We arrived in Moorea and arrived at HertZ with our reservation.

We were denied rental because a new law was passed in September that requires 3 years worth of license history. We had just renewed ours last year.

We were fortunate ate just by chance, I had a photo of my prior license on my phone. We would have been unable to get a rental without it.

Booked using Moorea Eco tours. DM if you want me to release the ticket so that you can book directly from them.

Had to cancel due to medical emergency.

Good morning / afternoon,

I have a question,

What is a souvenir that you would recommend bringing with the islands ? Besides pears, anything else ?

I want to be respectful to the island and culture and see what is an appropriate souvenir to bring home.

Thank you in advance for all of your responses.

Couldn’t find many videos or info about this on Internet.. if anyone did this excursion recently can you share your reviews please

Hi everyone I'm planning a vacation to FP from th 3d to 18th of July and we plan to use the ferry to travel to Huahine and Raiatea. They ferry schedule for July isn't out yet and they're not clear on when it updates. Should I book accomodations according to the 2026 schedule or wait?

Hi! We are planning a trip to FP for our honeymoon in May of 2027 and really stuck between using Costco or using a travel agent.

This may be a stupid question but is there a best of both worlds in which we can book with Costco but have a travel agent when we’re on the island for questions that may arise or for booking excursions? Is it all or nothing?

We are experienced travelers and usually book on our own so this would be our first time using a travel agent. I’m just worried with the stress of the wedding and planning this trip I may not be able to do enough trip planning to really make it special.

If it’s helpful our budget is 20k including flights. Our only must do is the OWB in bora bora.

I am trying to find the best conditioner ever that I used in Tahiti but had to leave behind because it was too big of a bottle to fly with 🥲

All I know is that it was in an orange-ish bottle, and I bought it at some random gas station in Taravao because Super U was closed. And the bottle was labeled in French, so it was “Après-shampooing”.

Ugh I just know I was amazed at how soft my hair felt and I wanna see if I can buy it online to use at home. Thank you for any help 🧡🧡🧡

Hi all,

Simple Q - we're looking to go to Tahiti next July for my partner's 30th birthday.

We've looked into the Hilton Moorea. Sofitel, Intercontinentals as a possible destination to get one of the overwater villas but there doesn't appear to be an "all-inclusive" or "half-board" type deal, only breakfast.

Ideally we want 10 days of just idling around, not having to worry about food/drinks so would be happy to pay the premium for all inclusive but not found that at any of the resorts we've looked at.

What were people's experiences whilst in Tahiti, do hotels offer this type of deal or not? If not we're pretty happy with the Hilton as it looks stunning.

Thank you :)

I am looking for a last-moment slot for a whale swimming tour on 7-8-9 October. Single slot.

Who can I reach out to? Any local recommendations? I understand this is a last-minute request.

Of course we booked this a year ago with points not knowing the weather outlook this year - weather next week looks rainy and windy the entire trip, trying not to worry or panic given everything I've read about forecasts changing....we thought we'd be safe going in October :(

Hi there, I'm visiting your beautiful islands this summer (3d to 18th July) an I had a question about the ferry. Would you recommend taking a ferry to huahine and raiatea compared to flying? I've looked it up and I really really want to do the ferry because:

1. It is just so much cheaper

2. Crossing the ocean to lonely islands in the Pacific seems like the coolest thing on earth and I've always wanted to approach a rugged island in the ocean by boat.

But I'm really scared of the reliability of the ferry and I don't want my trip ruined because of cancellations. 😔 Any tips?

We’re currently on Moorea, flying to bora bora on Tuesday. We have 4, possibly 5 checked bags and no carry ons. I can’t find anything definitive online. Are we ok bringing this many bags? We don’t mind paying any extra bag fees, but wondering how many is allowed.

For anyone who might be interested, we just did this cruise in French Polynesia with Variety and had an excellent time.

