Taha'a (French Polynesia)

Staying in an over-the-water bungalow has always been on my bucket list. It seemed unreal and out of this world. This year, we decided to just go for it and we spent a lot of time researching a perfect location in French Polynesia, where the over-the-water concept started about 50 years ago. This South Pacific island nation is comprised of 121 islands and atolls.  Since we are not honeymooners (anymore), Bora Bora was out of the question and the reviews also indicated that it's just the name. We found this wonderful place via Relais & Châteaux on the island of Taha'a called, not surprisingly, Le Taha'a.

The flight from San Francisco to Papeete, the capital, takes about 9 hours, which pretty much the same as going to Europe from the Midwest. We stayed at the Hilton Hotel Tahiti near the airport. Why near the airport, you might ask. Well, it was late and it was just a layover, not our end destination. Despite the close proximity to the airport, I don't remember hearing a single plane.

The next day we took another 45 minute domestic flight from Papeete to Raiatea, the sister island of Taha'a. From there we were picked up by a boat directly from the airport and shuttled to the outer island. 40 minute later we arrived at the resort.

The over-the-water bungalow was truly fantastic and during the night the fish were congregating together with sting rays which one could observe from the bed through the glass cabinet. It was outstanding. We went snorkeling every day at the coral gardens, where we saw a big eel, sting rays and an octopus that changed shape to look like a coral. The water level was not very deep and the hotel did not recommend bringing fins, to not damage the coral. Even though we are familiar with fins, we reluctantly complied. There was some current and I personally think that I would have felt more comfortable with fins. I would never touch anything, neither fish nor coral.

It seems as if guests come to the resort for like 3 nights and then go to another island. We felt that it's a waste of time (consider boat ride to island with airport, then flight to new island, possible boat ride to smaller island and so on) and so we stayed here for an entire week. This was the reason why we had bookings for multiple different villas and only the first two nights were in an over-the-water bungalow. The plan was to spend one night in a beach villa and then move to other over-the-water bungalow. The front desk called us to ask if we were willing to move to the Royal Pool Beach Villa a day earlier and we agreed.  You'd think that is crazy, because that is not really what your dream was about. Oh boy, were we surprised by the villa.

It was very modern with a Polynesian twist, such as the thatched roof. Obviously it was on the beach and it features not just one pool but also a plunge pool and a private tub carved out of a rock.

The privacy was guaranteed by the wonderful stone wall made from basalt.

One day we took the boat from our resort to Taha'a and rented a bicycle to go around the island. The lady in the distillery Mana'o Tahiti was kind enough to call a colleague who rents electric assistant bikes. When we drove by locals going about their business and we said hello in Tahitian la Orana (yo-rah-nah) they all waved back and returned a friendly (yo-rah-nah).

Half away around the island we stopped at La vallée de la vanille to get a better understanding of how vanilla is grown and harvested. It's all hand pollinated and the beans here on Taha's are a lot bigger than anywhere else. Since every step in the process is manual, it's not a surprise that vanilla is considered the second most expensive spice right behind Safran.

After two steep hills we ended up at the distillery again where we sampled the rum and it was quite tasty. The entire 25 mile trip took us about 3 hours of biking. The drizzle we had in the beginning was actually appreciated, because otherwise it would have been too hot.

Right in front of our villa we started snorkeling heading West, closer to the deep blue. We found this area had a lot to offer as well and we saw sting rays and black tip sharks patrolling the shallow waters.

Another advantage was that you could see Bora Bora from here. The mountain looks like where you would expect King Kong to live. The famous island is just about 12 miles away.

The staff was very friendly and helpful. The food, except the BBQ, was delicious. The buffet in the morning had everything you could think of. My favorite was the local fruit and the French toast with vanilla syrup.

Despite the fact that the resort was fully booked, I always had the feeling we were alone. There was so much space and we always found a quiet spot to relax and enjoy being alone.

Even on our way to the beach villa we found a serene place to just be. It almost looked like a local art creation.

The resort proved a wonderful service to help the environment by giving every guest a very nice stainless steel bottle to fill up on multiple water stations serving cold and hot water around the resort. Obviously, the bottles are reusable and now we have a couple at home that are not just convenient but also sleek looking.

I also wanted to point out that since our flight was late in the day, management offered us to stay in our fabulous villa and check out at 16:00, so that we could take a shower after lunch and then head to the dock for the boat ride to the airport on Raiatea. What a service. Thank you.