Bora Bora Sofitel Beach Resort - French Polynesia

From Moorea to Bora Bora

Around The Island of Moorea - French Polynesia

Sofitel Moorea: Sharks and Stingrays and Turtles Oh My! - French Polynesia

The restaurant and dock at the Sofitel Moorea resort!

Sofitel Moorea resort



No words can describe how beautiful this place is!

Black tip shark
Our French captain playing with the stingray!

A stingray up close and personal!
Christina petting the sea turtle!
After a few rounds, Ash finally got the nerve to feed the stingray!
Our final destination where the Lagoonarium is set up
Our French captain and guide


The pristine blues of Moorea
Our Lagoonarium trip began with a 15 minute boat ride beginning right on our Sofitel Moorea beach shores. For our readers who have not heard of the term Lagoonarium, it is an aquatic park. Within this park we are able to feed the stingrays, swim with the black tip sharks, meet the sea turtles as well as swim through the most beautiful and colorful coral you have ever seen.

Moorea Sofitel Spa - French Polynesia

Flowers of Moorea


Waiting area at the Lotus Spa

Waiting for our spa treatment

An example of the exotic flowers we saw in French Polynesia
Christina ready for her massage!
A typical outdoor single treatment room
Inside the spa rooms.........
Beautiful and relaxing waterfall at the Lotus Spa at Sofitel Moorea

Moorea Sofitel - French Polynesia

Reading by the pool side...........



Christina with the beautiful Moorea mountains in the background



Arn't we cute?!


The beach at the hotel


Out in the distance you can see the island of Tahiti

Our bungalow from across the pond!

Our lovely and very relaxing room

The bar and snack area at Sofitel Moorea

The main restaurant and deck at Sofitel Moorea
Christina and Ash at the end of the dock with nothing but the ocean to look at
Sofitel Moorea resort pool
Christinash eating their classic meal............ice cream!
Ash is absolutely loving the sun and water!
Christina in the pool again with the overwater bungalows at the Sofitel Moorea resort behind
Out feeding the fish again!

Hanging out in the pool. Don't you love the palm trees and the beautiful blue colors!
Dinner during the Flower Show

Every night at the Sofitel Moorea there is a show performed along with dinner. This night we were able to witness the Flower Show
Cabinetry behind our bed
Our porch overlooking the pond and ocean
Our bathroom in the Garden BungalowThe buffet breakfast at Sofitel Moorea. Please be warned that at all of the hotels we stayed at, breakfast was always served buffet style and a hefty price tag went along with it. We typically spent $50.00 per person for breakfast. We booked our own hotel and travel but we were told there are packages at these resorts that include at least 2 meals a day. It definitely would be worth pricing out.

Christina and Ash on the dock of the hotel feeding the fish
Dinner is served! In bed of course!
Public restrooms at Sofitel Moorea
The shower in our Garden Bungalow. It even allows you to open up the glass doors to an isolated oasis just outside our room.
The view along the beach in front of Sofitel Moorea


Relaxing the next morning with a cup of coffee
The layout of Sofitel Moorea just in case of an emergency!
Upon arrival at the Sofitel Moorea, we were provided lei's and pineapple juice from the juice factory on the island. The Sofitel Moorea is definitely the best resort on the island. Peaceful and quiet yet so many things to do. The people and staff were all so friendly and accomodating. Although the overwater bungalows are amazing, we opted to stay in a Garden Bungalow room right next to the front desk and close to the spa, pool and restaurant facilities. We highly recommend room number 503 or any other bungalow that line the small pond near the front desk.We had a bit of a struggle getting from the dock on Moorea to our hotel as we expected taxi's to be readily available. Our advice would be to either plan ahead of time for transport from the hotel you are staying at or look for the local school bus as it will drop people off all around the island for a much cheaper rate. As we did not plan, we took the school bus route!

Ferry From Papeete, Tahiti to Moorea

Christina as we pull into the dock on Moorea
Ash with the majestic mountains of Moorea in the background
Christina and Ash with the island of Tahiti behind







We chose to ride the Moorea Express from Tahiti to Moorea as it is a passanger only ferry. The ride is about 30 minutes and has times scheduled throughout the day. Please note though, there are limited ferries scheduled on Sundays. Cost is about $22 roundtrip or XPF 1,800 per person.

