La ora na!!!! Your honeymoon is a once in a lifetime event. Planning a trip, let alone your honeymoon during a global pandemic is no small undertaking. My husband and I curated a list of possible places we would want to honeymoon; and then looked at travel restrictions and if we could even feasibly get to these destinations. Luckily, planning during a pandemic meant there were deals to be had. We used Scott's Cheap Flights to find our flight to Tahiti. When we first started dating, Weston & and I placed an over-the-water bungalow stay on our bucket list. We felt this was a phenomenal time to check that one off the list! We found a killer deal on Travelzoo. When we originally browsed hotels and bungalows, we had thought we would spend half the time in the bungalow and the other half at an Airbnb. However, we found an offer on Travelzoo’s Top 20 (which comes out every Wednesday) allowing us to stay 12 nights with a daily breakfast, 2 complimentary dinners and 2 complimentary lunches.
We took the red eye out of LAX which is direct flight to Fa'a'a, Tahiti (only 8 hours). This allowed us to sleep our way across the Pacific, after our weekend of wedding festivities, and arrive at 5:30am in Tahiti. (Side note: Tahiti is in the same time zone at Hawaii so the jet lag really is minimal) We were greeted at the airport with live Tahitian music and then a quick exit through customs. They sell Tahitian leis outside of the airport. I would recommend getting one there because they didn't give us one getting off the flight or at the hotel due to the pandemic.
Protip: grab your booze (i.e. wine, liquor, snacks) at Duty Free because these items are quite pricey on Tahiti & Moorea.
The Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort on Moorea, Tahiti looks like it came straight out of a postcard. There are crystal blue waters, over-the-water bungalows, local Tahitian flare, & picturesque sunsets. We could not have dreamt of a more beautiful resort in which to spend our honeymoon. We upgraded our room to the “panoramic view” ensuring we would have an ocean view and not be looking at the shore. The resort is equipped with 3 restaurants (a Tahitian style, a crepery and a gourmet style restaurant), a pool, scuba dive school, a bar, kayaks, paddle boards, and snorkeling equipment. Additionally the bar has a nightly happy hour from 5pm-6pm where you can enjoy the sunset and get buy one get 1 free drinks. See below for some of those sunsets!
Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the French Polynesian islands were closed during the first week of our stay. This forced us to just relax and enjoy all the resort had to offer. Trust me there are worst places to be 'stuck.' I would highly recommend selecting for the daily breakfast if it's an option for your stay. It is a full buffet style with eggs made to order.
We snorkeled, kayaked, paddle boarded, relaxed at the pool, and enjoyed their daily activities.
Some of their daily activities included lei making, basket weaving, how to open a coconut, how to tie a sarong and how to make Tahitian ceviche.
We were able to leave the resort to go to the supermarket, where we stocked up on wine, liquor and snacks for our stay. One of the downsides of the resort was the price of the drinks. Each drink was $25, and didn't feel like they had a lot of booze in them. So we would either make cocktails in our room or spike the drinks at the pool or bar.
We were able to venture out to one of the most talked about hikes by visiting a local fruit stand. We got a tour of the plants and fruits that they grow like breadfruit, Tahitian vanilla and guavas.
To celebrate our 1 week anniversary, we indulged in a canoe brought breakfast and a private dinner on the beach. Yeah....we're suckers for an excuse to celebrate anything!!!!!! The memories and photos are so worth it.
They even took me out on the canoe while they set up the breakfast. And Weston had a lei and headpiece made since we didn't get one at the airport.
Thankfully, after our first week, the islands opened up to guests and locals alike. Below is our itinerary:
Day 1: Breakfast at the resort, learn how to make Tahitian ceviche and a jet ski adventure allowing us to swim with the stingrays & sharks (a 2-hour adventure, but they guide never makes you feel rushed, or that it MUST end in 2 hours). For dinner we adventured off the property...finally...to Rudy's. It came highly recommended! The restaurants send cars to pick you up from the resort, which is a real bonus because a taxi is quite expensive (about $50 round trip). The Parrot fish stuffed with crab was probably the best thing we ate our entire trip. I would highly recommend checking this place out for a great meal! Also, added bonus, they had live music playing while we dined.
Day 2 (Boozy TUEZYday): We started the day with a basket weaving class, then grabbed drinks by the pool. The Spicy Moorea became our go-to and absolute favorite cocktail.
We heard so much about the Moorea Beach Club...AKA the Veuve Clicquot themed bar in Tahiti. Champagne, lunch on the water, and decorated all in orange. Count us in! We started with some cocktails: Weston got a gin-based drink, and I got the margarita. My margarita came in a shaker bottle that I swear still held an entire additional drink. This is the best bang for your buck. We ordered the ceviche, a flatbread pizza and of course a magnum bottle of Veuve champagne. Nothing we ordered disappointed. The staff was extremelu helpful, the views were incredible, and the food was super yummy!
Protip: the restaurants schedule complementary pickups from the hotels on the island. Inquire with your concierge to set it up.
Day 3: We had a "whale" of a time! This was advertised as "whale watching". In my head, I am thinking, I can do that off the coast of California with a Groupon for around $13. What they didn't advertise is your ability to swim with the humpback whales. No other country in the world allows boats to get as close to whales as Tahiti. The boat floats about 100 yards from the whales, allowing you to snorkel near the whales. There is nothing like being about 10 feet away from a very curious 1-ton whale calf. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and I would HIGHLY recommend it.
Day 4: Come on Barbie…let's go party!!!! If you wanted to live out your childhood dream of driving around in a little convertible jeep, touring and exploring a tropical island, this is the place to do it. We rented a red manual, mini jeep for the day. Honestly, the best way to see the island. With no stops it only takes about 45 mins to circle the island of Moorea. Taxis on Moorea are very expensive, as is renting a car; so for about $120 you can have a set of wheels to get around. We stopped and shopped, did the 'Āfareaitu Waterfall hike, had lunch on the water and just cruised around with the top down blasting our tunes. With the island being shut down during the first week, having a little freedom and wind in our hair felt amazing!
For dinner, the concierge set us up at a traditional Tahitian dinner spot, called Te Honu Iti, located on Cook's Bay. The servers feed the sharks and rays so that they come right up next to your table while you are eating. Oddly, their math isn't great, as the wine by the bottle was more expensive as getting a single glass. Definitely worth the trip to eat by the water and watch the sharks and rays.
Day 5: We rented a little Vespa scooter to cruise the island on. A super quick and fun way to get around Moorea and is also cheaper than renting the Jeep. We rode it to Belvedere lookout which has some phenomenal views of all of Moorea and the clear blue ocean surrounding the island. I would recommend also stopping to have lunch at one of the "Snack" restaurants along the roadside. You will find more traditional food as well as the locals eating out which is much rarer at dinner.
All around this was a phenomenal place to honeymoon for us! I would highly recommend to any couple!!! It truly is a couple's paradise!!!
Cheers,
Slayplayrose
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