• Home
  • About Me
  • Image Licensing
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
Round the World in 30 Days

Round the World in 30 Days

Round the world travel
Round the World Travel
  • Round the World Trips
    • RTW #1: A Globetrotter is Born
    • RTW #2: From the Thin Air up There to the Wonders Down Under
    • RTW #3: Eat, Pray, Run – From Marathons to Maui
    • RTW #4: Thai Beach Perfection to Blue Lagoon Reflection
    • RTW #5: In Search of the World’s Perfect Beach
    • RTW #6: Here Today, Guam Tomorrow
    • RTW #7: Lounges, Retreats & Business Class Seats
    • RTW #8: 7 Continents from Antarctica to Zanzibar
    • RTW #9: All About Africa & SE Asia
    • RTW #10: The Honeymoon!
  • More 30-Day Trips
    • RTW 4 1/2 – The Europe Edition
    • RTW 5 1/2 – The Oceania Edition
    • RTW 6 1/2 – The Balkans Edition
    • RTW 7 1/2 – The Central America Edition
    • RTW 8 1/2 – The Himalayas Edition
    • RTW 9 1/2 – The Moscow to the Med Edition
    • RTW 10 1/2 – The Asia Edition
    • Marathons
    • Cruises
  • Destinations
    • Africa/Middle East
    • Antarctica
    • Asia
    • Caribbean
    • Central America
    • Europe
    • North America
    • Oceania
    • South America
  • Round the World How-To
  • Get the Book
  • Where I’ve Been
  • In My Bag

by Jenny Last Updated: October 3, 2020

Honeymoon Paradise in Tahiti

Moorea, Oceania, RTW #10: The Honeymoon!, South Pacific ·

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to book through these links, I receive a small commission, which I will undoubtedly blow on more flights (it’s a vicious cycle).  All of this internet voodoo takes place at no additional cost to you. 

Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort

I can’t believe it’s true but after nearly 3 months of globetrotting around the world we have finally reached the last stop on this epic honeymoon adventure. And what a last stop it is, the postcard-perfect South Pacific honeymoon paradise of French Polynesia.

An overseas collectivity of France, these 118 islands and atolls stretch lazily across the South Pacific Ocean covering more than 1,200 miles. French Polynesia is divided into 5 island groups, the most famous of which are the Society Islands which includes Tahiti, Bora Bora and Moorea.

And while Tahiti and Bora Bora are more familiar names to most people, Moorea has always been a particular favorite of mine.  So, of course, I knew it would be the perfect place to end our incredible honeymoon in style.

But to reach Moorea, you have to start on the main island of Tahiti, home to the largest airport in the islands. We landed in Papeete, Tahiti a little after 10:00pm after a pleasant 5-hour flight from Auckland on Air New Zealand. Since the last ferry to Moorea runs late in the afternoon, we had booked the Le Meridien Tahiti for our first night in the islands and planned to take a mid-morning ferry over the next day.

Le Meridien Tahiti pool
The oasis pool at Le Meridien Tahiti

We arrived at the Le Meridien Tahiti just in time to grab a drink at the bar before it closed and after a restful night’s sleep awoke to the tropical paradise that is Tahiti. The Meridien has a gorgeous oasis-like sand-bottom pool so we walked down to it, to the beach and along the boardwalk leading to the overwater bungalows before heading up to breakfast.

After breakfast we packed up and took a taxi into downtown Papeete to check out the market. Papeete’s market is always an entertaining mix of tourists shopping for souvenirs and locals shopping for fresh seafood and produce. It’s definitely the best place in the islands to buy souvenirs so we picked up a few before heading over to the ferry terminal.

Moving on to Moorea

The ferry to Moorea takes about 40 minutes and I’m not sure there’s a more stunning ferry ride anywhere in the world. The approach to Moorea with its lush, rugged emerald peaks and sparkling turquoise lagoons is the stuff of Gauguin paintings and Michener novels. It’s completely mesmerizing and we watched in awe as the ferry docked and began to offload its passengers.

Ferry to Moorea
Arriving in Moorea

In an effort to save money (which we knew we’d be spending a lot of while on the island) we decided to forgo the taxis and take the local bus instead. I’d done it once before and remembered it being an easy and inexpensive way to reach the resort. Just hop on and tell the driver where you want to get off and he’ll stop there. Since there’s just one road ringing the small island, it didn’t take long to get to our hotel for the next 4 nights, the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort.

With some creative financing, we’d managed to book 4 nights (2 in an overwater bungalow and 2 in a garden pool bungalow) while only paying full price for one night. We were able to use our Hilton points for the other 3 nights and then pay a little extra to upgrade to a better room than what Hilton points will buy you (which is just the basic, no-pool bungalow).

Overwater bungalow Hilton Moorea
Our overwater bungalow at the Hilton Moorea

We definitely wanted to spend a few nights in an overwater bungalow since it’s such a big part of the Tahiti experience but we didn’t want to pay the extravagant rates for all 4 nights, so we compromised with the last 2 nights in a more affordable garden bungalow. Luckily, even the affordable bungalows come with their own private pool!

