French Polynesia 2023 Information

[LabMom57]

When I was planning for our recent cruise to French Polynesia, I did a lot of research here on Cruise Critic. There was a lot of stuff from pre COVID but not a lot of information from 2022 and later. I want to give back to the forum with information from our experience in April 2023.

 

Papeete Airport Information:

- No air conditioning. Long times on arrival. Be prepared! It was very hot and humid the evening we arrived and the wait was long.

- There are limited services at the airport. Don't plan to arrive hours early on disembarkation day. We disembarked at 8:30 am and had a 9:10 pm flight (which left late). Plan something for the day if you have a wait. Best idea is a hotel if you can get one. Trust me, you will appreciate the air conditioning.

- Be aware that most everything is closed on Sundays. The market is open very early then closes.

- Taxis DO take US dollars. Don't stress about getting Polynesian Francs. If you want to get some, don't go to the exchange. There is an ATM at the airport. You'll need to seek it out as it isn't easily found. Not everyone understood what I was asking.

 

Hilton Resort Tahiti:

We were able to get a decent price for this hotel (comparatively speaking) and stayed 2 nights pre cruise. Be forewarned -- the food is overpriced and not great. Buffet breakfast was expensive and some items poorly cooked (bacon and sausage were very undercooked). Coffee cups are small and waitstaff are overwhelmed. I recommend going out for dinner. Food was overpriced and overcooked. The fish we had was not good. Rooms were fine and pool is good. 

 

Excursions:

- Moorea: We used Moorea Miti Tours for a full day snorkel with motu lunch. The tour was very good. We enjoyed the swimming with black tipped reef sharks and sting rays the most. Our guide was entertaining and informative. 

 

- Nuku Hiva:  Got stood up by our tour operator, Jocelyne Mamatui. She refused to wait for the second tender even though the others we booked with asked her to wait. We had been confirmed and reconfirmed. It sounds from her reply (her English isn't that good) as though she picked up 2 people from the pier to replace us and left without us. From what I heard, the tour was not optimal. 

 

- Fakarava: We used Fakarava Excursions for a morning Blue Lagoon snorkel. This was a very good experience. I was really impressed by the skills of the boat captain. We had some really choppy water to navigate around on the way back. He did an outstanding job. The snorkeling was lots of fun on this tour.

 

- Bora Bora: This one was the highlight of our trip. We used H2O Bora Bora for our snorkel excursion. It was phenomenal. We did a guided coral garden snorkel, an aquarium snorkel where was saw a huge moray eel, a manta ray cleaning station where we snorkeled with a huge manta ray, and a group of 9 eagle rays swimming in a beautiful ballet. We loved this one the most. There were only 6 people booked on this excursion, which is their norm.

 

- Raiatea: We used L'excursion Bleue for our snorkel and motu lunch tour. It was another all day excursion. The crew was very funny and skilled. The captain's sense of humor got a little old as the day worn on but he was fun. We had an early snorkel that included a huge number of black tipped reef sharks, which was an incredible experience. We also did a drift snorkel which was pretty awesome. In between we visited a Pearl Farm, Vanilla Farm, and Rum distillery for Rum tasting. 

 

A few things to be aware of:

- Everything I read said tipping is not expected but is appreciated. We did tip on all of our excursions.

- Prices for the booths of handicrafts may be negotiable. I purchase multiple items from 2 vendors and requested a price break. One gave me 30% off for my purchase. The other one was more like 10% off. No one seemed offended but I was buying a large number of items.

- Not all excursions have the same equipment. Make sure you ask ahead of time if you want to use their snorkel gear or have a floatation device available.

- These islands are very small. There are limited numbers of seats available for excursions when a ship is in port. Book early to avoid disappointment.

- We only had rain on one excursion but there were days when it rained outside of our excursion time. It is a tropical area and rain can happen any time. Be prepared. Rain is most likely on higher islands like Nuku Hiva and Bora Bora which have peaks to "catch" the clouds.

- One of our excursions was paid on the boat. They accepted US dollars but verify in advance. Everywhere we went seemed perfectly happy to accept US dollars.

- Use a credit card that does not charge an international transaction fee.

