Post #232902 by BettyBleu on Fri, May 19, 2006 1:12 PM

If you go to Moorea, check in at the Bali Hai Hotel at cocktail time. In the 50s, these three California boys (the BaliHai Boys) bought the land hoping to run a sugar planation (but they failed) and turned it into a hotel with the lovely overwater bungalows... two of the original boys are still living and used to come out to the bar at cocktail hours and spin tales about the last 50 years on Moorea.

Supposedly there are two great tikis on Moorea - one at the Bali Hai and the other in a private historic plantation (the current owner supposedly opens her house to tours - tho I waited forever with a bunch of eager tourists and she never materialzed to open the gate). If memory serves, one was stolen years back. They managed to locate it and bring it back. Big fiasco - great story.

Locals are very friendly except to the French. The Tiki Village is fun. There is a bar not too far away where the locals hang out and sing traditional songs. Reserve for dinner at the Te Honu Iti and ask for a table over the water or the Linareva floating restaurant. Both expensive but worth it. They'll pick you up for free if your hotel is far away.

Very fun to rent bikes but you have to be pretty healthy to use it as your only mode of transport. There's a beautiful public white sand beach where you can go topless is you want to. The sun is rougher than it looks, so be generous with the sunscreen.

Go shark diving!! I did. Amazing.

Skip Tahiti. Didn't make it to Bora Bora but I hear its even better than Moorea (which is pretty great)