Honeymoon in Bora Bora

We had talked about wanting to go to Bora Bora for our honeymoon long before we were engaged. And in May 2018 we made that dream a reality!

Bora Bora is a perfect honeymoon location because it’s beautiful, relaxing, secluded, and easy to get to.

The temperature is pretty much the same year round, but some months might have slightly more rain.

Costco Travel

We booked our hotels and inter-island travel through Costco Travel. We ended up booking our flights separately through Air France as they were cheaper at the time than the Air Tahiti Nau flights which is what Costco offered.

They were very helpful on the phone when booking and calculating different prices for us so we could compare. For the two of us, we paid $4,500 for 7 nights and the inter-island flights. If we would’ve booked direct, it would’ve been over $9,000 for just the hotel alone.

Getting There

Instead of flying out from San Diego where we live, we drove up to fly out of LAX. We booked parking for the week right before getting there at the WallyPark Express parking lot through way.com. That came out to $15 per day for 8 days. Much cheaper and more convenient than our other options to get there.

The LA to Tahiti flight was an easy 8-hour flight. What also made it an easy trip is that French Polynesia is in the same time zone as Hawaii, so it’s not that big of an adjustment on your internal clock.

When we landed in Tahiti, we were greeted by a travel representative who let us know what we needed to do next to get on the 45-minute flight from Tahiti to Bora Bora on Air Tahiti Nau. We were booked on a flight that didn’t leave for a few hours, so the agents were able to put us on standby for the next flight out free of charge which we got on. More island time for us!

After landing in Bora Bora, it rained for about 5 minutes while we waited to get our luggage and then we never saw another drop after that.

We were greeted with a beautiful rainbow, and then the Pearl Beach boat took us on the 10-minute ride to the resort.

Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort

I 100% believe the Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort is the best value on the island. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not cheap, but it’s not wildly outrageous like some of the other resorts.

Location

The resort sits on its own private motu (island) with no other hotels nearby. In fact, there was only one slightly visible way off in the distance.

Plus it has the best view of the island! We took a boat ride all the way around the island and we were so happy with the view of the mountain we had from the resort.

The St. Regis, Four Seasons, Le Meridien, and InterContinental are all in a row right next to each other and have a less impressive view.

Rooms

The Pearl Beach Resort consists of 30 rooms on land, and 50 over water. The overwater bungalow wasn’t available for the full 6 nights we were staying there, so we stayed in a garden villa for 3 nights before moving to the overwater.

The garden villa was beautiful with a private outdoor area with a small pool, and an outdoor shower.

The overwater bungalow was everything we could’ve hoped for and more. Make sure to book the Otemanu view room. Otemanu is the name of the main mountain. We could’ve sat out on the deck with that view forever.

My favorite part was the glass coffee table you could open up to feed the fish below.

Lagoon

The color of the water is unreal. It’s shallow, the perfect temperature, and there are tropical fish everywhere. Bring your own snorkel and mask!

In the middle of the bungalows there are some man-made coral reefs you can explore. Save some bread from meals to feed them!

If you have a GoPro, consider getting a dome case before you go. We wish we did!

Pool

There’s a pool. It looks nice. But why go in a pool when there’s the lagoon!

Happy Hour

If you are going to have cocktails, make sure you do it during happy hour. The regular priced $18 drinks will only be $9…

Breakfast

The Costco package included a free breakfast every day which was definitely worth it. It was a good sized buffet with yummy food and juices. And the view isn’t so bad either.

Restaurants

In order to get to any restaurants, or anything outside of the hotel property for that matter, you need to take a 2-minute boat ride to the main island. You can make these arrangements with guest services. They can make restaurant reservations for you too.

The restaurants at the resort aren’t anything special, and are very expensive. Had we known sooner, we would’ve gone to the mainland for a meal every day.

Bloody Mary’s Restaurant

Shortly before leaving on our trip, I had met some people who lived in Tahiti. They recommended we go to a restaurant called Bloody Mary’s. Our only regret is that we didn’t go sooner into our trip.

The whole experience was well worth it. The food was fresh, delicious, plentiful, and less expensive than the hotel.

The restaurant provides free pick-up and drop-off service to and from the dock. It’s about a 20-minute ride from the Pearl Beach dock.

When you get there, you’ll see a large list of all the famous people who have visited.

Once you’re inside, grab a drink at the bar and wait for them to call you. You’ll join them along with a group of other patrons to see all the available options and prices. You pick what you want, then they seat you and barbeque your food.

The restaurant has the perfect island ambiance with sand floors, and a cute cat that wants to eat all your scraps.

We had such a good time we went back for dinner a second time.

Yacht Club

We didn’t actually go to the Yacht Club, but this was the other restaurant we heard good things about. Had we left the hotel earlier in the trip, we would have visited this restaurant as well.

Bora Bora Activities

Lagoon Service Snorkeling Tour

This tour was also recommended to us by our local Tahitian friends. There’s a half day tour and a full day tour – go with the full day tour. It’s only 2 hours longer and includes a delicious authentic lunch on a small private island.

This was by far the best snorkeling tour we’ve experienced to date. There were 3 different locations.

The first was a reef with an abundance of beautiful and colorful fish and a fun little saying in the sand.

The second was shallow water of about 4 feet deep with stingrays and black tip sharks.

For the third location, they took us outside the reef into the deep waters. This one was a bit scarier because it seemed like more of a natural habitat for the sharks.

There were so many of them, and once the guides started throwing food out to them they started swarming in a feeding frenzy. That’s when I definitely wanted to make sure we kept our distance.

Top Dive Scuba

We booked a dive through the Top Dive shop on the resort. We hadn’t gone diving in a while, so we booked a refresher dive instead of a regular one. This actually worked out great for us. All the regular divers went out at 8am, and we went out at 1pm.

It was just the two of us and our guide! (This is also what happened to us in Belize, so we’re pretty used to the private dives for regular prices now.)

The water was so beautiful and clear. We saw a ton of fish, a giant sea slug, some pretty anemones, a moray eel, and a few giant manta rays.

One Night in Tahiti

Due to our flight schedule, we had to spend one night in Tahiti. The Tahiti Intercontinental Hotel is right next to the airport and seems to be a popular place for visitors to stay making the same inter-island connections.

The hotel was very expensive, and I didn’t find anything special about it. If we were doing this trip again, I would’ve looked for a cheaper place to stay nearby.

Bora Bora Pro Tips

• Bring bug spray. We had no problems at the overwater bungalow, but at the garden villa, restaurants, and pool area, there were mosquitos everywhere.
• Bring plenty of sunscreen. Prices are outrageous there so come prepared with your own. If you’re carrying on, try these travel size silicone bottles.
• There weren’t any good options for eating between meals, and the hotel restaurants didn’t really have a lot of appetizers. You might want to bring some snacks to have around the room. Or go to town toward the beginning of your trip to pick some up at a local store.
• If you are checking luggage, consider bringing some of your own alcohol since it’s so expensive at the resort. Or make a trip into town to find some cheaper.
• If you have the luggage space, bring some inflatable floaties with you to tie to your bungalow.
• When you fly out of Bora Bora back to Tahiti, sit on the right side of the plane for amazing views as you leave.

Have you been to any islands in French Polynesia? Leave us a comment below and let us know how it was!

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