My husband and I stayed here a week for our honeymoon in August 2005. A couple of quick comments:

1. The food on the Tahiti Nui airline can be pretty bad, so you may want to bring food on yourself.

2. Since we took an overnight flight and arrived in the morning, we had to wait from ~9am until noon for our room to be ready. Which is reasonable, just prepare for if you take a red-eye.

3. The restaurant Kaina Hut is wonderful. Bloody Mary's was also good (but not for vegetarians), although a little more mainstream / bigger. Bamboo Hut was awful. Also, room service in the morning is about the same price as the buffet, but we thought it was nicer to be alone and eat overlooking the water (we had an overwater bungalow).

4. We tried jet-skiing for the first time and loved it. However, if you book through Pearl Resort they charge an insane premium -- for this and anything else you do off the island, you can save ~40% if you call them yourself (but you will need to bring a travel book with the relevant phone numbers). The one thing I would recommend doing from the island + paying the premium is scuba diving, purely for the convenience and their knowledge of the dive sites.

5. If you want to buy a tareo, the island where the Lagoonarium is has the cheapest ones. It's not worth a special trip over there, just something to know if you're already there. If you decide to do the Lagoonarium, I think it's worth it to pay the full day - most people leave after a half day and you get about 1-2 hours all by yourself to swim around the pens, etc (but only if you're interested in swimming in the shark pen, which is the main attraction).

6. Our bathroom in the overwater bungalow smelled. Evidently they were having some sort of plumbing problem while we were there. If you are planning on taking an overwater bungalow you may want to ask about this.

7. Sharks come into the lagoon to feed at night. If you're out on your porch (in an overwater) around 11pm, you may see them.

8. Taking a kayak out to the point to watch the sunset is really nice.

9. The Polynesian dinner that the Pearl puts on once a week isn't really worth it, unless you think you'd like to watch the dancing, since the food is rather mediocre.

That's about all I can think of at the moment - have a great time, and I hope these comments help with your vacation.

My husband and I stayed here with some friends in October. I was torn between here and Le Meridien and was glad that this was our final choice. From BBPR we could only see 1 resort in the far distance. At Le Meridien (and any of those resorts on that side of the island) you see resort after resort and will soon have several hundered bungalows within view (They are building a Four Seasons, St Regis and another Intercontinental). At BBPR you actually feel like you are in the middle of paradise. We had POWB #43 - which was great. Though you could not see Mt. Otemanu from inside the room, there was a view of other private motus. From our deck you could see Mt.Otemanu, and a total of 3 other motus, plus the sunset. It is also the most private bungalow at the resort. The turn down service was awesome - they even straightened up our room for us (hung up towels, bathing suits, arranged our toiletries, etc.) Staff was very friendly. By our second day there, people actually knew our names and which bungalow we were in. The activities desk was very helpful too.

We did a private boat tour with Pierrot, which was worth the money ($600). The tour included shark feeding (and swimming with them), ray feeding, snorkeling and a lunch on another motu (ceviche, salad, steak, fish, lobster, shrimp, kabobs and fruit). If ever we are lucky enough to go back, I would do this tour again in a heartbeat. Another tour we took was the jeep tour. It was bumpy, but the views were incredible and just a good way to see the island.

Food wasn't anything to write home about, except for Kaina Hut. That is the most under-rated restaurant from reading other people's reviews. The food there was excellent and wasn't as pricey as some other places. The most over-rated is Bloody Mary's. The service was terrible, the owner was rude, and the food wasn't tastey. If you feel the need, I'd stop by and take a look around and then continue on to somewhere else.

I would highly recommend BBPR for anyone traveling to Bora Bora. The rooms are nice (with tvs, dvd & cd players and huge bathrooms), the staff is super friendly, they are building a spa (opening in Spring '06) and as mentioned before, you are not crowded by other resorts.

[Bora Bora Pearl, OW Bungalow #19]
[Coordinates: 16.47696 South, 151.77095 West]

Coming from the Moorea Pearl, this was taking a step up from a good thing to a greater thing.

Clear waters and quiet - peace and quiet. The Moorea Pearl definitely had a better lagoon for seeing fish under your bungalow during the day, but the bright blue crystal clear water more than makes up for it.

Okay, onto the hotel - there's plenty to do... just about the same equipment rental that there was in Moorea. However, there seemed to rarely be anyone at the equipment desk when I went over there, and got in the habit of taking and returning my snorkel without being checked in or out.

The one part of this resort that is sort of an issue is that there is little access to anything but the hotel. Your choices are the upstairs or poolside restaurants or room service. If you want to head into town during the day, check out the ferry and then bus schedule before going. As soon as you arrive, if you are planning on going onto the main island for dinner ever, make those reservations ASAP. The hotel provides the ferry and then the resturants provide the shuttle. However, there is only so much room on the ferry and the boats fill up quick so reserve EARLY!

Logistics aside, this was the kind of place that you dream about on a honeymoon. It was just me, my wife, champagne, and ocean breezes. It hardly felt like anyone else was around in the whole resort. The only place where you see other couples are the restaurant, the pool, and the dive shop.

The diving was amazing. I've dove in the Florida Keys, Aruba, Hawaii, and the Virgin Islands. This takes the cake. I've never seen schools of rays so clearly or come poop-in-wetsuit close to a 10ft lemon shark. Instead of fighting flippers-in-the-face, take the afternoon dive instead of the two morning dives. Sure, you are getting one less dive, but do it over two days and each will be practically a private dive. Everyone books the morning dives.

Putting it in a nutshell, we didn't want to leave. Not just because it was going to take us 26 hours of flights and layovers to get back to New Hampshire, but the place IS paradise.

P.S. I happened to have an underwater flashlight that is pretty bright on land as well. Anyway, if you happen to have an overwater bungalow (we had #19), shine the light into the water in the dark. We saw about five or six rays each night and a couple of small sharks in the lagoon. Enjoy!

Ia Orana!

My wife and I returned from the PB resort in Bora Bora a few days ago and it was great! If only the prices were comparable with the US then it would have been perfect! We spent 5 nights at the Sheraton Lagoon on Moorea in a OWB (GREAT property!)and 3 nights in a Beach Suite (NICE!) at the Pearl. From the moment we arrived we were well taken care of. If there was a question or problem it was taken care of immediately. The property was spotless and lush and very relaxing. The only complaint I had (except for prices)was that our private jacuzzi at our Beach Suite never got warm enough. Other than that relax and be sure to take in some activities. The 4x4 island Safari and the Shark/Stingray/Snorkle cruise was a blast and should not be missed!!! Also, the restarants in town will come pick you up so schedule that at the activities desk when you arrive.

Muururuu!

Any questions feel free to email me at phil_rdkick@yahoo.com