Trip Planning: A Polynesian getaway – Tahiti, Bora Bora and Moorea

French Polynesia is renowned for its idyllic islands, crystal-clear lagoons, stunning overwater bungalows, and vibrant marine life, making it a bucket-list destination for travelers worldwide. Ever since our first visit to French Polynesia in the summer of 2023, we knew a return to this slice of paradise was inevitable. Our initial trip was quite an eye-opening one in that we realized that this stunning destination doesn’t just have to be a romantic and luxurious couples getaway – but rather could also be perfect for families as long as you choose your islands and accommodations accordingly. Below, I go over my trip-planning thought process for my trips to French Polynesia.

Our first trip had seen us primarily staying in Bora Bora, and we had a one-night layover in Tahiti upon arrival. At the time, we were a few short months away from welcoming the first addition to our family, so we were happy just to have a relaxing week off before our lives and schedules were thrown into a blender.  Having loved the experience, I distinctly remember that when leaving Bora Bora, my mind was already whirring away, trying to work out a speedy return. While I would have been more than happy to re-visit just Bora Bora again for some R&R, I wanted to ideally tack on at least another 1-2 islands in order to see what other islands in this Pacific nation have to offer. Top of mind were islands like Taha’a (also known as the Vanilla Island as it accounts for over 80% of the FP’s vanilla production) or Moorea as both islands have decent hotel options to begin with and if possible, try and hit a few others that had piqued my interest such as Rangiroa, Fakarava, Huahine or Raiatea to name a few.

Moorea

Deciding which islands to visit

French Polynesia is made up of over 120 islands and atolls and split into roughly five groups of islands (Society, Tuamotu, Gambier, Marquesas and the Austral Islands), which together span a distance roughly the size of continental Europe. Probably the three islands that most often might come to mind when talking about French Polynesia as a tourist destination would be Bora Bora, Tahiti and Moorea, all of which are part of the Society Islands (the Leeward Islands specifically).

Deciding on where to go and what to do can be a tough thing to nail down especially if time is limited. Tahiti and Bora Bora will almost certainly be the first places travelers would consider though it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are many more potential destinations amongst the various island chains. With that said, I’d still recommend going to a combination of Bora Bora, Tahiti or Moorea for an initial trip.

Opunohu Bay – Moorea

Tahiti: While being the gateway to the other islands in French Polynesia, Tahiti is also the largest and most populous island and serves as the cultural and economic hub of the region. Easy to overlook if you’re laser-focused on your upcoming nights in Bora Bora – you shouldn’t. Tahiti has popular black sand beaches, wonderful lagoons for water sports, and a bustling city vibe that makes it stand out from the IG scenes of Bora Bora and Moorea. In Tahiti, you also have the opportunity to take in the region’s history, heritage and culture. This island on its own would be a worthy destination for a vacation and would be a great trip for families. If spending a couple of days here, I’d strongly recommend a car rental as the island is very easy to drive around, and there are many sites worth visiting a short car ride away.

Moorea: Like countless other FP islands, Moorea is absolutely gorgeous and offers a more rugged, natural beauty compared to Bora Bora. The island’s jagged peaks and lush green valleys provide an unreal backdrop to all the activities you would typically imagine doing in an island paradise, and it’s no surprise that this is the island that is often thought to be the inspiration behind the fictional island of Motunui in Disney’s Moana. Similar to Tahiti, I’d strongly recommend having a car here as well. Driving, again, is very easy, and car rentals are available on the island, or you can take it over on the ferry from Tahiti. While taxis are easy to flag at your hotels, your expenditure could begin to creep up, especially if you find yourself heading out of your hotel for meals. A lot of fantastic restaurants are located on the island’s western peninsula – away from the Hilton or the Sofitel (more on hotels further below). Overall, Moorea’s laid-back atmosphere and stunning beauty make it an ideal destination for those couples or families that are seeking out an authentic Polynesian experience but not quite at the nose bleed prices you would be expected to pay for in Bora Bora or Taha’a.

