Because of its popularity, you'll find that Bora Bora is easily considered to be one of the most beautiful tropical destinations you could visit. Part of the island's appeal is both the remoteness and solitude that it offers, which will serve you very well, especially if you're traveling to the region for a honeymoon trip. With this said, the downside with being so remote is that Bora Bora is not a place that can be reach quickly or, cheaply for that matter, unless you are already in French Polynesia to began with.

However, there is certainly some good news. What's nice is that getting to and from Bora Bora is extremely straightforward, making it so that there aren't a lot of choices to sort through. So, for those who would like to experience a stay at a Bora Bora overwater bungalow resort, which is arguably the finest in the entire world, you'll find that you are only a few clicks away from booking your hotel and flights.

Contents [Show]

Getting to Bora Bora Island

As we’ve mentioned up above, getting to Bora Bora is pretty simple because there really is only one practical way of getting to the island. First thing you’ll want to do is get to Tahiti. This process is further explained in the article linked above, but the very short version of it is that you’ll most likely find yourself flying from Los Angeles to Tahiti, and with that, it’ll probably be on Air Tahiti Nui or maybe Air France.

 

You can book your entire journey to and from Bora Bora on any travel-booking website. The best, and most popular, flights from Los Angeles to Tahiti like to leave around 11:40pm and arrive in Tahiti around 5am in the morning. This takes a bit over 8 hours when considering the time zone change. Flights from Tahiti to Bora Bora, as well as all the other islands in French Polynesia, start departing at around 6:45am, which makes for a pretty short layover.


The flight from Tahiti to Bora Bora

When flying into Tahiti, most likely you’ll find yourself on Air Tahiti Nui, which is an international airline that flies large jumbo jets. After that flight is completed, you’ll then change planes so that you can board Air Tahiti, which is the domestic airline of turbo-prop jets, and thus, is not affiliated with the international one you see commercials for. Because the airlines do work together with their schedules, if the long-haul flight is a bit late, thankfully the island planes will wait for them. However, you’ll need to get your luggage and go through Customs and Immigration in Tahiti.

 

When you book your flights, you’ll find that there are around 7 flights per day from Tahiti to Bora Bora, starting at 6:45am and the last one going out at around 5:10pm. Most of these flights go nonstop to Bora Bora, but a few of them do stop off at another island for 15 minutes in order to drop off and pick up other passengers. A nonstop flight will average about 45 minutes, whereas one that makes a stop will take around 1 hour and 20 minutes.

 

Again, you can book your entire journey for a single fare, and that will choose the most efficient connecting flight for you, or perhaps give you options of connecting flights, with longer layovers usually saving you a good bit of money.

 

If you’d like, you can also book the Air Tahiti flights in person once you have arrived on-site. The prices are the same no matter which way you do it, making it so that you can book separately on the Air Tahiti website, as well. These inter-island services all over the world usually operate in the manner that buses or ferries do, meaning that locals use them frequently for a variety of things. Because of this, there’s almost always a few seats available last minute, and even if this one is full then the next one an hour later should have seats.


A multi-island vacation?

One thing that’s very popular amongst honeymooning couples is to stay at 2 or more different resorts that are housed on different islands over the course of around 7 to 14 days. Doing this allows couples a chance to experience the beauty of an island before traveling to another to experience a whole different set of features. Unlike the Maldives, the islands and resorts in the South Pacific are actually pretty different from one another. With this pointed out, you’ll find that for the small cost of an extra Air Tahiti flight or two, people can get a lot more out of their trip.

 

There are actually two resorts with overwater bungalows on Tahiti itself, making Tahiti an option as well, but honestly the best choices on the other islands are on Moorea, which is very close to Tahiti and reachable by a 30-minute ferry ride, or the overwater bungalows elsewhere in the South Pacific. All of them are easy to reach with an Air Tahiti flight.

 

Photo by scalleja on Flickr


RELATED POSTS
9 Best Overwater Villa Resorts With Private Pools
Family Friendly Bora Bora Overwater Bungalows
Overwater Villa Holidays: How To Begin Planning Yours
14 thoughts on "Overwater villa holidays: How to begin planning yours"

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All Comments

  1. My family and I live in Asia and we are looking for a trip to anywhere with water bungalows and hopefully clear, turqoise water with snorkelling and water activities available, and is also budget friendly if possible. We are two adults and one child who is a little over 17. Are there any suggestions or recommendations? Thank you

    Reply

  2. I am looking to plan a family vacation that is budget friendly. I would love to stay in an overwater hut. Can you tell me the best and most reasonable place to stay with a family the kids are 12 & 16

    Reply

    1. Kris,

      Since you aren’t even sure which part of the world you want to visit, I’d recommend starting with this list of the world’s cheapest overwater resorts on our other site. Most of those resorts only allow 3 guests per room, even though almost all of them have a pull-out couch in addition to a king bed. You might find some good choices in Central America or in Asia other than the Maldives. And of course it really depends on where you are starting from because the cost of flights could cancel out any savings from a cheaper resort. I hope that helps and I’m happy to help with other questions if you have them. -Roger

      Reply

  3. I would like to attend an over water bungalow resort for me and about 7 of my closest friends to celebrate my 45th Birthday. As most resorts are for honeymooners, are there single friendly resorts that can accommodate a "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" week long celebration. We live on the East coast and realize we will have to fly West for all the bungalows you have described above. All feedback is appreciated to guide me in the planning phrase.