Sheraton Resort Papeete, Tahiti

Hot tub at the Sheraton Tahiti.
Breakfast at the Sheraton Tahiti
The island of Moorea from Tahiti. Just an enchanting island to look at.
Beautiful money! So pretty you don't want to spend it!


View from the Sheraton Hotel Tahiti's pool.
Our first night was spent at the Sheraton Hotel in Tahiti. There are not too many places to choose from in Tahiti but we would recommend this hotel as the rooms are clean and you will get a good night's rest. If possible, do request a room on one of the top floors (4 or 5).

Air Tahiti Nui from LAX to Papeete

Arriving at Tahiti Faaa airport. Try and get ahead of the crowd when deboarding the plane as the wait time can be quite long in a humid outdoor waiting area. Once you arrive, you will be greeted with the local tiare flower full of a wonderful aroma.


Look at Ash sleeping..........probably drooling all over the blanket by this point in the flight!
Off to French Polynesia!

Good Times in Los Angeles

On our way to the aiport, we were able to stop by and say hello to the newest addition to our friend's family!
Before heading to LAX for our connecting flight to French Polynesia, Joby took us to the most fabulous outdoor patio breakfast at The Penninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. We would highly recommend this place! It is a great calming atmostphere and wonderful food.
While in LA, we decided to make the most of it and went out with our wonderful friend Joby Harte!
Welcome to Los Angeles. Our one stop before heading to our final destination of French Polynesia! We arrived late Friday evening only to depart Saturday afternoon.

French Polynesia: Trip Summary on Bora Bora and Moorea

Review Written: December 2, 2007 following our trip (but we posted the review on a different date so that it appears below our pictures on our main French Polynesia blog).

On this trip, we hit the islands of Tahiti / Papeete, Moorea, and Bora Bora.

• Nothing is cheap in French Polynesia. Ballpark expectations: Breakfast $50 / person; Dinner: $75 / person. And these are not big or restaurant meals. The US dollar has been beaten to a pulp so badly on the world scene that what is expensive to us is not expensive to other travelers (from the UK or Europe for example). So, with our beaten down US dollar, we ate in at the Sofitel's, split a hamburger and ordered ice cream for $45 total just about every night! We went to little markets to buy bottled water, bread, Nutella, juice. We loaded up the first hour we got to each island with food to get us by. On three occasions (Thanksgiving, Anniversary, and just because) we ate out!
• When you arrive in Papeete, Tahiti make arrangements to get out of Tahiti as soon as possible. There is nothing worth your time in Tahiti. Get to Moorea, Bora Bora or one of the other 115 islands as soon as possible. If you are flying in on a late flight to Papeete, make sure you have the first flight or first ferry scheduled out of Papeete the very next morning. As for lodging, you have spent a large sum likely (or used all of your air mileage points) to get to Tahiti, so don't crimp and find yourself staying at one of the "airport motel / hotels." Instead, stay at the Sheraton. Trust us, you have traveled a long way and you will want a nice clean room with a clean bed. The Sheraton is mid range in terms of its amenities and it is not cheap. But, it meets your needs which are 1) a good night of sleep, 2) clean, 3) good meal in the morning. The airport area motels / hotels are strewn with stories of overselling rooms, lost / stolen luggage, and in great disrepair despite what you may have found or read on various websites. We went, we saw, we are giving our best recommendations.
  
• Moorea is the better of the two islands when weighing out whether to go to one or the other from a land / activities perspective. Moorea is the Bora Bora of 50 years ago. Bora Bora is becoming a cruise ship hub with roads in disrepair and souvenir shops (with everything made in China). However, Bora Bora has better snorkeling / diving. So we did both. When on Moorea, we cannot recommend highly enough garden bungalows #500-505 at the Sofitel Moorea. These are the most up-to-date, they are central to everything you need, and still provide privacy. Request one of these bungalows and you WILL NOT be disappointed. You can also try one of the over the water bungalows, but don't be pressured into thinking that the over the water bungalows are a big deal. They are much more enjoyable to view than to be in! We know because we stayed in one. From our Bungalow #503, we had a nice view of the ocean, the bungalows, easy access to the zero edge pool, spa, and our bugster (buggy) that we rented day to day.
  
