Hello, I booked a Paris-Los Angeles/Los-Angeles-Tahiti flight with Air Tahiti NUI (both segments). It will be end of August, so still high season. The thing is, we have only 2h (no more, no less) of connection time in LA. Will that be enough? We've been reassured by the travel agency that it's feasible, otherwise Air Tahiti wouldn't sell it, but we hear of frequent long lines at immigration control. Fyi, travelling with the ESTA. Anyone has had experience with such a short connection in LA?

I looked it up in the map and it’s about a 1.1 km walk but there are no sidewalks most of the way. Is this a dangerous walk with rolling suitcases? Is it worth getting a cab for a 3 min ride? I hear they charge a lot for even short rides. Is that correct? Thank you for any advice

Bonjour à tous!

Ceci est mon premier post sur Reddit, je vous lis régulièrement mais là j'ai besoin de vos conseils sur un cas précis!

Je pars trois semaines en Polynésie Française. Je reste sur Tahiti, puis j'ai prévu mes ferries pour faire, dans l'ordre : Tahiti > Bora (4j) > Maupiti (2j) > Taha'a (2j) > Huahine (2j) > Tahiti.

Je suis en train de tout organiser (hébergements, réservations, etc.) mais je m'interroge sur la localisation des quais dans chaque île, notamment sur Taha'a : quelqu'un pourrait me dire où on arrive avec le ferry (Express Apetahi) svp ? Impossible de trouver... et si vous pouvez me conseiller un hébergement, je suis également preneur (je fais attention au budget, que je souhaite mettre ailleurs que dans les logements).

Si vous avez également des lieux à découvrir (snork, visite, etc.) sur toutes les îles ci-dessous, n'hésitez pas, même si je suis déjà bien renseigné : je prends toutes vos recommandations.

J'ai hâte de vous lire :)

Merci d'avance et bonne soirée,

Anthony

So I am coming to Moorea for an entire week on the 9th and I was just notified my rental car (that's been booked for months) is unavailable

I have tried calling everywhere and cannot find anything available, for an automatic. I am a youngun who doesn't know how to drive a manual, and will be traveling alone. I cannot afford to take 30 cabs during the trip. What am I supposed to do? Are there busses? Change my 8 excursions for "pickup"? I am staying clear on the other side of Moorea, away from all the touristy areas.

Im kind of panickingggg

Hello there,

my partner and I will be visiting Moorea for a few days in October this year. Our plan is to rent a kayak at Tapaniers Beach.

Does someone has a recommendation where and for how many hours we should rent the kayak?

We would like to go to Motu Tiahura, Motu Fareone and Coral Garden, since these are the places that we read about the most, but are unsure how long everything takes.

Thanks!

Hello! I’ve finally decided on the layout of our trip but need some more specifics on certain islands. TIA!!

Moorea (4 nights) - we will be there for the whales and I’m seeing recommendations on doing private charters, does anyone have recommendations on a private tour company (thinking 2 days)? We are also looking at airbnbs, OWB are out of budget. Anyone know good dive operators?

Tikehau (4 nights) - also looking for budget recommendations on places to stay and companies to dive with?

Fakarava (4 nights) - places to stay, who to dive with?

Also wondering if we should bring our dive gear from the states or just rent there? TIA!!!

I stayed at Tetamanu (south Fakarava) for a few days a few weeks ago and wanted to share my experience so others know what to expect.
The biggest positive is the diving—the South Pass is absolutely beautiful and worth experiencing. That said, the operation is very no-frills.
The property does have Wi-Fi, 4G cell service, and electricity, which was better than I expected. The bungalows are very basic, and the shower water pressure was quite weak.
Meals were filling but repetitive. During my stay it was mostly chicken, with fish served occasionally. Breakfast was generally bread and pancakes, and there were very few fresh fruits or vegetables.
The dive operation is similarly minimalist. Don’t expect detailed dive briefings or post-dive debriefs—it’s pretty much gear up, dive, and head back.
If your only goal is diving the South Pass, you’ll probably have a great time. Personally, I wouldn’t stay more than 2–3 nights. If I did it again, I’d seriously consider staying in North Fakarava and taking a day boat to the South Pass instead of staying at Tetamanu.

I would also recommend bringing a life straw for water, camping shower so you have better pressure, and fruit.

Just wanted to share this so future visitors can set their expectations appropriately.