Bora Bora: Luxurious overwater villas… crystal clear lagoon… the magnificent Mt. Otemanu hanging out nonchalantly in the background of every single photo you pose for.. it really does feel like you’ve been dropped into paradise. Similar to Moorea, the island’s vibrant coral reefs and abundance of marine life make it a worthy destination for snorkeling enthusiasts. The “coral gardens” and swimming with giant manta rays are still, to this day, close to the top of my top life experiences and simple must-do’s when visiting.

Coral Gardens – Bora Bora, source: navigator-travel.com

Despite being an expensive destination, I found the cost of activities and excursions to be a lot more affordable here than our prior experiences in the Maldives. Similarly, there are some great off-resort dining options as well that can certainly be a bit easier on the pocketbook if that’s a consideration. While Bora Bora is the postcard of an adults-only retreat, I’d argue its appeal is much more widespread than that. The gentle lagoon (therefore, calm waters), low gradient soft sand beaches, and not prohibitively expensive excursion options amply cater to families of all sizes and ages. This time around, we found that with our 1.5-year-old, we never felt awkward nor out of place with our infant in tow, and there were a number of other similarly aged children that we saw during our time there.

How does French Polynesia compare to Hawaii and the Maldives?

Believe it or not, this is a question I get asked often. In many ways, its a good question. All three destinations are dream destinations for most people so understandably people are curious about which one would be best suited for them.

Despite the obvious similarities between them, there are some very unique aspects to all three. My experience in the Maldives was one of total luxury, privacy and isolation – things that I do seek out on certain types of vacations and can appreciate. Though objectively speaking, that came with downsides. For one, you don’t really get to experience Maldivian culture. Maldives is a predominantly conservative Muslim nation, and as a result, their culture tends to stay in the background a bit more than, say, how Polynesian culture is celebrated in Hawaii and FP. Aside from the handful of Maldivian menu options, you’re not really inundated with any other cultural learnings.

Another thing that stood out to me is that the Maldivian islands are mostly sandbars with some vegetation. Hawaii and FP on the other hands, have much more dramatic landscapes with volcanic islands, black sand beach, mountains, water falls, lagoons etc, but also at the same time tend to be much larger islands – and with that you trade off some of the privacy that you might otherwise enjoy in the Maldives.

French Polynesia for me was the perfect mix of Hawaii and Maldives – it still maintains the remote aspect and exoticness of the Maldives, but also has all the elements of Hawaii that I loved best (landscape, Polynesian culture) but with none of the crowds and “Corporate Americanness” about it (I’m looking at you Dunkin Doughnuts). Ultimately, of course, you can’t go wrong with any of them, but FP is firmly my favorite. However, if you ask my wife, she’ll insist that’s just my recency bias talking.

Conrad Bora Bora

Flights

When flying to French Polynesia, you need to first fly into Faaa’a International Airport (PPT) in Papeete – the capital city of Tahiti – before connecting to other islands. United Airlines, Air Tahiti Nui, Air France, and French Bee all operate direct flights from mainland USA to PPT at the time of writing, with only Air Tahiti Nui and Air France operating daily frequencies to/from Los Angeles. Hawaiian Airlines also operates a weekly flight, which no doubt could be a fun way to get there if you bake in a stopover in Hawaii on the way to or back from Tahiti.

Flight routes operating between the USA and PPT, source: Flightconnections.com

Any subsequent flights to other islands would be on domestic carriers like Air Tahiti (not to be confused with Air Tahiti Nui) or Air Moana. Both these carriers fly from Tahiti (PPT) to Bora Bora (BOB), whereas going to Moorea is most convenient via a 30-40 minute ferry ride from the Port of Papeete given Moorea’s close proximity to Tahiti and the frequency of the ferry schedule (mostly during the day time).

Flight scheduling was an important element when planning both of our trips. During both, we arrived in the evening into Papeete and opted to spend the night at the Hilton Tahiti before embarking the next afternoon onwards to Bora Bora/ Moorea. The layover worked nicely as it allowed us a night to rest and start to make a dent in the jetlag following long flights from Eastern Canada.

