3 weeks in Dec/Jan, what 3 areas are easy to get to and not so $$$

Hey there everyone,

Wife and I have 3 weeks off from Dec 18 to Jan 10, and thought we would go to paradise. From Chicago we would go Via LAX to Tahiti due to best airfares $1500 R/T PP.

I want to do some diving, hiking and snorkeling, not a great surfer but love to ride a wave not bigger than 6ft, we love nature and culture, and cuisine. Budget would be $200 day for lodging max, and we want to see 3 areas in this region, maybe some side trips via boats?

As I try to grasp the way to line things up that makes sense, I travel 40 weeks a year for work, so looking to avoid hassles with airports/flights, and enjoy the open sea and mountains etc.

Is the fact weather, and heat, a major drag in this time frame of year, and it should deter us from a trip? What would be a easy circuit of 3 areas, 1 week at each, possibly moving within each a area a few times?

If this an absurd question, pardon me, just not sure what to consider.

Doing what you want to do (travel to 3 different areas - in the case of French Polynesia archipelagos - and then move within each area) you will have to fly.

Flying on Air Tahiti is very pleasant and generally short (though to get your third archipelago in you will have to travel further afield).

http://www.airtahiti.aero/articles.php?id=69 Here is the Air Tahiti information on airpasses and routings. You can select an itinerary (which cannot be modified after you've started travel) and e-mail that to them and they will come back with a price. You pick up the pass itself at the airport in Tahiti. I personally would not rush around so much. It's not about seeing the sights but rather savoring nature.

The weather will be HOT and HUMID, I stopped over once in April, in the middle of the night from the Cooks, and it was STEAMY even then but I like STEAMY. (Less so in the more temperate Australs or drier Tuamotus.) It's the rainier time of year. But you're in Chicago. Isn't it going to be wind chill of 50 below with 10 feet of snow at home?

Places that are less $$$ - anywhere that is not Bora Bora (but the lagoon is really that beautiful, I almost wept as I stepped off the plane and beheld the beauty)

Strongly advise you to read a guidebook.

Weather - Was in FP in late February this year and it was wet, wet, wet, rained 9 out of the 10 days spent there. At least the rain temporary cools the temperature, but still very humid!

$$$ - You will find yourself paying a lot more for domestic airfares with Air Tahiti than your international sector; as per Silvanocat, Air Tahiti was helpful in email communication and booking.

Thanks, we decided this is not for us, we hate resorts, and the prices are absurd. We are going to Cuba instead...

You might want to ditch the resort thing (can be VERY expensive) and look at pensions or camping. Pensions are much less than standard resorts if you can stand to skip the overwater bungalow thing...