• On Bora Bora, you have two real lodging choices - high rollers go to the St. Regis. People that want a great time, good value, clean rooms, friendly staff, and great food go to the Sofitel Beach Resort. You can also try the Sofitel Nui (island), but we found it not to be worth the ferry boat rides to get to the main island if ever you want to get food, drive bugsters, shop, etc. We were extremely pleased with the Sofitel Beach Resort. We kayaked to the Sofitel Nui to snorkel.
  
• Stay AWAY from the "Bora Bora Lagoon Resort." This is coming from OUR firsthand experience, not the rankings found in the latest Travel & Leisure, the recommendations of American Express Travel Services, or various other websites and brochures that tout this place as the #1 resort in Bora Bora. It simply is not when compared to other options. You must realize that many of the people who write these so called reviews have never stepped foot in the reviews they provide their readers. They advertise and preach a great story online, and in brochures. It was American Express Travel Services that sent us there. Big mistake. The place is in desperate need of immediate overhaul - a good bulldozer and an army of insect exterminators would be of great value to this place. The staff was amazingly friendly, but their wonderful professionalism, warm smiles, and genuine concern cannot replace the fact that their resort needs to be torn down and rebuilt. Our room was infested with ants. Bedding was extremely dated, the furniture was worn, and the amenities (with the exception of the reception to the hotel and bathroom sinks) suggested a 1970's funk feel. Parts of the property had the feel of a cheap conference motel you would find in the States. After walking the property extensively to see if we could find another more tolerable less infested room, the entire resort was deemed in disrepair compared to all other options available in Bora Bora. We had lunch - a pizza - to discuss our options - and were served a slop of melted cheese that was far less than one should expect from a public school lunch lady. While the manager was very apologetic, we sought the assistance of American Express and were ferried to Accor's Sofitel Beach Resort in an over the water bungalow. The Sofitel, a far superior resort cost us LESS than the Bora Bora Lagoon. The Sofitel property was newly renovated and it saved our trip. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR - do not go that far (to French Polynesia) to get the disappointment of the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort. Do yourself a favor and investigate the offerings of the Accor properties. Accor owns Sofitel and Novitel.
  
• Also, if you are an Amex Platinum or Amex Black card holder and plan to utilize their concierge services, don't rely on American Express to follow through on booking or recommending your arrangements. You have to double confirm EVERY aspect of your trip yourself when it comes to Amex and French Polynesia. We have used Amex services before with positive results, but for this trip they made execution mistakes at every single turn. While we received confirmations in email form, they never actually processed our arrangements with the hotels or the airline, so five days before we were to leave, we were scrambling to provide proof to AMEX from their emails. In the end, it all worked out, but you cannot rely on third party travel agencies to confirm your arrangements (any of them). Most hotels in French Polynesia for whatever reason either will not speak English to you or cannot (French), they do not often use computers, instead writing things down so your itineraries get lost, and they operate on their own time. If you call for a towel, it may be five hours before you get it. Expect these things and you will not be disappointed. Take the time and call the resorts, airlines, restaurants, activity bookings and confirm them personally and directly.
  

Join us November 16-26, 2007

Bora Bora Map

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Travel Tips From CHRISTINASH Readers...

