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  Ninamu, although expensive like a 5 star hotel in Bora Bora, does not provide the same level of services but it gives you so much more that you will... read more never want to go back to the "water villa metropolis" as most resorts in Polinesia essentially are. The following aspects of the Ninamu merit 6 stars: - The atmosphere of the restaurant and bar, that especially in the evening brings the few guests together drinking a Mohito while knowing each other, commenting the day and planning for tomorrow escusrions - Chris, the owner and soul of the resort, having a strong Australian character - The daily excursions, included in the price of the room, when Chris takes you with passion and knowledge on its boat around Tikehau . - The beach on front of the restaurant for the colors of the water - The beach bungalows that guests can use to repair themselves from the sun while continuing to enjoy the view of the sea under the shadow with a good nook in hand The following other aspects are in line with expectations: - The food is very good, healty and simple. However someone may found the quantities of food not enough or could desire more choices. - The availability, at no extra costs, of paddles and canoas as well of palms and mask There are aspects that could be improved as: - The confort of the bungalows it is not... Ninamu, although expensive like a 5 star hotel in Bora Bora, does not provide the same level of services but it gives you so much more that you will never want to go back to the "water villa metropolis" as most resorts in Polinesia essentially are.
The following aspects of the Ninamu merit 6 stars:
- The atmosphere of the restaurant and bar, that especially in the evening brings the few guests together drinking a Mohito while knowing each other, commenting the day and planning for tomorrow escusrions
- Chris, the owner and soul of the resort, having a strong Australian character
- The daily excursions, included in the price of the room, when Chris takes you with passion and knowledge on its boat around Tikehau .
- The beach on front of the restaurant for the colors of the water
- The beach bungalows that guests can use to repair themselves from the sun while continuing to enjoy the view of the sea under the shadow with a good nook in hand

The following other aspects are in line with expectations:
- The food is very good, healty and simple. However someone may found the quantities of food not enough or could desire more choices.
- The availability, at no extra costs, of paddles and canoas as well of palms and mask

There are aspects that could be improved as:
- The confort of the bungalows it is not at top and varies depending thet bangalows.
- A more frequent treatment against mosquitos would be recommended
- The room services is basic, with room keeping once per day

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  My wife and I really enjoyed our stay at Ninamu. As our experiences in FP go, this one really stood out as very special! Though it is explained as an... read more all inclusive island resort, it is actually far more (and in our opinion better) than that! It is definitely not your run of the mill overwater bungalow private island like in Bora Bora or Maldives. The whole experience is more like a window into a tranquil and natural island world, where you can disconnect from whatever reality you are coming from can connect to this completely different and beautiful reality that you may now access. It's quite hard to put into words, because just describing the services and all that doesn't really do it justice.

The staff is super super friendly and the owners are always around and try to help out and make your stay comfortable. The food is amazing and the best we had in FP. Never repetitive, always delicious!

The activites on offer are also super interesting and the more outdoor stuff you like to do, the better it is

Amenities are very nice, however you should keep in mind that this is an eco resort and thus for example mosquitoes may be present, there are coconut crabs on the island, there are two dogs etc. If you are squeamish about this sort of thing, you might not like it so much. We love nature and animals so for us it was not a nuisance at all but rather another building block to an amazing experience.

Definitely recommend going!

  My expectations of Ninamu were very high, and yet they were still exceeded. My husband and I stayed there in early November for 4 nights and the whole experience... read more was seamless, exhilarating, and relaxing. We loved the feel of the resort and enjoyed getting to know the other guests on the excursions and in the time leading up to meals in the dining room. I highly recommend Ninamu if you are up for a little bit of an adventure and you really want to get away from it all. ARRIVAL: Upon arrival at the tiny airport of Tikehau, we were greeted with flower leis (note: sit on the left side of the plane flying in and you'll see Ninamu as you come in to land), transferred in a vehicle to the marina, and then taken by boat to the island. Black-tip reef sharks followed us to the dock in our wake. THE RESORT: Our bungalow was fantastic! Each one is unique and I don't think you can go wrong. The mosquitoes were quite active while we were there, but staff will put mosquito coils in your room if you ask and that helps a lot (bring bug spray!). For being open air, the bungalow was very clean and the view of the water from the porch was perfection. We found the bed to be very comfortable, and between the breeze and the fans, the temperature was also comfortable at night.... My expectations of Ninamu were very high, and yet they were still exceeded. My husband and I stayed there in early November for 4 nights and the whole experience was seamless, exhilarating, and relaxing. We loved the feel of the resort and enjoyed getting to know the other guests on the excursions and in the time leading up to meals in the dining room. I highly recommend Ninamu if you are up for a little bit of an adventure and you really want to get away from it all.

