Tahiti felt like a combination of Easter Island and Hawaii.  It is different and definitely a tropical escape.  A French tropical escape…as many people don’t speak English and knowing French makes a huge difference in navigating your way around the local shops, markets, etc.  Like Hawaii…things definitely move at a different pace than your favorite high tech city!

We chose to stay at the Le Meridien which is a little further away from the main areas and a half hour away from the airport.  It was very mellow and not full of American tourists waiting night to catch a cruise ship the next day.

There are more fancy resorts around and near Bora Bora, but they are simply overpriced.  Explore carefully and you will be surprised on the good deals you can find.

Quiet, scenic and a great place to read a book along the side of the ocean.  Now, do not waste the money for these over the water rooms at the Le Meriden.  They are over public beach and lots of kids can run around below and dive off the docks that can be quite annoying if you paid $400 a night.

We ended the evening of listening to a local concert at our hotel from our room balcony.  It was by Tony Lindsay which I understand is a lead vocalist for Santana.  Nice evening…and of course it was spent enjoying a $11 bottle of 2009 Bordeaux that we bought from the local grocery 🙂 . The French wines are the most popular here …the overpriced CA Cabernet wines are not to be found here…

P.S. In general, alcohol is pretty pricey in Tahiti, but the local beer (Hinano) is actually not a bad biere (have to use French 🙂 ) that goes well with some of the local foods.

See more of our adventures around the island here and some exploring here.