reservations plan. Use myidtravel for rates.

I booked my island pass destinations with the islands Paul Gauguin cruise line stops at. I figured, they wouldn't go there unless there's something to do or see.

*Never go to an island where the cruise line will be docking! < Just a tip>

The islands we visited...

This is going to be a long post. I will try and provide a cliff note version of the islands we visited and the things we did and wished we had done.

Tahiti

The Hotel

3 nights stay Intercontinental Resort Tahiti. Book twin room for $260 per nite using united airline corporate rate. Upgraded to lagoon view room with 2 beds to occupy 4 people (2 adult 2 child).

Activity

Rent a car with Ecocar-tahiti.com, tel# 89 50 44 77.

Go around the island and stop at Tahiti Food Mart (Costco of Tahiti), Plage de Mahana Park (free public parking) check out the beaches along coast line, Grotte Mata Va'a (free entry) just can't swim-you can cross the rope line to take pictures.

Grab some cheap and delicious food at Chez Ina (open during lunch time only), head up to Plateau de Taravao(Belvedere de TARAVAO) enjoy the view of the 2 islands from the mountain top and have a picnic with the food you got from Chez Ina, check out the Faarumai waterfall (can't swim), listen to the ARA HOHO Blowhole (great surfing spot with black sand beach), for calmer beach with black sand head to Plage de la Pointe Venus, do some shopping at the Papeete Market and Pearl Market for souvenirs, then finally end the night by eating at the Food truck area for dinner near the Airport.

A popular excursion is swimming with the manta ray and black tip sharks at Moorea for $140. This includes Round Trip ferry ride, bus transportation, and BBQ lunch with free beer, soda, and water. Book this excursion with the hotel at least a couple days in advance. It is often sold out. If you are heading to Raiatea or Huahine hold out on this activity. The same activity cost about $90 compare to $140.

Cost for 1 day car rental with unlimited miles is about $50 with Ecocar. They drop the car at the hotel and drop you back at the hotel. You can call in the morning and have the car delivered at the hotel by 8:30am. If you don't want to deal with parking fee. Just drop it off by 5pm and enjoy the rest of day at the hotel snorkeling, swimming, or watching the dinner show at 8pm.

Tip: Ask about the fish feeding time and dinner show dance when you check in.

My Thoughts About the Hotel and the Island

This hotel is the closest hotel to the airport. It takes about 5 minutes to get to the hotel from the airport and cost about 2000 xpf (20 dollars). The snorkeling at the fish pool area was the highlight of our stay. People might get intimidated with the ropes surrounding the area, but there was no sign saying we couldn't swim with the fishes. This hotel has 3 pool areas to visit. The main pool is the biggest infinity pool, the "fish pool" is where the fishes and corals can be seen, and the third pool has the sunken pool bar with infinity pool and jacuzzi. The grounds are well kept and doesn't feel crowded. I simply love this hotel. I spent 2 days just enjoying the facility of the hotel. Free non-motorized equipment to use. Why leave?

Is there a grocery store close by? Yes. Carrefour, it's about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. Turn right when you leave the hotel. You will pass a fruit stand and pizza food truck (open at 5pm).

The island doesn't have the paradise feel to it. It's just another city. So- move on!

Moorea

Don't visit Moorea on a Multi-Pass ticket. You can easily take a 30 minute ferry to Moorea from Papeete. The cost of the ferry is about $10. Rent a car and explore the island when you get to Moorea. The car rental(Avis) is just across from the ferry. If you want a paradise feel, stay a couple of days at Intercontinental at Moorea or Villa Teareva. If you stay at this hotel you can jet ski/rent a boat/or even kayak to where the sting rays and black tip sharks are found. It's also close to Coco beach at Motu Tiahura island.

Tip: Most resort offer free kayaks and non motorized equipment to use for guest. IHG offers this to there guest.

I visited Moorea on an excursion tour from Papeete. If I had to redo my itinerary, I would have stayed at this island for at least 2 days. The island is geographically stunning. The IHG hotel at Moorea is smaller than Tahiti. I prefer the hotel in Tahiti rather than Moorea. But, I prefer the island of Moorea than Tahiti.

Raiatea

We departed Tahiti to Raiatea at 8 am with a stop at Moorea. The view of the Raiatea from the left side of the plane was simply stunning.

There are no major hotels in this small island. I booked my stay through Booking.com for $300 for 2 nights. We stayed at this cute house overlooking the blue water named Hava'i Lodge. They had 2 bikes that we used to explore the island. It was close to main town Uturoa. This is also the area where you can take a ferry boat to Tahaa Island.

We stayed at Raiatea for only 2 nights. We manage to explore the island by renting a car from Raiatea Renault Rent 40 66 34 35/87 36 98 71 near the airport. We had no rental car reservation but simply asked the car rental booths if they had any cars available. The cost of the car for 1 day was about $55 dollars unlimited miles. When you return the car, they drop you off at the airport or at your lodge in town. If you are looking to explore Raiatea check out xdaysiny.com travel blog for more ideas on what to do.