ARRIVAL: Upon arrival at the tiny airport of Tikehau, we were greeted with flower leis (note: sit on the left side of the plane flying in and you'll see Ninamu as you come in to land), transferred in a vehicle to the marina, and then taken by boat to the island. Black-tip reef sharks followed us to the dock in our wake.

THE RESORT: Our bungalow was fantastic! Each one is unique and I don't think you can go wrong. The mosquitoes were quite active while we were there, but staff will put mosquito coils in your room if you ask and that helps a lot (bring bug spray!). For being open air, the bungalow was very clean and the view of the water from the porch was perfection. We found the bed to be very comfortable, and between the breeze and the fans, the temperature was also comfortable at night. The beach is a beautiful orangey-pink, you can walk out to the break from the island (bring sturdy water shoes!), and you can walk around the whole island in about 30 minutes. The staff were very helpful and cheerful, but not in your face at every turn, which I really appreciated (don't come here if you want to be waited on hand and foot). Cedric cracked us up with his dry humor, Cheffy checked in on us daily, and Marco answered questions for us about the rest of French Polynesia. We also loved having the two dogs around (Coleman and Poi) as it made us feel more at home.

FOOD: Wonderfully delicious! Meal times are set at 7:30am, 12:30pm and 7pm. The breakfast buffet consisted of meats, cheeses, lots of fruit, homemade breads, pancakes, and eggs made to order. Lunch was always a hearty meal that hit the spot after active mornings in the water. Dinner included an appetizer, entree and dessert. Upon booking, you will be asked if you have any dietary restrictions. I don't like the taste of fish (lame, I know!), but it wasn't an issue for the kitchen and my meals of chicken and beef were amazing. We brought a bunch of snacks with us on the trip because we always worry we'll be hungry, but we didn't eat any of them!

EXCURSIONS: The fact that a daily excursion was included in the price is one of the main reasons we chose Ninamu (that and the food reviews). The excursions did not disappoint and the boat captains/snorkeling guides were awesome. They are quiet guys (Mana and Noha), who know their stuff, but they are quick to laugh and just added to the chill vibe of the whole experience. We went out every morning and in our 4 days we were able to snorkel with the manta rays twice (dream come true!) and also saw three other snorkel spots. Noha found an octopus, a moray eel, a Napoleon fish and so many other cool fish for us to see. One of the days we had snorkeled in two places already and Mana stopped for us to snorkel in a third spot. Everyone was a bit tired at that point, so Mana and Noha suggested we fish from the boat instead, which was a great suggestion and we had a lot of fun. My husband got together with some of the other resort guests to go deep sea fishing one afternoon and he said it was awesome. We snorkeled in the lagoon right off the beach of Ninamu every afternoon and found something new each time. We saw black-tip reef sharks, sting rays, eels, flounder and even another octopus!

The only disappointment suffered was that Chris and Greta were traveling elsewhere during our visit. I would have loved to meet the people who dreamed Ninamu into reality. We went into this trip thinking it was a once in a lifetime experience, but now we can't stop talking about wanting to come back some day. More

  I wanted an authentic Tahitian Experience and choice this resort as our second place to stay. It was so amazing - even though when we were there we had... read more torrential downpour! I loved our bungalow - it was the last one - had AC and...More

  My expectations of Ninamu were very high, and yet they were still exceeded. My husband and I stayed there in early November for 4 nights and the whole experience... read more was seamless, exhilarating, and relaxing. We loved the feel of the resort and enjoyed getting to...More

