Hakamanu Lodge

A stay at Hakamanu was magical indeed, but I wish I'd known a couple things first: 1. While they claim an "on-site restaurant" be prepared: lunch must be ordered the night before, and dinners and breakfast are good, but not necessarily great. That's okay, you're coming here for the solitude. 2. The water is saltwater piped from the lagoon: You shower and brush your teeth with saltwater. The most reasonably priced item at the "bar" is their bottled water, for 350XPF/litre, which we went through several per day. Those are the main things, and go-with-flow travelers will appreciate the flip side: The bungalows are nice (if hot as there is no cooling; I slept without using so much as a sheet) with great access to the beauty of Tikehau: the house reef is delightful for swimming and snorkeling (with 87ºF/30ºC crystal-clear water and an array of fish including reef sharks), the local and adjacent motus are ripe for exploring between ocean and lagoon (but not barefoot) and the quiet stillness connects you to an undiscovered Polynesia. They also offer guests use of kayaks, which we used for exploration, heading to Les Sables Roses one day, and tooling around both directions, in the main lagoon, and the shallow pools between motus. We dived two of 3 days here, via Tikehau Diving, which involved a 30-minute transfer each way. Some of this information, including times for pick ups, are communicated details that need to be sought out. If you're looking to just anchor down, lose your calendar, disconnect and be present for glorious sunrises and sets, Hakamanu is for you.