What I wish we did? I really wanted to visit Tahaa and do the excursion with the manta rays, sharks and coral reef. But, it was December 31, 2018 new years eve and all the tours was booked. We should have made reservations before leaving Tahiti. If you want to visit Tahaa you can take a ferry boat from Uturoa just across champion super market. The cost for adults 800 xpf ($8) under 12 years old $6. Depart Vaitoare (Tahaa) at 6:15 am, 8:30 am, 11:15 am, 13:15 and 1515. Depart Uturoa: 0810, 1000, 1215,1500, 1630. This is the time schedule for one ferry boat. There are several ferry boat doing the shuttle service from Uturoa to Vaitore (Tahaa) which is about 15 to 20 minutes apart. Book a tour with Temana tours for car rental and excursions. Stay at Tahaa at La Perle De Tahaa hotel or Le Taha'a Island Resort and Spa "the secluded bora bora destination" with the water bungalow dream vacation.

And the other thing I wish I did was book a boat for $60 for 4 hours at Raiatealocation.com. Their website also offer package deal with a bungalow for $120 per night. A great deal in my opinion. Just check out the their website for ideas.

Tip: Stay near town of Uturoa, that way you are close to the grocery store, ferry, and things to do. Snorkel spot. Boardwalk Pier of Hotel Raiatea Lodge.

Huahine

This is the island everyone falls in love with. I am no exception.

We book 2 nights using booking.com. I manage to still get a place during the new years holiday in just a week before arriving. The accommodation was slim picking but we still got a good rate for a 2 bedroom with kitchen at Pension Fare Ara Huahine for $300 for 2 nights. I would have opted at staying at Maitai Lapita Village Huahine Hotel if they had availability. They have the best beach and snorkeling area. And it was close to the main town. However, the place we stayed was about 15 minutes walk to the main town. They also picked and drop us off from the airport for free. Most places offer this service.

The Pension offered car rental on sites for $70 for 1 day rental. We explored the island and visited the Blue eye eel (feed them sardines), the old sofitel hotel (snorkeling site), V Shaped fishing trap, and took in the view from various points.

If you need more information about Huahine, check out xdaysiny.com travel blog for ideas on things to do. We really didn't have much time at Huahine since we arrived at 4pm on January 1, 2019 and departed to Bora Bora at 2pm on January 3, 2019. We basically had 1 full day to explore the island.

If we had more time, we would have done a lagoon tour with huahine nautique.

Bora Bora

The island everyone wants to get information on.

Where to Stay

Major hotel chains are found here and every type of accommodation can be booked.

We stayed at the main island island at Intercontinental Bora Bora. They also have a more private hotel with only water bungalow called Intercontinental Thalasso. But, I'm glad we stayed at the main island. We were able to get around and not feel trap just staying at the Hotel. What I love about Intercontinental Bora Bora is its at Matira Point Beach and its walking distance to local restaurants and grocery stores.

We used the kayaks provided and kayaked to coral garden where most boat tours head out to. It took us about 15 minutes from our hotel to kayak to coral garden. Just simply dock the kayak at the end of Sofitel Private Island and head out to coral garden for one of the best snorkel spot. If you are a bit more active and fit just head towards the Taurere Point for the stingray and black tip snorkeling area. If you go to google maps it is indicated on the map.

If you want to rent a boat and explore the island you can make arrangement with the hotel for $170 for 4 hours. That's enough time to go around the whole island. The boat I'm talking about is a small boat that you don't need a licence to operate. All you have to know is how to start the boat and that's it. Listen they wouldn't rent a boat if it was difficult. Plus, they give you instructions before taking the boat. The price of the boat is pretty much the basic price so don't bother shopping around.

Hotel Cost

Intercontinental had a weekend getaway deal that I couldn't pass. The weekend getaway rate included breakfast and late checkout till 4 pm for $400 for a beach bungalow. But with my IHG status, I was ungraded to a water bungalow. Check the different dates on there website since the price for rooms changes with the dates you select.

United Airline Employee Tip Check out Accorhotel.com using the corporate code found at employee travel discount on flyingtogether and stay at Sofitel Bora Bora.

Hotels to check out is: Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort and Spa, Hotel Matira near Intercontinental Le Moana, and Hotel Maitai for more affordable options. Don't hesitate and check out Marriott.com for hotel stay a Le Meridien.

Tip: Low season for Bora Bora is from November to April during the rainy season. We visited Bora Bora in December and January and had no rain.

When booking Hotels, an added cost would be the boat transfer. If you are not staying at the main island and need a boat shuttle to your hotel it can cost you $80 per person. If you are staying at the main island Air Tahiti offer free boat transfer to main island. From the main island you can take a taxi to your hotel for about $20. That's what we did when we stayed at Intercontinental Le Moana.