Our Honeymoon
I have been so, so excited to write and share this post with you! Our honeymoon was every bit as magical as I expected and I wish I could teleport you all there tomorrow.
I should first probably talk about how we decided to go to Tahiti. Taylor and I are very similar when it comes to places we want to travel. We both love warm weather, water, and beaches. This comes in very handy when it comes time for us to plan a trip together! We'd pick the beach over the mountains any day!
Knowing that we had a list of places we wanted to look into, but there were a lot of factors to consider; cost, travel time, etc. We pretty quickly narrowed it down to two places: Tahiti, and the Maldives.
The problems with the Maldives are both of the factors I mentioned above. It's ridiculously expensive not only to travel there, but the accommodations, food and drink, etc, are all very expensive too. On top of that, it was going to take us close to 28 hours of flight time to get there, which doesn't include layovers. Taylor only had a certain amount of days that he could be off work, and we didn't want to spend almost 3 whole days of our honeymoon in the air. We quickly decided against that, and knew we wanted to go to Tahiti!
While I do still want to go to the Maldives eventually, I can honestly say, I'm so glad we picked Tahiti. It was fairly easy to get there, the cost was substantially less, and I don't really know that the scenery can get all that much better than what we experienced! In my opinion, Tahiti is very similar to the Maldives, just a little more affordable and a whole lot closer!
Travel
We flew from:
MCI (Kansas City) to SFO (San Francisco) - 4 hours
SFO to PaPeete, Tahiti - 8.5 hours
Start to finish, with layovers, etc. Our total travel time was around 18 hours. We flew United, but Air Tahiti Nui is the other airline that flies to Tahiti!
There are also flights out of LAX, so you can fly from there too! It just depends on which day you're coming in. There are not a ton of flights to Tahiti every day, so it just depends on what your week looks like.
Tahiti is the main island, so you can either stay there, or take a smaller plane, or ferry to one of the other islands. We stayed in Tahiti two days, then took the ferry to Moorea for five days!
Intercontinental Tahiti
We landed in Tahiti pretty late on a Tuesday, so we stayed at the Intercontinental for two nights before we headed over to Moorea. To me, the island of Tahiti is more or less the island everyone travels in and out of. It's not most people's final destination, as there are 118 islands included in French Polynesia, but it is the island with the main airport.
We liked Tahiti, and the Intercontinental was so incredibly beautiful, but if we could do it over again, I would've tried to get into Tahiti earlier, so that we could've gone to another island straight from there. In my opinion, there just isn't quite as much to do in Tahiti itself. For us, it was nice to have one day to relax at the hotel, but we ended up loving Moorea so much that when the trip ended, I had wished we'd spent that first day in Moorea instead. All in all, I just don't recommend planning to spend a ton of time there!
However, if you do stay in Tahiti, the Intercontinental is stunning. It was definitely the most beautiful hotel I've ever stayed at. The pools were incredible, and they have a lagoon you can swim in too. It's connected to the ocean so fish swim in and out of it every day. We watched people snorkel there all day long!
As far as the rooms go, I would recommend staying in the hotel itself as opposed to the huts. The huts at the Intercontinental are not worth the money to me. The water isn't quite as amazing as it is near some of the other islands, and the "hut experience" just wouldn't have been the same to me had we done it in Tahiti as opposed to Moorea. Save your money and do it at one of the other islands!
At the end of our time in Tahiti, we took a shuttle service to the ferry where we got on, and rode to Moorea!
Hilton Moorea
I don't even know where to begin with Moorea! The entire trip we just kept saying, "how will we ever describe this to our friends and family at home". I hate using the word magic, but I've never seen anything like Moorea. It's like Jurassic Park meets the most beautiful water you've ever seen.
We stayed at the Hilton, and everything about it was fabulous. I would stay there again in a heartbeat and we definitely plan to go again! If you're a Hilton member, here's your sign to start saving your points! But truly, it was clean, the service was fantastic, and I have zero complaints about it whatsoever. A couple people had said they'd heard it was rundown, but I couldn't disagree more. It was extremely clean, up to date, etc.
If you stay at the Hilton, you must stay in the huts. The Hilton does have smaller condo type accommodations, but it's nothing like the huts, and it's not all that much more expensive to stay in the huts than it is the condos. If you're spending the time and money to go to Moorea, you have to do this. I promise it's worth every single penny.
Each hut has it's own deck and swim platform, and the water off the platform is 4-5ft deep. The snorkeling around our hut was nearly as good as the snorkeling we paid to do at a private lagoon we went to. The fish are incredible, the water is unlike any color I've ever seen, and the whole experience is absolute bliss. Where else in the world can you wake up at sunset to swim in crystal clear water, and do some of the best snorkeling in the entire world? It's the definition of paradise.
The huts are a decent size, although we didn't spend a ton of time inside while we were there other than at night. There was a king bed, a small living area, and a really good size bathroom. We also had a mini fridge, espresso machine, and coffee pot. They restock the mini fridge every day and that was probably Taylor's favorite part, as you can imagine.
