When it came to deciding where to go on our honeymoon I had one request – I want to just lay on a beach in paradise. I knew we would be tired after the wedding, so the idea of doing something super adventurous didn’t really appeal to me. I knew I wanted to just lay on the beach and relax in a beautiful setting. Although we did play around with ideas like Europe (I still haven’t been!) or Africa (we love wildlife and are dying to do a safari), we ended up landing on Tahiti – basically as close to the definition of “paradise” as you can get.

The only issue being that I hate flying, so I wasn’t too crazy about the idea of a long flight, but I knew it would be worth it when we finally got there and it 100% was. I would do it again and again. We split the trip up and went to California before and after for a few days, which helped to extend our trip and there was also less of a drastic time change once we got to Bora Bora, which was amazing!

It’s a 5 hour flight from Toronto to California and then we did an 8 hour red eye to Tahiti on Air Tahiti Nui airline. I slept the entire flight! Upgrade if you can afford it. The regular seats are super close together and the upgraded seats are beds and they looked incredible! They were unfortunately all sold out. Once we got to Tahiti it was another 40 minute flight to Bora Bora – basically the same size as a Porter flight from Billy Bishop. Once arriving in Bora Bora, our hotel picked us up in a boat to take us to our resort. This was one of the most exciting parts of the trip. You are so stunned by the beauty of everything that you forget all about the travel within a minute of landing. I have anxiety about planes and boats and I was totally fine the entire trip!

I’m so excited to share our photos and trip details with you because it was INCREDIBLE!

So here we go, officially married and at the airport waiting to board our flight to Tahiti! Wedding nails still intact 🙂

I know you might think this photo below is somehow photoshopped, but it’s 100% real. Upon arrival to our resort there was literally a crab holding a heart in the sand. I can’t imagine a better welcoming committee for our honeymoon haha.

As you can see, the views are absolutely breathtaking. We stayed at the Intercontinental Thalasso Spa Resort and it was perfection (not sponsored in any way). Be careful, because there a bunch of Intercontinental hotels there and not all are created equal. The Thalasso was incredible and the overwater huts are HUGE compared to some of the other resorts. I don’t have a single complaint about the resort. The views are unlike anything I have ever seen, I loved how big the huts were, the food was amazing and the entertainment was great. Staff went above and beyond to make our stay memorable. We had breakfast and dinner included in our package, which I highly recommend. Food and beverage is very expensive there. The spa was amazing!! We went our first day there and our last day there – so spoiled! Including more details below.

Our Hut:

As I mentioned above, the huts were a great size. Some of the huts at other resorts looked super tiny, so pay attention to size when you are booking. It’s always been my dream to stay in one of these overwater huts! It was so much fun being able to jump into the ocean right from your balcony and the view from in bed was so crazy! They gave us fish food and you could slide the top of the coffee table over and feed the fish! What could be better than that?

Below is a photo of the walk to our hut every night. I don’t think I’ve ever seen more beautiful sunsets in my entire life.

The view from our bed!

Just swimming under our coffee table!

   

The Resort:

There were so many amazing parts to this resort – I’m not sure we will ever top this trip. The resort felt empty in comparison to other places I have stayed. I think because alot of people just stay in their huts. It was so nice to feel like you had the resort almost all to yourself. It was very peaceful.

This hammock was one of our favourite spots. Snuggled up and reading during the day and then at night under the billions of stars.        They are really in tune with their sea life in Bora Bora and every day at 2pm they would feed the sting rays.  You could actually go into the water and swim with them! Feeding them helps to relieve their anxiety so that they would be less likely to sting people at the beach at the resort. Swimming with them was a little scary – we spent most of the time trying to dodge their tails – but it was so cool. What crazy creatures! They totally look like aliens. The water was so clear you didn’t even need a snorkel. you just had to look down.

Every night they would have a fire on the beach and we would watch the sun set behind the mountain. They would also have a different cocktail hour each night – rum punch bar, mojito night, margarita night – it was amazing!

The below is a photo of the dessert at one of our favourite restaurants. Homemade chocolates and gummy candies. The chocolate pops actually had gelato inside!

 

My handsome husband relaxing at the pool! We spent 99% of our time snorkeling around the resort and would occasionally come to the pool for a quick dip.

The ceviche was next level! We got this for lunch almost every day.

  We would stop on this bridge and look into the water each time because there were hundreds of fish just hanging out here. We would also snorkel here and in the little lagoon on the other side of the bridge. As part of our honeymoon we got a canoe breakfast one morning. While they set up breakfast on your hut patio, a man takes you out in the canoe to serenade you. Definitely a highlight of the week!

   

The Spa:

As always, one of the highlights of the trip was the spa. After the wedding we were ready for all of the relaxing and that’s exactly what we did. We got to the resort and immediately went to the spa. The massage rooms have glass floors so you can watch the fishies swim as you get your massage. How do I go back to regular massages after this?! Seriously!

 

What I Wore:

I was way too busy with the wedding to really think about the honeymoon until we were actually on it, so my outfits were put together pretty last minute!

  

Had to with this “Wifey” bathing suit, because why not?! It’s from Forever 21.

This super cute circle towel is from Poppy & Peonies!

 Poppy & Peonies also sent over this adorable “Wifey” clutch, which I used on wedding day and throughout our honeymoon.        

 

The Rainbows:

Due to the time change, I kept waking up super early every morning – which ended up having MAJOR benefits. On our first morning there I woke up to a double rainbow. There are some moments in life that stop you in your tracks and this was one of those moments. I immediately woke up Mike (even though it was SUPER early) because it was unlike anything I had ever seen in my life. Part of me wanted to go knock on every hut door and tell them to wake up and look at the sky! I can’t believe beauty like this exists in the world. I’m still pinching myself that I got to experience this first hand. Then, on our last morning I woke up to another rainbow – this time no double rainbow – but a full rainbow that stretch over the mountain and the whole sky. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bring tears to my eyes.

       

The SHARKS!!!

Swimming with sharks in Bora Bora was one of the most incredible moments of my life. I LOVE marine life and just animals in general. I love watching animal shows on TV and I’m obsessed with Shark Week. So when we found out about the swimming with shark excursions in Bora Bora, we could not wait to do it! The excursion we did had 3 parts – one was snorkeling at a beautiful coral, then there was a visit to the shallow water to swim with reef sharks and sting rays and last they took us to the deeper water to snorkel with the reef sharks and lemon sharks. I thought I would be more scared, since you are literally being circled by like 30 sharks and some are even below you, but I surprisingly wasn’t. There were so many fish swimming around and the sharks didn’t seem to really care that we were there. It was seriously incredible being that close to them. Our guide even went down to pet them and feed them. As I mentioned, they are very in tune with their marine life. the clarity of the water made for some great go-pro videos! Check them out below:

If you ever get the chance to visit Bora Bora, take it. I would recommend this trip to anyone. It’s incredibly expensive, but it’s 100% worth it to save your pennies and take this trip.