Over Water Bungalows!

Talk about the trip of a lifetime.

For our honeymoon, Chris and I had a big decision to make: where to go? I was pushing for Europe, but Chris and my sister thankfully convinced me otherwise. I mean, when would be a more perfect time to experience an over water bungalow than your honeymoon?!

Where We Stayed

Tahiti has always been on my list. Specifically, Moorea. After extensive research and price comparisons, we decided on Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort and Spa (talk about a mouth full). The other main resorts on Moorea are Sofitel and Manava. Of course, there's also Bora Bora, but I wanted a more local vibe, and Moorea was a little cheaper. But if I did it again, I would hit up both islands. Many people we spoke to spoke very highly of Bora Bora and I'm a little sad we didn't add it to our trip. 

We booked our trip through Costco Travel. If you travel this far, regardless of where you stay, you must get the over water bungalow! It absolutely made our trip.

Getting There

Oy. What a voyage. The package I purchased through Costco included all transportation: our flights to/from LAX, transfer via bus to/from airport to/from ferry dock, ferry to/from Moorea, and transfer via bus to/from ferry dock to/from hotel. Of course, you can purchase all your own travel, but everything was very smooth and I'm happy Costco had it all together for us. The ferry tickets and the company for the buses was Marama Tours.

We booked our own flights from PHX to LAX. My hubby also bought us access to the Lounge, which was a nice little perk. In addition to food and drink, the lounge had showers, which proved useful on the way back. We flew Air Tahiti Nui. Their seats seemed tiny and were very uncomfortable. I would recommend you pay more to choose your seats and secure a window and middle seat. Then one of you can lean against the window and the other against that person. But really, just anticipate an uncomfortable flight, and don't count on getting much sleep.

The flight from LAX is a little over 8 hours nonstop. From the time we left PHX until the time we arrived at our hotel was around 18 hours.

Pulling into Moorea on the ferry brought tears to my eyes, it was so gorgeous.

One thing you'll have to plan for is you will likely arrive much earlier to the hotel than check in. And you'll likely be exhausted. We just relaxed on their beach. My hubby tried to get in a nap while I chased fish in the ocean (and enjoyed a marg) before our room was ready.

The Room

Like I said, the over water bungalow made the trip!

The room was top notch and we loved being able to snorkel off our own deck. 

Unfortunately, the over water bungalow was sold out for the last 2 nights we were on our trip, so we had to move to a garden bungalow with private pool. Don't get me wrong, the room was very nice. It just wasn't an over water bungalow.

 And we had some very noisy neighbors!

The Deck

The deck of the over water bungalow was our favorite place. It was amazing. We'd just go out there and watch the fish, rays, and sharks from our very own deck! 

Every night, we'd sit on the deck enjoying a drink before bed. The hotel stocked the mini fridge with 2 beers each day and ours included a bottle of champagne as well. We loved sitting on the deck at night, watching the stars. One night as we were sitting there, something caught my eye- a huge shark! They don't have great whites in this area, so my best guess is that maybe it was a lemon shark. But no lie, this thing was at least 6 feet long! It scared the crap out of me and went right under where our feet were.

Hotel Restaurants

The package that we booked included breakfast and a 3 course dinner for the days we were in the bungalow. 

 

Breakfast was a buffet, which was great. Couldn't beat the view. 

 

The resort had two dinner restaurants. One had a traditional dinner menu, the other was a crepe restaurant which was actually pretty good. 

And the sunsets you get during dinner were beautiful. The sky turns soooo pink there.

We also would head over to happy hour most nights. 

The crepe restaurant sat in the middle of the over water bungalows.

You would watch the fish, rays, and black tip reef sharks circle underneath as you ate dinner. We often headed to this area to just watch the fish every night.

We saw puffer fish each day!

 

Activities

My favorite activity was snorkeling right from our own deck. I'd get in every day.

I think I was a bigger fan of this than Chris. 

 

He got in one day and was checking out some coral when a fish started to defend it's territory. It was a Picasso Triggerfish. It ended up biting Chris on the hand!

So, Chris got out and had a beer instead. 

The hotel also provides kayaks and paddle boards for use. We used the kayaks one day. 

The wind can be a bit strong though, so use with caution. We saw some paddle boarders get rescued by staff as they ventured too far and couldn't get back on their own. 

Twice a week, the hotel also provides the option to attend a Polynesian fire dance show, which we did. I think I'd skip it next time and maybe check out the local show at Tiki Village instead.

We also enjoyed some activities off the resort, which I'll share in a separate post.

Tips

Tahiti was very humid which made it HOT. Luckily, the a/c at the hotel was top notch, and the water was perfect. But if you're out venturing around, be prepared. 

Most places will accept USD, but I'd recommend getting $300-$500 USD exchanged for Tahitian money, or XPF. The hotels will exchange it, there are ATMs around, or you can even use a tour guide to exchange it. The rate was about $1000 XPF= $10 USD, though that wasn't entirely accurate. Taxis took only cash and markets took only cash if the bill was under $20. But most restaurants took credit cards.

Service everywhere is slow. Definitely not the faster pace we're used to at home. Be patient and enjoy your time. 

As I mentioned, the flight was extremely uncomfortable. The seats were small and uncomfortable. The check in process as you leave Tahiti is all done outside. Again, it's very hot and humid and it took FOREVER! Well, it took 2 hours of standing in a line out in the hot humid climate surrounded by people. So ya, basically forever. That's why it was nice to have access to showers. I was able to quickly shower off before boarding, which felt nice. 

We loved Moorea, and I would definitely add Bora Bora if we go back. But with the length of travel, I think at least 2 weeks should be planned, and you MUST get an over water bungalow!