We are sailing on the PG in December. This will be our first trip to French Polynesia. Our excursions open for booking soon and I'm interested in getting any suggestions you have. We enjoy snorkeling, and I enjoy scenery, history, and learning about things in general but my husband Grant can get restless with bus tours when there are active options. We want to relax and not overdo it on the trip but we don't want to miss any of the very best things either! So here's what we are considering:

Sunday - Raiatea - either the Raiatea Lagoon & Snorkeling (which circles the island of Raiatea) or the Snorkel & Black Pearl Farm Adventure which goes to Taha'a. I'm sure both are great, but which to choose??

Tuesday - Bora Bora - Shark & Ray Feeding in the AM, motu in the PM (is there any benefit to doing either of these BB excursions on one day vs the other?)

Wednesday - Bora Bora - Off Road Adventure in the AM, motu in the PM

Thursday - Moorea - Lagoon Discovery with Snorkeling - PM

Friday - Moorea - Dolphin Watching Expedition - AM

I've read most of the reports on this board and others and appreciate all the information I've gained, which helped me come up with this list. If there are any suggestions or hints I'd welcome any input.

Thanks!
Dena

Dena
We just returned from the 1 Oct PG sailing. While we were more focused on the scuba diving, our on-board friends attended many of the activities you have listed above.

Raiatea - Many did the Black Pearl Farm adventure. We had originally signed up for a dive so did not take advantage of this, however, I would have selected this had we not been diving. Another guest did this and said it was ok, however, she felt the farm they visited in Bora Bora last year was better. However, if you know nothing about black pearls I think this would be great.

DO NOT MISS Motu Mahana on Monday. We were on the first shuttle and took the last shuttle back -- You will feel like you are in paradise.

Bora Bora - Off Road Adventure is Great but VERY off road. Take water - it was very hot and humid. Reports from on-board friends that Shark and Ray feeding was GREAT and all the men were really excited. EVERYONE was disappointed with the Motu (following Motu Mahana).

Moorea - I may be wrong but I believe they do the Lagoon discover and snorkeling near the Lagoonarium. There should be a lot of sea life there. Do not know anyone who did the Dolphin Watching, however, we did see some off the bow of the ship when we were entering Cooks Bay.

If your husband likes adventure, you may want to take advantage of the Waverunners either on Bora Bora or Moorea. It is pricey, however, my husband is very glad I signed us up. they are two-person waverunners and although I was very nervous, you see a totally different perspective of the island.

Hope this helps. You will have a great time no matter what you choose!

Dena -

Do not book anything the day of the Motu - it was so wonderful. I had a spa appointment and regretted that I had made it for the Motu day and I left early for it. It was a great treament (Body Scrub and Massage with sunflower seed paste!) Don't forget to bring a blow up float for the motu.

My favorite two excursions were the Aqua Safari and the Photo Excursion on Moorea and third was the Lagoonarium on Bora Bora. The Lagoonarium included a canoe (motorized) ride completely around the island. Heaven!!!

Nice first post silvernt - welcome to the boards.

To each his own, I think the BB motu is beautiful, but it's just a white sand beach with really nice water and some good snorkelling. Good for vegging out. It was too windy there the first week of Pip.

I've done the circle Raiatea trip, and I've done the 4x4, outrigger canoe combo. On balance, I think the latter is better for the first-timer. It's not a bus tour, so you are close to the plantations you drive through, and the river cruise is fun and interesting. Plus you get to see a very large ancient temple. But the other trip is great too, but be aware you will be in a boat most of the time (with a terrific half hour of snorkelling in the middle.)

I love the shark and ray feeding on BB, and the 4x4, I think the choice with the motu is that the snorkelling trip is only offered one day in the morning, so they overlap the other day.

Do the dolphin trip, it's great, you will see lots of beautiful scenery. Be aware, however, that there is a chance you will not see dolphins. But in December, it may be whale season, so there's that to think aboutl

silvernt, welcome to lct! Always good to have a recent cruiser's perspective. Wandra, Kathy may have been writing about the Motu day on the private island? and not BB. If so, the BB motu is not as good as the other, in my opinion.

First, I am sorry I did not realize that it was Silvernt's first post! Welcome to LCT. We have an introduction section. Please feel free to post a bit about you so we can direct our posts your way!