Food
Breakfast
We ate breakfast at the Hilton every day, as it was included in our package. Let me be clear - it is not all inclusive by any means, this basically just means it came with our travel package so we just paid for it ahead of time! The breakfast is a buffet and it was amazing. They had crepes, waffles, pancakes, tons of French pastries, an omelette station, you name it. We ate breakfast outside on the wraparound deck almost every morning and it was heaven!
Lunch
To be completely honest, we only ate lunch two days. We typically ate a later/bigger breakfast so neither of us were super hungry for lunch. We packed a decent amount of protein bars so some days we ate those, and some days we were gone on an excursion, so we just didn't need to go eat lunch every day. But the two days we did eat, we ate at the Hilton's restaurant and we loved it!
Dinner
We did something different for dinner almost every night we were in Moorea!
Hilton - the first night we ate at the Hilton. They have a pretty big menu and we both enjoyed all of our food there!
Moorea Beach Club - this was highly, highly recommended by so many people, and for good reason. This is the Veuve Cliquot restaurant in Moorea. If you know anything about champagne, you know what Veuve is, but if not, it's some of the best champagne ever. We loved this restaurant so much we ended up going two different nights! The Hilton provides a shuttle to and from the restaurant which made it so easy! If you go, get the sushi, tuna, champagne, and mai tai!
Rudys - this was another restaurant that was highly recommended to us. It had a very local vibe, and we got to meet the owners dad while we were there. The food was phenomenal and I wish we would've been able to go back again. The Hilton also provided a shuttle here so it was easy to get to and from! We had the salmon pasta, parrot fish, and numerous mai tais. Everything was incredible!
Toatea Creperie - the creperie is on the Hilton property, where all of the huts come together. It sits over the water so you get to see the sharks and stingrays come out at night! We got to see this multiple nights and it's such a fun experience. We got crepes for dessert one night and both died and went to heaven. We got the banana nutella crepe, and the caramel apple crepe. Neither one needs a description, they were ridiculous.
Allo's Pizza - Leave it to Taylor and I to figure out how to order pizza to a hotel in Moorea. We waited too late to eat dinner one night, so we had to resort to a roadside pizza stand. The concierge tipped us off and told us that if we paid a cab driver, he would pick it up and deliver it to us, so we did! And let me tell you, it was some of the best pizza I've ever had in my entire life. We were both shocked, who knew pizza in Moorea would be so good?! Highly recommend if you go!
Drinks
Here is what I can tell you about drinks in Tahiti/Moorea, they are expensive. I can only judge based off of what we pay in Kansas City, but it was expensive. In the ballpark of $22-$30 per drink.
Three drink related things I would recommend:
If you stay at the Hilton, go to happy hour every night at 5:00. Their drinks are two for one so we would sit and enjoy the sunset during happy hour, while not having to pay quite so much for drinks. We also met so many other couples by doing this so it was fun!
Wherever you're coming from, whether it be SFO or LAX, get alcohol from the duty free store before you get on the plane. They have a duty free shop in Tahiti too but it was closed when we got there so I was so happy we'd already gone. We bought a couple of bottles to have in our room to make drinks with and it was the smartest thing we could've done. The resort had juices, mixers, etc, so we just made our own drinks in the room and it cut back on having to buy drinks quite as often.
Wherever there is a mai tai on the menu, order it. I do not ever order mai tais in the US, I never have. They are made so differently in Tahiti/Moorea. They're out of this world good, so don't order anything else!
Things to Do
One of the most frequently asked questions in the question box was, "how much is there to do in Moorea". To be honest, part of the appeal of Tahiti/Moorea to me, was that we could relax and do nothing. Like I mentioned before, Taylor and I both love the beach so we're not really the go-go-go type of travelers. I would also note that even if you're go-go-go, if you're going for a honeymoon, you're going to be tired, and you may not want to do as much as you think. However, there are definitely things you can do in Moorea!
Here are a couple of excursions that I know were offered when we were there:
whale watching
jet skiing
ATVs
food tour
snorkeling tour
sailing
lagoon excursion
sunset cruise
Belvedere lookout
Magic Mountain
Lagoonarium
safari tour
Voila Tours
Before we went on our trip, I had booked a sunset cruise as well as a half day snorkeling trip. I found the company through some travel bloggers I follow on Instagram. We had the most amazing time, and I highly recommend booking with Leo if you're going to Moorea! They book up quickly, so I suggest booking as soon as you know you're going! I'm linking their website here!
Our sunset cruise was unfortunately not in the best weather conditions, but we made the most of it and had a great time. Leo picked us up on the catamaran at the Hilton and we cruised around and headed to one of the nearby bays. We stopped and Leo made mai tais, and we enjoyed listening to him tell us a little bit more about the landscape and about Moorea's history! We had to cut it short because of the rain, but I know how incredible it would've been had we had better weather, so I definitely want to do this again when we go back!
