Bora Bora / Tahiti

[David N]

Hi

Recently returned from my Honeymoon in Bora Bora / Tahiti.
Although I haven't done a Trip Report before, just thought I would post what I noticed around the place if anyone chooses to go there for a Holiday.

Papeete International Airport joined to the Domestic Terminal is small compared to some you may have been through.







We were greeted by a Polynesian dancer with singing and music while joining the long line for immigration, there were about six booths, but only three used at the time operated by the police.
European Union holders are cleared quickly compared to others, so the dancing and music keep going pretty much until the line is cleared.

Heading to the Domestic Terminal the next day, I noticed a couple of high spots along the road closer to the airport where photo's could be taken of taxiing aircraft, also noticed the Tahiti Hotel across from the airport which could have the best spots for photos as it looks above the terminal and good if on a budget as well.

We stopped at the Intercontinental Resort to pick up others and it appears there restaurant overlooks the approach to runway 04.
(So wish we stayed there instead of the Le Meridien)

The domestic terminal was not much different to many domestic airports procedures - checking in / weighing bags etc.
But they do not allocate seats with your boarding pass.

The domestic terminal has a gift shop and cafe with about four gates in the waiting area, not really good for photos at all.

The moment theres any movement near your gate, people rush to start a line to board, you could still wait sometime though, staff walked down our line checking boarding passes before opening the door, then checked the other flight at the next gate as they walked to the plane, this flight was going via Raitea first.

Air Tahiti have ATR 42s & 72s
We had an ATR 72 going non stop to Bora Bora, Takes about 50 minutes.



With no seating allocations, many seasoned travellers would know which side to sit on for the best view, a simple Google search weeks prior said the left was the best side and also a quick chat with the flight attendant while boarding also confirmed this.

As it was a cloudy day, we have no idea what we were missing out on, but soon enough we descended below cloud to join a left downwind for runway 11, so a good view of the airport can be seen but my wife was sitting on the window, so no pics of it

Now Bora Bora has no roads at the Airport, in fact there are no roads at all linking resorts only on the main island, so the only transport available is boat or the more expensive options by helicopter.

Bora Bora Airport from lookout


Airport Terminal





The resort agent met us after deplaning and brought us a drink prior to our bags coming off, once you identify which bag is yours and it's tagged for your resort we relaxed for a short while before jumping aboard the boat for a 15 min trip to the resort.

Most resorts have helipads, we saw one helicopter doing joy flights, but way to expensive for us to do one.




After our relaxing holiday, swimming with Sharks, Turtles & Hundreds of fish + honeymoon stuff , sadly it was time to head back home.




The front of the Papeete International terminal is pretty much out in the open, so it's humid waiting in line.
Customs will check your bag tags and possibly weigh carry on while you are in the line but apart from that it's no different to any other international check in.

There was our flight (Air Tahiti Nui) to Auckland and an Air France to Paris via LAX departing within an hour of each other, so the line through security was long.



There is a small observation deck upstairs looking through glass.



When we were taxiing out to rwy 22, I noticed a location where locals seemed to come out and wave goodbye, this spot would be the pick of the bunch for photo's
I found this on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjXXIETOYJY


That's all I can think of at the moment, if anything else comes to mind I will be sure to add it.


Thanks for reading.