Fiji. Hut over water

Old May 14, 2017, 8:43 am
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Fiji. Hut over water

We would like to fulfill a life long dream of staying in a hut/villa over the water, as in the atypical Bora Bora picture, but without paying Bora Bora prices.

Ideal budget would be <$500 per day, but could be a little more if needed. Does not need to be luxurious digs, but water/snorkelling/swimming/beach are important.

Any suggestions, experiences, pitfalls, advice?

TIA
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Old May 15, 2017, 4:44 pm
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Haven't seen any overwater accom in Fiji for under USD 1000 per day, it is very limited supply. You can probably get cheaper in off-season or after a big storm, but that kind of defeats the point of this style of vacation. Fiji is cheap on Denerau for mass-market luxury accom (think Waikiki without the shops or beach), but not cheap for the boutique resorts. If you just want great snorkelling/water, without the over-water hut, then much cheaper and readily availalble for $500 in out islands, check out Cousteau resort for example.
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Old May 16, 2017, 2:37 am
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Pitfalls? I've been to a number that advertise as 5 star but were not 5 star. Check carefully and read lots of reviews.
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Old May 16, 2017, 2:42 am
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Just googled over water bungalow at Likuliku which was US $1433. Agree its hard to find under 1000
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Old May 17, 2017, 1:21 am
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Also I have never seen non-luxury over-water huts, doesn't mean they don't exist but the hassle of running a hotel like that means it is done at the luxury high-end for the most part. Locals don't live in over-water huts if they can avoid it
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Old May 17, 2017, 8:21 am
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Thank you for the replies.
I can well imagine the locals avoid it!!
My partner has this life long dream of staying in a hut over the water and life will be incomplete without Seems that it needs to be a Bora Bora or such and pay more. Fortunately we can afford more, would just prefer to pay less if possible.

if anyone has recommendations for Bora Bora, Tahiti, Moorea, I am all ears.
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Old May 17, 2017, 11:42 am
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Fiji

We have been to Fiji once and return to Tahiti for our 5th time in July. We love the Paul Gauguin Cruise out of Tahiti. We have also stayed on Moorea 4 times. The Hilton on Moorea has great overwater bungalows and spectacular snorkeling. If you get the credit card with 2 weekend nights free you can get those nights and then pay about $150 per night to upgraded to an overwater bungalow. The credit card also give you HHonors gold status which then includes breakfast for 2 ($30pp value) at no cost.

The French Polynesia region is really pricey. Moorea is the only island you can access via an inexpensive 30-45 minute ferry ride from Tahiti. All other islands require a pricey interisland flight.
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Old May 18, 2017, 10:37 am
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Originally Posted by flightmedic
We have been to Fiji once and return to Tahiti for our 5th time in July. We love the Paul Gauguin Cruise out of Tahiti. We have also stayed on Moorea 4 times. The Hilton on Moorea has great overwater bungalows and spectacular snorkeling. If you get the credit card with 2 weekend nights free you can get those nights and then pay about $150 per night to upgraded to an overwater bungalow. The credit card also give you HHonors gold status which then includes breakfast for 2 ($30pp value) at no cost.

The French Polynesia region is really pricey. Moorea is the only island you can access via an inexpensive 30-45 minute ferry ride from Tahiti. All other islands require a pricey interisland flight.
Thank you FM, I'll look into the CC. Hoping it is available to Canadians
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Old Jun 27, 2017, 6:36 am
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Not sure if you've booked yet, but was at Momi Bay earlier - amazing over-the-water bungalows without Tahiti/Maldives prices:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...sort-momi-bay/ - click Rooms - Over the water bure

Definitely worth checking out! I had a Royal Lagoon Bure, not an over the water, but it was still pretty amazing and I'd go back there in a heartbeat.

Restaurant (Fish) was spectacular and the breakfast was fantastic. Just a relaxing place.
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Old Jun 28, 2017, 8:55 am
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Originally Posted by bhatnasx
Not sure if you've booked yet, but was at Momi Bay earlier - amazing over-the-water bungalows without Tahiti/Maldives prices:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...sort-momi-bay/ - click Rooms - Over the water bure

Definitely worth checking out! I had a Royal Lagoon Bure, not an over the water, but it was still pretty amazing and I'd go back there in a heartbeat.

Restaurant (Fish) was spectacular and the breakfast was fantastic. Just a relaxing place.
Thank you for that.

I should have checked back before. We ended up booking on Monday, fours days in Istanbul followed by seven days in the Maldives at Centara Ras Fushi.

We decided Maldives over South Pacific as we are constantly going to NZ to see family and wanted a trip that had nothing to do with family. Neither one of us have been to IST or Maldives before, so it is more of an adventure. Booked TK Business Class (some segs on AC).
The resort was chosen over others thanks to FT input from the Maldives threads, Tripadvisor, our agent, price, all inclusive for food etc.

Thanks to everyone here for their input.
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 5:19 am
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IST is great though fallen on hard times these days, and about as far as you can get from an over water hut in the South Pacific. Maldives has its good and bad points, but personally I have chosen to boycott due to the oppressive government there. It ranks at the bottom of the world freedom index, along with Libya. Your tourism spend will be put to good use.
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