We also did a half day snorkel trip which was incredible. Leo again picked us up at the Hilton and we cruised until we go to the shark and stingray bay. We hopped out and swam with them for awhile, and got to take some incredible underwater photos with them. They were so friendly and it was such an amazing experience. We then went to a private bay where we snorkeled and saw some of the most amazing fish. We even got to hand feed some angel fish with pieces of banana! We ended the trip by heading over to where the sea turtles swim. We got to see quite a few! The whole day was so much fun, and if you're going to Moorea, this is a must.
ATVs
Through the Hilton, we decided to book an ATV tour on one of the drearier mornings we had and we had a blast! We drove around the island to a local juice stand and got to have coffee, juice, and jams made with fresh fruit. We then headed up the mountain to Belvedere lookout. The views were breathtaking! I'm so happy we decided to do the tour, just for this alone. After we came back down the mountain, we got to see where all of their pineapples grow! The tour ends with a visit to the local juice factory where we got to sample some pineapple rum that's made on the island. The tour was an incredible way to spend four hours, and I highly recommend doing it while you're there. It's such a fun way to see the island!
Pricing
The other most frequently asked question is about pricing, and honestly, I hesitate talking about this just because it really is going to vary depending on a few different things. Flights are going to vary depending on time of year, where you're coming from, and how many islands you want to go to. Each island also varies in price, i.e.: somewhere like Bora Bora is a lot more expensive than Moorea. Resort pricing is also going to change based on the time of year you choose to go, and what accommodations you choose, i.e.: hut vs hotel room. Lastly, everyone does vacations differently! Some people ball out on a vacation and do everything to the full extent, and others are more budget conscious when they travel. All that to say, there's a huge range in cost, so it's hard to put a number on it. But I also know this helps people decide on whether or not it's going to be realistic to go, so I want to help you the best I can!
All in all, I would say the trip we took (Tahiti and Moorea) could range anywhere from $9,000 - $13,000. You're going to spend around $8,000 - $10,000 on the package itself which is flights, accommodations, shuttles/transfers, and then I would guess an average of anywhere from $1,000 - $3,000 on food, drinks, excursions once you get there. Could you do it for less? I'm sure you could, but you'd definitely be cutting corners on things, i.e.: not staying in a hut, not buying drinks, no excursions, etc. But this is a pretty good idea as far as an average trip I would say.
As far as what's included when you book a trip like this - our package included:
flights
accommodations in both Tahiti, and Moorea
transfers
breakfast at both hotels
All that to say, is it a budget friendly trip? I guess it depends on what "budget friendly" means to you, but to me, no. This (to me) is more of a one in a lifetime type trip. There are many other beautiful places in the world that probably don't come with such a high price tag. But this was a once in a lifetime trip, and it was worth every penny to both of us!
I think it goes without saying, but a few people asked if any of it was sponsored. Zero. We paid for this entirely on our own, nothing was gifted, sponsored, etc.
Our Travel Agent
Our travel agent was my grandpa! He owns a travel agency in Phoenix, AZ. He put our entire trip together and it was seamless start to finish. I am the most OCD trip planner, I always tell my friends I was a travel agent in a past life. But let me be the first to tell you, this is not a trip I would've wanted to plan on my own. The English is pretty limited in both Tahiti and Moorea in terms of calling places, and there are not a ton of helpful resources online in terms of planning, so I would not recommend doing this without a travel agent's help. Every person we talked to while in Moorea had used a travel agent and we all agreed it was the way to go.
If you're unfamiliar with using a travel agent, it's free! You don't pay anything to use one. They get kickback from the resorts where you stay, but you're not paying them anything out of pocket, so there's virtually no reason not to use one!
I also had a few questions on how far in advance we booked. We booked a year out, from our original wedding date, and then obviously pushed it a year. But I would say anywhere from 8-12 months in advance, especially if you're wanting to stay in a hut. Travel is picking up again, and there just aren't that many huts available so I would book as far out as you can!
Contact Info
Dean McWilliams
deanmcw@cox.net
602.620.1037
Tell him Aubrey sent you, and he'll be more than happy to help you!
Covid
There were a couple of COVID related precautions we had to take, but it wasn't horrible when it was all said and done. We had to:
Fill out an ETIS application and get approved to enter the country
Fill out an online health inventory
Upload vaccine cards (you don't have to be vaccinated, but they ask for the card if you are)
Test 48 hours before leaving the US, show negative result in San Francisco
Tested once we landed in Pa'peete
Tested when we got back to the Pa'peete airport to leave to come home, showed negative result to be able to check into our flight
No quarantining required in either location, or when we got home
We had to wear masks any time we were inside on both islands, but other than that, it was not a big deal. I wouldn't let it prevent you from going!
I think I hit every single question in the question box, but please don't hesitate to send me a message if you still have questions. I'm happy to answer anything you want to know!