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Raiatea & the Hawaiki Nui Pearl Beach Resort

Posted on April 03, 2009 by: Traveler

Closest City: Uturoa, Raiatea
State:
Country: French Polynesia

Raiatea & the Hawaiki Nui Pearl Beach Resort

Raiatea & Tahaa Islands: These two islands would be the fifth and sixth stops (respectively) on our seven-island-hop of French Polynesia. Danielle and I booked our stay at Pension Manava on the island of Raiatea. The description from our Lonely Planet guidebook, “Tahiti & French Polynesia”, described Pension Manava as a place that would be “just up our alley”. Run by The Brotherson’s, we could get basically a small house in a garden setting for about 6000 CFP (exchange rate of about 75-90 CFP per U.S. dollar), rent bicycles and get dropped off a motu for a day (minimum four people). Man, we would love to experience a secluded motu like our excursion at Tetamanu Village and definitely planned to ride bikes like we did around the island of Bora Bora and on our first island; Rangiroa. We would be staying for three nights at Pension Manava and had rough plans of how to spend our time. One of our days we would have The Brothersons take us on a Circle-Island-Tour of Tahaa and for another, we would rent a car to drive around the entire coast road of the Raiatea. Our remaining time would be spent lazing away on a nearby beach or relaxing in the garden setting at Pension Manava. And if you have read this far and wonder why I am describing details of a location that is not even in the write-up title above, then you have to read on to see what made Danielle and I switch to another resort (named in the title) after only three hours on the island.

The island of Raiatea was just a fifteen-minute flight from Bora Bora where we stayed at the TopDive Resort. Our Air Tahiti flight never even flew above the clouds before the pilots began their descent to the airport located on the north side of the island (with great views looking across to Tahaa). Looking down at the approaching landmass of Raiatea and Tahaa, I could see both islands encircled by a single reef creating an hourglass shaped lagoon. The reef edge of this lagoon was intermittently broken with small spits of land called motu (one of which we hoped The Brothersons would be dropping us off on) and a deep blue channel in the lagoon separated the islands. Tahaa was on the north side of this reef and the larger Raiatea with its high peaks was to the south of the hourglass shaped lagoon.

Being our 16^th day in the tropical humidity of these South Pacific islands, Danielle and I had become accustomed to sweating (Eeeww) and had become somewhat acclimated to the climate. During the day it was pretty much expected we would be sweating a lot and then the routine of showers and limited activity kicked in for the evenings. Sometimes that didn’t even work for me because I sweat like a stuck pig at just the thought of sweating… I think you get the drift. So we were acclimated to this environment is all I’m getting at… until the plane doors were opened and Raiatea’s 120% humid air (if that’s possible) flooded the interior cabin. All acclimation went out the door and I was sweating by the time my feet touched terra firma! NOTE: All airports in French Polynesia are tiny (even the international Fa’aa Airport in Papeete, Tahiti) and from the exit door of the plane you will walk down steps (rolled up upon arrival) to the tarmac below. The mountains of Raiatea were enshrouded in a thick cover of dark grey clouds and I figured we would not see much sun over the next three days. Tahaa, in complete contrast, had but one white bubbly cloud near its highest peaks.

First Impressions: Part of the Pension Manava experience included transfers from the airport. After Danielle and I collected our luggage we stood outside the one-building airport waiting for signs of our proprietors. After fifteen minutes… nothing. Finally, a nice van pulls alongside the curb and we notice a sticker of the word “Manava” and out pops a stoic faced woman named Roselyne. Ah… hi there would have been nice but we simply loaded up the luggage and hopped in. That’s fine, the sooner we get our stuff put inside of our room, the sooner we can start our next island’s vacation. We tried to make small talk with Roselyne but were met with short and sweet answers. During the short drive from the Raiatea airport to Pension Manava, we learned there would be no motu tours, bicycles cost 1000 CFP to rent, and the “half-board” meals (breakfast and dinner) were not included in the price of the room. My fault as it is clearly written in the guide that breakfast (only) would cost an additional 600 CFP per person with nothing mentioned about dinner.

All this was really no big deal… and then Roselyne made a right hand turn into the driveway of Pension Manava (away from the ocean). Now don’t judge Danielle and I as snooty Americans by being discouraged to learn we were not staying at an ocean front resort. We were on our honeymoon and wanted to stay at places we normally would not shell out the money for and that basically meant beachside locations. Not staying near the lagoon was my first thought at seeing Roselyne make that right hand turn… no ocean breeze to keep the humidity and skeeter-bugs at bay was Daniell’s immediate concern. Being an optimist, I have to say the grounds of Pension Manava did immediately impress me with its mountainous backdrop and large tropical trees spread out among the rooms. Our “pension” actually turned out to be a small house with a full kitchen and (almost) a full sized fridge. There were large bird-cages just outside of our front door and I didn’t know if this would become soothing or just annoying. Roselyne opened the door to our humble abode and then stopped. Chillin out just inside the entrance was a large (4-5 inch long) centipede. Roselyne swept it outside and then proceed to shank it to death with the blunt end of the broom handle. Interesting! After giving us two brief instructions (notify the night prior for breakfast and turn in the key whenever we left) she then left us alone. We set the bags inside and walked through the pension. It basically consisted of three large rooms and was actually impressive for the price we were paying. The bedroom was set in the back with views to the mountains beyond. A screen covered the window and a very strong fan overhead swirled around well enough to cool everything off. Decorations consisted of a couple of turtle shells hanging on the wall near the bathroom.