The flights I managed to book on our most recent trip were as follows:

• Ottawa (YOW) to Toronto (YYZ) to San Francisco (SFO) on Air Canada with a final connection to Papeete (PPT) on United Polaris business class
  • 75,000 Aeroplan points + CAD $170 per person one way in business class all the way through except for YOW-YYZ
  • 2,500 Aeroplan points for lap infant
• Papeete (PPT) to Los Angeles (LAX) direct on Air France
  • 40,000 Flying Blue miles + CAD $272 per person one way in premium economy. This route has since unfortunately devalued, and it seems Flying Blue charges a minimum of 50,000 Flying Blue miles for this segment in premium economy
  • A lap infant was added for 10% of the revenue cost of the fare, which on the day of departure came to about CAD $221
• Los Angeles (LAX) to Toronto (YYZ) to Ottawa (YOW) on Air Canada
  • 52,400 + CAD $50.75
  • 2,500 Aeroplan points for lap infant

On our previous trip, we flew Air Tahiti Nui in both business class and premium economy, which we booked using the Alaska Mileage Plan for 60,000 and 40,000 miles, respectively, along with nominal taxes and fees. Although the Air Tahiti Nui flights could also be booked using American Airlines miles, the points cost was more attractive with Alaska (60,000 Alaska miles vs. 80,000 American AAdvantage miles).

Overall, I was impressed with Air France Premium Economy, which we took on our way back from PPT to LAX this time around. We purposefully spent the night in Tahiti and took the morning flight on Air France to avoid a redeye with our infant. The seats were terrific, and I’d be more than happy to choose this option again for a daytime segment, especially if seat availability in the premium cabins is sparse.

Our experience on Air Tahiti Nui was very good as well, and that too remains a great option to get back and forth from PPT to their hubs in San Francisco and Seattle. Award space on Air Tahiti Nui routes tends to be released in chunks throughout the year. If you keep an eye on availability a few months out, chances are good you’ll find your desired routing. Award space on United Polaris has somewhat evolved over my two trips on this segment. A while ago, multiple seats were predictably released in business class 20-30 days before departure. While this still held true for my outbound trip, inbound award space had been quite sparse for several months leading up to our travel dates.

Hotels

You can find details on the hotel bookings from my prior write-up, “What did you book? Return to the magical islands of Hawaii and French Polynesia,” where I talk through my thought process for the bookings I made for this trip. In summary, though, this is what my final bookings looked like:

• 2x 1-night stays at the Hilton Tahiti bookended our trip. Bookings were made on Hilton’s website, and I was able to leverage a 20% cashback offer from Capital One shopping portal for these bookings.
• 4 nights at Hilton Moorea. As detailed in my prior post, I had secured a 3-night booking using Hilton Honors points at a total cost of 285,000 points (95,000 points per night), though closer to the trip, I had added an extra night using a Hilton Free Night Award to make it 4 nights in total. The Hilton Moorea was a nice family-friendly property with a fantastic house reef – though if going as a couple only with children, then I would recommend staying at the Sofitel Moorea. It has a more adult vibe and is also located on probably the best strip of beach in Moorea.
• 3x 6-night stays at Conrad Bora Bora. For this segment of our trip, we had two families join us as well. The bookings for all 3 rooms were done as a continuous block of 5 nights at a points rate of 120,000 Hilton points per night in order to benefit from Hilton’s 5th night free promotion. The remaining 1 night were all booked using Hilton Free Night Awards.

Hilton Footprint – French Polynesia, source: Hilton.com

I’ll elaborate further the comings days in detailed reviews of the above three properties and touch upon the pro’s/con’s of the Hilton properties and specifically my reasons for choosing the Conrad Bora Bora again over some other options.

Final Word

I feel so incredibly lucky to reflect on the fact that we were able to go on two trips to Bora Bora in the past 18 months – and if its up to me, it certainly won’t be my last. While the focus on our first trip was about taking in the incredible beauty of destination and enjoy the resort, I found that this most recent trip really aroused my curiosity of the islands outside of the resorts and reinforced my want to go to other islands in future.

Having said that, French Polynesia is a mesmerizing destination that offers a perfect blend of natural beauty, cultural richness and all sorts of outdoor activities. Be it a romantic getaway, a family vacation, or an adventure-seeking trip – Bora Bora, Moorea, and Tahiti have got you covered and each island provides for a unique and unforgettable experience. Stay tuned for detailed reviews of my experiences over the two trips.