  We throughly enjoyed our 8 day stay at Ninamu, the daily excursions were exactly why I chose Ninamu Resort. The snorkeling on the reef outside the passage way contained the... read more highest concentration of tropical fish I have ever seen in a lifetime of freediving. All the meals prepared by Cheffy were excellent!! Breakfast consisted of fresh baked bread, tropical fruit and juice plus eggs cooked to order. Lunch and dinner was excellent tasting local fish plus a French dessert and espresso and Cheffy would come out of the kitchen and converse with us about his life and the dishes he prepared. Where else could you ever experience this type of interaction. Our Miki Miki room was an awesome open air benchfront treefort style room built with island wood and coral. The owner Chris was the most down to earth, interersting, entertaining, one of a kind personalities that we couldn't get enough of. His stories and comments were hilarious. I appreciated he was always in the dining room each evening to talk with guests and joined us for dinner at our table one night. If you are looking for a St. Regis/Four Seasons style resort Ninamu is not for you. But if you want the freedom to explore the surrounding reefs on your own and create adventures and unforgettable memories then this island is spot on. Note to self: be sure not to bring sand onto the captain's boat unless I... We throughly enjoyed our 8 day stay at Ninamu, the daily excursions were exactly why I chose Ninamu Resort. The snorkeling on the reef outside the passage way contained the highest concentration of tropical fish I have ever seen in a lifetime of freediving.
All the meals prepared by Cheffy were excellent!! Breakfast consisted of fresh baked bread, tropical fruit and juice plus eggs cooked to order. Lunch and dinner was excellent tasting local fish plus a French dessert and espresso and Cheffy would come out of the kitchen and converse with us about his life and the dishes he prepared. Where else could you ever experience this type of interaction. Our Miki Miki room was an awesome open air benchfront treefort style room built with island wood and coral.
The owner Chris was the most down to earth, interersting, entertaining, one of a kind personalities that we couldn't get enough of. His stories and comments were hilarious. I appreciated he was always in the dining room each evening to talk with guests and joined us for dinner at our table one night. If you are looking for a St. Regis/Four Seasons style resort Ninamu is not for you. But if you want the freedom to explore the surrounding reefs on your own and create adventures and unforgettable memories then this island is spot on. Note to self: be sure not to bring sand onto the captain's boat unless I want to swab the decks. In closing the staff became as close as family members with their interesting and fun conversations and we learned some French, "Vola". We actually shed tears and exerienced emotion separation when we departed. Can't wait to return to the most special place on Earth. Chris and Colleen Machado
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  What a gem! Just back from Ninamu with a group of 13 friends and it was quite a magical experience. Chris and Greta are lovely hosts, eager to help make... read more the most of your time at their home, arranging activities as frequent or infrequently as...More

  We had a lovely time at the Ninamu resort in Tikehau. The staff were so nice. The food was incredible and we loved our bungalow! Happy hour was a lot... read more of fun. Wish we could of stayed longer, but such good memories. We will be...More

  Ninamu is on a lovely little island and we stayed in a cool treehouse style room. It is great if you are trying to get away from the modern world.... read more However, if you need modern conveniences like air con, then Ninamu is not for you....More

  The stark landscape, solitude, and infinite horizons refocus your universe inward. Relax and reflect whilst you unwind in one of their our private beachfront day beds or float in the... read more lagoon in an acquatic landscape.
Surrounded by pink sand beaches, abundant marine life, impeccable waves and prevailing trade winds, this secluded retreat is the ultimate paradise for every type of water sports enthusiast. It caters to divers, surfers, fishermen, stand up paddlers and kite boarders. In fact,Chris the owner told us that the name Ninamu, which means 'blue' in Tahitian, was inspired by the surrounding sapphire lagoon.There are only eight unique bungalows at the Ninamu Resort, all handcrafted from natural, locally sourced materials.

Ninamu owner, Chris O'Callaghan, is a man with a back story. Variously a tradie, air steward, yachtie, surf competition founder (not just any surf comp, but Teahupo'o)
Chris is a very sociable and accommodating Australian native who will keep you entertained and pours a stiff drink at the bar.Ninam is just the place to live out your fantasy of a remote island escape. More