Rangiroa – A Paradise in the Middle of the South Pacific
Written: Jun 09 '02 (Updated Sep 28 '02)
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Pros: Beautiful, relaxed, very Polynesian. When I think of Tahiti, I think of Rangiroa
Cons: Why does paradise have to be a so far away?
The Bottom Line: When planning a trip to an island paradise, Rangiroa should be number one on your list.
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| twunschl's Full Review: Rangiroa |
Rangiroa is a small island of French Polynesia. Just a 55 minute plane ride north of Tahiti, this tiny atoll is located among the Tuamotus. An atoll is formed when coral begins to grow around the base of a volcano. As the volcano begins to sink, the coral continues to grow. Over time, the volcano sinks completely into the water and all that is left is the coral ring and in the center is the bluest water that you have ever seen. The ring of coral that is Rangiroa is not completely above water. There are many places where the reef is under water; therefore you have a chain of small islands separated by water, ocean and lagoon. It is sheer heaven on earth.
The Airport
The airport is located on a 10 kilometer stretch of road that goes between the towns of Tiputa and Avatoru. There is a single runway and Air Tahiti flights arrive daily from Papeete, Bora Bora and other islands in French Polynesia. The airport ?terminal? is simply a covered building that has a few benches for seats. There are 3 Air Tahiti desks, restrooms, a pay phone, small boutique (just a window that you can walk up to and look inside) and a small bar that sells refreshments. Everything at the airport closes when there isn?t a flight arriving or departing. Your hotel or pension will be waiting for you when you arrive. We even saw one couple that was staying at a local pension that had to ride in the flatbed of a pickup truck.
The Passes
The island has a population of only 2000 people. Most of these people live between the towns of Tiputa and Avatoru. These towns are located on the passes into the lagoon. The passes are breaks in the coral where ships and marine life can flow into and out of the lagoon. Since everything on Rangiroa needs to be imported, it is only logical that the towns would spring up next to the docks. The passes also are excellent places to snorkel and dive and to dolphin watch.
The Road
As I mentioned, the road on Rangiroa is only about 10 kilometers long. We will start driving from Tiputa to Avatoru. The trip will only take you about 10 to 15 minutes by car. But the fun of Rangiroa is to stop along the way. In Tiputa, the town is actually on the other side of the pass. You will need to take a water taxi over to the other side. We did not take the taxi, but I understand that Tiputa is even smaller and more Polynesian than Avatoru. I was told that there is a market and bakery there and at least one restaurant. Without taking a taxi, the only things that we saw at the Tiputa pass was a small snack (restaurant), a dive shop and a pay phone that was out of order. To find restaurants, pearl farms and super markets without taking the water taxi, you will need to turn around and go to Avatoru.
Since the road is so short and the island is so narrow, it is extremely easy to find your way. If you happen to miss the place that you were looking for, you can simply turn around in the street. You will rarely see another car. You may pass some people on scooters and bicycles, but in general, the road was empty. On your drive, you will pass the airport, the one gas station on the island, the police station, the school and the hospital. Once you have reached Avatoru, there is a large church at the end of the street and then the road turns to the right. We followed the road a little ways, but it only passed homes. So once you come to the church, it is best to turn around.
Lodgings
You really have only two choices when staying on Rangiroa. You can stay at a resort Kia Ora Village, which has a large restaurant, overwater bungalows and a dive shop, or you can stay at family owned pensions. Pensions are similar to bed and breakfasts, but they can range from a little bungalow to a mattress on the floor in someone?s living room. Many do not have fresh or hot water. If you would like to stay in a pension, you will get a feel for island life on the island. Do some research when deciding on a pension as there are many to choose from. There are many guide books about Tahiti that can be of help.
Restaurants
Surprisingly, there are quite a few restaurants on the island. The largest and most expensive restaurant is located at the Kia Ora Village. I was extremely disappointed with the food at the hotel. The breakfast was American Breakfast and the last thing that I wanted on a Polynesian vacation was an American Breakfast. There is just a buffet with breads and danishes, fresh fruit, a few cheeses and some cold meat. If you wanted to add running eggs or underdone bacon, there was an additional charge. If you have breakfast at the hotel, make sure that you try the homemade pineapple jam. We only ate lunch at the hotel once. The sandwiches are just all right, but the French fries are great. They do not have room service for lunch. Dinner was expensive the two nights that we ate there. I paid over $30 for about 10 bites of lobster. The next night, I decided that I would have better luck with just getting appetizers, but that failed also. I paid almost $25 for a small salad and extremely overdone scallops. The dessert buffet is almost $9 and there was always chocolate mousse and a lot of cakes that were all the same.
Instead of eating at the hotel, I suggest that you try some of the local cuisine. When you are driving, you will usually see Hinano beer banners with tables out front. These are restaurants. They typically didn?t have an obvious sign. You will just get used to looking for the banners and tables. We ate at two of the local restaurants, each one twice, that were exceptionally good. Ikimario?s will be on your right hand side as you drive from Tiputa to Avatoru and is just past the airport. There are a few tables inside and maybe about ten tables outside on a tile floor. For such a simple place, there is an extensive menu and the green linen napkins are folded into tuxedo jackets. The sign out front says that they are a pizzeria, but they had sandwiches and burgers and a nice dinner menu with steak and fish. We had pizza both times that we visited the restaurant for lunch and it was fabulous. They do not list individual pizza items that you can add to the pizza, but instead have a whole page of special pizzas with amazing toppings. The first one that we ate, had artichoke hearts, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and green beans. It sounded like the strangest combination, but it was fabulous. We also had a pizza with quite a bit of fish on it. The service was great and there was the friendliest house cat and two dogs that lay on the tile to stay cool. We asked and they do not have a pick up service at the Kia Ora Village for dinner, so make sure that you stop during the day for lunch or rent a car for the entire day.
