Polynesia tours assistance

[woody14h]

Bora Bora , Raiatea, Kiribati and Fakarava.  Having a difficult time finding decent land tours for these islands. We are beyond snorkeling tours.  Not able.  Looking for history, food and scenery. Any suggestions would be very most helpful.  Leaving in March 2020.  Thanks.

[salmn]

2 hours ago, woody14h said:

Bora Bora , Raiatea, Kiribati and Fakarava.  Having a difficult time finding decent land tours for these islands. We are beyond snorkeling tours.  Not able.  Looking for history, food and scenery. Any suggestions would be very most helpful.  Leaving in March 2020.  Thanks.

Most cruise ships offer some land excursions, so assuming that you have already checked there, I would look at  www.viator.com which is part of tripadvisor. They do have some land tours at these ports, as well as some on the water that do not involve snorkeling, such as whale watching, sailing, etc.  Rental cars are also available in Bora Bora and Raiatea if you are willing and able to DIY. There are also companies that offer private tours, but not sure of their names.  Maybe someone else can help there.

[woody14h]

May have to resort to Ship's tour.  I hate to use them.  Too costly and too crowded.  Rental car is an option, thanks.

[Petoonya]

2 hours ago, woody14h said:

May have to resort to Ship's tour.  I hate to use them.  Too costly and too crowded.  Rental car is an option, thanks.

 

In Bora Bora you might like to spend a relaxing day at the Intercontinental Le Moana Bora Bora. Right on Matira Beach which is gorgeous and quintessentially Bora Bora. For one price you can spend the day at the resort, have lunch and relax. It was fairly expensive last time I checked about $125pp.

InterContinental Bora Bora Le Moana Resort

PO Box 156 - 98 730 Bora Bora 

Tel: + (689) 40 60 49 00

Fax: + (689) 40 60 49 99 

E-mail: intercontinental.borabora.lemoana@ihg.com

 

You can rent a car in BB. It's about 250 feet from the dock. Book with Avis (Bora Bora Ferry). If you are coming in on a big ship I'd book early.

 

Fakarava is a little harder as it's just a coral atoll, low population and focused on diving and snorkeling.

 

Raiatea  Rental Car http://raiatearentcar.com/

Their cars are not brand new and shiny but they work. 😉

 

Edited October 1, 2019 by Petoonya

[FlightMedic555]

On Raiatea there really is nothing to see on the land.  If you are able you can walk a little along the shore as dolphins are commonly seen.  The Kia Ora resort is about a 20-30 minute walk and having a drink and overlooking the lagoon is very pretty (drinks and food are pricey there).   There is a pearl farm which generally offers free transport from the tender location.  Other than that there is really nothing there.

 

On Fakarava you can rent bikes (if that works for your right at the tender location) or you can walk along the road.  Very little there.  We stumbled upon a tiny church and one tiny shop.

 

Bora Bora has lots of options including 4x4 tours which also take in the anti aircraft gun emplacements, etc.  The tender location is in town and there are many shops to explore if that is your "thing".  Matira Beach is very pretty and when ships are in town they usually have a $5 per person shuttle to the beach which is adjacent to the IC hotel.  If the shuttle is not operating the taxi (available easily) is $20 per car each way.

[woody14h]

22 hours ago, FlightMedic555 said:

On Raiatea there really is nothing to see on the land.  If you are able you can walk a little along the shore as dolphins are commonly seen.  The Kia Ora resort is about a 20-30 minute walk and having a drink and overlooking the lagoon is very pretty (drinks and food are pricey there).   There is a pearl farm which generally offers free transport from the tender location.  Other than that there is really nothing there.

 

On Fakarava you can rent bikes (if that works for your right at the tender location) or you can walk along the road.  Very little there.  We stumbled upon a tiny church and one tiny shop.

 

Bora Bora has lots of options including 4x4 tours which also take in the anti aircraft gun emplacements, etc.  The tender location is in town and there are many shops to explore if that is your "thing".  Matira Beach is very pretty and when ships are in town they usually have a $5 per person shuttle to the beach which is adjacent to the IC hotel.  If the shuttle is not operating the taxi (available easily) is $20 per car each way.