    Reply

    1. Kim,

      That sounds like a lot of fun. You won’t find many resorts that are great options for “solo” travelers, but groups of singles will fit in with many other groups there. Most of the resorts in Bora Bora and Moorea allow 3 guests per bungalow, and they all have a sleeper sofa in them for that purpose (most don’t allow 4 guests per room though). So if two of your group are okay sleeping on a pull-out couch then you can get by with 3 bungalows.

      It’s true that many of the guests at these resorts will be honeymoon couples or anniversary couples, but there are also families with older children and multi-generational groups. I think your group would have fun at just about any of those resorts, but I’d probably focus on one that has some nightlife each evening such as a band or DJ. Some of the smaller resorts only have a beach bar and it’ll mostly be couples in those. Long story short, I think I’d look at one of the larger resorts on Moorea or Bora Bora or even Tahiti. The places with at least 100 total rooms (including beach and garden bungalows) should also have plenty of things to keep you happy and a diverse clientele.

      If your budget can handle a bit over US$2,000 per night you might even consider one of the Sandals resorts on Jamaica because the flights will be so much shorter and cheaper. The overwater bungalows there are huge (I just toured both resorts recently) and the nearby beach rooms are really wonderful there as well. The beach rooms start at around US$500 per night, but they are premium all-inclusive with even many activities included so they would be really fun for a group. In other words, maybe you could get 1 (or 2) overwater bungalows and a couple of beach rooms, and take turns in each? And you could mostly hang out in the overwater bungalow during the day, which is plenty big enough for everyone. When you add in the cost of flights and all that time flying to Los Angeles and to Tahiti then the Jamaica plan could look even better. Also you have to factor in the cost of meals and drinks and activities. In the South Pacific the room includes breakfast, but everything else is extra, while in Jamaica it’s ALL included in the price. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger

      Reply

  4. My wife and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. It would be wonderful to stay at an over water bungalow.

    Is Tahiti, Bora Bora gay-friendly islands? Are any island more friendly than others?

    Reply

    1. Merchel,

      Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora are all part of French Polynesia, and the French culture there is quite strong. With that in mind, I’d expect that the islands and the resorts in particular would be quite LGBT-friendly. I don’t recall seeing anything in particular that stood out when I’ve been there, but I have a strong hunch that the resorts are all very progressive with that sort of thing. The island people seem to be quite open minded, and French people are famously tolerant. I wish I could give you more certainty. Best of luck with this. -Roger

      Reply

  5. I am trying to plan our 10 year wedding anniversary. We are both pretty easy to please regarding vacations.

    I do know that my wife would really love to stay at an over water Bungalow for this trip.

    We would be traveling from Wichita, KS to Bora Bora or somewhere similar.(hopefully if price is right).

    I have browsed a bit and can’t find much for our budget (around $3-4k per person). Obviously I would love to be on the low end of my budget and save as much as possible.

    If not in Bora Bora, we would be okay with over water bungalow’s elsewhere.

    Travel dates would be leaving August 26th and Returning September 2nd (can go 1 day either way if needed).

    Reply

    1. Michael,

      We are simply an online guide to overwater bungalows and not a travel agency. You’ll find the best deals online for these resorts. You can usually get better value in Moorea, which is another gorgeous island right off Tahiti itself. The room rates are a bit lower and transportation is faster and cheaper as well. If you have any specific questions just let us know. -Roger

      Reply

  6. We our planning our honeymoon and live near San Francisco. We’d love to go to an amazing bungalow but the issue is we have only around 7 days for our trip, so the long flights really eat into our time. Is there an island you recommend we go to which is easy to reach from SFO? Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Andrew,

      From San Francisco the closest overwater bungalows are in Tahiti, which is only a couple hours farther than Hawaii. It looks like you’d have to fly down to LAX first, as that’s where all the flights to Tahiti start. There are two resorts not far from the Tahiti Airport that offer overwater bungalows. Those resorts are pretty nice, but there are 4 nicer ones on Moorea, which is a 5-minute flight or one-hour ferry ride from Tahiti. If you are going all that way, it’s probably worth going to Moorea, as it’s also a much prettier island than Tahiti itself. Bora Bora is a 60-minute flight from Tahiti, and it has even more options. Those islands are so gorgeous and wonderful that I think it’s worth the flight, even for a week. Best of luck with this. -Roger

      Reply

  7. Hi
    We live at the Gold Coast, Australia so can fly out of here or Brisbane. For our 20 year wedding anniversary in April we want to stay at an overwater bungalow – this will probably be a one-off so I want it to be in the clearest water with white sand so that the swimming and hopefully snorkelling is great. Maybe even some other water activities like sailboarding nearby? What do you recommend also considering ease of getting there? Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Margo,

      There are actually a few resorts in the South Pacific that aren’t far from you, including one in New Caledonia. Have a look at our list of resorts in the South Pacific for more details. The next closest to you are in the Philippines and Malaysia. You can find those under the Asia tab on the top of this page.

      But really you’ll find the best affordable resorts in the Maldives, which has 80 different overwater hotels, each on its own island. Click on the Maldives tab for all of that information. And of course Bora Bora, which also isn’t too far from you, has many of the world’s best overwater resorts if price isn’t a major factor. Best of luck and let me know if I can help more. -Roger

      Reply