A heavenly honeymoon in French Polynesia

Lots of honeymooners come to me with visions of overwater bungalows dancing in their heads.  Too often, they end up abandoning those dreams because of time limitations (it’s not really worth flying all the way across the world if you only have a week’s vacation) or budget constraints (those bungalows don’t come cheap!)

Nick and Kristi are among the fortunate few who were able to make the dream a reality. They had two key things in their favor…they live in California (a shorter “commute” than for us East Coasters) and they were travelling during “shoulder season”, in November, when room rates dip a little bit.  The end result, as you can see below, was a honeymoon to remember! Scroll all the way down for their detailed feedback about the islands that they visited.

a honeymoon couple on the beach in Tahiti

Hi Ann-

We are just getting back into the swing of normal life after the wedding and amazing honeymoon.  Here are some notes about our trip! Overall it was incredible and we cannot thank you enough for all of your help.

Moorea was  gorgeous and we had a great time, but we were not necessarily blown away by the accommodations at the Hilton. Our room was nice, but the AC was a bit of an issue…the electricity in the garden villa was controlled by our room key, so when we left our room and didn’t come back for hours, the room got incredibly hot and took a very long time for the AC to kick in and cool off the space.  We ordered room service the first night and it was average, but other than that we ate out around the island, which was fun and had very good food. It was very nice that the restaurants offsite would come pick you up to dine with them…very nice touch.  It was a great first stop on our trip.  We rented a car and drove around the island which was  fun and also participated in Albert’s Snorkel adventure where we swam with sting rays, black fin sharks  and then ended with a traditional Polynesian BBQ feast. While this was a fun adventure, it was very touristy and there were so many people around the sting rays and sharks, it didn’t feel very natural and we felt as if the sharks and sting rays had been a bit domesticated….snorkeling around the Hilton was nice and it was great that the hotel provides the snorkel gear as well.  We met a lot of other honeymoon couples at the Hilton which was fun.

Bora Bora was absolutely gorgeous. There is nothing like getting off the airplane and seeing the gorgeous teal lagoon.  The Four Seasons was so incredibly luxurious…this was by far our favorite place and we honestly never wanted to leave.  The bungalow was amazing and the restaurants on the property were fantastic.  In fact we never left the resort.  We participated in a jet ski tour around the island through the Four Seasons and that was a blast.  We also went on a Pure Snorkel tour and that was incredible…a much more natural snorkeling experience…we had the opportunity to swim with manta rays, sting rays, sharks and saw the gorgeous coral gardens in Bora Bora. We had a very hard time leaving…

LeTahaa was great as well and definitely had a more authentic Polynesian luxury feel.   Our bungalow was very nice and we loved that the patio was on the side of the room, it was like having an outdoor private living room with a breathtaking view.  We spent a lot of time relaxing there.  We indulged in the French dining experience at LeTahaa which was very nice and a great way to end our trip.  The spa was authentic, nice and relaxing.  It does not have the american luxury feel but it does  makes up for it by being remote, intimate and has a unique Polynesian charm .  We did the snorkel tour offered through the hotel here as well and it was unforgettable, we got up close and personal with the sting rays and sharks, our tour guides were authentic and sang to us while on the boat as well as created a Polynesian picnic in the middle of the lagoon for us.  The offered fresh coconut, pineapple, mango, bananas and beer for us to enjoy after a morning of swimming.

Timing was perfect  and we had left just in time as rainy season was coming upon French Polynesia.

Our honeymoon was hands down one of the best and most memorable trips we have ever been on.  The only thing I think that we would have changed (if possible) was to do LeTahaa as the second stop and finished the trip in Bora Bora, other than that we had an incredible time and are so happy that we found you to help us plan our amazing adventure.

Hope this helps, thank you again for everything!

Kristi and Nick

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You provided excellent guidance for us. I appreciated that you really had us think about what was most important to us when we were selecting the right cruise – and not to totally focus on what other people had to say. THANK YOU for helping to make this a memorable trip for our family! It really was a trip of a lifetime!

Clare and Mark (family cruise to Alaska)

The level of service we experienced was out of this world (and we did NOT make it easy on Ann). We weren’t quite sure where we wanted to go, when we would be able to go, or what “vibe” we were going for. After asking us some key questions (what we liked, didn’t like, why, etc.) Ann helped us narrow down our trip details and planned the honeymoon of our dreams. She helped book some of our excursions, answered some emergency questions while abroad and was always available/willing to help. I think it’s safe to say we won’t be using anyone else for future travel planning – Ann is a rockstar!

Carli (Italy and Spain)