Sample paradise on isles of Tahiti and Bora Bora

A copper skinned Polynesian, with flowing hair and an elaborate tattoo etched onto his right shoulder, steered our boat with his big toe.  His hands were busy strumming strings of a ukulele.

Following his lead, we passengers leaned back and savored the moment: We inhaled the salty scent of the Bora Bora lagoon, basked in the warm tropical breeze, embraced lush green volcanic peaks that jut from an endless cerulean sea — sights that have enraptured south seas mariners for centuries.

Then, suddenly, as our boat stuttered to a stall, our captain interrupted our reverie:

“Let’s go,” he said, with smiling eyes. “Time to swim with sharks.”

It was one of many memorable moments during a weeklong visit to the islands of  Tahiti and Bora Bora in French Polynesia.

Tahiti

Tahiti is a stepsister – usually nothing more than an overnight stopover when travelers are headed to and from the other sexier islands of French Polynesia. But savvy travelers know that this stepsister is a beauty in her own right – with plenty to offer visitors.

On the down side, Tahiti is the largest and most populated of the Society Islands.  Nearly 80 percent of the 266,000 residents of French Polynesia live on Tahiti, most of them in Papeete, its capital. Like most large, urban cities, Pepeete has too much traffic, too much noise, too much hustle.

But it also has a wonderful public market, near the cruise terminal in Papeete, where visitors can rub shoulders with locals and shop for everything from black pearls to exotic tropical fruits to colorful wrap-around pareus worn by Polynesian men and women.

It also offers dozens of adventure tours – from hiking, biking or off-roading the island’s wild interior, to deepsea fishing, whale watching, snorkeling and diving.

Swim with whales

I opted for the opportunity to swim with whales. Humpbacks.  My father and his father were whalers when they lived in the Azores; I figured I’d be bringing the family full circle.

I joined a group from Eleuthera Dive Center. We were provided with wet suits and snorkeling accessories – then headed out into the turquoise blue yonder.  The lush green hills of Tahiti fell away behind us; Moorea was the backdrop ahead.

Before long, we spotted whales — a  humpback mother and her calf. Even the calf was big. Very big.

By the time we got our fins on and were ready to join the pair, they sounded. Down, down fast.

“Humpbacks can stay down up to 25 minutes without coming back up for air,” our captain advised us. We hung out for about 30 minutes , but never spotted either of them again.

By the time we gave up and took off looking for more whales, I was beginning to understand a little about how my my ancestors must have felt  — when the big guys got away.

Still, after a couple more hours of searching, I’ll admit I wasn’t altogether brokenhearted when the skipper turned the boat around and headed back in. Humpbacks are big, big animals. Even that baby was no tyke.   Adult humpbacks are typically around 40 to 50 feet long – and weigh somewhere between 30 and  40 tons.   You wouldn’t want to be snorkeling under one, if it decided to breach, not an uncommon behavior for humpbacks.  (And afterall, with my family history, maybe they owed me one.)

Back on terra firma,  I joined a cooking class offered at Le Meridien Tahiti, where I spent two nights before flying to Bora Bora.

Cooking class

General manager Dominique Michaud has launched a number of unique programs at Le Meridien — many of them designed to bring more locals to the hotel – a plus for visitors, too.  An on-site artists’ space gives guests an opportunity to meet locals and view their work.  Every artist who displays work at the hotel offers lessons to guests – everything from painting to photography.

“If you can share your experience here with locals, you are connecting,” said Michaud. Getting to know locals is what the best travel is all about.

Locals frequently sign up for cooking lessons with chef Sebastien Philizot, executive chef at the hotel.   Alongside hotel guests, they learn to cook Tahitian specialties from a Michelin-starred chef.   Even better, students and locals sit down together to eat what they prepared.

I joined a class of five (maximum participation). After being outfitted in aprons and toques, we learned to “cook” raw tuna, shrimp, lobster and scallops in lemony marinades, drizzling olive oil on top to stop the process after “two or three minutes – five minutes max,”  as Philizot  directed.  We scraped fresh vanilla bean into one of our dishes, following Philzot’s lead: stirring, tasting, stirring, tasting.  We stuffed lobster and shrimp into triangular samosas, created from pre-made lumpa pastry wrappers from the Menlo Food Corp. in Palo Alto.

When we finished our work, lunch was the ultimate payoff.

Bora Bora

Tahitians used to exile their undesirables to Bora Bora as a form of punishment. These days, travelers plot to arrange their own self-imposed exiles here.

Bora Bora is one of the most beautiful island on Earth. Mount Otemanu rises as the focal point of the lush tropical mainland. A neon-turquoise lagoon stretches from the mainland’s shore to a string of palm-studded motus that encircle the lagoon.

