a journey to polynesia

hi,

some friends and I are planning to visit French Polynesia next September: our journey will last about 10-14 days, so we are looking for suggestions on which islands to visit (no more than three, i guess). Moreover, we heard and read about dirty beaches, unpolite people, untidy rooms, even in luxury resorts.... is that true, according to your experience? travelling the world to reach an ugly and dirty scenery would be a bit disappoiting...

Thanks a lot!

I personally did not encounter any of these. I feel French Polynesia is not as developed as other places, but
that is its charm. The food was very good, because of the French influence. Because of that influence remember the French have certain customs, that perhaps aren't actually rude, but could be construed as this if you aren't familiar with it. If you are going to Bora Bora, it is beautiful, but less lively than Moorea. I was by myself and it rained and rained - if you aren't swimming or fishing, there is very little to do. It only takes 1 hour to drive around Bora Bora and only one small shopping area. If you need something, feel free to buy it on Papeete. On the other islands you will find what is needed but only that. Huahine is also very quiet. If you are going with others, I'm sure that will solve the problem. Please remember to bring swim shoes because there are rock fish, particularly during the
summer months that can cause injury. I stayed at the Madarin Noa Noa (no beach access) on Papeete, the Moorea Pearl Resort,
the Bora Bora Nui and the Te Tiare Beach Resort. The only one that I had issue with was the Te Tiare. The beach
was clean and the resort was clean, but there were gaps between the roof and screens that would allow unwanted creepy
crawly visitors in. There was also a problem with plumbing or the air-conditioner that allowed black mold to grow
on the wall. I did not think this healthy, so I left. Supposedly this is being upgraded. The others were great.

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Jirikoo - Great report! I really enjoyed reading it. You posted it originally while we were on a trip to Asia so I did not get to read it until now. Huahine was also our favorite island but Bora Bora was a close second. It's too bad you were disappointed with it. We were not as impressed with Moorea. I guess that's the point of these forums - everyone has a different experience based on their own expectations. So many things can color your experience; what works for one does not for another.
Paobal - Overall, FP is a beautiful place. We have been on better beaches but the ones in FP are not particularly dirty. We found the people to be the same as other places we have visited - mostly friendly and helpful with the odd person not so. I can't comment on the cleanliness of the resorts as we stayed in more budget accommodations, all of which were quite clean and well maintained. Hope this helps!

thank you very much to all of you for these information, which will be very useful to us.

I'll hope you have 14 days holliday .
Don't miss at least a Tuamoto island
for us 2 nights in bora bora was enough
the best sharks feeding in Rangiroa, not so tourist. you can see also many dolphins in the pass
we visited many islands in 3 weeks but i didn't saw any dirty beach or accomodation

sorry I don't speak English

Most places are acutally pretty clean in FP.
Moorea is a good choice, not as expensive as Bora Bora, not as crowded as Tahiti, but nice beaches.

I've been to FP a few times and have had variable results (the most beautiful spots in the world, most often the warmest, friendliest people on earth, but occasionally its been off, and when its it was off it was really off (akin to the service atmosphere during the cold war in the Soviet bloc..). A lot of this (but not all) I think comes from the difference of small business owners vs employees and some hostility from employees towards tourists, and that is tolerated by the owners due to lack of alternate staff (you will see similar in the caribbean)
In Tahiti, its busy so there appears to be more staff attitude- I've done some stopovers in nicer hotels (Sheraton, Meridian). Quite often the hotel staff ignore you (sit around chatting and get nasty if you interrupt them), but on my last visit I experienced the most gracious bar/restaurant service. In Moorea 3 years ago, I mostly had a friendly welcome and good service at the hotel, but encountered the rudest divemaster on the planet (I switched); believe it or not 2 years later a friend went there, met the very same DM and switched the next day too!
This December, I visited Rangiroa- the hotel had some nice friendly staff but some were downright rude (specifically ignored restaurant patrons at tables, especially those not speaking local languages and were particularly rude to non-fluent French speakers). On Fakarava (a most stunning island- a must see) the service and staff were all so wonderful to everyone I saw, it was a marvelous experience.