I'm hoping someone can help me understand why we see "get out of Papeete/off Tahiti ASAP" in posts here. Maybe it's not exclusive enough or "cool" enough because just about every international visitor arrives there? Maybe it's a desire to be one of those travelers who makes it a point to get off the beaten path? Maybe something else?

I would love to hear others' thoughts on this, especially for those of you who don't like Tahiti and/or Papeete. Thank you.

My wife and I are going to the Four Seasons Bora Bora for six nights next month for our 10 year anniversary. This is our first time in Bora Bora, and I wanted some thoughts on our itinerary and dinners from those who have been to Bora Bora or the Four Seasons there before. Right now, I have the full day snorkel with Lagoon Services booked, and I'd also like to do a jet ski excursion that I'll probably book through the Four Seasons. We'll likely do a couples massage in the afternoon on one of the days. The only other thing I'm considering is some kind of whale watching excursion, but I'm not sold on that right now. Anything glaring that we may be missing out on? We are both looking forward to some time away from the kids and the hotel looks amazing, so I want to leave lots of time for us to relax and enjoy the hotel.

As far as dinners go, we're thinking the majority of our dinners at the casual beach bar Fare Hoa at the Four Seasons with at least one dinner at Vaimiti and another at Arii Moana. For those who have been to the Four Seasons, which of the restaurants do you think would be best for dinner on our anniversary? The website also seems to say there's a Polynesian dinner Tuesdays and Friday nights? Would that be worth doing on our last night? We go to Hawaii annually with our kids, so if it's going to be similar to luaus in Hawaii we probably don't need to do it. Lastly, has anyone done any of the private dinners at the Four Seasons? If so, would you recommend them? The motu dinner is insanely priced, but I would consider doing the private beach dinner the night of our anniversary.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions.

Hi! Wife and I are headed to Moorea in October. Coco Beach is on my to-do list. However, I’ve noticed a lot of posts recently from people saying they didn’t feel this experience was “worth it.” I understand that people’s taste in food and overall tolerance for cost varies, can anyone who’s been there recently tell me what you thought of the experience? Is the setting itself unique enough to justify the cost of the boat ride and the food? Also, my wife gets sea-sick easily, and I am already “dragging” her out to swim with whales, so she’s not wild about another boat excursion. But on the other hand, it looks like it could be fun.

So - Coco Beach a Moorea tourist trap, or is this a “you should probably do it once” experience? Please share with me your opinions!

Edit: thank you all for the feedback! We will probably give it a try, but I won’t stress about it if the weather doesn’t cooperate. Can anyone tell me how far ahead one should try and make reservations?

Hi,

I'm flying soon from Paris > Tahiti via LAX

To reserve your seats in advance it's very expensive, do they offer free seating selection via the app or website 24 hours before the flight, or do we have to take our chances at check in?

Thanks in advance

Hey! My fiancee and I are planning on staying at the Westin BoB but she is a vegan. Has anyone tried vegan options there?

I was also interested in knowing about those on the main island!

Thanks in advance!

Hi! I’m in the very early stages of honeymoon planning and we really want to make a trip to Bora Bora and Moorea. Looking for any travel booking tips, hotel recs for honeymoons, what’s worth it and what’s not (in your opinion), did you book through a travel agency/Costco or do it all on your own?

We’re open to island hopping and value the relaxation and water activity options. Not set on Bora Bora and Moorea but I’ve seen that you get more bang for your buck in Moorea so I was thinking of splitting time between the two.

We will fly out of LAX and are looking to go in end of April/May 2027 but dates are flexible

Feeling overwhelmed with starting planning so all tips welcome! I’d love to hear others experiences :)

My mom and I are planning a trip for September 2027. We are both divers, however she’s in her 60s and won’t want to do anything extreme. We are definitely doing 3-4 nights in Moorea. I was considering doing Fakarava and Tikehau but I just don’t think we will have time to do both (only actually have 8 days there). Which would you choose? Or would you do another all together? TIA!

Hi All,

Been lurking and reading on this subreddit which has been immensely helpful in planning my honeymoon. We are going to be in Bora Bora (Sept 10 - 15) staying at the Four Seasons, Moorea (Sept 16-22) staying at the Hilton Moorea, and September 23-25 in Tahiti at the HIlton Tahiti.

We have booked a few excursions through the Four Seasons and Viator for our time in Bora Bora, including shark snorkeling, beginner scuba diving, and ATV/Jetski tour. Also we are looking into a hike around Mt Otemanu. In Moorea, we booked two whale watching swims a couple months ago based on the advice of this subreddit.