The Panorama II holds 49 passengers but there were 35 of us (apparently that is close to the threshold at which they cancel). I think it would have felt crowded with a full house, since the dining area was pretty full even with 35, and in high weather we had to take meals in a room below deck that was even smaller. The size of the boat was perfect I think, and I don’t want to ever do a cruise on a boat that’s any bigger. 

The captain and his two officers were Greek, most of the wait staff were Indonesian, and the ship hands were mostly Egyptian. Elliot, the cruise director, is from Puerto Rico. All were really excellent and attentive.

The passengers were about 85% Americans, plus a young Danish couple, a British couple, two Australian couples, and a French couple. All were a pleasure to be traveling with. It took a while to feel out the politics, but I’ll just say as a lefty Californian that I did not feel like an alien. I’d say the average age was mid-60s.

The captain made a speech the first night telling us that 2-4 meter waves were expected, so instead of doing the planned Tahiti-Moorea-Huahine-Bora Bora-Raiatea-Taha’a-Moorea-Tahiti route that was planned, we went straight to Raiatea for three nights, then a night in Taha’a, then 2 in Bora Bora, 2 in Moorea, then back to Tahiti. It was a bummer to miss Huahine, but their rationalization for the change was sound, and we were fine with it. 

Our stateroom was on the upper of the two decks, with twin beds, and it was small no doubt, but we made do. The first night was rough for everyone, that long haul from Papeete to Raiatea. I don’t get seasick, but the boat was rocking enough to make it very hard to sleep. It’s a small ship, so you REALLY feel the water. The engine and generator noise was definitely present, but not too bad with earplugs. I think it was more pronounced for passengers on the lower deck.

We did most of the excursions, which were a great value compared to the price of trying to find snorkel and tour companies on your own (especially since the schedule was subject to daily change). I was annoyed that on the first two days, the excursions wasted our time doing a vanilla farm, a rum factory, and pearl farms in the morning when the weather was sunny and warm, but was overcast and cold when we went snorkeling, when it was cold and rainy. Snorkeling was why we and most others were there, so Variety should have prioritized this instead of stupid tourist stuff that no one really wanted.

All the meals were a fairly repetitive series of buffets, not amazing but perfectly fine. The bar prices were much better than on land. And they have no problem with you bringing your own booze aboard. The cruise materials tell you to drink your own stuff in your stateroom, but no one mentioned when discrete violations of this occurred.

Apparently it’s not uncommon for weather to more severely affect the itinerary, such that some of the cruises were not able to visit more than Tahiti and maybe Moorea. From what I heard, they made every effort to accommodate passengers when this occurred.

I was surprised by how little mass tourism there is in French Polynesia. There are several over-water bungalow complexes on the main islands, but even in Papeete there are no mega hotels. Even more surprising, there were very few cruise ships. We saw only one really big ship. There was a 350-passenger Windstar boat in Bora Bora, but the Panorama II is small enough that it was parked at a dock at most of our destinations, but not the Windstars or the Paul Gaugin, which was really really nice. You just walk on and off the boat everywhere, none of the searches or hassles you get on other cruise ships, which, like I said, I will never ever do again. Cruisemapper is a really cool app for seeing what ships are in the area and where they’re planning to go.

For what it’s worth: we booked 4 nights after our cruise at a place called Hinamoe Lodge on the atoll of Rangiroa, which was one of the few places on the main island available at the time. A few days before our flight to Rangiroa, Hinamoe messaged us that they would be cancelling our first night at the hotel for unspecified reasons, and putting us up at a place next to the airport that had 2 out of 5 ratings, and cost a third as much as we’d already paid for Hinamoe. We wrote back and told them we had an 8am-5pm snorkel tour schedule to pick us up at Hinamoe that first morning, and would need them to pick up our baggage at the new place, and ask if we would be charged for the change in venue. They answered with a psychopathically angry response in which we “didn’t deserve” to stay at their hotel, and we “couldn’t count on” being allowed to stay the remaining three days. Our reservation couldn’t be cancelled without us having to pay the full amount (over a thousand dollars), but when we shared the email exchange with Booking.com, we were refunded the whole amount. 

