| Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 | |
HELP! - FP Honeymoon Cruise for 11 nights - Need advise on day tripsCountry forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Tahiti & French Polynesia | ||
Greetings! Going on our honeymoon cruise of FP starting from Tahiti in August 2008. During the trip, we have scheduled port visits on different islands(day and overnight trips) and would love to get a sense of what to do with our alotted time schedule - must do activities, where to eat, sights not to be missed etc. Below is our trip itinerary. Thank you very much!! =) Aug 16 Saturday Papeete, Tahiti 22:00 | ||
In Atuona (Hiva Oa), visit Paul Gauguin's grave. Take the bus provided by your cruise ship up to the cemetery from which you have a nice view of the bay. In Taiohae (Nuku Hiva), book the busride up to the rim of the crater. The town is located at a circular harbor which is the former caldera of a crater. Visit the cathedral with its wood carvings. Buy one of the wonderful wood carvings at the local crafts market. Both towns are small enough to walk to everything, but the hike to the cemetary and to the crater rim would both be verrry long. They would take me all day. In Rangiroa, visit the pearl farm if you have no chance to do it on another island. I was told that the winery is not worth a visit because the grapes are not grown near it. I liked the glass bottom ride because I don't snorkel or dive. On Moorea, definitely go up to the Belvedere. You could walk up on the road, rent a car, or book a tour which will certainly stop at the pineapple factory, great juices and liqueurs. There is a small botanical garden near the hotel "Les Tipaniers". I wish I had bought boxes full of their vanilla lip balm (he sold it as perfume) and vanilla coconut oil soap which was excellent for my skin. His monoi oil is great. He makes it from fresh coconuts, not copra which gives the monoi oil bought at the market a slightly rancid aftertaste. None of these islands - with the excpetion of Tahiti - have a public bus system that works regularly enough for tourists. Moorea's buses run with the ferry schedule. Tahiti's buses in the outer areas run as they like, never mind the schedule nor listen to what the busdriver may tell you. In Paapete (Tahiti), eat dinner at the Roulottes near the harbor. You can't miss them after 6 p.m. The rest of the time, I would eat on the ship or the food provided by the ship for lunch ashore. I am sure that it has excellent food and you have paid for it already. Visit the covered downtown market and check pout what the local cuisine provides there. If you want to eat WITH the locals, go to MacDonalds behind the post office. The must do thing on these islands is RELAX. They are the opposite of the island of Manhattan. Enjoy the views, the music, the dances. Take it easy! Get into the island mood by not hurrying, by smiling a lot and by never acting scrupulously pushy. :-) | 1 | |
Great, you will love Tahiti, I'm most familiar with Bora Bora and notice you will be there Sunday. Everything is closed on Sundays in Bora Bora. I mean just about everything. However the churches are open and alive. There are a number of denominations but it makes very little difference. They dress up and sing, and sing, and sing. And then sing some more. Probably the only "real" Tahitian experience you will have. I am one of the most least religious people on the planet and I always go when I'm there. Real Tahitians doing their own thing. Aita Pe'ape'a | 2 | |