It's payback time. I've plundered Trip Advisor shamelessly. Finally I have something that I hope will be helpful to a few folks hoping to visit Bora Bora without breaking the bank. Here's my report about a 3 day stay in February, 2008 at Temanuata Iti, which had plusses and minuses. The latter first:

You better like roosters. They don't just welcome the dawn, they begin crowing in the dead of night, some in your yard, and never stop. I kind of enjoyed them. My lady friend did not.

Then the single kitchen knife. I tried cutting butter with it and failed. At the office, Martine said, "Oh yes. we have to get some more from the store," and scrounged up two more that were just as bad. The bikes, while invaluable and serviceable, were, like much else, completely unmaintained.

The lack of cushions on the outdoor furniture made them exquisitely uncomfortable.

The three "non-stick" pots should have been recycled a long time ago.
For some reason there were no electric outlets in the walls, except one for the non-working t.v.

Now the plusses:
The price. Bora Bora is very expensive. All food has to be imported. Almost all of the resorts, famous for their over-water bungalows, cost a fortune, and are perched on the outer coral reefs, the rim of an ancient volcano. A glorious robin's egg blue lagoon surrounds the inner volcanic plug that constitutes the main island where the locals live. It's there you can find a few inexpensive lodgings, most of them small inns or b & b's with shared bathrooms and kitchens. Temanuata is in two sections. The larger, Village Temanuata, contains 11 units of varying sizes leading from the main 21 mile road that encircles the island to a beach. The other, Temanuata Iti, is about a mile away and consists of four thatch-roofed single room cottages on Matira Beach. This is the best beach on the mainland but is nothing to write home about and not what you see in the ads for Bora Bora.

Our bungalow, after the initial scrutiny for defects, I came to love. We'd seen it on www.temanuata.com after reading about in on Trip Advisor. We even located in on Google Maps and traced the surrounding area. The off-season special at Temanuata.com offered 3 nights for the price of 2, bringing it to $170 per night. An extra $14 each provided a shuttle bus from and back to Vaitape, the main town where a free boat ride brought us from the airport.

The exterior architecture was simple and pretty, the interior had neat rattan walls, a good king size bed, large dining table and an open kitchen area all in a spacious room. The kitchen had a counter with two electric cooking plates, no oven or microwave, a sink, under counter fridge. Basic but it worked. There was a separate bathroom with a decent shower and another small toilet room, ample closet space, vaulted ceiling with fan. Stairs led to a loft bedroom that we didn't use but which would have been fine for sleeping only (if you weren't too tall). The deck with the notorious bare wood chaises was great when we propped our bed pillows on them.

The location was excellent, within walking distance of a couple of restaurants, the upscale Bora Bora Hotel and steps from the beach. The bungalow was cleaned every day and when the shower head broke, it was fixed the next day by a friendly French guy.

We used the bikes every day and didn't need a car. The Tiare market was 10 minutes ride away and had most of what we needed, including wine, at okay prices. In Vaitape, 30 minutes away, the China Lee Market is the one "super" market with more choices. (The bikes had baskets.) We saw a crowd there one day. They were insiders waiting for fresh baguettes.

On one of our two bike rides around the island - all flat riding except for one steep, walk-up hill, we stopped at two coolers placed by the roadside. A man ambled out and sold us a great chunk of just-
caught white tuna, enough for a salad Nicoise for two and 4 big steaks. The cost: 1,000 Polynesian francs, about $12.30. The steaks alone would have been $30 each in one of the mediocre restaurants in our neighborhood. I say mediocre because of what we saw people eating at some of them. In fact we ate all our meals at "home."

There's very little to do at night on Bora Bora. After supper we usually walked up to the Bora Bora Hotel to its dock to look for giant manta rays. (Missed one by 5 minutes.) During the day you can choose from a standard 5 or 6 activities. The shark and sting ray feeding excursion - hokey but lots of fun, 4 by 4 jeep rides up the mountains with obligatory shopping stops for black pearls, scuba diving trips, snorkeling, swimming. It should be said that the mainland is not the Bora Bora touted as paradise. That's not where the money is and it shows. For the beautiful people you have to hit one of the outer lagoon resorts. We were lucky to have an invitation and it's like another, very beautiful, world. But completely unreal. I actually enjoyed Temanuata more.

I selected this pension based on online reviews and the Lonely Planet Guidebook and stayed here two nights.

This is a friendly but no frills place. The bungalows are small, rustic thatched roof boxes with a tiny porch set in a small garden. Each room has two single beds except the family bungalows, a chair and a small empty friedge for storing drinks. The rooms have both fan and aircon which is necessary as the bungalows get very hot in the afternoon and early evening. The walls have local prints for decor. The bathrooms are new and the shower stall has hot water. Everything is kept clean.

The sand path along the garden to the beach means that you will track sand all over your porch and room so they have a broom and a pail you can stand in front of your door with water you can dunk your feet in before entering the bungalow. The beach front bungalows cost a bit more and the beach is just a tiny strip of sand. The bungalows close to the road get a bit of noise from the road and the restaurant next door late at night. Those in the middle near the reception office are the quietest and cheapest but make sure you aren't on the office side as there is a neighboring rooster who will wake the whole village up at 4 and won't stop throughout the day. We offered to buy him to have him cooked as Coq Au Vin but the neighbors wouldn't have it. Management claims the rooster was imported from France and never got over his jet lag but everyone would dearly like to wring its neck--bring earplugs just in case! This establishment also has some other bungalows across the road closer in the village but the setting is less nice so specify you want to stay beach side when you reserve.

There is no Internet. You can use the Mai Tai Hotel's computer up the road for 500 PF for 15 minutes or follow the advice of the office manager and peddle down to the Bora Bora Resort's Beach (about ten minutes) and use their WIFI from the public beach. I didn't try this but the connection is apparently best after 4 PM. (I went to the Internet shop next to the St. James Bar and Restaurant in the main town and bought a card and then used the WIFI from the restaurant. It's fast and reasonably priced. (Like all restaurants and pearl shops, etc. the ST. James will pick you up and drop you off if you are having a meal there.)

They rent bikes but it is a bit pricey. You are a long way from town, the pier where the boats from the airport dock, the diving operators, but there is an excellent restaurant right next to the Hotel--the Lucky House in Polynesian. It looks like nothing much from the outside, but the food is diving, well presented and reasonably priced. The best we had in one month in French Polynesia. The pension will arrange a no frills Le Truck open air minbus to pick you up/drop you off from the airport pier.

what a place to stay
stayed in the beach bungalow only feet away from the water
same stetch of beach the top hotels are on for a faction of the money

highly recommand