Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - How many nights/days in Moorea?

Hey guys,

I need to make a decision on itinerary around Moorea and Bora Bora

So far the airfare is locked in:

Departing 3/22 and arriving 3/23 @ 5am

Returning 3/30 (red-eye gets in 3/31 @ 9am LAX)


I'll probably be staying at the Pearl Moorea first and am trying to decide if I should do two nights or three. The reason is because I think I may want to spend more time in Bora Bora - I wanted to do 2-3 nights at IC Le Moana and the remainder at IC Thalasso (I have points to use).

In your opinion, and with such a short time frame, do you think I should cut Moorea down to two nights? I guess the other issue is that the special at the Pearl Moorea is pay for two nights get the third free...

Any advice, ideas, or opinions?

Thanks!
Jeremy

The more time you can spend at Thalasso the better. Le Moana is nice, but pales in comparison to Thalasso (IMHO of course).

Moorea is also nice enough but hands down, Thalasso takes the cake.

The more time you can spend at Thalasso the better. Le Moana is nice, but pales in comparison to Thalasso (IMHO of course).

Moorea is also nice enough but hands down, Thalasso takes the cake.

Thanks for the tip! The main things I've heard tho are that the Thalasso, though a super nice facility and well-isolated, does not have the greatest snorkeling, etc. I hear the areas around Le Moana are much better for this. Not to mention it's closer to the markets, etc. So I was thinking Le Moana in terms of convenience. I know there's a free shuttle between Thalasso and Le Moana but it seems to take a while to get there (15-20 mins) which could get annoying. From what I'm hearing though, it's totally worth the 'trouble' and isolation!? :D We'll see... with Moorea I think it's a buy two nights get one free deal so to cut my stay there to only two nights (forfeiting a free night) would probably not be the best move.

Hmmm... decisions...

We recently spent four nights each on Moorea and Bora Bora (at the Hiltons on both). I think how you divide your time depends on how you might want to spend it. If you're mainly just going to hang out at the hotel and snorkel, then perhaps two nights on Moorea and five on BB (or for that matter the entire time on BB if you have the points or cash for that). If you'd like to explore a bit in a rented car or take a tour, Moorea is better for that in that there's more to see and do. So maybe then you'd want to do three Moorea and four BB.

Also, if as I infer from your post you're traveling alone, the slightly more active Moorea scene might be preferable. In any event, be prepared to see lots of couples, because honeymoons and other romantic get-aways is what these islands are mainly about--not that the solitude of these beautiful locales isn't great if you're on your own.

One thing I'd strongly recommend is just to stay at two hotels at most. Otherwise you'll be checking in and out too much, plus on BB you can stay at the Thalasso and easily get over to La Moana anyway.

One thing I'd even more strongly recommend is getting an over-the-water bungalow if possible. It's really a special experience.

Happy trails!