- If you buy pearls or other expensive items you will need to stop at Customs Services at Papeete airport to submit VAT paperwork. If you do not do this or do not depart from there, you will owe the taxes. They will be charged to your credit card after departure. This was only an issue for those on our cruise who were continuing on without disembarking at Papeete. NOTE:  You must have your boarding pass in hand BEFORE you go to the Custom Services window at the airport. Do everyone a favor and keep all of your documents in order and have everything ready before you go to the window. This makes it work quickly for everyone.

 

 

 

[fishman620]

Your post was very informative. Thank you for the information!

[FlightMedic555]

Only thing I would add is that if you are staying at a Hilton and the breakfast is not included in your rate (any Hilton or Conrad on Bora Bora), consider opening the appropriate HHonors credit card.  Choose one that includes automatic HHonors Gold Status.  That provides breakfast for 2 every day, a huge savings.

[grangerlady]

Did you exchange money into francs for tipping or used US dollars?

 

[crilski]

Did you book your excursion through the cruise line?  (which ship were you on?) - or were some independent?   I'm having a hard time with Raiatea and Fakarava . . . .  booking independent.

 

We are also staying at the Hilton in Papeete . . . .  were there place to eat across the street?  Food trucks nearby?

Thanks for the great review . . .

Edited April 21, 2023 by crilski

[Leejnd4]

On 4/19/2023 at 12:23 PM, LabMom57 said:

- Bora Bora: This one was the highlight of our trip. We used H2O Bora Bora for our snorkel excursion. It was phenomenal. We did a guided coral garden snorkel, an aquarium snorkel where was saw a huge moray eel, a manta ray cleaning station where we snorkeled with a huge manta ray, and a group of 9 eagle rays swimming in a beautiful ballet. We loved this one the most. There were only 6 people booked on this excursion, which is their norm.

 

 

Oh that's WONDERFUL to hear! We are doing a Paul Gauguin cruise in November and we've already booked this tour. I'd read about them elsewhere, and heard that they really are the creme-de-la-creme of private excursions on Bora Bora. Thank you for confirming!

[LabMom57]

On 4/22/2023 at 4:03 PM, Leejnd4 said:

 

Oh that's WONDERFUL to hear! We are doing a Paul Gauguin cruise in November and we've already booked this tour. I'd read about them elsewhere, and heard that they really are the creme-de-la-creme of private excursions on Bora Bora. Thank you for confirming!

You will love it. They were the best snorkel excursion we have ever had. Absolutely wonderful.

 

Enjoy!

[LabMom57]

On 4/21/2023 at 8:43 AM, grangerlady said:

Did you exchange money into francs for tipping or used US dollars?

 

I did get some cash from an ATM at the airport in order to have Polynesian francs.  I have an ATM card from my bank that does not charge me to do that. I tipped for excursions in local currency but they were very happy to take US dollars as well.

[LabMom57]

On 4/21/2023 at 10:29 AM, crilski said:

Did you book your excursion through the cruise line?  (which ship were you on?) - or were some independent?   I'm having a hard time with Raiatea and Fakarava . . . .  booking independent.

 

We are also staying at the Hilton in Papeete . . . .  were there place to eat across the street?  Food trucks nearby?

Thanks for the great review . . .

I booked all of our excursions as independent excursions. The only one I couldn't get one I liked was Rangiroa.

 

For Raiatea, try L'excursion Bleue. The man who runs it is named Bruno. https://www.tahaa.net/en/home/

 

For Fakarava, I used Fakarava Excursions. https://www.fakaravaexcursions.com/

We did the morning snorkel.

 

There are restaurants and food trucks around. I'm not sure what would be in walking distance though. Taxis are your best bet or ask at the front desk for recommendations. We dined on site but don't recommend it!

 

[57redbird]

Don't do the Richard Deane tour on Nuku Hiva.  Sounded like a great tour but---he way overbooked it - had to scramble at the pier to find more trucks & drivers.  Our truck driver told us some info but when a bilingual couple got in the cab of the truck with us all conversation & info was in French ---- needless to say the rest of the tour was a wash for us.  Also, Richard had a white board with all our names on it --- we were 2nd on the list but that didn't give us any advantage as to whose truck we got in.