CHRISTINASH,

I've been to all 3! I stayed there for a week and spent a few days at each place. Bora Bora- it depends on which resort you stay at but try to get to where the villagers live and get some homemade dinner at one of the restaurants, very good. also def. stay in the over water bungalow, they have the glass bottom section and you can actually see shark and tons of colorful fish, it's amazing. Moorea was my fav. place because I was with my grandma, so therefore no sunset cruises or dinners for me. there was however tons to do on Moorea, horseback riding through the pineapple farms for miles, you can get that set up at your resort. Find a pearl shop and def. learn about how they are made by the oysters and buy one for your wife, they are gorgeous. I loved the full day boat trip to this little island where we were greeted by many sting rays wanting food like dogs, and we had a crazy tour guide. there was also the barracuda you could see while snorkeling and the wonderful food we had buffet style on the beach. we also got to see the first humpback of the season on our way to the island. oh yea and at Bora Bora, go swimming with sharks!!! It was an amazing experience as well, just out in the open, snorkeling with black tip reef sharks, you go out to where the reef drops off and gets really deep and try to see lemon sharks as well. Also you can go on one-of-kind submarine made by this French guy, it took him 5 years and when he finished building it he decided to bring down there, he speaks 5 languages as well. beware of eating too much fresh fruit or drinking it, I got deathly ill for a few days from it because of the high amount of citric acid, Americans stomachs are not used to such fresh, non-preserved foods,lol.the banana juice is very god though. the breakfasts you get are huge and nothing is left out, they have anything you could want, it was like that at the resorts we stayed anyways and I'm sorry I can't remember where we stayed right now. Explore on your own as much as possible, there are far too many tours and fake villages for you look at how they used to live back in the day, too much tourist stuff, but the stuff I told you about was great. Hope this helps, sorry for the rambling,lol.

-Heather

***

Christina & Ash:

I spent the last six months island hopping across the Pacific. Here is my honest advice....

1) French Polynesia is one of the most expensive places on Earth, so be prepared. The over water bungalows are VERY expensive.( $300+ per night. More if it is during the high season) I paid $5 for a can of diet coke in Papeete at a cafe. A single banana at the market was $1.25. A single room at a Hostel in Tahiti was $65/night.

2) The over water bungalows look very pretty in photos, but they kill the coral in the lagoon. They block sunlight and kill everything beneath it. Many of the resorts have to feed fish near the bungalows so there is some sort of aquatic life for people to see.

3) As James Mitchner pointed out, Bora Bora is only the most beautiful place on Earth from the air. From the ground, it is like most other pacific islands.

Most people I've found have developed a fascination with Tahiti and insist on going to Tahiti as opposed to other islands in the Pacific, just because it is Tahiti.

To be really honest, I found French Polynesia (the Society Islands in particular) to be the most over rated attraction in the Pacific. It is expensive and totally dominated by big tourist resorts.

If you just want to sit on a beach, there are less crowed, cheaper islands. If you want diving, there are much better options in the Pacific. Heck, if you want French culture, go to Noumea in New Caledonia which is my favorite city in the Pacific. (also expensive, but not nearly as bad)

I'd HIGHLY recommend Micronesia. You can find great, low cost, undiscovered resorts on Kosare and Phonpei. Phonpei is on a par with Bora Bora for beauty plus you can go explore the ruins of Nan Modal, which I think are up there with Easter Island. You can also visit Chuuk and go diving in the lagoon...one of the best diving sites in the world. Micronesia uses the US Dollar and everyone speaks English too. (they also have domestic postage rates sending stuff to the US).

Rarotonga and the Cook Islands are another good option, as are Fiji and Palau (however, Palau is difficult to get to). If you want the resort experience, you can still find cheaper places in Rarotonga or Fiji which are as good or better. You can stay in the Yasawa Islands in Fiji in a private thatched bure for $30/night....with all three meals! I went swimming on some beaches there where I was the only human in sight.

.....if you do go to French Polynesia, make sure to eat at least once at the le Roulette trucks which come into Papeete at night. They are basically lunch wagons that create an impromptu food court every evening. Make sure to order some poisson cru, which is the national dish of Tahiti. (it is also served in the Cook Islands). Just go downtown near the port and you can't miss it. Just after sunset.

- Gary


***

CHRISTINASH,

I had just a few days at the Intercontinental in Faaa Tahiti, last New Year.

1. It IS very expensive - really, it's more expensive than Maui.

2. Tahiti is not a white sand island. It's got lots of coral & lagoons, etc. But Bora Bora is better for beaches.

3. If you're a fan of painters, or like visiting graves, Paul Gaugin is buried somewhere in the Marquesas.

4. Flights all tend to land in the middle of the night. So, if you are getting a taxi, it might help to have a little French practiced, beforehand. The hotels often are able to get a shuttle to go TO the airport, but the other way, t akes a little nerve. I think there's a local bylaw preventing hotels from laying on their own shuttle busses.

Glorious place to vacation, though.

Have fun :-)

- Dave