Best Motu lunch experience

[canuck.qc]

I have been looking at pictures & reviews of different excursions incl. Motu lunches. Some look uncomfortable, plastic chairs with little or no shade and some look well organized with thatched awnings, BBQ pits etc..What do you know about companies who offer the best excursions/picinic for the following:

Moorea, Raiatea, Rangiroa, Borabora....

[Tikiintahiti]

The very best 'shaded & comfortable' motu picnic will be on Bora Bora.

 

http://boraborasafarilagoon.com/BoraBora_Lagoon_Eng.html - Rannui Tours - Small Polynesian family ran outfit. Very personable, will hold your hand, off the beaten trek snorkel locations, 14 passenger covered boat. Best BBQ setting on Motu Tuba with clean restrooms and large shaded area. Great tour at a fair price.

[psyfi]

You will find plastic chairs at a restaurant that will cost $100 for dinner. We did Motu picnics on Huahine, Raiatea and Bora Bora. Each were different. The most impressive was with Maohi Nui (Patrick) on Bora Bora. They had grilled lobster and tuna, and made many dishes in an imu (in ground oven). But Marc's Motu picnic on Huahine explained a lot of different things, making poisson cru in front of you, showing how to husk, open, grate coconuts, etc... Tough choices!

[Tikiintahiti]

Marc's is one of my favorites. No, you don't get lobster but he and his skippers are all very nice guys who make sure you have a good time.

 

I found Patrick's location to be a bit dirty. The tolet was dirty, the water was dirty but yes, you do get lobster and there is shade.

 

Bruno gives a good tour but he can be a bit 'quiet' for some.

 

Rannui Tours by far had the superior location for lunch. Nice family who runs the tour, the mother makes everyone feel comfortable. The food was good, the patio was nice and shaded and the bathroom was clean.

[psyfi]

Everything was clean on Bora Bora when we were there. I found all of the boat operators/tour guides to be good. Each had uniqueness that made each worthwhile. I don't eat lobster and Patrick's tour was way more money than the others. i am really glad we did the 4WD part of it, that made it different as well. I did not use Rannui.

[canuck.qc]

Thanks, now I'm deciding between Patrick full Day, Christophe or Rannui....have read up on them. We have not done much snorkeling, and enjoy cultural, historical & land excursions. We are changing it up by going to FP & would like to have the best possible 'Water' experience without worrying about the facilities, safety & cleanliness. While traveling we enjoy & do not hesitate to pay for TOP quality excursions so it becomes confusing as reviews differ greatly. I have always been lucky with my choices & greatly appreciate CC for the info..I think we'd be better with a smaller group, more personal??

BTW PSYFI: were did you post your review?

Thanks

[zoethesailor]

Thanks, now I'm deciding between Patrick full Day, Christophe or Rannui....have read up on them. We have not done much snorkeling, and enjoy cultural, historical & land excursions. We are changing it up by going to FP & would like to have the best possible 'Water' experience without worrying about the facilities, safety & cleanliness. While traveling we enjoy & do not hesitate to pay for TOP quality excursions so it becomes confusing as reviews differ greatly. I have always been lucky with my choices & greatly appreciate CC for the info..I think we'd be better with a smaller group, more personal??

BTW PSYFI: were did you post your review?

Thanks

 

If you decide to go with Patrick on Bora Bora make sure you don't end up with Eduardo. All he did was transport us from place to place, no information, nothing. Others who had Patrick loved the tour, ours not as much.

 

If you have the opportunity and want to go snorkeling try Reef Discovery. It is not a Motu picnic but purely snorkeling. If you do not feel comfortable in the water he will work with and guide you. He is into teaching you about all you want to know about sealife, living on Bora Bora, anything you have questions about. We went to five different snorkel spots, and even stopped by his house.

It was the highlight of our trip, and I cannot recommend him enough. (He also has a very comfortable boat with cushion seats, the best of all the excursions we took)

 

Rangoria, we went with Pa'ati, and was very happy. Leon, the owner cooked an amazing coconut bread, then when everyone was finished eating lunch he started weaving purses for ladies with local palm leaves, and whoever was interested he showed them how to make them. No other tour operators did this and I loved it.

[Emdee]

Did Leon take you to the Blue Lagoon or reef islands?

Can you give me some information on the tour.

Many thanks.

[Tikiintahiti]

You need to decide if you want BBQ or not. If not take Christophre. He and his skippers do a great job and do handhold if need be. If the BBQ is a yes then it comes down to price and the skipper. If you want the lobster and emu oven experience then take Patrick but I would make sure you get Patrick himself. Some of his cousins don't do his reputation any good. I've taken Patrick about 3 times and ever since he got 'big' it's a crap shoot.

Rannui is the cheapest of the BBQ outings but no lobster/emu oven but the lunch is very good. The 'family' are the only employees and they do a good job especially the mother who is a hand holder if you need it. They have the cleanest BBQ area and toliets on their private motu.

[psyfi]

We had Patrick for the land part and Ed for the water part. Ed wasn't really talkative but he did play a lot of ukelele and has a beautiful singing voice. I can't speak to how he would be on the land part as Patrick was a wealth of information and had a great sense of humour. Rapa was the guide for the 3/4 day tour, and he seemed to be quite the character. But we only saw him on the dock in the morning and on the Motu for lunch. I don't know if you can reserve a specific guide.

[Tikiintahiti]

Yes you can request. They can tell you if your going to get the owner or not on your requested date/time. I don't think it matters for Christophre's tour but I won't take Parick ever again unless I know I get Patrick.

