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- Introduction
- Planning
- A Bad Start & a Few Hours in Los Angeles
- Air France Lounge – Los Angeles
- Air France Business Class – Los Angeles to Papeete
- Getting to Moorea
- Hilton Moorea
- Hilton Moorea, Panoramic Overwater Bungalow #87
- An ATV Tour in Moorea
- Whale & Dolphin Watching in Moorea
- Eating in Moorea
- Moorea to Bora Bora
- Bora Bora Airport To InterContinental Thalasso
- Emerald Overwater Bungalow #204 at the InterContinental Thalasso Bora Bora
- Jet-Skiing in Bora Bora
- A 9 Hour Bike Ride Around Bora Bora
- Eating in the InterContinental Thalasso
- InterContinental Thalasso Coral Garden Suite
- Around the InterContinental Thalasso
- Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort
- Royal Overwater Villa, Hilton Bora Bora Nui
- Dinner at Villa Mahana
- Eating in the Hilton Bora Bora
- Is Food Expensive in Bora Bora?
- A Day in Papeete
- Air Tahiti Nui and Southwest Flights Home
- Conclusion & Blog Giveaway!
On our last day in French Polynesia, Daraius and I took the the ~$7 shuttle from the Hilton to Vaitape and then took the free Air Tahiti boat to the airport. This was about $90 cheaper than the direct airport transfer from the Hilton. The Hilton took our luggage to the airport for us on their boat and left it at the Hilton counter at the airport ready to be picked up by us.
After we arrived at the airport, we got some lunch, but missed getting the good seats on the right side of the plane.
The flight was short from Bora Bora to Papeete, Tahiti, and Daraius had booked a car through Avis since we had a 10 hour layover. We waited at the Avis counter for around 30 minutes since no one was at the counter, and we started inquiring with the other agencies (Hertz, Europcar, etc) on their rates and availability.
By then the Avis rep showed up so we continued with our reservation.
We drove to Cash and Carry, a big supermarket ~5 minutes drive from the airport.
We love browsing through foreign stores, but wondered how folks check out the bicycles before buying them!
Cash & Carry was like a regular supermarket and had an assortment of European and American goods together as well as lower prices on Tahitian local products and souvenirs. We stocked up on more souvenirs since the prices were so good. I’m a huge fan of the Monoi Tiki Tahiti body oils.
We then drove to the city market (marche municipal) and looked around.
It was a nice market but most of the shops had closed by the time we arrived.
We did get a few things to bring back that we didn’t find in the supermarket.
After that, we drove to Venus Point and watched the sunset.
There were lots of families laying by the beach, listening to music on the boomboxes, and playing soccer.
It was a gorgeous view with the sea and mountains. We also saw the lighthouse…
..and the memorial to the descendents of the HMS Bounty.
After Venus Point, we went to the outdoor food stalls, or roulottes.
…and checked out the menus of the various food trucks.
The food was reasonably priced at about 1,100 XOF (~$12) per entree, but was more expensive than I thought.
There were crepes…
And lots of food with Chinese and Asian food.
It was so nice seeing all of the families there with their children so excited to be eating out.
The place had a real community feel to it and there was lovely live music as well. To our surprise, we ran into blogger Bart Lapers at the roulottes!
Daraius decided on some fish curry and a fish kebab for dinner. I had some Powerbars waiting for me in the car since it was too risky for me to eat because of my fish allergy.
Most places had just one pan, fryer, or grill for cooking food and there was fish all over the menus, so the risk of cross contamination was high.
After dinner we drove back to the airport, sad that we couldn’t spend more time in French Polynesia.
Your Papeete day hardly merits the virtual space you took up… why did you identify the Carrefour, proud French supermarketers, as the “Cash and Carry”? In case the Duck Trophy fam arrive from US? No pictures of the exquisite women braiding their friends hair, just like Gaugin caught? (they’re by any pool or beach) and to post the ugly American war-type memorial as the only scenic point of interest was so callow, y’all oughta wear your bowties in like, Savannah or DesMoines or something.
Papeete is full of very old traditions and people practicing skills from their ancestors. Also more modernly, you can ask the taxi driver to find you some good ganja, and he will take you to the end of the road where all the dudes sell “joints”; good bud wrapped up in tinfoil so if you’re caught it’s a misdemeanor… joints are fine in Tahiti. 🙂
Is it easy to get Hilton to take your bags directly to the airport?
Daraius, my flight from Bora Bora lands at 4:30pm and my departing flight back to the U.S. leaves at 11:59pm. Do you think this is enough time to rent a car at the airport, drive to venus point, peak at the black sand beaches, then eat at the food trucks on the drive back? If I get in my rental by 5pm, and return to the airport by 9pm that would give me 4 hours – do you think it’s doable? Love the blog – has been a tremendous help.
Thank you sooooo much for sharing your experiences in this trip. We have reservation for May to go there. Your report is been very very helpful. I enjoyed reading it.
Nice work!
invaluable info, I love the detail and the photos! thank you so much
@Linda – Thanks for reading and have a great trip!