Jaunted - Tag: Tahiti Travel

Air Tahiti Nui Still Inviting You to Stop in Tahiti for $1

JetSetCD — 2010-05-10T17:12:05-05:00

Tahiti. It's such a magical word, that immediately you begin to daydream about water in various shades of blue and fruity drinks of all flavors. But for many, a whole vacation in Tahiti can be quite pricey and perhaps too remote. To remedy this, Air Tahiti Nui has been doing a $1 stopover option for travelers flying them from the west coast of the US to Australia.

The stopover allows you to have a quick taste of Tahiti without blowing $10,000 on some ritzy over-water bungalow. And because many business travelers on the route and others curious about French Polynesia have spring for the deal, the airline is extending it through August 31.

What you do is tack another $1 onto your airfare for flights on Air Tahiti Nui from LA to either Sydney or Auckland and you'll get a layover long enough to sample the area, and perhaps stay over a few days. Or you can always snag the free single night deal at the Le Meridien Tahiti, right on the beach. For more info on the deal, call 1-877-824-4846, and don't forget to dip your toes in the Pacific Ocean for us, okay?

Related Stories:
· Tahiti Stopover Deal [Air Tahiti Nui]
· Air Tahiti Nui [Jaunted]

[Photo: Air Tahiti Nui]

Three Warm Weather Destinations for a Great Mother's Day Getaway

Jennifer Kester — 2010-04-20T16:05:25-05:00

Mom will love you forever if you put her in one of these chaise lounges in Tahiti.

This year, upgrade mom's usual Mother's Day grocery-store bouquet with a trip just for her. The lady who raised you and dealt with your horrible teenage self deserves a nice break from it all, so treat her with a quickie getaway.

Check out three mini vacations for mom after the jump.

Ten Islands for Ten Years: Adventure Girl Gets Remarried in Bora Bora

Adventure Girl — 2010-03-12T12:25:04-05:00

Have you ever wanted to venture way, way out to the islands around Tahiti? Sit back and then and daydream with us as we follow Twitter celeb Stefanie Michaels, aka Adventure Girl, as she goes island-hopping in the most exotic of places—the Marquesas Islands. Each day this week, she'll reveal another adventure. Join her 1.5 million followers on Twitter for more Marquesas conversation @AdventureGirl, and don't forget us @Jaunted!

Now, after almost two weeks at sea onboard the Aranui around the Marquesas, my journey was nearing the saddest point: the end. The final stop was in the Tuamotu islands, at its largest island of Rangiroa. This is the last island stop for passengers of the Aranui, but a quick stay and a resort called Kia Ora brought us back into "civilization."

Before leaving for Bora Bora, I made sure to take a look around Rangiroa, as it's a destination for pearl shopping. I took a trip out to the Gaugin Pearl Factory, where visitors learn how pearls are cultivated and what the Tahitian pearl look like: brackish black color, with hues of blues, pinks and green varieties.

Finally we disembarked at Papeete, Tahiti, our ninth island. After frantically exchanging contact information with the friends we'd made onboard the Aranui, my husband and I transferred to the airport, where we boarded our flight to Bora Bora, our 10th and final island.

Heaven on Earth, after the jump

Marquesas Islands: A New Name and Meeting Marquesan Royalty: Just Another Day for Adventure Girl

Adventure Girl — 2010-03-11T14:30:04-05:00

"It's just gone too quickly," I say to my husband. "Where has the time gone?" Already it's my eleventh day onboard the Aranui ship, and we're looping back towards home and the end of the journey. The Aranui, as more of a freighter than a cruise ship, picks up contents from the various islands, and delivers them to others. What we had done over the first 10 days was stop to pick up fruits and vegetables from Nuka Hiva, and deliver them to the arid Ua Huka, then loaded up wood carvings and Tapas from Ua Huka, and delivered them on our way back to Ua Pou. It's a transport system that's extremely integral to these far-flung islands, and it even takes the locals around.

Now very confident with my anti-nausea patch, I face the almost two-day journey over open seas back to Papeete, Tahiti.

After the jump, Adventure Girl meets royalty

Marquesas Islands: Adventure Girl Finds Gauguin, But No 'No-Nos' in the Marquesas Islands

Adventure Girl — 2010-03-10T15:00:03-05:00

Onto more islands, we were back onboard the Aranui and watching a beautiful sunrise before another small port and more sweet Marquesans to meet. Except today we had something new to look forward to, a beach day! Getting off of the boat meant downtime at one of the only white sand beaches in the islands, on Hanamenino Beach at Tahuata Island. There was just one issue: would our day be ruined by an onslaught of the nasty flea-type bugs called the 'no-nos?' Luckily, there were no no-nos this day! The beach day kept going and going, as day on a true vacation should, and soon enough the passengers were all chatting excitedly about our next stop: "We're going to Nuka Oa!"

Marquesas Islands: Curried Goat and a Rainbow: Adventure Girl's Marquesas Islands Fun Continues

Adventure Girl — 2010-03-09T16:52:52-05:00

LAND! The first stop of the Aranui ship brings passeners to Fakarava, an atoll in the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It's a flat yet lush atoll only 40 miles in length and 13 miles wide, with a ring of white powdery beaches and crystaline waters. In fact, UNESCO has made it a bio-sphere reserve, preserving its endless reefs and local marine life. Thus I begin my adventure on land, versus the at-sea fun of yesterday's story.

In Rotoava, the main city in the Tuamotu Islands, friendly locals greet passengers with flowers, and a hearty "Ia ora na," which means hello in Tahitian. One side of the island is excellent for snorkeling and diving, and the other side is a mecca for shelling (collecting sea shells) and finding nature's trinkets, such as pristine chunks of colorful dried coral.

Tuamotu's islands also inside Fakarava, known for their black pearl farms. I suggest checking out the local's small booths around town for the best pricing, and a small shop called Heipoe Boutique Rotoava for contemporary and high quality designs.

Adventure Girl gets seasick! After the jump

Marquesas Islands: Adventure Girl Ships Out to 'Un-Cruise' the Marquesas Islands

Adventure Girl — 2010-03-08T14:35:41-05:00

It was my 10-year wedding anniversary, and I was looking for a symbolic way to hit "10 locations for 10 years." I knew of the Marquesas Islands and recalled that getting to several of them required the Aranui Freighter, part passenger ship, part freighter, and complete with working shipmates. It would allow my husband and I to get to eight islands, six of the Marquesas—Nuka Hiva, Ua Pou, Hiva Oa, Fatu Hiva, Tahuata, and Ua Hika, and two Tuamotu's—Fakarava and Rangiroa, followed by mainland Tahiti and Bora Bora (on the back end of the trip), rounding out the ten islands for ten years.

So where are the Marquesas? The Marquesas Islands, part of the Tahitian Island chain, rest north east of Tahiti in the southern Pacific and are the most remote islands on earth, with more than 800 miles of distance between any other landmass. They are considered “savage” by their French Polynesian counterparts. Marquesans see themselves as a separate culture from the rest of Tahiti and her islands. It's an interesting political history, from Chiefs to Kings to current French rule, and I'll delve into more of this throughout the week.

Adventure Girl boards the ship, after the jump!