A Home Amongst the Fishes

In 1998, I picked up a booklet from the Leading Hotels of the World featuring their global properties, and landed haphazardly on page with rows of neatly organized huts perched over the bluest blue waters of my dreams. I hadn’t known that such a thing existed! One of the photos showed a window cut out from the floor of the bungalow, so you could see the water and sea life below. At the time, the price per night was definitely out of reach, and no honeymoon was anywhere on the horizon, so I filed it away in the back of my head.

Three years later, en-route to a new job in New York City from Sydney, I booked a flight routing that put me in Papeete and Moorea for a few days. I left all of my large luggage at the Meridian in Papeete, and woke up super early to take an inter-island flight to Moorea. The “airport” was nothing but an open air shack, with a few chickens walking around. It was dark at 5:50am, and not a soul was in sight. Apparently the 6am flight to Moorea only flew at a certain time of the year, but the kind pilot who showed up agreed to take me so that I would make it in time for my scuba diving trip with sharks. I was the only one on the plane when we took off at 6:10am. Arriving at the Sheraton Moorea by 7am, I pointed to my Platinum status and talked my way into getting upgraded to an overwater bungalow! This was in March 2001, when the Sheraton was still part of the Starwood group. The shark dive was unbelievable - huge lemon sharks swam overhead and blocked out the sun, like an airliner passing by. I took an island tour and met two Chinese Tahitian girls who became my pen pals for many years later. And 10 years later, I returned to Tahiti; this time to Bora Bora, and with my husband.

St Regis - Bora Bora

December 2011 - 40th birthday celebration trip. Stayed for 5 nights as part of a Costco package.

Taj Exotica - The Maldives

August 2013 - 5th wedding anniversary. We flew from Atlanta to Dubai and then to Male.

Marriott Momi Bay - Fiji

September 2019 - Fiji Airways fare sale ($395 RT to Nadi). 1/2 off the bungalows with Marriott points.

Each of these trips were spectacular in their own ways. We scuba dived in Bora Bora and the Maldives, and saw giant manta rays and sharks. The service and food at the St Regis and at the Taj Exotica were outstanding. By the time we got to Fiji recently (country #74), Mike had an underwater robot that he could pilot from the bungalow. It had a 300 foot tether and we saw puffer fish, a ray, and many schools of fish. As a bonus, and we also helped out the neighbors in the next bungalow to retrieve the credit card they had dropped in the lagoon, two days earlier! Click here to see the video.