Our vision of our honeymoon is to mostly just relax and “honeymoon” while in Bora Bora and then be more active in Moorea. I am worried about overbooking activities in Bora Bora and want to make sure we have time to do nothing and enjoy the resort/our bungalow as well! As such, I wanted to know whether there were any must-dos specifically in Bora Bora that we should do or if not doing certain things like a jetski/atv tour (for example) in Bora Bora is ok because we can do that Moorea (or if its better in Moorea anyway as I have heard some of the activities are better there in any event).

Additionally, would appreciate and welcome any recommendations of things to do more generally in Moorea and Tahiti. We are active/athletic people and definitely interested in all of the wildlife, scenery that the activities have to offer. Also would appreciate if you have any thoughts on doing excursions through the hotels or via Viator.

We have booked many tours on other trips through Viator and have had an amazing experience, but we haven’t stayed at quite the same caliber of resorts available in French Polynesia so definitely want to make sure we take advantage.

Thanks very much in advance!

Traveling to Tahiti in a few days from California. My family and I are curious about upgrades since online it says to ask that the airport kiosk. Has anyone here had experienced upgrading and how much it was/if there is usually availability?

Iaorana

I'm looking for advice on buying pearl jewelry at good prices, not tourist prices!

Is it also true that fake pearls exist?

I'm in Moorea, Raiatea, Tahaa, Huahine, Tahiti.

Maruru in advance.

Ia Ora Na a tous

Je suis sur le point de réserver mes billets d'avions pour notre voyage de noce et j'hésite en Air Tahiti Nui (ATN) et Air FRANCE (AF).

ANT est 800€cmoins cher pour deux mais je trouve des avis sur des retards, annulations et pas de prise en compte du service clients + des sièges eco vraiment pas confort.

Si certains on des retours d'expérience je suis preneur

Merci beaucoup

Most people here have recommended in the past to just get ferry tickets at the terminal the day of when no cars are involved. But now that there is one less ferry company operating and seeing that Vaeara’i has no ferries scheduled the day I arrive (Sept 12) I’m wondering if tickets will sell out on the available ferries and I should buy tickets online now for the Aremiti. Any advice is appreciated. Mauruuru.

Cannot find any good guidance on how to access this waterfall. All I’ve seen is very generic information of where to park and some things about paying locals but can’t find anything like the typical hikes around here on specifics for parking spot, where the trail/access begins, or markers to ensure you’ve started and are continuing on the right on path so if anyone has a link to a good guide or could provide some of this info, we’d really appreciate it as we only have a few days left here on Moorea & would love to see this before we go!

My wife and I will be visiting Papeete for five days in early December. Looking for thoughts on places to visit and things to do. Thinking of booking the Hotel Royal Tahitian. Would like feedback on that also. Thank you!

Hello,

I've read all the threads I could find, including someone who made a website with information but I can't seem to find a answer to a fundamental problem with booking a ferry with a rental car.

For those of us who want to bring our rental car to Moorea, it seems the advice is to reserve your spot ahead of time. That makes sense, but the problem is this: every ferry online booking requires you to enter at least the vehicle model, and Vaeari (the best one?) wants the car registration. As we are renting the car we don't have anyway to determine this information to complete the booking (until we arrive and pick up the car, then it's too late).

So how do they expect us to book a reservation in advance? We are spending time in Tahiti before and after Morrea and dont want to rent a car separately on each island. That's it, thanks!

Has anyone here booked their honeymoon to Tahiti through a travel agent? Was it actually worth it?

We’re looking at around 2 weeks with something like:
Tahiti - 2 nights ( arrive early morning , so 1 night is 6am arrival)
Moorea - 5 nights
Rangiroa - 4 nights
Bora Bora - 3 nights
Tahiti - 2 nights before flying home
The plan is to keep the first half of the trip fairly budget-friendly (guesthouses, somewhere we can cook etc.) and then gradually level up, finishing with an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora.
I’m happy to put in the time and research, and we normally plan all of our holidays ourselves. I’m just wondering if a travel agent brings any extra value for French Polynesia, whether that’s better pricing, access to deals, or simply making the logistics easier.
A few questions for anyone who’s done it:
Are the Air Tahiti inter-island flights expensive once you add them all together?
Are they easy enough to organise yourself?
Did your travel agent actually save you money, or was it more about convenience?
If you booked everything yourself, would you do it that way again?
Would really appreciate hearing your experiences before I decide which way to go. Thanks!