Our overwater bungalow turned out to be just spectacular and we spent the first few hours simply gazing around in awe at the views. Eventually, we snapped out of our daze and donned swimsuits and snorkeling gear to climb down our ladder straight into the lagoon for a bit of snorkeling. The Hilton’s lagoon is a vast, waist-deep pool of clear, aquamarine water filled with colorful coral and inquisitive tropical fish. You could spend days in this lagoon and never get bored…and that’s exactly what we were looking forward to doing.

Sharks in the lagoon

That night we decided to try the Crepe Bar for dinner (a far less expensive option to the main restaurant) and as we walked down the boardwalk to the bar’s location over the water we noticed other guests staring down into the water. Curious, we joined them and discovered they were watching about a half dozen black-tip sharks swimming around under the restaurant. In the same lagoon where we just spent the afternoon snorkeling. Interesting. I’d never seen the sharks in my previous visits and they came as a bit of a shock but apparently it’s a daily thing for them to be drawn to the lights around the overwater restaurants at night. So, no night swimming…noted!

Hilton Moorea Lagoon Sharks
Sharks in the hotel lagoon where we spent the day swimming

I’m not sure how I missed the sharks before but we were both a little more hesitant getting into the lagoon the next day; though we persevered nonetheless! In my head, I rationalized that one of the top things to do in Tahiti is to swim with sharks and rays but I guess I’d prefer for that activity to take place in a more controlled environment and not outside of my bungalow.

We passed the next few days sleeping late, hitting the spa, snorkeling, kayaking and stand-up paddle-boarding and even survived the downgrade in rooms to our garden bungalow (the private pool wasn’t bad!). At night we watched sunsets and fire dancers and alternated between room service dinners and the Crepe Bar.

It was a blissful 4 days and it passed all too quickly. Before we knew it, it was time to take the ferry back over to Tahiti for our final night. With an early flight out the next day, we had no choice but to spend our last night on Tahiti so we could make it to the airport in time.

Last night in paradise

Luckily, the Le Meridien Tahiti is a nice way to ease yourself back into reality and we were surprised with a terrific upgrade to an enormous suite with a sprawling terrace. We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the pool, then watched a spectacular sunset and splurged on a romantic final night room service dinner on our terrace. The next morning, it was time to head to the airport for the long flight back to the US.

Tahiti Sunset Overwater bungalows
Our final sunset in paradise

Wrapping Up RTW #10 – An Epic Honeymoon Adventure

I can’t believe this incredible honeymoon has finally come to an end. (Though my husband assures me our honeymoon will never be over…yes, he’s adorable.) It seems like just yesterday we were saying “I do” in Tuscany, watching sunsets in Santorini, gazing in wonder at the Taj Mahal in India and crawling through tunnels along Korea’s DMZ.

And there was so, so much more in between. What an adventure this has been!

I feel a bit like I’ve run the Amazing Race three times this summer…though I got a lot more out of it than a million dollar prize. I got the world’s most amazing husband and an exciting start to a lifetime of journeys together.

Here’s hoping our next adventure is just around the corner!

View the Full Photo Gallery
Share
Pin
Tweet
Email
Print
Previous Post: « How to Spend 4 Perfect Days in New Zealand’s Brilliant Bay of Islands
Next Post: Round the World in 10 Images – A Travel Photography Exhibition »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarElvis says

    10/29/2015 at 12:31 PM

    Thanks for sharing; we (‘Cilla and I ) just celebrated 20 years and wish you the best. I left FB 6 weeks your Honeymoon ended. If evah in Boston…

    • JennyJenny says

      10/29/2015 at 9:21 PM

      Congrats to you and Cilla, that is fantastic! 🙂

Primary Sidebar

Plan your own RTW Trip!

How to Travel Around the World

Buy from Amazon Kindle

Popular Posts

Airline Miles to Tahiti

Forget Bora Bora: 3 Reasons Moorea is the Best of Tahiti

Balos Crete Greece

Things to Do in Crete Greece: The Ideal Itinerary for 5 Perfect Days

Cliffs of Moher Ireland

How to Survive Driving in Ireland (and Actually Enjoy It!)

Little Corn Island Nicaragua

The Best Caribbean Islands You’ve Never Heard Of: Nicaragua’s Corn Islands

Garden of the Gods Colorado Springs

5 Awe-Inspiring Things to Do in Colorado Springs (3 are Free!)

Pensacola Beach Florida

3 Reasons Pensacola Beach is the Best of Florida’s Emerald Coast

Bixby Bridge Big Sur California PCH

The PCH in 25 Breathtaking (& Bizarre!) Stops You’ll Adore

Kauai Best Hotels Hawaii

The Top 5 Best Things to Do in Kauai Hawaii (#1 is a Must!)

  • Privacy & Disclosure Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Jenny McIver Brocious · All Rights Reserved · Round the World in 30 Days, LLC

13