Let’s talk shore excursions! Every day you’ll awake to views of a new island to explore and a menu of excursion options to choose from. Shore excursions are an additional cost on all Paul Gauguin cruises, and they can be booked in advance to ensure availability. You’re always welcome to add more on board, but the more popular tours do tend to sell out before departure.
What are your options? Snorkeling, galore! ATV & off-road 4x4 tours. Island biking. Catamaran sailing with BBQ lunches. Wave runners. Helicopter rides. Pearl farm & Tahitian vanilla tours. Just to name a few.
My sister and I opted for a few shore excursions during our 8-day cruise in French Polynesia. We loved our e-bike tour of the island of Moorea - the stunning Belvedere lookout was the final destination:
And our group did a fantastic 4x4 off-road excursion for one of the two free days on Bora Bora, visiting local Pareo artists and beautiful lookouts along the way:
And for travelers who might prefer to wander and explore independently, there’s still plenty to do on your own! My sister and I had a few days where we chose to do just that. We stumbled upon cute little local towns and shops to peruse, beautiful public beaches, and cheap bike rentals to explore on two wheels ($10 for 2 hours on Bora Bora):
The excursion times are scattered throughout the day, so about every half hour there's a new group of guests coming and going. I never once felt like the Paul Gauguin guests were overwhelming the local population, which is something I've experience before on those 1,000-passenger cruise ships (pre-Adventure-Life), and have tried to avoid ever since. Whether you wanted advice on which excursion to choose, or recommendations for activities to do on your own, the excursion desk on board was always so helpful in pointing us in the right direction.
Adventure Life is always an excellent choice when planning complicated, extreme, or exotic vacations or expeditions. They provide friendly professional services and advice and are enthusiastic and encouraging in helping us to prepare and thoroughly enjoy our trip. They handle all the details which greatly reduces the stress of planning a difficult trip. I'm very impressed with Adventure Life and definitely recommend them to friends and family.
Scott Trochim
2 days ago
The response from Adventure Life to my first inquiry was prompt and promising. I worked with Jamie Broeckel, Trip Planner, via text, email, and phone calls- always extremely responsive and thorough with information and explaining the process to arrange a private tour for me to Malaysia Borneo. Within about week, the booking was complete and I made decisions because of Jamie's great customer service , friendly manner, and overall competence on behalf of the company's travel expertise. Now I have an itinerary, additional Trip Planner Assistants, several links for vital information for traveling to Maylasia, etc. Still many details for Sept. trip, but now the heavy lifting is done and I can enjoy the rest of the anticipation and research!! Thanks Jamie- you are amazing!!!!
Susan Campo
4 days ago
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
5 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.