Costco Connection - November 2006

travel connection

Discover Tahiti andits islands

PHOTOS COUR TES Y OF W WW. TAHI TI TOURISME.COM

Sheraton Tahiti and Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa

Seven-night vacation includes: • Round-trip airfare on Air Tahiti Nui • Lei greeting • Round-trip ground transportation from airport to hotel • One night in Garden Lagoon View accommodations on Tahiti • Inter-island airfare • Six nights in a Beach Villa on Bora Bora • One free night on Bora Bora (already reflected in price) • Airfare and hotel taxes

For the ultimate Bora Bora experience, ask about upgrading your accommodations to a spectacular Horizon Overwater Villa.

LAX from $3,358 per person* JFK from $3,952 per person* (New York price includes one additional night on Bora Bora.)

Valid for travel through 5/31/07.

Visit costco.com or call
Costco Travel toll free
1-877-849-2730.
*Price is per person based on double occupancy and includes
airfare and hotel taxes. Free night is already reflected in the price.
Price is valid for travel as specified. Price and inclusions are subject
to change without notice. Travel purchases are not included in
the Executive Membership 2% Reward program. Seasonal
surcharges, availability, blackout dates and restrictions may apply.
All prices are in U.S. dollars. Costco Travel disclaims liability for
any inaccuracies or typographical errors.
Costco Travel is a registered seller of travel and travel agency in the
following states: Washington (WST 602042600); Ohio (8789302);
Florida (Fla. Seller of Travel Reg. No.ST32555); and California (CST
2054248-50). Registration as a seller of travel does not constitute
approval by the state of California. 07TR0102 11/06

By T. Foster Jones

TAHITI, MOOREA, BORA BORA—these island names evoke a wonderful state of mind, seducing honeymooners, romantics, adventurers and family travelers looking for escape.

Around these South Seas isles, a romantic sunset sea sends giant curls of turquoise breaking onto the colorful reefs that protect the tranquil lagoons of warm, bright emerald waters and white coral-sand beaches.

Closer than you think, easier to travel to than you might imagine, Tahiti’s Faa’a Airport is less than eight hours by air from Los Angeles International Airport and 12 hours from JFK International Airport in New York. Since the summer of 2005 three Tahiti-bound nonstop flights a week take off from JFK.

Halfway between California and Australia, Tahiti and its 118 islands are spread in five great archipelagos.

The area most sought by visitors is the Society Islands, comprising Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora, Huahine, Raiatea and Taha’a. Close behind in popularity are the Tuamotu Atolls, or “Tahiti’s Strand of Pearls,” and the Marquesas, or “Mysterious Islands.”

If you ask those who have visited what makes Tahiti and its islands so special, you’ll get a long list that includes the people, seclusion, over-water bungalows, cruising, Polynesian spas, snorkeling and diving, Tahitian dancing, Tahitian black pearls, private island picnics and romance. To discuss them all would require far more room than I have here, so I’ll just touch on a few.

Over-water bungalows. Unlike any other hotel room you’ve stayed in before, these traditional thatched-roof bungalows are perched above the turquoise lagoon waters. In many of the rooms, tropical fish swim below as you look through the glass floor. With all the amenities of a first-class hotel room, on your

private balcony surrounded only by water and sky, you can enjoy both breakfast— often delivered by canoe—and sunsets that are beyond spectacular.

Polynesian spas. Tahiti is a world-class spa destination, with many of the resorts offering new luxurious spas. Enjoy Polynesian spa treatments at Mandera spas at the Sheraton resorts throughout Tahiti and its islands. You can also rejuvenate your spirit at the spas aboard ships, including the Carita Spa aboard the M/S Paul Gauguin. You’ll find no better setting for relaxation.

Tahitian cultured pearls. The world-renowned iridescent luster of these unique gems can only be created in Tahiti’s warm lagoon waters. Commonly known around the world as black pearls, Tahitian cultured pearls vary in size and shape, and the colors range from the darkest black to shimmering shades of green, blue, bronze, aubergine or even pink. Visitors can tour a pearl farm on Manihi, Rangiroa, Raiatea, Huahine, Taha’a and Tikehau or visit one of the islands’ many pearl shops.

Whether it’s these reasons or something else, such as a secluded, intimate getaway, a romantic honeymoon or simply an escape from the workaday world, Tahiti offers something for everyone, pleasures found nowhere else on earth. C

The Costco Connection Costco Travel offers a variety of vacations and cruises to Tahiti, including a Kirkland Signature^™Regent Seven Seas cruise, hosted by Connection consumer reporter Pat Volchok, on September 22, 2007. Visit costco.com or call toll-free 1-877-849-2730.