Tips on visiting French Polynesia
1. Direct flights from SFO to PPT (Tahiti) for about a little over 8 hours. Once you get out of the PPT, turn right and you will see an ATM at the end where you can get some local currency. As of June 4, 2022, the exchange rate to US is about USD$1 = XPF 111 which is very good for people coming from US as it's usually about USD$1 = XPD 100
2. After getting money from ATM, walk to the curb and there are lots of taxis waiting in line. Hop on the first one and the ride from the airport to Hilton Tahiti is about XPF2200. Our taxi driver was really nice and only charged us XPF2000. Taxis have a meter, so you can see the price.
3. Hilton Tahiti is very nice and breakfast starts at 6:30 am but we had an early flight to Bora Bora, so had to miss the breakfast on our second day. We stayed there for 2 nights as we wanted to visit Moorea. We took a taxi to the ferry station which was about XPF 1500 and is in the opposite direction from the airport. We then went to the far right to buy the ferry tickets from Aremiti Ferry. One way tickets to Moorea was XPF 1650. Ferry ride is about 35 minutes. The ferry looks very nice and clean. There are 2 ferry companies which are Aremiti and Terevau. We didn't take Terevau, so couldn't say much about the ferry but I heard that it's a little cheaper.
4. Booked a local tour in Moorea from Viator and the tour guide picked us up from the ferry station in Moorea. Took us around in his 4x4 truck and it was fun. Suggest to take a local tour as the places that they took us is hard to find and very steep at some of the places, so don't feel comfortable driving ourselves.
5. Bought ferry tickets on the way back from Moorea to Tahiti. Couldn't find a taxi at the ferry station in Tahiti, so walked back to the hotel. Luckily, it wasn't too far, too us maybe less than 30 minutes to walk back.
6. Also, most shops are closed on Sunday as it's their family time. So, make sure to buy your snacks and dirnks before that.
7. On the way from PPT (Tahiti) to BOB (Bora Bora) which is about 45 minutes, the flight on Air Tahiti is open seating, so first come first served. Try to queue up early and sit on the left hand side of the plane facing forward. Also, either sit on the first 4 rows or last few rows but not in the middle as the propeller of the plane will block some of your views.
8. On the way back from BOB to PPT, try to sit on the right hand side of the plane.
9. While in our hotel in Bora Bora (Conrad Bora Bora), we took their boat shuttle to the main island of Bora Bora. There is a small market called Chin Lee selling snacks and drinks near the Vaitape ferry dock which is a 5 minute walk towards the left and a pharmacy a couple of stores forward. We also rent a car from Avis Bora Bora next to the Vaitape ferry dock. Make sure to check that the car you rent is automatic not manual if you are like us who don't know how to drive a manual car. We didn't know about it and was shocked when we first got the rental car. We had to go back to them and asked for an automatic car. Luckily, they have 1 left.
10. The main island of Bora Bora is not that big and takes a little over an hour to drive around. There are not many signs on the island, so we had to guess where we were. Best advice is to have a offline map or printed copy of where to go. We didn't rent any pocket wifi, so had no wifi to look for directions.
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