trip video: Fakarava & the South Pass (Tetamanu), March 2019

This is the final companion videos to our French Polynesia trip during March 2019 where we traveled to the atoll island of Fakarava. We went to Fakarava for the world class scuba diving at the passes that separate the ocean and lagoon of the atoll. In this video, we dove the South Pass (Tetamanu) twice, once from lagoon to ocean and once from ocean to lagoon. In between our dives, we visited pink sand beach.

You can find an linked index of our detailed trip report below.

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trip report: French Polynesia – final impressions & budget, March 2019

Over the course of just over a week, we racked up a bill that rivals some of our longest trips and by far exceeded our cost per day than any we’ve done before. That’s not even counting the point redemptions used and the amount we save through the travel enthusiast game. In the end, we were indeed left with an unforgettable experience. Some of which I am good with not return to, such as the resorts on Bora Bora. While others I would love enjoy again, like the underwater wonderland at the passes on Fakarava.

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This is the conclusion of the French Polynesia trip series. You can navigate to the other parts in the index below as they are posted.

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trip video: Fakarava & the North Pass (Passe de Garuae), March 2019

This is the second of the companion videos to our French Polynesia trip during March 2019 where we traveled to the atoll island of Fakarava. We went to Fakarava for the world class scuba diving at the passes that separate the ocean and lagoon of the atoll. In this video, we dove the North Pass (Passe de Garuae) five time over our first 2 days on the island. We found an aquatic wonderland with grey sharks, white tip reef sharks, swordfish, napoleon wrasse, and schools of smaller fish.

You can find an linked index of our detailed trip report below, as they are posted.

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trip report: Fakarava, March 2019

Did someone say a wall of sharks? That was our draw to visit the island atoll in the middle of nowhere and what we found was my most memorable scuba diving experiences to date. Oh, the beaches weren’t too bad either.

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This is the third entry of the French Polynesia trip series covering our experiences on Fakarava (4) and getting out (5). You can navigate to the other parts in the index below as they are posted. Read More

trip video: Bora Bora, March 2019

This is the first of the companion videos to our French Polynesia trip during March 2019. Specifically this video covers our time on the resort island of Bora Bora. We enjoyed the St. Regis and InterContinental Thalasso resorts including the beaches, the activities, and the views they had to offer. Finally we swam with the fishes as we dove with Top Dive and saw three types of sharks.

You can find an linked index of our full trip report below, as they are posted.

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trip report: Bora Bora, March 2019

Bora Bora is one of the premier resort islands in the world and probably the most traveled to island for tourists in French Polynesia. On the other hand, it also has the nickname “Boring Boring” in the backpacker world for the lack of unguided adventure available and the isolation of the resorts on the perimeter atoll islands. The truth, ofcourse, is somewhere in between.

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This is the second entry of the French Polynesia trip series covering our experiences on Bora Bora (3). You can navigate to the other parts in the index below.

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trip report: French Polynesia – decision, planning, & getting in, March 2019

In the travel enthusiast game, change happens quickly. The best deals out there tends to go away or change quickly once more and more people learn of it. With the growing popularity of the game itself, the increase number of travel websites, and how technology information today can spread, it has lead to more people able to take advantage of great deals to travel the world but also subsequently lead to the death of many of these deals as well. This evolution of the game has caused many heated arguments on travel forums and comment sections. The future direction of the travel enthusiast game isn’t the purpose of this post, but rather how we put together a trip based on several expiring deals to visit a few islands in the middle of the Pacific. Specifically to experience an over the water bungalow and to swim with the sharks.

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This is the first entry of the French Polynesia trip series covering our pre-trip planning (1) and our travel into our first destination in French Polynesia (2). You can navigate to the other parts in the index below as they are posted. Read More

trip report: Maui, January 2017

This is part 5 of our holiday break trip around the Pacific from December 2016 to January 2017 where we traveled to New Zealand and Maui. You can also to other parts below in the index.

I’ve personally been on Maui on three different trips. Obviously, it is a place I enjoy. This part of the trip report will be based on experiences from my parents and myself on this current trip, but will also feature information from my previous visits and other research I’ve done about Maui over the years. As such, the flow will be a little bit different.

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