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You don’t need a honeymoon to go to French Polynesia. My husband and I traveled there when my son was two years old. This was only one of two trips that we left him behind. We landed in Tahiti, had to spend a quick overnight and then flew to Huahine, known as the authentic and secluded island. (We had considered Bora Bora, but it was too expensive and we knew we could find similar experiences elsewhere.) We rented a hut on the beach at Te Tiare Beach Resort. Unfortunately it appears to have closed or changed ownership. The resort was accessible only by boat, so it was very secluded. The water was clean and we were able to snorkel off the beach. .
While there we spent a day touring around the island with Poe Island Tours. One of the most famous attractions is viewing the Sacred Blue Eyed Eels (sacred according to local mythology).
Huahine was like the garden of eden, covered with beautiful flowers.
My favorite, and the one you could smell all over the island, was Te Tiare, below. They actually bottle it. You can find it here.
There was quite a bit of Marae on the island. A Marae is a sacred place that served religious and social purposes in Polynesia. Huahine has the oldest recorded date of human occupation among the Society Islands.
We were introduced to the local fishing techniques, using fish traps in volcanic stone. We visited a Tahitian vanilla plantation where we saw them pick and dry the vanilla beans. They vacuum seal the packages to sell and suggest keeping them in sealed glass jars to keep them fresh.
From Huahine we flew to Moores and had a stunning descent into the island.
We rented a motorcycle and traveled around the island for one incredible view after another. There is a sort of ring road, since the interior of the island is solid jungle.
There were also different flowers than the ones we had found on Huahine.
It was on this island that I discovered why I thought I hadn’t seen an octopus in the wild before: They camouflage themselves. We saw one attached to a rock off the pier but when it moved it seemed to disappear…like a ghost.
We also had a pretty cool view under our bungalow, both looking through our glass table floor and snorkeling under it.
An amusing thing to do on Moorea is take a boat trip to swim with black tipped reef sharks and sting rays. But it is also incredibly touristy.
We had one full day to explore Tahiti before we left. We visited Papeete (pronounced Papayete) Church, the waterfront and a gorgeous fresco depicting the Mutiny on the Bounty. You can watch the movie about it here!
We also visited the memorial site for Nuclear testings. France used the island for testing from 1966 until 1996 when they finally signed treaties to create a nuclear-weapon free zone in the Pacific.
French Polynesia is such a beautiful country with so much to see and explore. I hope it continues to be protected and respected.
