South pacific – inbetweenflights

Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to present you the best accommodation in the world Before we start, we would like to emphasize the fact that this is not a promoted article. Actually, considering how many visitors our website receives, none of our articles is. 😂 Anyway, leaving the jokes aside, the point is that we only share thoughts, places and ideas that we believe in and we truly think are inspiring. Story: For some reason, for us, anything that starts bad ends up extremely well. For instance, when we started planning the trip to French Polynesia, for practical resons, we haven`t even considered flying to Tikehau. Our initial plan was to land in Tahiti, visit Tetiaroa atoll and then take the ferry to Moorea. The spots for Tetiaroa atoll were extremely limited and since this place is quite touristic and crowded we had to book and pay for the trip 3 months in advance. However, the trip depended heavily on the weather and the swells and no matter how much good energy we put into this, our trip got cancelled the day before, just when we were enjoying our first coffee in Tahiti, after a whole night flight. Therefore, since our time was limited, we took a piece of paper and a pen and we started reorganizing our trip straight away. We cut short our trip to Moorea, looked for flight options to the surrounding islands and searched for accommodation. Somehow, in this search, we reached this place, Hakamanu Lodge, which looked extremely nice and remote, located in a lagoon of Tikehau atoll. The flights were slightly more expensive and Air Tahiti website had only a French version so we went in person to their office in Tahiti to make sure we book and pay for the flights without making any stupid mistake. Next thing you know, we`re on an ATR flight towards Tikehau. Tikehau was one of the smallest airports we`ve ever been to, there was no indoor hall, no security, no arrivals hall. It was all mixed in a hut with no walls. There was the same guy doing check in, bag drop, boarding and bringing the bags back to you. Obviously, no baggage belt. But people were so relaxed and happy and greeted us with flower necklaces. Welcome to Tikehau! We were picked up by car by someone from Hakamanu and brought to a small harbour, just 2-3 km away from the aiport, then took a boat for about 30 min to the lodge itself. All included in the price of the hotel, of course. As an insight, Tikehau is a circular atoll with a diameter of about 65 km which only features few accommodations, most of them being on the airport island. Hakamanu is the second most remote. After this short boat ride, we reached one of the best places that we`ve ever been to: an eco lodge owned by a couple, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by shallow turquoise water lagoons and marine fauna. Nobody else around. Nobody. There were only few rooms/ villas, about 5 if we`re not mistaken, which makes it even more exclusive. The conditions are basic but cosy and you have everything you need. And trust us, you won`t need anything in this paradise! When you book a room, it includes both breakfast and dinner, which are cooked by the host every day. And they do a lot of varieties of delicious local food. Served on the terrace, hearing the waves. You can have a glass of nice wine as well, if you like. What else do you need? The wine and drinks are paid separately, of course. So it is lunch. Also, the snorkelling gear and kayaks are included in the price and there are few sunbeds and places to relax. And miles of natural beauty in all directions. You literally feel that you have your own island. If you would like to book scuba diving, it is possible, just speak with the hosts. Also, they do day trips as well. The lodge can be found on www.booking.com They also have a Facebook page, but it doesn`t look very up to date. However, they do reply pretty fast on Booking. just 30 meters from our room the place has few small islands connected by bridges or by swimming feel free to take any kayak, no prior booking needed :) or just watch the sunset the whole place is a beach only for yourself overview that`s how the small islands are inter-connected, you can easily swim the nature at its best Polynesian necklace so many places to watch the sunset take the kayak and the ocean is the limit French Polynesia is known to have the clearest water I wanted to say " wandering around the lodge", but it`s only nature actually the front villas - these ones are the first to sell out forgot to mention that it was full of these :) you can snorkel all day long if you want did we mentioned that the gear is free of charge? :) the underwater world just in front of the lodge :) cute, isn`t it? looking for the baby sharks good night, Tikehau!

Hakamanu Lodge, French Polynesia: Complete Guide to a Pacific Atoll (2023)

French Polynesia on a Budget: Complete Travel Guide (2023)