Help with itinerary for PG

Hi, we are sailing on the 7 day society islands. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on which excursions to take it any or anything they discovered on the islands that is a must see.

Is there anything we should bring along to enhance our experience on this trip??

Also, did you have to spend alot of extra cash on the trip? What is a good amount to have?

Thanks in advance:)

Tough to answer your question since everyone likes different things.

Raiatea: We did the outrigger up the river then 4x4 excursion.

It was fine but did get a little long. Nothing open in town because it is Sunday.

TAHAA: Don't miss this!! Get on the first tender and come back on the last!

Hey it is free and this excursion is worth the whole trip.

Bora Bora: 1st day we did the 4x4 tour which was fantastic.

2nd day we did the free Beach party which was fun.

MOOREA: Beautiful Island We did sight seeing

PAPEETE: When we were there they offered a free bus tour of the island which stopped at the Paul Gauguin gallery which is weak. Now a lot of people think it is a waste of time. We thought it was a good way to see some of the island and you are just waiting anyway for the flight home.

Think about taking a tote n float or similar air mattress for your motu beach days. Great for just lazing in the water. Cheap enough to buy and then we gave them to friends we met onboard that were staying on for a back to back. No need to pack up and drag back home. I think they passed them on too. We also found that water shoes came in real handy. When not wearing our fins....... we didn't really like the idea of stepping on sea urchins or coral in bare feet. Make sure you are up on deck as the ship comes into Cooks Bay.......what a magnifigant sight!..... and go to the Southern Cross Constellation viewing held one evening. Ask when you get on board if they are still doing that. That was one of the highlights we remember from the PG. Not many times do you get to view stars like that.......only in the southern hemisphere and very romantic too.

Pat

Water shoes are mandatory. I brought two pair so one set was always dry and wore them everyday.

Bora Bora I highly recommend the catamaran and the waverunner excursions. The latter for sure if you only want to pick one.

Agree 100% on the private motu in Ta'haa. We could have easily spent two days there. We too brought a blow up float but never used it. We were too busy on the free of charge kayaks and walking out to the coral reef. Not a bad idea though if you think you'll use them. Great idea to pass them on!

We also did the underwater helmet walk in Moorea and liked that a lot. The only excursion we did that I didn't love was the dolphin watching b/c I was a little put off by the guide.

I don't think you can go wrong. Enjoy!! You're in for the trip of a lifetime.

what kind of water shoes? the slip on kind like you can get at the drugstore or something more like a pair of Tevas?

Why do you walk on the coral?

Is there other options at the motus to choose from or is that something everyone does??

thanks in advance!

We don't think Pat was suggesting a walk on coral, however, there are chunks of dead coral and lava rock on the bottom in certain areas and motu mahana is loaded with black spiny sea urchin, so aqua shoes with a protective sole make lots of sense.

Monday will be motu mahana, however morning excursions are also offered to the vanila Island of Tahaa.

The $5.00 reef shoes worked just fine. We had one person wore

sandels and thought that was great.

Candagal is right I forgot to mention taking along a air mattress.

Find the cheapest thing you can. At Tahaa you can use it if you want to in the water. They have nice beach chairs availible. (That is why you take the 1st tender so you can get the best ones).

At the Bora Bora beach day it really works as there are no chairs and it made it nice to lay on, as well as use in the water.

Oh by the way.

On Tahaa you will find vendors selling pearls. On our cruise we found them to be the most reasonable of any place we stopped. I hope others can comment more about that.

We bought pearls in Moorea at the Black Pearl Gem Company and were very happy with the quality, service, and even the cost. They have US representation, which my friend already used, and they take off the VAT up front so you never pay it (just drop some paperwork off at the airport, takes 2 minutes). They picked us up at the ferry (we had stayed in Tahiti three days post cruise and took the ferry to Moorea one of the days) and brought us back, after we had done some additional shopping at Le Petite Village so we didn't have the cost of a taxi or renting a car which was a nice bonus. They also have a very soft sell which I loved.

What was it about the dolphin quide that turned you off?

Sounds like a cool experience??

thanks in advance!

Trvlbug,

If it was Poole dolphin watch, he's a zoologist, very serious about his trade. Quite an environmental proselytizer, which could be off-putting. I've done this trip twice, and liked him.

Take 2 bathing suits, at least. And I would take casual sandals as well as the water shoes. Also, a t-shirt for snorkelling so that your back does not get burnt. And others advise taking a bug repellant--I have never had a problem with this.

I've done this cruise 4 times (last time was a b2b.) All the excursions are great. Make sure to get up to the Belvedere on Moorea, the view is great. Last time we rented a car on Moorea and bopped around the island on our own for the afternoon. My all-time favourites:

- Shark and Ray feeding on Bora Bora

- 4x4 trips on both BB and Moorea

- river cruise and 4x4 on Raiatea

- circle island and snorkel (but the boat ride around the island is long, and the snorkelling, although spectacular is only about a half hour)

- Dr. Poole's dolphin watch on Moorea (although sometimes you don't see dolphins--however Moorea is so spectacularly beautiful that it doesn't much matter)

- if you're a sailor, the sailing trip on Raiatea (my husband did this, and got to sail the boat into harbour, he was thrilled)

- Coral preservation trip on BB (expensive, but worth it, and it's exclusive--only about 8 people)

I'll concur on the Black Pearl Gem company too, great quality, very reliable. You get the whole week to slaver over their stuff on the ship, then when you get to Moorea, they have a free shuttle bus to their store, and they are very nice.

Thanks for the input on the Black Pearl Gem Company. This will be our second trip to FP. We purchased gift pearls in Papeete thinking a better price etc. than on board the ship. Not the case............buyer beware! I now feel confident that the representation on board is of quality, failly priced and a good venue that we will persue our second time to this beautifu part of this world.

JUst my personal experience and thoughts............!

Trvlbug, I agree with Wendy about Dr Poole. Very interesting man and is totally dedicated to Dolphins. We didn't see many, but he still made it a great tour with his knowledge of the islands. If you do the waverunners, I'd recommend doing it on Bora instead of Moorea. On Bora, we stopped for coconuts and a couple more times to swim. Also saw lots of Stingrays. We also like the 4x4 on Bora. Belvedere on Moorea is a good trip too. Have a great cruise.

Dan

Thanks for your input. So far we booked the waverunner on BB and the land and sea safari snorkel adventure. Im so excited I can hardly sleep!!