The higher humidity actually took a toll on our energy levels and Danielle took a short nap while I walked over to a nearby grocery store. I had first asked Roselyne where the nearest store was and she told me about two kilometers closer to the town of Uturoa (near the airport). She didn’t ask me if I wanted to rent a bike and I didn’t ask her for a bike because I didn’t quite feel we would need to rent bikes on this day. I made the round trip in a zip and brought back some tasty fare to Danielle. The daily plate on this day would consist of cookies, milk and PB&J (who likes the Skippy?) sandwiches. Yummy!!! After eating I walked over to Roselyne’s house (20 yards from our pension) and inquired about a motu excursion like our Lonely Planet guide mentioned as being offered to guests for a fee of 1000 CFP per person. I was told their motu tour limit was four persons and noboddy else had reserved. Then she stopped talking and I felt I was being excused. I then asked about a lagoon tour of Tahaa and she told me there was a tour operator in Uturoa. I was thoroughly surprised by her lack of enthusiasm at being bothered by a paying guest because Roselyne didn’t offer to call the tour operator in Uturoa (this was in complete contrast to the hospitality displayed by Michael of Miki Miki Village in booking us a tour to the famed Blue Lagoon at Rangiroa). I wasn’t even going to ask her about renting a car for our planned self-guided island tour so I paid for two bike rentals (now necessary). I informed Danielle we would be riding into town to book a lagoon excursion and figure out car rentals and we left.

Our French Polynesia island-hop was essentially a self-booked and self-guided 23-day adventure. Up to this point, Danielle and I were having the trip of our lives and we had experience some world-class diving and other truly extraordinary “paradise” island settings. Not wanting to be discouraged, we rode on to Uturoa and treated this as experiencing a new environment. The ride over was humid but very nice. Numerous bridges of the coast road passed over muddy brown rivers carrying tons of sediment into the lagoon of Raiatea. The water at the mouths of all the rivers was extremely murky hundreds of yards out into the lagoon and I definitely realized this island receives more rainfall than most of the others we had visited. While riding, we passed a very nice looking resort called the Hawaiki Nui Pearl Beach Resort. “Man”, I thought, “Would have been nice to know prior to booking that Pension Manava was inland and nearby was this gorgeous resort.” We enviously checked out the resort grounds and then continued on to the town of Uturoa.

At the wharf area of Uturoa, we found a charter boat with “West Coast Excursions” written on it and a number to call. This tour operator must have been what Roselyn was talking about… we would call later and not get any answer. Near the wharf was an outdoors shopping area consisting of numerous thatch bungalows. Presumably all these shops would have been a different vendor but I can’t tell you for sure because on this day 99% of the bungalows were sealed shut. We ended up at a sandwich shop and sat down for a drink. Danielle had a Coke in a large, old-fashioned bottle and I had my usual Hinano beer. A quick downpour briefly cooled the air temperature as we sat. We contemplated our options as to seek life elsewhere. We didn’t want to admit defeat but we already knew that three nights at Pension Manava was not going to happen… It may be a shot in the dark, but back to the Hawaiki Nui Resort we rode.

Luckily, there were rooms at the Hawaiki Nui for the following two nights. After seeing the price though, I understood why. We asked about Tahaa Island tours and discovered Hawaiki Nui guests are picked up at the end of their pier jutting out between the over-water bungalows. Bad weather for tomorrow, so we booked a rental car for a self guided driving adventure around Raiatea’s coast road. The Hawaiki Nui staff told us we could come as early as we wanted to drop off our luggage and that our rental car would be at the front at 9am. Man, now this is some service and we hadn’t even checked in yet. Now our question was; how do we tell Roselyne at Pension Manava we would be leaving in the morning? As we rode back to Manava, we ran through our options: Do we fib and say our parents surprised us with a nice gift of two nights at the Hawaiki Nui or do we simply state what we didn’t like comparative to what we had already experienced. In the end, I decided we were putting too much thought into the matter and decided “It is what it is!” Danielle quickly relegated that duty to me.

