Tahiti, Anyone?

(AP)

I just got a press release from Air Tahiti Nui, the national carrier of Tahiti, announcing new flights from L.A. and New York to Tahiti, and my first thought was, "Sounds great. When do we leave? I can be ready in, oh, ten minutes or so." If there is any travel experience more exotic than flying into Tahiti, I haven't found it yet (and yes, I have been to Wildwood, New Jersey). I've been there three times and would happily return for a fourth if you paid my airfare and threw in a couple of Hinanos, the local beer of Tahiti.

Part of the allure is that it is just so incredibly far away. The flight from New York covers 6,289 miles and takes twelve and a half hours. The L.A. flight takes eight hours. I flew non-stop from New York the last time, and even though the flight crews were superb, the food was good, the on-board entertainment system was state-of-the-art and I could stretch out on a whole row of seats, it was still a bear of a flight. I remember watching two movies, eating twice, taking a long snooze, and then waking up to find that we were barely past the halfway mark.

Then you arrive in Papeete in the dead of night, greeted only by a few sleepy cabdrivers who then cream you for forty dollars or more to drive to your hotel. You get a few hours of sleep and then wake up to streaming sunlight and paradise outside your window. After a swim and breakfast, I always jump on Le Truck, Papeete's public transportation system that consists of benches in the back of converted pickup trucks, and ride into town with the locals (which costs about two bucks and is far more of an organic experience than taking a sanitized tour). Stop at the open-air market, buy some French bread, hang out in cafes drinking Hinanos and catching up on French soccer news in the newspaper…God, I love Tahiti.

Anybody want to come with me?

[daniel hobbs]

sounds awesome. i wanna go.

[travelguru1-2009]

It''s silly because the rope that you hang onto is there for the protection of the sharks, not the tourists. It''s wrong to bait wild animals and get them out of their natural habitats and feeding patterns so that you can get a few snapshots. If you want to see sharks, just go dive or snorkel off the edges of the reefs where they live. I saw hundreds at a time off of Rangiroa, like shark wallpaper swimming by.

[global_chick]

I didn''t think it was "silly" at all. Don''t be an elitist.

[travelguru1-2009]

Yes, that Bora Bora lagoon is pretty sensational. Calm, clear water, great swimming and those silly shark adventures (let''s put raw meat in the water and see if it attracts more tourists than sharks).

If you want to see a really cool, utterly remote lagoon, catch a flight from Papeete for Rangiroa, the largest atoll in the world. Amazing undersea life.

[global_chick]

Another great thing about Bora Bora and Moorea is the smell...it''s the most heavenly aroma of tropical flowers and plants -- frangipani and pikake especially. Love it.

[global_chick]

Bora Bora is gorgeous, and in December, when I went, it was almost completely void of tourists. The water is so clear and still you can see the bottom. Plus it''s on a reef, so you can be way out and still standing up. I swam with the stingrays and the sharks while there --- amazing experience! Basically Moorea is very lush and beautiful also. But Papeete was nothing to write home about. Just a big city near water. Not paradise at all.

[travelguru1-2009]

This came in separately from a Tahiti-lover:

The islands of Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora are paradise on earth. I have been to Tahiti and Moorea several times and Bora Bora once (in another phase of my life) The people are beautiful and happy. The scenery is beautiful and the beaches and sea are so georgous, they appear dream like. I would move there in a minute if I could afford it and convince my husband it is worth the long flight. Awww, sometimes I long for all the aromas that are wafting from the dockside roulettes, roach coaches...and the wonderful sights of the market from the second story of the market building. To be able to walk out of your seaside hut and pick a fresh mango and take it to your lounger on the beach to enjoy....heaven... Anthony Bourdain is doing this weeks "No Reservations" on Tahiti, I can hardly wait. So, yes, I would gladly join you on one more trip to paradise, but we''ll probably have to sedate my husband to get him to make that long flight. Just sign me, Paradise Dreamer

[islandred1]

Isn''t that where Fletcher Christian mutinied on The Bounty, jumped ship and sent poor Captain Blight overboard in a lifeboat? Or was that Mel Gibson?

Either way, I think they liked Tahiti a little.

[nlm2383]

Tahiti would be amazing....