Honeymooning

holy pictures batman... this is gonna be a long and picture filled post!

our tahitian honeymoon plans

around Christmas time FI and i decided we needed to pin down our honeymoon plans  early to lock in the best deal we could get.

i've always dreamed of going to bora bora, FI, well he's traveled much more than i have.  when we started brainstorming he's been to Hawaii.... multiple times, we've been to the Bahamas for spring break in college, he's been to Jamaica, he's been to Cancun... and the conversation continued like this about many tropical locales.

since i basically haven't been many places and he has, we thought it would be special/fun/adventurous to go somewhere neither of us have been, that way it would be new to us both!

- enter idea tahiti -

above is a pic of the tahitian islands - Tahiti (the big island) is where the "international" airport is located, so all flights must go in and out of there.  next door to tahiti is Moorea, then all the way to the left side of the map is Bora Bora (insert choir of angels singing AHHHH!)

now the island of bora bora ain't cheap, but it is also the most desirable island to visit, according to everyone!  we knew we wanted to stay there, but couldn't really swing a whole week's stay.

so we spoke with numerous tahiti specialist and found out that by staying a few nights on Moorea we could have a longer honeymoon with more island diversity, all for a better price.

so here's our basic travel agenda for the honeymoon for right now:

day after the wedding: fly from LAX to Tahiti

we get in too late to get a connecting flight to Moorea so we will be staying a night at the Intercontinental Tahiti Resort

(pictured below in next 2 photos)

now this is just my personal opinion but i think the travel industry has this game rigged: honeymooners flying in from the US usually fly in the Sunday after their wedding right? well, Air Tahiti Nui only has 2 flights that arrive on Sundays from LAX and NY, but they both get in so late that you have to stay a night on Tahiti before moving to your next island.  

i swear it's a set up to help the tourism on tahiti!

ok enough of my conspiracy theories.... moving on...

so we will stay 1 night on tahiti and the next day we fly to moorea (7 min flight b/t it and tahiti).  the next 4 nights we'll be at the moorea pearl resort.

(map of the pearl resort)

while we were trying to decide on our hotels we did A LOT of Tripadvisor research.

it helped with looking at REAL photos of the hotels, prior guests' reviews, and comments on the local area near the hotels. guests also rank the hotels, 

so it turns our the Pearl is ranked #2 for moorea, not bad!

 that site is a wealth of helpful info and was essential to planning our trip.

check it out for any trip you plan on taking, i know i always do!

(photo of Moorea)

Moorea is a greener and more mountainous island than it's rival Bora Bora, even though BB is the famous island, moorea is much larger and brings the best of both worlds to a tahitian vacation (advice an specialist gave me).  the island offers both warm blue waters and gorgeous mountain vistas. unlike the other society islands, moorea has both white and black sand beaches.  

after our time on moorea, we will start the 3rd and final leg of our honeymoon... 

it's off to....

...bora bora

it's about 160 miles northwest of tahiti, and is supposed to be one of the most beautiful islands in the world! it's most stunning feature is its blue, jewel-toned lagoon and the twin peaks with just from it, creating changing, gorgeous views throughout the day.

we will stay the next 4 nights at the Intercontinental Resort & Thalasso Spa 

pictured below in the rest of the photos

the intercontinental beach

seated guest check in - with fresh fruit juices and cool towels 

IC overwater wedding chapel

the resort is one of the newest chains to build on bora bora, along with St. Regis and Four Season.  it features ALL overwater bungalows, which tahiti is famous for... while doing my Tripadvisor research i kept noticing people commenting on becoming and "IC Ambassador" and you'll get a free night... WHAT!?!?!

when i hear deal, i turn into Miss Frugal and my ears perk up, my heart rate speeds up, and it's on... 

i will find the best deal!

so here it is - this applies to any intercontinental - and you can sign up online

an Ambassador membership is $150 and here's what you get:

- a free weekend night voucher

- automatic room category upgrade

- priority check in

- luggage tags, so bags will be in room waiting for you

- late check out (4pm)

- complimentary airport transfers

- and additional resort credits upon arrival (bb usually give food/drink vouchers)

oh boy the free stay alone is worth the 150 bucks, when you are talking about the resorts on bora bora being waaayyyy more than that per night!

we might have my FI sign up for a seperate membership too... so our 1st night on Tahiti would be free, with his voucher, you just can't combine them at the same hotel. 

however you can't use it if a travel agent is booking for you.

so here's a floorplan of our "home/condo" for bora bora

the bungalow is huge approx 900 sq ft. 

and this is view from the diving deck off the back of the bungalow

bedroom view facing the lagoon

if you know me, you know i love bath time, but bathing with a view of the lagoon and a TV, 

get outta here!

living room view facing the lagoon

pool/beach cabana for chillaxin' on the beach

after all this craziness that is called wedding planing is over, it will be so great to spend a good while recovering and relaxing with my best friend... and then HUSBAND!

i know since working with a wedding budget i have tried to be very budget conscious in honeymoon planning, especially since FMIL is being so generous in sending us on our honeymoon!

 in planning your honeymoon have you become very frugal or have you said to heck with it, 

go big or go home!