Money in the South Pacific

We will be in New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia and Bora Bora and Morea. Is there one type of currency for all of those places (with the exception of New Zealand). I do not like to use an ATM. I seem to remember that in French Polynesia they would take American dollars.

You can use US currency in American Samoa, Bora Bora, Moorea and New Caledonia. They also all take XFP. You can use Australian currency in Fiji and they take most US credit cards (I can't remember what we used to be honest).

We usually just get some local currency from our bank prior to the trip and use it for small stuff and use the credit cards for larger purchases. Also, depending upon your ship, they will exchange money for you as well (but you get a better exchange rate on land)

I will get some from my bank. I like to have pocket money!

Where do you start your cruise? If it's in New Zealand, I would wait until you get there to exchange money - you will get a better rate there than through your bank. If you start at the other end, then just get enough for a coupe of days and exchange more when you get onto the island. You always get a better rate and you might find that you don't even need to.

When do you leave?

but I like to work things over! LOL

There is nothing wrong with that! I do exactly the same thing! It's easier now because there isn't that last-minute crunch. We will start watching the exchange rate in July for our November trip. It makes it that much more exciting.

Is this your first trip to the region? It is so lovely and the people are very nice (at least in all of our interactions with them). If you have any questions, I'd be happy to try and answer them.

Thanks Spikesgirl!

This Sept/Oct for our 40th we will be cruising FP plus staying post-cruise on Moorea. What are the highlight activities/excursions on the following islands:

- Huahine

- Raiatea

- Rangiora

We are set on Bora Bora, Moorea, and Tahiti. Looking for a highlight or two elsewhere.

We prefer scenery and relaxation and don't need to do an excursion on every island -- we're fine doing just a few and some basic R&R otherwise.

but never to the other part of the South Pacific. Now that it is mentioned, we did get XPF's in Tahiti and Bora Bora. We love it there.

Are you thinking about ships tours or doing stuff independently? There's usually not too much of a problem with doing something independently as most of the operators work hand-in-hand with the ships.

Anything in Rangi that's in the water is fabulous! They have such great diving and snorkeling there. We start our cruise the end of October with a week's stay in Rangiroa. We adore it there. My suggestion would be to go to the Kia Ora activities desk and check out the brochures (you can also go to their site). The Blue Lagoon is very popular.

Are you interesting in water activities or cultural? Huahine grows a lot of vanilla and a tour of a plantation can be fun. There's also a cultural island tour that's fairly interesting.

If you are an experienced snorkeler, then I highly recommend the Tahaa Coral Gardens Drift Snorkel - it is incredible, but make sure you have dive gloves and hard-soled dive booties(the black sea urchins can be nasty).

If you would like photos, feel free to e mail me at Charlie kirby at Comcast dot net (all run together, of course) and I will be happy to share some with you. As you might be able to tell, we are pretty ga-ga about the place.