Kallissa & Paul

Our Tahitian honeymoon was fantastic! French Polynesia the most beautiful place in the world, along with great food and resorts that caterer to honeymooners. Also, when looking for a honeymoon destination we were pleased to find that October is one of the best months to go, whereas, Fall is not a good month for weather in many of the other countries we looked into.

We left LAX Monday, October 15 on a night flight to Tahiti. We arrived after sleeping most of the journey at 5am local time. We then flew to Bora Bora. We checked into the Le Meridian Bora Bora which was absolutely beautiful. The reason we chose this hotel over others is because of their turtle reserve. The hotel has a turtle center on the premises which raises turtles in its care until they are able to be released into the ocean. The guests are able to swim with the turtles at anytime in their private lagoon which also has colorful tropical fish, sea urchins and octopi. We did this everyday because it was free and there were always interesting marine life. We purchased the hotel's meal plan which means we enjoyed their delicious breakfast and dinner buffets. Food is very expensive in French Polynesia so this was a good choice economically but we also enjoyed the variety of choices. Their main restaurant is open air and sits on the side of the lagoon so you can watch the fish and turtles swim by. We also enjoyed our overwater bungalow which had a see-thru glass bottom floor. We enjoyed seeing the fish swim underneath us during the day and night.

The view from our bungalow was the island of Bora Bora since the hotel sits on a motu across the lagoon. The view was breath taking. One morning we ordered our breakfast delivered by outrigger canoe. It arrived on time and the Tahitian waitress put out an amazing spread complete with decorative flowers. We enjoyed several of the excursions offered by the hotel but our favorite was the shark and ray feeding. A jet boat took us to three different points around Bora Bora and we snorkeled at each stop. We were most amazed by the black tipped and lemon sharks... some of which were eight feet long. They aren't dangerous to humans so it was a thrilling but completely safe.

After 6 nights in Bora Bora we flew to the island of Raiatea and then were transported by boat to the Tahaa Private Island and Spa Resort. This resort was very new and well designed. The overwater bungalow didn't have the see-thru floor but it was very luxurious and had a wonderful view as well. We equally enjoyed the meal package at this hotel. Our favorite meal was the seafood buffet. They didn't have buffets every night like the Le Meridian but the ala carte menu was delicious. There was a coral reef within walking distance of the hotel so we didn't need to book boat excursions. Excursions were a bit more expensive in Tahaa. We did do the safari tour of Tahaa which took us to a vanilla plantation and several wonderful vista points that made perfect pictures. The spa at the hotel was modern and tranquil. It was the best spa I've been to in my life. The treatments weren't cheap but they were beyond worth it. After 4 nights on Tahaa, it was time to fly home on a night flight to LAX. We didn't fly out of Raiatea until 6pm so we got to enjoy the entire 5th day instead of rushing to the airport and returned to LAX 9am on Saturday, October 27. The only negative to our stay in Tahaa were the mosquitoes. Once we realized there were insects we used repellant at dinner and this did the trick but we wish we would have known when we arrived. The weather was wonder the entire trip. It rained a couple of days but only for a short while so it didn't ruin any of our plans.

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip. We're glad we spent more time in Bora Bora but spending 10 nights there would have been too long so the decision to go to Tahaa for the final leg of the trip was perfect. For flight, hotel and meal packages, it cost us $13,000.