The other restaurant that we visited was Le KaiKai. This restaurant is wonderful and I highly recommend that you skip the restaurant at Kia Ora Village and eat here every night. They do have a pick up service and when you call to make reservations, they will tell you the time of the pick up. When we ate here for dinner, the pick up was 7 o?clock. A husband and wife own the restaurant. The husband is the cook and the wife does everything else, including the pick-ups. Since she has to leave the restaurant to come and pick you up, make sure that you are in the lobby on time because she won?t be able to wait for you. The van that was used to pick us up was there delivery van with two lawn furniture benches inside. It was quite an experience and the butt of many jokes for the rest of the night. The menu is very local with many seafood and meat dishes. The shrimp with curry and coconut milk was fantastic and the chocolate cake, that was more like a wedge of brownie/souffle was ?to die for?. For lunch, we had the poisson crue, which was also very good. The restaurant is completely outdoors. The floor is crushed coral and there is a thatched roof and an extra awning to protect you from the heat of the sun. They have installed ceiling fans and rotating fans to keep the air moving. This restaurant was one of my favorite experiences of all of the islands that we visited. They are open for lunch and dinner everyday, except for lunch on Sundays. To call to make reservations, call 96-03-39.
Supermarkets
There are two reasons why I recommend going to the supermarkets on the island. One, if you don?t buy your own water and other drinks, you will spend a fortune at your hotel. And two, the experience of going to the stores and trying to converse with the people of Rangiroa is also on my long list of favorite memories. The markets do not have any sign to indicate that you can buy food there. You will begin to notice them after a while. They generally had a Coke or Hinano banner out front, there were double doors that were open with steps leading up to it and there were generally cars and scooters out front. As you drive from Tiputa to Avatoru, there are three supermarkets. The first one is on your left, then right and the last one is on your left. The very first one that you will come to was my favorite. This store did not sell alcohol because they are too close to the school. Because of this fact, they seemed to have more items and they always had what we were looking for, except alcohol of course. The people inside were always helpful and even though few spoke English, it was fun trying to ask questions. They have these amazing chocolate Magnum bars in their ice cream case. Everything is expensive on Rangiroa since everything must be imported, including the water, but it is still much better than buying everything at the hotel. The other two stores sold Rum, but it was $25 a bottle. Bacardi was $50. The supermarkets and almost everything else closes from 11:30 to 2:30 so the employees can go home and have lunch and take a nap. Make sure that you keep this in mind when you venture out. About the only things open during this time were the restaurants.
Black Pearl Farms
Rangiroa is becoming more and more known for their black pearls. There are only three true pearl farms on the island, but there must be about a dozen or more shops that sell pearls along the short stretch between Tiputa and Avatoru. The largest pearl farm on the island is Gaughin Pearls. It is located on the lagoon side past the airport. They had a huge selection of loose pearls and many set pieces. They also offer tours during the day. I recommend that you shop around on all of the islands that you visit while in French Polynesia, but if you are visiting Rangiroa, you will find excellent pricing due to the competition. If you buy a loose pearl and want to have it set before you go home, there is a great little place next to the Kia Ora Village. Taaroa ? Bijoux Pearls is a very short walk from the hotel. Walk out to the main road and turn right. At the next driveway, you will see a sign for the Internet and Pearls. A very friendly French couple owns the home and you can use their computer for 400CFP for 15 minutes. She has a very nice selection of loose and set pearls. You can bring her your loose pearls and she will set them the same day or within 24 hours. I saw a few people come to her just for this purpose.
What is there to do?
Well for one thing, nothing at all. We enjoyed watching the yachts and the water and the sunset from our overwater bungalow at Kia Ora Village. Other activities include snorkeling, diving, glass bottom boat tours, dolphin watching, a trip to Reef Island and other excursions to bird sanctuaries. There are many dive shops on the island that offer different services. Our favorite activity was renting a ?fun? car for a few hours. The ?car? was really more like a scooter that had been converted to a two seater. If you don?t enjoy water activities, you can still enjoy yourself on Rangiroa, as long as you enjoy doing my favorite activity; nothing.
Overall
Rangiroa is one of those places that is beyond description. It is about the culture, the sights, the water and the amazing experience of being in the middle of nowhere on an island that really isn?t an island at all.
For pictures and video of our trip, visit my website
www.tahiti.wunschl.com
Read my other reviews from our French Polynesia Trip
Moorea
http://www.epinions.com/content_70580276868
Sheraton Moorea Lagoon Resort
http://www.epinions.com/content_66105675396
Bora Bora
http://www.epinions.com/content_66986806916
Sofitel Motu
http://www.epinions.com/content_66291601028
Rangiroa
http://www.epinions.com/content_66400063108
Kia Ora Village
http://www.epinions.com/content_2687869060
Kia Ora Sauvage
http://www.epinions.com/content_2691276932
Tahiti
http://www.epinions.com/content_66968260228
Tahiti Beachcomber Inter-Continental
http://www.epinions.com/content_66996309636
Sheraton Tahiti
http://www.epinions.com/content_66102398596
And for more great reviews, read LordBalfor's reviews and visit his website at
http://community.webshots.com/user/lordbalfor
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Jun - Aug
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twunschl
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Location: Wishing I was back in Tahiti
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Our Tahiti pictures and video are on-line. Go to www.tahiti.wunschl.com
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