australia and south pacific

The excellent and detailed information helped me plan our stay on the Tahitian islands thoroughly. Especially the comments on the accomodation offerings were very valuable.

I bought a Tahiti guide book because I am going on my honeymoon and looking to read up on the islands that I will be visiting on that trip. This book did have some valuable information for me like good hiking trips and sights to see, tours and things of that nature, but the author's taste seems to be different from what mine would be when going on a honeymoon getaway. He never did claim it to be a honeymoon book, but Tahiti is a common destination for honeymooners so you would think that the book would include some of that type of information. When I think of my honeymoon, I don't think of staying in places that are off the beaten path in a foreign country, or in homes of families that take you in and you can stay in instead of a regular hotel (dangerous? I wouldn't do it in my own country). That may be up someone else's alley and if it is yours than this may be the book for you. I would think he were mentioning these places to stay to cover all bases for all types of budgets, but he puts them as "author favorites" and makes them seem as if they are the best on the island and it just seems a little crazy. This author is someone that this type of vacation appeals to. He focuses an awful lot on artifacts and history and those types of things to see in Tahiti, which is fine but a little excessive. He speaks of "well-heeled Americans with money to spend" with a hint of resentment when talking about the nice luxury resorts that are available to stay in or the nice restaurants. You can tell he is almost annoyed by all the tourism that has popped up, especially in Bora Bora. I would say skip this book and get the Open Road Tahiti & French Polynesia Guide, it is way better.

I just returned from a trip to Tahiti and Moorea and used this book. So my feedback is specifically for those two islands. I must say the book was very spotty in terms of the quality of recommendations and its comprehensiveness. First, many of the locations that were recommended(restaurants/sights) were hit or miss. Second, I was so frustrated with the book that I went to restaurants that were unlisted and found them to be 100 times better that the author's recommendations. Which raised serious questions, "why weren't these restaurants listed in the book?" Moorea has a very limited number of restaurants and thus no restaurant should be excluded (Note: The restaurant was not new and the owner said it had been around for many years - just in case you were wondering).

In addition, the book is not well organized when you're trying to look for things.

I suggest you find another book if you're headed to French Polynesia.