21 Delightful Days on Paul Gauguin

[PARTYOF2]

Great report with wonderful details! We are booked on the 14 day Marquesas cruise in November so are looking forward to hearing more about your excursions there. We are scuba divers so we'll be doing some diving there also.

 

I am contemplating booking the 2 night precruise hotel with PG. If you book a precruise stay with PG, do they also charge the $100pp air deviation? After checking hotel prices on the internet & the extras it includes, it looks like booking air & hotel with PG may be the way to go.

[newonboard69]

I highly recommend Reef Discovery with Christophe.

 

So was the Reef Discovery with Christopher one that was part of the PG excurions?

[MightyQuinn]

I am contemplating booking the 2 night precruise hotel with PG. If you book a precruise stay with PG, do they also charge the $100pp air deviation? After checking hotel prices on the internet & the extras it includes, it looks like booking air & hotel with PG may be the way to go.

No, PG doesn’t charge any deviation fee if you buy their air/hotel package. I did the same number crunching as you and arrived at the same conclusion. By buying a PG package with pre-cruise at IC Tahiti, we paid very slightly more than we would have if we bought all the elements separately. For us, it was the price of convenience and definitely worth it.

[MightyQuinn]

So was the Reef Discovery with Christopher one that was part of the PG excurions?

Reef Discovery is a private company owned and operated by a former dive instructor, Christophe Poch. He’s not connected to PG in any way. You can read numerous reviews for him on Trip Advisor or check out his website for details of his excursions. He's the real deal!

 

http://www.reefdiscovery.pf/us/contact.html

[greatlyblessed]

Thank you for your report.

I am very keen to hear what excursions you recommend and where you did them, as I am in the process of booking.

[MightyQuinn]

I am very keen to hear what excursions you recommend and where you did them, as I am in the process of booking.

LOL. Maybe you got bogged down already, as I covered our shore excursions for the Societies and Tuamotus earlier in this thread! I know, I know - it’s a lot of stuff to wade through. I'm happy to help with any questions you may have. :):)

[MightyQuinn]

Marquesas is much different than the rest of French Polynesia, especially compared to Societies and Tuamotus - no reefs, no lagoons, no turquoise waters, no motus, no jet skis, few tourists. But the Islands are starkly beautiful with rugged mountains and lush valleys.

 

Fatu Hiva

 

Fatu Hiva is the most remote and least visited of all the Marquesas and we felt privileged to be there. We took the Omoa Petroglyphs Walk with Eddowes. Shortly after the walk started, the rain began and didn’t let up for our entire 3 hours! It wasn’t a difficult walk but the rains made the trails and rocks very slippery. The tour was an excellent intro to the archaeology of Marquesas and was our first opportunity to see a ceremonial site up close. The petroglyphs were somewhat faded and you needed imagination to see what was there. Nevertheless, Eddowes was in his element and spoke at length, sometimes repeating what he had covered in his lectures. No matter, it was all very interesting. We also visited a small museum that was full of ancient tools and artifacts. The trek ended in town at the cultural centre where many artisans had gathered to sell their work. Fatu Hiva is known for tapa cloth and is the only Island in Marquesas to still practice this traditional artform. There were lovely tapa pieces in all shapes and sizes. There were also some exquisite rosewood and stone carvings for sale. We bought several carved items here and regret not buying more, since quality was high and prices were reasonable. CPF only, no USD or credit cards. As a general rule, prices increased as we made our way through the Islands.

 

Hiva Oa

 

Hiva Oa is a lush Island best known as the final resting place for both Paul Gauguin and Jacques Brel. Unfortunately, the rains followed us and made for a wet, muggy day. We took the Eddowes excursion Atuona to Taaoa in which we traveled in small jeeps (4 per vehicle) driven by locals. We lucked out with a driver who spoke pretty good English, so we got some commentary en route to a huge archaeological site called Upeke. There we scrambled over rocks and muddy trails to get to an ancient ceremonial centre. Eddowes was at the top of his game and made the site come alive. The mosquitoes were also in their element! The tour ended in town where a make-shift market was set up for local artisans and neighboring villages to display their work. This was the best place to find intricate bone carvings and jewelry. Expensive stuff! After the tour, we walked to the cemetery to see the famous graves and then hopped a complimentary Le Truck shuttle back to the ship.

