Le Taha’a Private Island and Spa

Story by Karen Walker
Photos by Mikhail Gherman

A good friend of mine recently fulfilled his life long dream of visiting Tahiti. His perfect holiday was spoiled, however, when, while killing time wandering the streets of the dingy main town of Papeete waiting to check in for his 1 am flight, he inadvertently stepped into a dead rat. To make it worse, he was wearing flip-flops at the time.

With this in mind, Mikhail and I were careful to pack closed in shoes for our holiday in Tahiti even though we were staying at the fancy Le Taha’a Private Island and Spa.

Le Taha’a is super swanky and pretty pricey so I wasn’t surprised when the concierge complimented Mikhail on his shoes - some Adidas hemp numbers. What was surprising, however, was when he recommended that Mikhail not leave them outside the door of our over water bungalow. Racking my brain, trying to think why this would be all I could come up with was lizards and wasps but the concierge’s answer was unexpected: “Basically Tahitian people are very honest, but they’re also very fashion conscious.�? I get it. We’re staying on an fancy private island who’s big selling pitch is that it’s closed to the media because they get so many movie stars and pop stars there but the help are likely to nick your sneakers! Let’s hope the in room safe’s big enough to accommodate them just to be on the safe side.

The shock of being warned about the island sneaker thief was soon overtaken by the shock of the blueness of the lagoon. Stepping onto the enormous terrace of our bungalow the blueness of the water was breathtaking. It is just like in the movies. Who knew the sea could be this color without photo shop? It’s worth visiting Tahiti just to see that it actually exists.

On The Upside

The rooms are great, the terrace is huge, the water is amazing and the in floor window at the foot of the bed looking down into the water is a real treat - lying in bed at night feeding the Pipers bread and watching the Sting Rays swim under you is quite something.

On The Downside

Mind your sneakers and Le Taha’a is kind of a pain to get to. The island itself is almost too swanky, lacking the more relaxed castaway elegance that most of the Pacific Islands have. It’s touted as being the most luxurious resort in the Pacific but for me it lacks the ease that’s an essential part of the Pacific experience. Plus, unless you pay for the very top of the range bungalow your view will be back to the neighboring island rather than out to sea and, though it is a few kilometers away, the distant warehouses and trucks don’t do much for the sense of remoteness you expect to get with this type of resort.