Tahiti: A Different Tempo

Swim in a fish-filled lagoon, take a jeep safari through the islands’ lush interiors or enjoy enchanting landscapes from your private villa on a sun-drenched beach. Whether you do everything or nothing at all, a honeymoon in Tahiti is proof that you don’t need to wait until the next life to experience paradise.
Snorkel in the warm azure waters of the lagoon, head to the spa for a coconut and avocado body scrub and an exotic flower bath, or relax on the deck of your private over water bungalow and order another tropical fruit cocktail?

Rarely does life present us with such deliciously difficult decisions. And after months of hectic wedding planning, these are the only sorts of decisions you and your new husband will want to make. For a honeymoon that is truly sublime, head northeast towards the equator until you find Tahiti and its 118 islands.

Scattered across five far-flung archipelagos and covering four million square kilometres of ocean, Bride had the enviable task of sampling this corner of the South Pacific. After a week in this land of warm waters, tropical weather, rich culture and delectable cuisine, we know why it is such a coveted honeymoon destination.

Gateway to the archipelago

As our Air Tahiti Nui plane descends towards Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, a collective gasp rolls through the cabin. Emerging from the emerald sea are cloud-draped mountains, plunging valleys and pristine beaches which appear to run on forever. And if the beauty of the scenery isn’t welcome enough, the warmth of the locals is.

Tahiti is renowned for the hospitality of its people. On arrival at our hotel, the InterContinental Resort Tahiti, we are greeted with song and the sounds of the ukulele and guitar. Smiling Polynesian women in traditional dress entertain us with traditional dancing and swathe us with colourful garlands of flowers featuring Tahiti’s national flower, the tiare.

A great place to commence your Tahitian sojourn, Tahiti offers visitors numerous treasures including a bustling market where you will discover multi-coloured pareos (sarongs), local handcrafts and luscious vanilla soaps and lotions.

During our stay, the sun rarely leaves the sky and the breeze barely rouses the flat crystal waters. While this is a typical day for this part of the world - the temperature varies between 26 and 28 degrees all year round - our guide warns us of the occasional bout of tropical rain. However, all is not lost if it does rain as there are scores of art and history museums waiting to be explored. Particularly worth a visit is the Paul Gauguin Museum. Located in a spacious garden, the museum is a memorial to the artist famed for his portrayal of island life.

If your idea of a honeymoon involves activity and adventure, you will be hard pressed to find a more extreme excursion than a climb through the lava tubes of Hitiaa. Situated on the rocky east coast, volcanic eruptions have forged channels through the rock. Over time, these have been penetrated by water and stunning waterfalls gush through the eroded sections. You will need a reliable pair of shoes, a guide that knows the area and some quiet determination.

After our extreme hiking experience, it is time to chill out. We fell in love with the laid-back Polynesian approach to life at the InterContinental Resort Tahiti. With two infinity pools, a swim-up bar, dancing shows and choice of restaurants and cuisines, it rarely gets much better than this.

Moreish Moorea

Bidding the mainland farewell, we take a 45-minute ferry ride to the island of Moorea - Tahiti’s sister island.

Moorea looks good enough to eat. Literally! On a four-wheel-drive trip around the island, we sample the plentiful papayas, mangoes, wild bananas, breadfruit, limes and watermelons that thrive in the volcanic soil. But the pick of the island’s fruit salad is the deliciously sweet pineapple. Best sampled straight off the plant, our guide tells us the sugar content is so high they turn bad within 48 hours. This explains why you won’t find them in your local supermarket and is all the more reason to devour as many as your tummy can handle.

Stop at one of the many black pearl boutiques scattered throughout Moorea. While your new husband might think wedding and engagement rings are all the jewellery a woman needs, you can’t go home without a Tahitian pearl encircling your finger or dripping from your neck. Unique to the pristine lagoon habitat, the pearls come in a range of colours such as aubergine, reddish-bronze, shimmering green or steel grey.

