Monday, February 13, 2017

snaps from Moorea


I am so excited to share this post with you all today! While going through my photos I realized I have just way too many amazing photos to share so I am going to break our Honeymoon Tahiti Trip up into 2 different posts. However I am apologizing in advance for the overload of images!

Today I am going to share some of my favorite moments, where we stayed, what I brought (what I wish I brought!), where we ate, what we did, etc! Oh gosh, so much magic to share with you so here we go...



We traveled to the island of Moorea (Tahiti's sister Island) in French Polynesia. Just an 8 hour flight from LAX then a short ferry ride from the main island of Tahiti to Moorea. We stayed in the overwater bungalows at The Hilton Moorea in bungalow 87 (seriously, amazing it was the farthest bungalow out in the water!) There was so much to do at The Hilton that we only left our resort a few times. Most of the days were spent lounging on our own little doc off our own bungalow. We would wake up each morning around 5:45 and watch the pink + blue sky turn to color as the sun came up. Each morning we threw on our swim suits and ran and cannon balled into the water! That memory I will never forget!

There is kayaking, snorkels, paddle boarding all for free at the resort. We also got up super early to play tennis, notice that backdrop?! It was incredible. One thing I didn't realize about Tahiti was the amazing rain forest cliffs that were directly next to the ocean. I couldn't tell which view was my favorite, the green tropical mountains or the amazing huts over the crystal clear water. Both were absolutely breathtaking!


Packing was easy yet difficult if that makes sense. I knew I needed lots of swim suits, dinner outfits, sunscreen, and sunglasses. I did wear almost everything I brought (yay!!) but here are some tips I learned:
* I brought 7 suits, a mixture of one pieces and bikinis. I wore them all to mix up the tan lines! **I wish I would have brought a high necked swim suit as I got really red on my chest during the middle of the trip and had nothing to cover it. I also wish I brought a swim shirt!! Yes, like the ones little kids wear. Those are not just cutesy shirts for adults they ARE necessary! I ended up wearing one of the only actual t-shirts i brought with  me one full day in the water since I could feel my skin burning.  side note* I am fair skinned, I used to brun as I child, I thought I grew out of it, guess not!

* Sunscreen! We brought 3 full bottles of 50spf sunscreen and 1 face 50spf sunscreen and used almost all of it! Crazy right? There is no escaping the sun here unless you are inside your hut... but who wants to be inside the hut when you are in paradise?! You literally need to apply sunscreen every hour. NOT KIDDING! We learned our lesson, more than once! Let's just say I came home a little red.

* Water! Drink lots of water! The hotel provides you with 2 free water bottles a day then you pay for any other water. Including any time eating at restaurants! There is no such thing as a glass of iced water unless you buy the bottle. We brought actual sports water bottles from home and refilled ours once in the gym (the only place with free water!) and we also went to town one day and bough water from the market. *side note we also filled our water bottles at breakfast with juice so we could have mimosas in the room!

* Dinner was a mix of dressy, casual, and swim suit attire. I was imagining really dressy dinners.... it was not! I brought one pair of wedges and never worn them. I did get dressed up 2 nights in long maxi dresses, a few nights we ordered pizza and chilled on our dock in our swim suits,  and the other times I wore either sundresses, rompers, or shorts and a cute top all with flip flops!

* Tahiti has a different outlet than the standard American outlets. The Hilton had one American outlet in the bathroom but luckily we brought two adapter plugs with us! We had cameras and phones to charge as well as hair dryers and curling irons to run. You can buy outlet adapters at your local Walgreens for $12, so worth it!


We rented these little co-cart type of cars of 8 hours one day and took off to explore the island ourselves! It was the best idea. We were debating on taking an ATV tour but we loved the idea of having our own transportation and seeing the island at our own pace. We headed up to Belvedere mountain, saw black sand beaches, ate at an amazing little side of the road restaurant, checked out the other resorts on the island, went to the pineapple plantation, and climbed to an amazing waterfall! At first I though 8 hours was going to be sooooo long, but it want at all! It flew by. 

We did and saw so much more but those were some of the highlights and tips I learned. It was truly a magical place, a bucket list dream come true. If you are worried about being bored or restless you wont be. I find that these photos looking back don't even do the island justice anymore. 

Later on this week I will be sharing my favorite photos I snapped and the camera I took with me! 

What I packed:





16 comments:

Zelle B. said...

These photos are so great! Tahiti is definitely on my travel list.

Zelle
Southern Style

the cape on the corner said...

that looks AMAZING! gorgeous photos.
b

Unknown said...

Beautiful photos! I can see how issues with burning can sneak up on you! Glad you had such a great time!

Where your heart is now said...

What beautiful photos! Sounds like a great time!

TiffaniAnn said...

These pictures are unbelievably stunning!! My husband and I are always looking for amazing places to travel and I think this blog post just put Tahiti on the list!!

xoxo
Tiffani
www.tiffaniatbretonbay.com

Unknown said...

Stunning photos!

Liv

livforstyle.net

Unknown said...

These photos are dreamy! Looks beautiful!

angelle said...

Wowww!!! These pictures captured the beauty for sure!! The water is so amazing. glad that you both enjoyed your time.
xoxo,
Angelle
www.dashingdarlin.com

Larissa @ Living in Color | A Lifestyle Blog said...

This is seriously gorgeous! Glad you had such a great time, Stesha!

<3

Unknown said...

Your honeymoon looked absolutely incredible! So many amazing photos! xx

Unknown said...

This is absolutely stunning! Your shots are amazing and I definitely want to travel here!
xoxo
Sarah Lindner
www.thehouseofsequins.com

Unknown said...

These photos are just breathtaking! Looks like an amazing destination!!

Xo Makayla
www.fashionablykay.com

Unknown said...

omg that water though, looks SOO amazing!!

Unknown said...

I love how you took these photos. And the place is so beautiful.
Cheers!
Paddleboards Red Deer

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