 

Ua Huka

 

Ua Huka is the smallest Island in Marquesas, with more horses than humans! I was anticipating it the most, ever since Eddowes remarked that it had the most vibrant artisan community with the very best wood carvings at the very best prices. I knew that PG often missed this call, due to high winds or strong currents, so I was thrilled when we actually arrived as scheduled and the first tender was launched. But it was not to be. Even though we had bright sunny skies, winds were high and the tender couldn’t dock safely at the pier at Vaipaee. So we heaved anchor and set sail for Nuku Hiva. We had signed up for the Eddowes tour Ua Huka Discovery and it was promptly refunded to our account.

 

Nuku Hiva

 

We arrived at Nuku Hiva at noon the day before we were scheduled, thus giving us an extra half-day in port. And guess what? It was raining. Undaunted, we tendered ashore to Taiohae and visited the artisan centre close to the dock. The quality and price of goods was very disappointing compared to what we had seen on previous Islands. Well, no worries, there’s always tomorrow. We had signed up for A Visit to Taipivai Valley with Eddowes, which sounded exciting since we would get to see a site that he excavated several years ago. But alas, we awoke to rain. Not just light drizzle, but rain that meant business. PG cancelled the Eddowes trek and once again refunded our payment. We ventured ashore in spite of the weather and caught the tail end of a dance performance in the local community centre. Then we hopped on a complimentary Le Truck shuttle that circled between the dock and key spots in town, including Notre Dame Cathedral, Piki Vehine Pae Pae archaeological site and Rose Coulter Museum. The sun came out by mid-day and Eddowes was scheduled to do his tour again, only this time in French. We figured we’d go along and catch what we could with our high school French, but sadly, that tour was also cancelled. C’est la vie!

[MightyQuinn]

After Marquesas, we had 2 sea days en route back to the Societies. Our first port was Huahine, where we anchored in Maroe Bay. This location had the disadvantage of being further from the main town of Fare (requiring both tender and then a 20-min shuttle), but the advantage of allowing us the opportunity to see both Huahine Iti and Huahine Nui. We did PG Sacred Sites and Legendary Places with Paul Attolah. He’s an archaeologist/anthropologist who participated in excavating many of the sites on Huahine. He led a most interesting tour through the royal village of Maeva and Matairea Hill and provided insights into life in French Polynesia, past and current. It was a similar excursion to an Eddowes trek, although the story line was different. We also stopped at a shallow river bed to feed the famous blue-eyed eels. The tour returned us to the tender dock where we then took the complimentary Le Truck shuttle to the main town of Fare. We walked along the waterfront and poked around the few shops before getting the next shuttle/tender back to the ship.

 

After Huahine, we had return visits to Bora Bora, Tahaa and Moorea.

[kiwiuk]

Originally Posted by newonboard69

So was the Reef Discovery with Christopher one that was part of the PG excurions?

 

 

Reef Discovery is a private company owned and operated by a former dive instructor, Christophe Poch. He’s not connected to PG in any way. You can read numerous reviews for him on Trip Advisor or check out his website for details of his excursions. He's the real deal!

 

http://www.reefdiscovery.pf/us/contact.html

 

To Mighty Quinn or newonboard 69,

Would either of you happen to know the prices for Christophe excursions? Just been on the website and it looks great but no info on cost, also did you book this in advance or when you got there? Thanks:)

[Go9ersjrh]

 

 

To Mighty Quinn or newonboard 69,

Would either of you happen to know the prices for Christophe excursions? Just been on the website and it looks great but no info on cost, also did you book this in advance or when you got there? Thanks:)

 

I contacted Christophe after reading Mighty Quinn's report. He's email reply said 9000 cfp. The exchange rate he gave worked out to between $110 and $120 USD. We think were going to book it. The trip advisor reviews were also excellent.

[MightyQuinn]

Kiwiuk, the price is 9000 cpf pp. Cash only, no credit cards. We booked in advance. Christophe only takes 8 pax and I think it would be a gamble to wait until you arrive to book, since he also sells through the local resorts. In our case, we were 6 pax from PG and 2 pax from Bora Bora Four Seasons.

 

Go9ersjh, go for it! It's wonderful snorkeling and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[newonboard69]

Does Christopher take USD?

[MightyQuinn]

Does Christopher take USD?

I don't think so, but best that you check with him. Everyone on our boat paid in cpf. In his e-mail quotes, he does show what 9000 cpf is worth in Euros and USD, so maybe it's possible.

 

As an aside, you can convert USD to cpf on PG at a pretty competitive rate. In April, they were giving 81 cpf/1 USD when the "official" rate was 83 cpf/1 USD.