Most visitors today stay on one of the motus, at resorts with thatched-roof villas, overwater bungalows, luxury spas and fine dining.  They ferry to the mainland in water taxis – or are whisked off for island adventures from the docks at their resorts.

I stayed at Le Meridien Bora Bora – one of the island’s only resorts with a natural interior lagoon, perfect for snorkeling – and the only resort in the world with a green turtle sanctuary.  Read my story about Swimming with Turtles at the resort.

Stingrays and sharks

I spent other days on a range of field trips – including feeding stingrays, an adventure that isn’t for the squeamish.

“When there are two or three of them, it’s a good thing,” said Nora Zelevansky from Los Angeles.  “When there’s 10, it’s intimidating.”

“It’s a little unnerving,” said Andrea Laregina from Hudson County, New Jersey. “They come up on you – all over you. You have to remember to keep shuffling. You definitely don’t want to step on one of their tails – the stingers are right there.  I doubt there was one of us on the outing who didn’t think about the crocodile guy (Steve Irwin) who died when a stingray stinger struck his heart. ”

Snorkeling with sharks wasn’t quite as close an encounter.  Outfitters are no longer allowed to feed sharks swimming inside the reef – so the sharks tend to stay at a more comfortable distance.  Still, they’re sharks – and viewing them through my snorkel mask, circling, gliding closer,  was enough to get my adrenalin pumping – and me swimming in the opposite direction.

Island dining

After mingling with sharks and rays, we headed to a private motu for a traditional Polynesian barbecue. We dined on roasted pig, breadfruit, plantains and island style tapioca that had been wrapped in leaves and buried in a natural volcanic rock oven where it all spent the morning baking.

When the banquet was arranged on palm fronds atop a picnic table on the beach, our guide, Teheiura Mareto, invited us to dine: “No fork, no knife,” he ordered. “Use your fingers and hands to eat.”

We chowed down as instructed,  savoring the meal and washing up in the lagoon when we finished.

It was one of several great meals in Bora. At the opposite end of the formality spectrum, we dined at Lagoon, a shining star in celebrated chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurant empire. Read my story about dining there and exploring the St. Regis Bora Bora, where the movie “Couples Retreat” was filmed.

More memories

When I think of Bora Bora, my mind’s eye sees long, cylindrical tubes beside the mailboxes along the road around the mainland. I thought the cylinders were for newspapers.

“They’re bread boxes,” a local set me straight.  “We have always fresh bread. Two deliveries a day. It’s bread made by Tahitians, sold by the Chinese — and, of course, it’s French bread.”

My mind’s eye sees golden clouds, tinted by the sun sinking behind Mount Otemanu, as I sit behind my laptop on the deck of my overwater bungalow at Le Meridien.  My South Pacific office.  Deliriously fab.

My mind chases the scent of white tiare blossoms, the sweet taste of fresh-cut pineapple, the sultry feel of those heavenly warm, tropical breezes.

As I think back to a sunset cruise through the lagoon in a big outrigger canoe, my mind connects the dots – and I have a new understanding of the reasons Fletcher Christian and his buddies mutinied all those years ago.

I didn’t want to leave, either.

Alison DaRosa is SDNN Travel Editor

IF YOU GO:

Getting there: Air Tahiti Nui provides nonstop air between LAX and Papeete. Check out deals online at www.airtahitinui-usa.com. The airline was offering a  $738 roundtrip fare for sweethearts yearning for four-day escapes in February.

Staying there: Learn more at Le Meridien Tahiti and Le Meridien Bora Bora.  Rates start at about $360 a night at Le Meridien Tahiti – and about twice that at Le Meridien Bora Bora. Both resorts offer package deals.

Playing there: Most excursions can be arranged through your hotel. On Bora Bora,  a boat excursion that includes a stop for stingray feeding and separate stop for swimming with sharks costs about $95 per person.  A sunset cocktail cruise  in a traditional Polynesian pirogue costs about $103 per person.

A traditional barbecue picnic on a private motu cost about $700 for two people, about $70 for each additional participant.

Cooking  at Le Meridien Tahiti –  Plan on spending about three hours and $50.

More info: Learn more about travel to the islands of French Polynesia at www.tahititourism.com.

Tags: Air Tahiti Nui, Andrea Laregina, Azores, Bora Bora, breadfruit, Couples Retreat, Dominique Michaud, Eleuthera Dive Center, Fletcher Christian, french polynesia, green turtle, humpbacks, Jean-Georges, lagoon, Le Meridien, Le Meridien Bora Bora, Le Meridien Tahit, Menlo Food Corp., Michelin, motu, Nora Zelevansky, Otemanu, Palo Alto, Papeete, SDNN, Sebastien Philizot, sharks, Society Islands, St. Regis Bora Bora, Steve Irwin, stingrays, Tahiti, turtle sanctuary, vanilla

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