Back at Manava, I returned the bike lock back to Roselyn and decided to make small talk first by asking what time we should be ready for dinner. I already knew the answer and, forgetting the “It is what it is” mantra, got into a diatribe (probably explaining way too much which is nothing new) of why we wanted to continue staying on the coast and that we had booked a room elsewhere for the rest of our stay on Raiatea… blah, blah, blah… Oh, and could you please give us a ride to the Hawaiki Nui tomorrow morning… preferably before 9 am J, thanks so much! Roselyne acted as if she couldn’t have cared less we were leaving and simply stated the room would cost 1000 CFP more now that we wouldn’t qualify for a multiple night discount. She told us to be ready by 7:45 am to get dropped off at the Hawaiki Nui Resort.

“Le Napoli” was the dinner restaurant we had chosen to be dropped off at by Roselyne. The silent van ride over to Le Napoli (opposite side of Uturoa) felt uncomfortable. The restaurant itself was amazing and we saw it was a pizza restaurant but the method of cooking was a bit unusual from the way pizza is cooked in the U.S.. The oven to make the pizza at Le Napoli was an open style, wood-burning affair. There was a counter surrounding this open oven and barstools for guest who wanted to eat close to the action (if pizza making was a form of excitement). The chef was entertaining several children. Danielle and I watched as he first gave the kids some dough to roll out. He slapped on some sauce then gave the kids ingredients to add on top of their delicious fare. After the children applied their ingredients, the chef placed the mini pizzas in the open oven to cook. Several minutes later the pizza master proudly handed the children back their product to eat. We thought that said a lot of the proprietors and thoroughly enjoyed eating at Le Napoli. We ordered the “Reine” pizza and it came stacked with mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, ham and Swiss cheese.

A female worker from Le Napoli gave Danielle and I a ride back to Pension Manava and we began to ask about word translation / pronunciation from English to French (remembering I got laughed at by two children on Rangiroa after greeting them with a horrible sounding “Bonjour”). We learned “Welcome” translated to Maeva (large group) or Manava (smaller group). Hmm, I thought, so you could translate that as such: The Sofitel Maeva Beach Club on the island of Tahiti was a large expansive resort with their own beach frontage welcoming a huge group of travelers. Then there was Pension Manava, a smaller establishment, er… welcoming? a smaller crowd. Interesting! We spent the rest of the night re-packing what little had been removed from our suitcases.

As we slept, a violent thunderstorm raged outside duming the day’s humidity accumulation. Every time I woke up it was still coming down. At around 6am, I peeked outside to clearing blue skies and ventured out to “our backyard”. Even this tropical soil on Raiatea couldn’t soak up the downpour quick enough because there were puddles everywhere. A horse was grazing in a field and some chatty geese were in a nearby pen. New storm clouds were already beginning their transformation from water vapor to grey ominous masses over the high peaks. I woke Danielle up at 6:30 and we readied ourselves for what we hoped would be a good day of exploring. I picked up our food (is it still called room service) and at 7:45, loaded up in the Manava Van and were driven to the Hawaiki Nui by Roselyn. Two other guests from Pension Manava were in Roselyn’s van and she began to converse with them in French. By the expression on the other’s (young couple) faces, Danielle and I could tell we were obviously the topic of discussion. “Oh, poor Americans. Can’t live outside of the lap of luxury?” Obviously, I couldn’t tell what was said but it doesn’t matter. Someone was chicken shit enough to say something about us without having the gull to let it be known! No matter, we thanked Roselyn for driving us and shrugged the rest off. We were warmly greeted by the Hawaik Nui staff who informed us the room was not yet ready but that we could leave our bags in a back room while we circled the island in a rental car.

The driving tour turned out to be a blast at day turned out to be a blast and the next day’s tour around Tahaa went off without any more weather drama. The food on Raiatea was excellent (with the exception of our PB & J sammies). For our dinners, we ate again at the Le Napoli (again ordering the Reine pizza) and on our last night at Hawaiki Nui’s restaurant, “Le Nordby”. From the Hawaiki Nui, we had to catch a taxi over to Le Napoli which cost 1300 CFP. Apparently, Roselyn had an agreement with the proprietors of Le Napoli and that is why we were given a ride home the previous night. Upon seeing us again, the woman assumed we had been dropped off by Roselyn and was preparing to take us back. We informed her of our change in lodging and she just shrugged off our answer and decided to drive us back free of charge. Everything we were experiencing in French Polynesia was that the Polynesians really are a gentle and kind-hearted people.

In terms of weather and infrastructure, Raiatea (and Tahaa) seemed like a world apart from their island neighbor of Bora Bora. Our days spent exploring these two islands were well worth the break from scuba diving but we were looking forward to getting back in the water with the TopDive operators on the island of Moorea. The Hawaiki Nui Resort had beautiful rooms and resort grounds, top-notch service, a great restaurant and a very helpful staff. If we never return to the island, both Danielle and I feel the time spent there was part of the adventure.

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