Major help. Thank you. Matira Beach was our thought with beach-time and/or lunch and dinner . The others, I guess we will just take in the Island beauty.

[Fletcher]

On 10/1/2019 at 6:14 PM, FlightMedic555 said:

On Raiatea there really is nothing to see on the land.  

 Only the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Taputapuatea, a magnificent ancient site of a Polynesian temple.  The enormous stone platform here is one of the major sites of the South Pacific.

Edited October 3, 2019 by Fletcher

[dns65]

13 hours ago, Fletcher said:

 Only the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Taputapuatea, a magnificent ancient site of a Polynesian temple.  The enormous stone platform here is one of the major sites of the South Pacific.

 

Personally, I found this underwhelming.  We were expecting to see interesting ruins but the tour guide explained that when the missionaries came to the South Pacific, they destroyed all the old temples and other things relating to the native religious practices.  It's basically just a stone platform, no statues or structures.   Of the 7 islands on our cruise, Raiatea was the least interesting.  We also docked on a Sunday so everything in town was closed.  If I did it again, I'd book an excursion to a motu off Taha'a

[Fletcher]

20 hours ago, dns65 said:

 

Personally, I found this underwhelming.  We were expecting to see interesting ruins but the tour guide explained that when the missionaries came to the South Pacific, they destroyed all the old temples and other things relating to the native religious practices.  It's basically just a stone platform, no statues or structures.   Of the 7 islands on our cruise, Raiatea was the least interesting.  We also docked on a Sunday so everything in town was closed.  If I did it again, I'd book an excursion to a motu off Taha'a

😦

[amitje]

We are going as well in March.

this is what we booked for the ports you mention:

BoraBora (1/2): lagoon cruise with Oceania  (only because we have OBC), otherwise we would have gone to Matira Beach

BoraBora: 3/4 day with Maohi Nui tours 

Fakarava: Jetski with Fakarava Adventure, rest of the day beach

Raiatea: Taha tour with Arri Moana Tours  - it's a boat tour with snorkelling stop but you can just enjoy the scenery? they also stop at pearl farm and vanilla plantation & lunch at a private beach stop

[SonuvaBeach]

3 hours ago, amitje said:

We are going as well in March.

this is what we booked for the ports you mention:

BoraBora (1/2): lagoon cruise with Oceania  (only because we have OBC), otherwise we would have gone to Matira Beach

BoraBora: 3/4 day with Maohi Nui tours 

Fakarava: Jetski with Fakarava Adventure, rest of the day beach

Raiatea: Taha tour with Arri Moana Tours  - it's a boat tour with snorkelling stop but you can just enjoy the scenery? they also stop at pearl farm and vanilla plantation & lunch at a private beach stop

Thank you for this information. Would you be kind enough to give a brief review of each excursion? We will be on a very similar itinerary in March/April. Thank you!

[amitje]

10 minutes ago, SonuvaBeach said:

Thank you for this information. Would you be kind enough to give a brief review of each excursion? We will be on a very similar itinerary in March/April. Thank you!

No problem but thinking we might be on the same cruise as you refer to March/April?

We'll be on the Regatta, leaving on March 25th.

[SonuvaBeach]

1 minute ago, amitje said:

No problem but thinking we might be on the same cruise as you refer to March/April?

We'll be on the Regatta, leaving on March 25th.

We are on the Oosterdam for 28 days out of San Diego. This will be our first time in French Polynesia and we would appreciate any and all information you have!

[amitje]

Just now, SonuvaBeach said:

We are on the Oosterdam for 28 days out of San Diego. This will be our first time in French Polynesia and we would appreciate any and all information you have!

my first time too 🙂 I've found a lot of info/ideas here: 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2524044-marinafrench-polynesia-mar-4-192018-review-wlots-of-photos/

We are sailing March 26th to April 4th so we might be sailing around the same time so my review might be too late for you but Hoopster's review will definitely get you excited. You can find my planning for these island on the Oceania, Mar 25 Regatta roll call. When you're logged in, you can read all the roll calls as well.