 

I remember on one of Patrick's tours where he wasn't the skipper. The skipper in charge drank a bunch of beer that was really for the guest and one guy almost drowned, it was us other tourist that dragged the guy back to the boat as the skipper was no where to be found. He was diving out of sight to catch a few fish but he should of been close enough to see what everyone was doing especially on this outing with the current being very strong. Just sayin'

[5HappyCampers]

We just returned from this trip last week. We booked with Patrick's company for the motu picnic 3/4 snorkel. I can honestly say that this was the highlight of our trip. Even though we did not get Patrick himself on our tour, we had Eduardo. We contacted the company by e-mail and the assistant was friendly and accomadating. We were met at the pier with a flower and a smile by their assistant Maeva. We were then sent to a beautiful, clean and well maintained boat. There were 12 on our excursion and Eduardo was informative and pleasant as well as serenading us with his ukelele and singing. We first went to a snorkel site, then to swim with the rays and sharks where we met up with Patrick and his boat with a private excursion (one lady couldn't swim so he helped her in the water) The rays love the tour guides and seem to recognize them! Passing beautiful waters and mountains, we then went to the motu for the picnic lunch. The area is nicely shaded, there is a table in the water that have umbrellas and one on land. The food was great! Lobster, fish, pork, various veggies with champane, beer, juice. It was served on a banana leaves plate, this is so neat. The motu is in a very nice location, after the lunch, you walk from the lagoon side and ocean side and look at the coral gardens there too. The only thing is the toilet was dirty BUT, I am here to tell you that it seems this is the way it is everywhere in the FP! Remember that you are on an island with limited facilities, it's like an outhouse and they don't usually flush. (yes! we experienced this on every excursion and every island!) We had great fun had I would do this excursion again in a heartbeat without hesitation! Absolutely fantasic day! :D

[Tikiintahiti]

How many times have to taken Patrick's?

 

How many other lagoon tour companies have you been on?

 

As stated I've taken Patrick's many times over the years, in fact I hung with Patrick long beford he had his own company when all he did was fire dancing. I personally think Patrick is a class act but not all of his skippers do his name good. As stated the last outing on one of his boats was terrible. The 'skipper' (his cousin) drank a bunch of beer that was for the guest. A tourist almost drowned as the skipper wasn't paying attention and was out on his own while we all fought strong current. The water was muddy at the picnic spot. No umbrella for the tables, we ate in a badly damaged lean too. The outhouse was smelly/dirty. The pig was so small that several of us didn't get one bite.

 

I did mention Rannui Tours. Much less money, superior boat, nicer family/skipper and the covered picnic area was the best I've seen and I've taken at least 10 different lgoon tours in the South Pacific .......... Oh and guess what ...... clean toilets that flush, in fact there were 4 of them, all private and then a place to wash up after ........

[Tikiintahiti]

5 happy campers

 

I'm delighted that you had a good experience, this forum is about sharing. My last experience with Patrick wasn't a good one. Most have a great time but some have had not such a great experience. When your forking out the money we do to go to FP and the money forked out for a lagoon tour ($200 bucks for Patrick) you expect it to be good every time.

 

But as I started, glad your experience was a good one.

[Tropiclady]

I would not hesitate to recommend Patrick's Tour on Bora Bora. After spending 17 days in the French Polynesia and doing many tours, our day with Patrick was the highlight. We did have Patrick for the Lagoon and Frank for the 4 x 4 portion and they both were excellent. There was 16 people in total on this trip and we all felt that this trip was awesome. You can read my review on tripadvisor. If you are headed to Huahine, I would also recommend Marc's Tour.

 

Best regards,

Tropiclady

[Tikiintahiti]

Patrick has admitted that he had a 'bad apple' as one of his skippers. He has stated that this 'bad apple' is no longer working for him. I respect a person who can admit the truth. Hopefully everyone who goes on Patrick's tours with him or another skipper will have a great time.

 

Personally I enjoyed the motu that Rannui uses for their BBQ location the most of any tour I've taken on Bora Bora.The family that runs Rannui owns the motu. This was the motu used on the Amazing Race last night for the final task and the finish line for this leg of the race ........... beautiful!

 

BTW, Phil (host of the Amazing Race) had noted last night that Motu Tapu is the most photographed motu in all of French Polynesia .........

[canuck.qc]

I have 2 port days in BoraBora, I would have to consider another scenario if I choose Rannui (I understand he doesn't offer a land tour like Patrick) I could book a separate company for a land tour. Who would you recommend for a great land tour experience. A combo land & Jetski could be an idea..

[Tikiintahiti]

I honestly don't have an answer for you. I always tell people to focus on the lagoon while in Bora Bora so I've never taken a 4X4 tour.

 

I would suggest you book with Rannui by phone. The mother (Arieta) speaks English well and I also knows she speaks French. She is a very nice lady and gives her all to make sure everyone has a wonderful time. When you call to book ask her who she would recommend, she is a very honest and straight forward person.

[Bucky3]

I believe it was Patrick (red outfit) who gave the blessing to the competitors as each couple began their competition in last night's Amazing Race episode. We have taken his 3/4 day lagoon tour and will be doing so again this spring. Loved it!

[Tikiintahiti]

Yes that was Patrick giving the blessing.

[MrsSmith91739]

Where can I find info on Rannui that you mention multiple times?

 

thanks

 

Maria

[Tikiintahiti]

Post #2 has the link ..............

 

But here it is again:

 

http://boraborasafarilagoon.com/BoraBora_Lagoon_Eng.html

[MrsSmith91739]

Thanks for the info.