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Tourist destinations like Bora Bora will be well equipped to separate you from your money no matter what format, and they are going to bleed you. Familiarize yourself with the exchange rate...then don't sweat it. If something looks fun/tasty/strange, pay the man and try it...though often you can do the exact same thing for a fraction the price if you arrange directly through the outfitter/boat owner/barkeep/whatever rather than through the hotel package/concierge service. But everything is going to be a financial beating. Think Disney World...and then some. In terms of what to bring for the flight, as mentioned, pack poo poo you will need in your carry-on. Book/computer/charger(s)/camera/fresh shirt and underwear/toiletries/meds/passport/ID/money. A 26 hour flight is a bitch, you can only watch Aliens on the inflight entertainment about 3 times before you are pretty tired of it, so bring your own mixed media. Get up and walk around every few hours. Whenever you are up to pee, take a lap around coach. Consider also better living through chemistry, may want to hit your GP up for some Provigil. It is an unscheduled drug for treating narcolepsy, but one of the off-label uses is for kicking the poo poo out of jetlag and not losing the first two days of your expensive-rear end trip sleeping through the day and watching horrible hotel television at 4am local. If you are already at the docs doing a little drug-seeking, you might try your luck on some sleeping pills or anti-anxiety stuff, though do keep in mind that mixing those with alcohol is a way to get on the news and off the plane, and on a terrorist watch list when you do something crazy/drunk/drugged over Greenland. Sunscreen, reapplied regularly. Probably a dorky swimshirt, as well. Seriously, you do not want to lose a day or more to a vicious sunburn, and you will get one if you are not very careful and very attentive. Do all the hiking and diving you can do, with guides and without. Oh, and as far as diving, if you haven't done much before, you don't need to power around on fins chasing stuff or dive deep. All the best color and most interesting stuff is happening fairly close to the surface and on a really small scale. All those crazy sea slugs you see on Blue Planet? those are like an inch long. So try staking out a little bit of coral and just watch a couple square feet for as long as you can hold your breath. You'll see cool stuff, and you won't work so hard you use up your tanks or puke in your snorkel. Practicing whatever French you remember from high school, plus whatever Tahitian you learn on your flight can be fun, and set you apart from the "DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH" resort crowd...but not that far apart. Decent underwater cameras are pretty cheap nowdays. I picked up an Olympus TG-4 for like 350$, and while it isn't an awesome imaging system, it fits in my pocket has some useful shooting modes including a good macro, and takes way-better-than-cellphone pictures underwater/rain/dust/etc. and is decently hardened against drops and rough treatment. Slo-Tek fucked around with this message at 08:35 on May 21, 2015 |
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May 21, 2015 07:55
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 10:48 |
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