My wife and I have been pondering a charter in Raitea and Bora Bora next fall for our 20th anniversary. I wanted to get this out there to see if anyone else had chartered and could offer advice on a couple of things and I will list below.

1) It appears to me that fall may be a good time to go but wondered if anyone could offer advice on the best time of year to charter French Polynesian?
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April through to October is the best time. We were there April and May and the weather was good.
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2) Figured we might stay in an over the water bungalow a day or two either before or after and then sail maybe 7 days to include Raitea, Bora Bora, and Tahaa. Is Huahine worth the extra time to visit or do most people stick to the above locations?

[color:"blue"]We liked Huahine but if you haven't got much time then you can give it a miss.

[/color]3) Is it reasonable to assume we could get there in one day from the states, including a charter flight from Tahiti to Raitea, settle in and provision on the same day and then sail out the day after or is this too ambitious?

[color:"blue"]You should be able to get away the day after you arrive but you won't get far.[/color]
4) Are the over the water Bungalows worth the expense or should we just sail the whole time?

[color:"blue"]They look nice from the outside but never been inside one so can't comment.[/color]

5) Any recommended books or websites which could provide more information? Also any other words of wisdom or advice would be appreciated.

[color:"blue"]I would want to spend at least two weeks sailing there. It is not like sailing the BVI, you need time to get to places.

Food and drink are horrendously expensive even to us Brits who are used to paying far higher prices than Americans pay at home.[/color]
Thanks in advance for any help!

Brett

[color:"blue"]We were on a round the world trip not a charter so our experience is not all relevant but hope it helps. See my wife's blog - link below - starting April 2010 for photos and possibly some useful advice.[/color]