The Costco Connection - September 2017

PETER GREENBERG

Peter Greenberg is the multiple–Emmy Award– winning travel editor for CBS News and host of The Travel Detective on public television

( petergreenberg.com).

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got the best fresh pineapple juice. Then order “The Plate,” which comes with more than ;; different Polynesian foods.

Just a ;;-minute drive west of the Moorea Tropical Garden is Tiahura Beach, with its clear and shallow waters. You can rent a small motorboat for about US;;; and spend the afternoon surrounded by butterfly fish, parrotfish and squirrelfish, and have the opportunity to swim with friendly blacktip reef sharks and stingrays.

Bora Bora

How about visiting a pearl farm and diving for your very own pearl? Nothing will beat this experience on the island of Bora Bora. Visit The Farm at the Bora Pearl Company, located on the southern tip of the island. You’ll put on a snorkeling mask and go hunting for your very own Tahitian pearl. A dive costs approximately US;;;;, but the price includes the pearls you find.

Huahine

Head south on the island’s only road for about ;; minutes until you arrive at a restaurant on the beach called Chez Tara, a favorite local haunt with an exceptional view of the sea. Order the poisson cru: raw fish marinated with coconut milk, lemon and salt, mixed with carrots and cucumbers.

For a bit of art, stop by the Galerie ‘Umatatea, run by American expat Melanie Shook Dupre on the northeastern part of the island. Dupre, originally from Ohio, has been living in Huahine for approximately ;; years. Her paintings capture the essence of Huahine life. C

T O D D BI GEL OW

COSTCOCONNECTION

Costco Travel offers packages to the islands of Tahiti, and many other exotic locales around the world. Executive Members can now earn a 2%

Reward on Costco Travel (see page 99 for more details). To learn more, go to Costco.com and click “Travel” or call 1-877-

849-2730.

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The lagoon along the island of Bora Bora.

I’VE BEEN GOING to French Polynesia for more than ;; years. And while the Society Islands never disappoint, I’ve learned that the key to getting a deep immersion in the real flavor of the islands of Tahiti is to visit the special areas only the locals know.

Papeete

Royal bathing pools in Papeete? Yup. There’s a shaded garden right smack in the center of Papeete you won’t find in the guidebooks. The site used to be a royal palace that was demolished in the ;;;;s. Thankfully they didn’t destroy the gardens, and that’s where you’ll find a water-lily-filled pond and the royal bathing pool (sorry, no swimming) with water that flows down to the sea through Parc Bougainville.

On the west side of Papeete, there’s a great beach the locals call PK;; because it’s near the “;; km to Papeete” sign on the road. Snorkel there during low tide, and you’ll see mullet, damselfish and triggerfish, and, if you swim farther out, some great soft and hard coral formations.

Approximately ; miles northeast of Papeete, you’ll find Point Venus, a little-known black-sand beach. Point Venus gets its name from the voyages of Captain Cook, around ;;;;, who was on a mission to cover the transit of the planet Venus crossing the sun.

In Tahiti alone, there are more than ;; different hiking trails. One hidden gem is the Fautaua Valley hike, where you’ll see one of the most incredible waterfalls the island has to offer: the Fautaua Waterfalls, almost ;,;;; feet high. You just need to buy a US;; permit to hike the trail, (at the Papeete Town Hall).

Whenever I’m in Papeete, I walk along a small, run-down street west of the cathedral and adjacent to the Anne-Marie Javouhey College, where I find a restaurant called L’O à la Bouche. Order the moonfish special with curry sauce.

Moorea

In Moorea, try Les Tipaniers, a hotel/restau-rant at kilometer ;; on the coastal road. It’s loved by the locals and the French expats who live on the island. I recommend their fresh lagoon fish with a traditional Tahitian vanilla sauce.