Would appreciate some guidance re: Motu day. We've always enjoyed "privare island" days on other cruises, and have heard great things about the Paul Gauguin Motu day. However, Taha'a also looks intefresting and Regent has a 3 1/2 hr tour. Should I scuttle the tour and spend al day on Motu, or is it enough Motu to do i in afternoon only after lunch?

Also, for the Raiatea day, should I skip seeing that island and spend the day on Bruno's tour and Motu (which is in and around Taha'a).

Any ideas would be appreciated.

I am lucky enough to have done the 7-day FP cruise on the PG four times, once back to back. On the first cruise we spent the whole day on the Taha'a motu, and since have never even considered doing anything else on that day: we wouldn't want to miss a minute of this fabulous event.

Of course, different people have different tastes. Your mileage may vary.

-- David

I agree with David regarding the Taha'a motu. We've done the 7-day back to back and the 10 day with a day at Taha'a. We've never seen any other part of that island. For me, nothing can beat a perfect day at a private beach with all the amenities.

You didn't ask about Bora Bora but we loved the motu private beach there also. Try to save at least 1/2 a day for that. We gave it a full day on two occasions.

We have done exactly the same PG itineraries that Kathy has done, and we agree 100 percent. You can't beat the Taha'a motu experience, and the Bora Bora experience is also great. Perhaps if weather were a factor, we might consider doing an excursion at Taha'a. But bad enough weather to ruin the motu experience is very unlikely, and if it occurred, I'm not sure how pleasant the excursion would be anyway.

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Eugene

I agree - both the Taha'a and Bora Bora motus are MUST DOs. These were two of the best days of my entire life. We were fortunate enough to have perfect weather for these fabulous days!

I have stayed out of this, although I posted a reply over at CC on the same subject.

The whole day at Motu Mahana is special. The lovely breeze, the water, the palm trees, you can choose your spot, depending on whether you like it cool or warm. The food is wonderful, the drinks deadly!

The snorkelling is nice, although I saw coral damage last time. And there are lots of sea urchins further out. But it's safe snorkelling, for the most part.

Most of our Pip group missed the best of the Bora Bora motu, because the weather was very windy--one day it was cancelled completely, and the other day was uncomfortable (I went, briefly.) The next week was perfect--I went over for an afternoon and just lay on my towel and relaxed on the perfect white sand, and absolute quiet, swam with my floaty, and snorkelled. The snorkelling is more challenging there, you have to go out into deep water, and there can be current, so you have to be a good swimmer. But there are some great coral outcroppings to find.

You can still get a pina colada, and water. Just not alot of partying going on. Great phot opportunity for BB! Oh, and if you're lucky, one of the beautiful young tender drivers will be surfing behind the tender on the way over.