Also, I was referring to the Tahaa motu, not the BB motu day, which we missed due to winds. Oh well, that was when we did the AquaSafari, which has made me want to take up diving next time.

Ooops, me neither! Yes, welcome to LCT Silvernt. Fun place - most of us are addicted to the boards but refuse recovery programs!!

Of course, the Taha'a motu day is not to be missed, and is fabulous in every way. I was just pointing out that the beach at the Bora Bora motu is very nice, the swimming really good, the view of BB spectacular, and the snorkelling quite nice as well.

All, thanks for welcoming me. I am preparing a trip report, but it's not quite done yet. I got lots of good information from this board prior to our trip so hopefully I will be able to help others in return.

Dena,

Just to complicate your choice for Sunday, I really enjoyed the "Faaroa River and Island Exploration". We went on this excursion mainly for the stop at Marae Taputapuatea, but ended up enjoying all aspects of it ---the motorized outrigger canoe ride on the Faaroa River and the 4x4 jeep ride to the interior of the island. The guides were very interesting. But, there's no snorkeling, which I know you said you were wanting to do a lot.

I agree with those who enjoy the Bora Bora motu. In many ways, I enjoyed it more than Mahana --- better beach, not as crowded, better swimming, spectacular view. Key is to have the blow-up rafts as there are no chairs. There is a nice coral formation for snorkeling. Your plan for the Bora Bora Off Road Adventure in the morning on Wednesday is good, rather than in the afternoon. It won't be as hot. Then you can enjoy the motu again in the afternoon.

Also, we really enjoyed the Trails of the Ancients Trek with archaeologist Mark Eddowes on Moorea. It includes a stop at the Belvedere lookout which, if it's not foggy, is a great view of the sacred mountain Rotui and the two bays. The "trek" is a walk through the jungle to various ancient sites (although some have not been excavated). Stay close to Mark as to not miss any of his narration. The walk is through some rough terrain and quite fast-paced! It was very interesting if you want to learn some of the history/culture/and traditions of the islands. But, again, no snorkeling.

The decisions about what to do are tough to make. But, whatever you end up doing, I think you'll have a wonderful time.

Dena - Regarding the Bora Bora motu I would agree with Wendy and seadog in reporting that I loved it. It is different from Motu Mahana in that it does not have all the comforts of home. But it is so beautiful and relaxing there. You'll just have to do each of the motus (Taha'a & Bora Bora) as you planned to find out for yourself. We've done both of them on both trips and they were all our favorite days of those cruises.

Of the 2 choices you were leaning towards on Raiatea we've done them both and preferred the Lagoon & Snorkeling. I have to admit that we are addicted to snorkeling so we chose those tours every time. You can learn about black pearl farming from the boutique's presentation onboard the ship one evening before dinner. (Admittedly it's not quite the same as being at an actual pearl farm, but the information covered was the same.)

We loved the Shark & Ray Feeding on Bora Bora. We've also done the Land & Sea Excursion there since we figured the full 4 x 4 tour would be too bumpy for us. We liked the Land & Sea and got great photo shots back down to the lagoon from the sites where we stopped in the hills.

We were unfortunate when we went on the Dolphin watching excursion. Did not spot a single dolphin or whale (in 2004 when it was whale season on our cruise). We did a back to back cruise last year and on our second week at Moorea we went on the Lagoon Discovery with Snorkeling and in addition to good snorkeling we spotted dolphins and whales.

You'll have a wonderful time whatever you choose.

Don't miss the Underwater walk - like snorkeling only at the bottom of the lagoon, with many larger fish. We also loved the lagoonarium and the snorkeling trip in Moorea where I got the best pictures. We swam with the rays and sharks and really had a great time. Do take an underwater camera. My wife took the photography trip on Moorea and thought it was OK but over priced at $125.

Wow, I'm going to have to copy this entire thread and save it somewhere, given that I have a year before I have to think about what excursions I want to take. GREAT info!

Thanks, everyone, for this terrific information. It is so great to have the perspectives of those who have been there and done it. Have also been considering the underwater walk/aqua safari and the walk with Mark Eddowes sounds very good too! Everything sounds great...so hard to choose...

The good news is that it sounds like there are few bad choices. I think I've already decided we will need to return in order to see and do what we miss the first time...

Silvernt - thanks for the info, look forward to seeing your trip report. Welcome aboard!

Thanks again, I really appreciate the very informative responses.

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Dena