[newonboard69]

Good suggestion to convert USD on the PG before hand.

 

Thanks!

[Go9ersjrh]

My email from Christophe said I could pay in the currency of my choice. It still might be better to pay in cfp instead of dealing with an exchange rate question. Sounds like PG has a fair rate.

[Emdee]

Thanks Mighty for the PG rate it has always been pretty good. The rate here is 76 to 1 CDN$ so I will just wait and buy on board.

[Familygoboston]

Thank you for your comprehensive review! Sorry I am just getting to it now, I put a few things "aside" and then read when I get a moment! I enjoyed my virtual trip to FP this morning!

Did you find it difficult to arrange/find the folks in port with whom who you arranged private tours? Every locale is a little different, I have found in some places that every one is right where you expect them and others operate on a more relaxed schedule; sometimes those cultural differences impact our choice to do a ship excursion vs an independent.

We have no shipboard credits (clearly, we don't know something everyone else does!) so we would be likely to prebook our excursions.

TIA

[Emdee]

PG is offering their shipboard credits on almost all cruises this year. Check your details on the PG website and call your TA.

 

Are you perhaps booking through Vantage ? I understand that sometimes with Vantage the credits are not given as there is a price advantage but not sure of this.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Mighty, just got around to reading your Marquesas reports. So sorry that you hit such a rainy period, and that you couldn't tender into Ua Huka. We feel really blessed that the weather was so good when we were there in December 2008--it's supposed to be the drier part of the year, but our expectations were low, so pleasantly surprised. Did you have decent weather coming back from the Marquesas? We really enjoyed that stretch.

[MightyQuinn]

Thanks Mighty for the PG rate it has always been pretty good. The rate here is 76 to 1 CDN$ so I will just wait and buy on board.

Emdee, as you no doubt know, CAD gets a much nicer conversion than USD at this time. If you want to make the effort to go to a bank once you arrive, you’ll get about 88 cpf/1 CAD. We traveled with USD and converted it at IC Tahiti and on PG.

[MightyQuinn]

Did you find it difficult to arrange/find the folks in port with whom who you arranged private tours? .....

 

We have no shipboard credits (clearly, we don't know something everyone else does!) so we would be likely to prebook our excursions.

FamilygoBoston, we pre-arranged 2 different private tours on Bora Bora and everything went according to plan. Operators showed up where and when they were supposed to. But we also had a private tour set up in Papeete and the guy didn’t show. He has since apologized for his confusion over dates.

I noticed a few local tour operators and taxis in some ports, but certainly not the choice that you find in other places. If you're thinking about private tours, you’d be well advised to have some plans in place before you arrive. We didn't pre-book any PG excursions, and with only one exception (Fakarava), we were able to get what we wanted once on-board. YMMV.

As for OBC, as Emdee mentioned, PG has been offering it on most 2011 sailings. Many TAs will add to that amount. Keep a close eye on the PG website for upcoming deals. Just today, I got an e-mail about a 2-week sale with reduced prices on selected 2011 sailings.

[MightyQuinn]

Mighty, just got around to reading your Marquesas reports. So sorry that you hit such a rainy period, and that you couldn't tender into Ua Huka. We feel really blessed that the weather was so good when we were there in December 2008--it's supposed to be the drier part of the year, but our expectations were low, so pleasantly surprised. Did you have decent weather coming back from the Marquesas? We really enjoyed that stretch.

Wendy, it was indeed a bummer to have all that rain in Marquesas. I think it was quite unusual. The Captain mentioned that in his 5 years of going there, he had never once seen rain in Nuka Hiva! The locals were happy, however, since they had been in a bit of a drought. It was the only rain of our entire cruise and we enjoyed sunny skies for the sea days back to Societies. I would have happily taken rain if it meant getting into Ua Huka. Missing it was my biggest regret of our trip.

[Emdee]

Mighty,

always good to miss something -then you will have another excuse to go back another time!

[DarraK]

What a lovely review! 21 days you are soooooo lucky!

[Familygoboston]

Thanks Emdee for the advice about the rates and OBC...so it sounds like even though there is no OBC offered for 2012 yet, if it gets offered, I could still take advantage of that even though Im already booked. We booked because it's an anniversary trip, so we are locked into those dates.

 

Mighty- thanks for the info on the shorex's...from your review there is so much to do! I am doing my research now about the tours people say they enjoy most. We are pretty active and I think we will end up with a mix of ship tours and independents. And here I was thinking we'd relax a bit:rolleyes: