Tracy - To answer your question, Rangiroa was a little bit of a letdown. Now this is probably tainted by a combination of the fact that we were coming off of this amazing Hotel Bora Bora experience and the fact that the weather there wasn't so great. We decided to stay on Rangiroa based largely on the reviews I had read on the www.tahiti-explorer.com boards (for those of you who haven't checked this site out, it is one of the best resources in planning a trip to FP), and the main attraction there was the Kia Ora Sauvage. The Sauvage is owned by the Kia Ora Village, but it's on a motu across the lagoon (at least an hour boat ride away) and there are only 5 bungalows on the island. There's no electricity and there's cold, salt water showers. I was a little skeptical about going to a place like this, especially for my honeymoon, but I heard it was really romantic and an amazing experience. We were there for 2 nights and I do have to say that it was a pretty cool experience. It's really hard to describe. If you read all of the reviews about it, you'll start to get a feel for why people like it so much. That being said, I think 2 nights was enough - I was looking forward to returning to civilization and taking a hot shower.
So then we were on to the Kia Ora Village for 2 nights. We had an overwater bungalow there, and while it was pretty modern (even had air conditioning), it just couldn't compare to the one we had at Hotel Bora Bora. The Village is a very nice resort and the restaurant there is one of the better restaurants we ate at, but I found the staff to be kind of disinterested and difficult to deal with.
Tracy, it's funny that you asked if there was much to do because it reminds me of this ridiculous thing the Village does. There's really not a whole lot other than water-type activities and black pearl shopping, and especially nothing at night...which is perfectly fine for honeymooners
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, and which is also why I just don't understand this strange policy the Village has. They offer a turn-down service, which comes around at like 8-8:30 p.m., and if you're in your room and don't want the turn-down service, they make you come to the door and sign something. Given the fact that it's 8:00 and there's not much else to do in Rangiroa, you can imagine how this might be a little inconvenient to some people. Oh, and they didn't provide a Do Not Disturb sign or anything.
Since we had heard so much about the great snorkeling and diving on Rangiroa, we were psyched for that part of the trip. One of the great things to do is to 'shoot the pass,' meaning you snorkel along the reef where the lagoon meets the ocean. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do this because of the weather. DH also waited for Rangiroa to go diving - he did get to go, but the weather was horrible...although he still had a good time. I found the snorkeling in Bora Bora's lagoon to be a whole lot better because the water was so much calmer and clearer. Now maybe this is because the weather wasn't so great on Rangiroa, but I also think that the lay of the land (very flat) and the size of the lagoon (about 16 miles) makes it more subject to higher winds and bigger waves. The one time I did go snorkeling (and the weather wasn't too bad that day), I think it was in like 4-5 foot waves...and this is in a lagoon! I was swimming so hard to fight the currents that it wasn't enjoyable at all. Most of the people we went with never even got off the boat.
This is not to say that we didn't have a great time in Rangi. It's FP so of course it's beautiful. And the Sauvage was a great experience. But I don't think I'd go back to that island.
Now, for your questions about Hotel Bora Bora. The not having a pool thing - totally doesn't matter. First of all, the resort is on what is considered to be the best beach on Bora Bora (I was told it's the only white sand beach). Second, we stayed in an overwater bungalow (actually 2 - one regular and one premium) and the snorkeling right outside our bungalow was incredible. The difference between the regular and premium overwater is that the premium is in deeper water. It's right at the edge of this coral reef and then the reef drops off right in front of the bungalow so deep that you can't see the bottom. We stayed in the regular overwater first and really liked it. Because it's shallow, the lagoon is such a pretty color right outside. And we lucked out - we were in a good, quiet spot with enough water for snorkeling. Some overwaters were in water so shallow that you couldn't possibly swim or snorkel right outside of them. We were considering not moving, but we were booked in the premium for 2 nights and wanted to check it out. It was closer to the boat dock and therefore a little louder, and the water wasn't the pretty turquoise color because of the depth, but the snorkeling was truly amazing there. The reef is beautiful and there are so many fish...we brought crackers in and were feeding them right out of our hand.
Hotel Bora Bora is a beautiful resort, but the friendly and helpful staff (who all knew our names and which bungalow we were in), and all the nice little things (like fresh flowers in our bungalow everyday, robes, slippers, big bathtub, super hot water with great water pressure, stereo...i could go on and on) are what really made our experience incredible. I could go on and on about Hotel Bora Bora forever, but what it really came down to was a feeling that everyone there really cared about us and wanted to make our stay as enjoyable as possible.