Moorea is also the home of the InterContinental Resort Moorea’s Dolphin Centre, which is located amid the lush surrounds of the InterContinental Beachcomber Resort’s estate. You will touch, play and communicate with these magnificent creatures in the shallows of the lagoon before donning a diving mask to observe their grace underwater. Your guide will teach you all about these intelligent mammals and will provide you with a souvenir photo of you and your new flippered friends.

After a tough day playing with dolphins, snorkelling, jet-skiing or scuba diving, you can mollify your muscles with a deep tissue massage or a soothing wrap at Moorea’s Hélène Spa. The spa treatments take advantage of Tahiti’s plentiful flowers, fruits and plants and are freshly prepared with oils and exotic essences. For a particularly opulent treatment, soak in a traditional Tahitian flower bath set in the green surrounds of one of the spa’s private treatment rooms.

The lagoons of Bora Bora

It pains us to leave Moorea. That is, until our light plane lands in Bora Bora. With its sparkling lagoons in all hues of blue, velvety sand and coral gardens filled with rainbow coloured fish, Bora Bora is indisputably Tahiti’s most beautiful island.

The island is best experienced from the vantage point of your own over water bungalow. We stayed at InterContinental Moana Beach Resort where each bungalow boasts a glass-bottomed coffee table, which can be opened up allowing you to feed bread to the many fish that swarm beneath.

Lash out and order room service, which is brought to your private deck on an outrigger canoe. Then spend the day exploring the lagoons by canoe, snorkelling or people-watching from a hammock strung between towering coconut trees.

For a memorable experience, take a boat trip to a nearby sandbar where you can hand feed stingray in waist-deep water. Despite what you expect, stingrays rarely sting. And the feeling of these metre-wide grey beauties slipping and sliding up your legs is indescribable. If you are brave enough, offer a morsel of raw fish and watch as one gently accepts it from your fingers.

From there, ask your guide to take you to the deeper waters for some manta ray spotting. Our guide throws fresh meat into the water before directing us to jump in and see the fish. We oblige and join the thousands of fish that come to feed. Our fun is short-lived, however, as we look down and see 10 to 12 sharks circling below. Despite our guide’s assurances that reef sharks are not partial to human flesh, our heartbeats don’t slow until we are back aboard the safety of our boat.

Even if water sports are not usually your thing, be sure to take a jet ski tour around the island. At first terrifying, you will soon by shrieking with delight as you master the powerful machines. After a few hours bouncing over the waves of the lagoon, we guarantee you will be a petrol head by the time your tour is over.

After all this aquatic activity you will be hungry. A traditional Tahitian picnic on a motu - the Tahitian word for 'little island' - is a must. While we swim in the turquoise water, local chefs cook a feast fit for royalty. And as you might expect in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, seafood is on the menu.

Cooked in earth ovens, we savour fresh and fleshy perch, parrotfish, barracuda, mahi-mahi and more, flavoured with Tahiti’s famous vanilla beans and soused in creamy coconut milk. Following the old ‘when in Rome’ adage, we eat with our hands from hand-woven vine leaf plates. Food seems to taste even better in paradise.

And while on the topic of Tahitian cuisine, be sure to visit the island’s best-known restaurant Bloody Mary’s. With its sandy floor, tree-stump seating and fire lighting, you’ll feel like you are on the set of Survivor. Except this is one island you won’t want to be voted off. There is no official menu. Instead, diners choose from a seafood selection delivered daily by local fisherman. While your choice of fish is being cooked to perfection, sip a Bloody Mary - the restaurant’s signature beverage.

The only downside of Tahiti as a honeymoon destination is the cost: accommodation, food and drinks are very expensive. But hey, you only get married once - or maybe twice.

And with a smorgasbord of things to see and do including whale watching, snorkelling, scuba diving, playing golf, horse riding, bike riding, sailing, canoeing, kayaking, jet skiing, water skiing, caving, fishing, black pearl and handcraft shopping, swimming with dolphins and manta ray, observing the world beneath in a glass bottom boat - you’ll want to extend your honeymoon, forever.