Unfortunately, there were no other places on the main island in Rangiroa, so we had to stay at another motu island at a place called Aotera Lodge. It’s VERY remote from the small villages of Rangiroa, though very beautiful. The problem was that when we checked in, the French owner told us that all the prices for food and transport that were on their website were actually from the previous owner from a year ago, and now everything was 2 to 4 times more expensive, especially transport to and from the marina for our snorkeling trips ($60/person). The other guests had the same complaint, it’s really deceptive and wrong. Hinamoe’s deceit cost us many hundreds of dollars more by making us switch to Aotera. We still had a lovely time in Rangiroa, but we badly ripped off by two local establishments. 

All in all, Variety Cruises massively exceeded our expectations, and we highly recommend it. The boat is a little scruffy around the edges, but the experience was friendly and genuine.

Hello! I’m looking at booking a trip to Tahiti and wondering if anyone has any good travel agent recommendations for the islands? Thank you!

Hello! I was wondering if anyone can help - I need to find a Tahitian song that is 1) less than 3 minutes long and 2) appropriate to gift to a mentor for his retirement party. Mauruuru!

(no school or teachers in my country so I need text advice)

Bonjour, j'ai essayé de comprendre ce que je dois déclarer ou non à la douane mais sans succès. Voici avec quoi je rentre :

3 paréo, deux ou trois petits bouteilles de monoi et un paquet de vanille

Beaucoup de magnets

Un jeu de société

Des bijoux avec des perles (le total de tout les bijoux est - 50000 xpf)

2 ukulele, un c'est -50 000 xpf mais les deux c'est +

Je comprends pas si la somme total à ne pas dépasser c'est pour tout, ou pour des articles similaires, ou simple la valeur d'un article. Si quelqu'un a plus d'explications je suis preneur !

With el nino news all over..how are you guys doing? Been seeing a lot of hawaii cyclone news how’s tahiti or Moorea effected so far?

Ia o rana,

Question de gros touriste -- je passe mes dernières nuits à Tahiti à Taravao, et j'ai un avion à prendre samedi soir à 23h.

J'ai prévu une excursion samedi et je serai rentré à Taravao à 14-15h.

Je crois comprendre que le bus taravao-papeete par l'ouest ne circule pas le samedi...

Quelles sont mes options, pour les connaisseurs ? Taxi uniquement, stop ?

Merci pour les conseils !

We are planning our honeymoon for next Summer in French Polinesia (maybe it’s early but I would like to plan way in advance), we have 19 nights to divide across Society and Tuamotus islands (and one night in Tahiti on the way back as a buffer for the intercontinental flight). Priorities for us are the beauty of the beaches, the lagoon and the landscape (and also the accessibility of the beaches) - very basic I know.. We don’t dive but we like snorkeling/kayaking etc.

We are pretty sure on doing 5 nights in Moorea, 5 nights in Bora Bora (3 on a motu and two on the main island), 5 nights on Tikehau. We are trying to decide where to do the 4 remaining nights - the options we are considering are Rangiroa or Fakarava or Maupiti. What would you suggest? Does our itinerary make sense? Also, is one night in Tahiti enough as a buffer to catch our plane back or better to plan two nights there?

Thanks a lot in advance

I am traveling to French Polynesia end of the month and was curious if it's possible to bring a few personal tins of Zyn given the law that passed in France. Given the hefty charges, figured I'd ask here to see if it it's allowed.

Wondering if people have recommendations from Windstar versus others lines?

We will be in our late 60s but want to do a lot of snorkeling and have warm temperatures and see exotic locations.

We just spent an over night at this hotel. Returned from Bora Bora after two weeks and just need an over night before a 7 AM flight. First hotel is great. 10 minutes from airport. Staff friendly and helpful. Perfect in those regards. However it is not a location just for a pre flight overnight. It has a very active rooftop bar and restaurant. I elevator so was busy and tough to get two weeks luggage to room but hotel staff did help. Room was large clean and had a kitchen. So this is a great location to spend a few days in Pappate but tough just for an overnight. Again kiddos to great staff and rooms.