Keeping Costs Down in Exotic French Polynesia

Most of us dream of the Polynesian isles: so romantic, so idyllic, so free. When we finally got here we discovered that although French Polynesia may be romantic, even idyllic, it’s far from free; it’s one of the most expensive travel destinations around.

Consider paying $2.50 to $4 for a bottle of local Hinano beer, $4 to $6 for a tropical rum punch, $10 for a continental breakfast, $16 for an American breakfast and $180 to $400 for those colorful over-the-water hotel rooms, sans meals.

And those are not just high prices charged by classy hotels. Try these: Locally grown watermelon is 75 cents a pound, sun block imported from the United States is $14 for a four-ounce plastic bottle, $18 for eight ounces.

Sightseeing bus trips run $35 to $40 for a two-hour tour and auto rentals on the outer islands are $55 for four hours. The one bright spot is Avis Rent-A-Car, which rents Peugeots for $20.18 a day, plus 29 cents a kilometer, on the big island.

In spite of the prices, Tahiti is one of the most spectacular places anywhere. Rotui Mountain soars precipitous and green from the edge of Cook’s Bay on the island of Moorea, where yachts ride serenely at anchor. In “The Moon and Sixpence” Somerset Maugham wrote of Moorea: “And I looked up and I saw the outline of the island. I knew right away that there was the place I’d been looking for all my life.”

The palm-fringed Bay of Bourayne, on little-visited Huahine, surely seems to be Eden as you watch pareu (sarong)-clad Tahitians fish from the coral reef that keeps the wide, green lagoon calm and safe.

Is it possible to vacation here without going bankrupt? The answer is “ e “, which in Tahitian is pronounced “ay” and which means “yes.”

Book Trip in Advance

The trick is to book a package that includes round-trip air fare, hotel room and meals, plus some extras like sightseeing and sports. For example:

--Exploration Cruise Lines’ Majestic Explorer is a small, friendly, 86-passenger cruise ship that leaves Papeete on the main island of Tahiti every Saturday afternoon to spend a week sailing from Moorea to Bora Bora, Raiatea, Tahaa and Huahine.

The ship makes bow landings on motus , the mostly deserted islets on coral reefs, for swimming, sunning and snorkeling among the exotically colored fish. Some days are for sightseeing on the sharp-peaked larger islands, on which driving is easy.

Passengers can visit the ancient sacred marae s (temples), feast on food wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in underground pits (a ritual known as tamaara ) and join the locals at a no-holds-barred disco at night.

--Club Mediterranee is on Moorea. Fare (thatched-roof bungalows) are strung out along a private beach facing the club’s private motu across the lagoon. There are two one-room units in each hut.

All meals are provided, plus wine, along with equipment for snorkeling, scuba diving, water skiing and tennis, with instruction included. There are no phones or TVs in the huts.

--The poshest way to spend time in Tahiti on a prepaid trip that precludes those extra charges for room and food is Windstar Sail Cruises’ motor-sail ship, Wind Song.

150 people can sail every Friday on the 440-foot vessel, which has four masts towering 204 feet above the water. The ship can unfurl 21,500 square feet of sails, all operated by computer.

On her year-round, seven-day cruises out of Papeete the Wind Song sails mostly to the same islands as the Majestic Explorer.

Cabins are spacious, with color TV, videocassette, mini-bar and ship-to-shore phone.

The Price of Paradise

Majestic Explorer costs from $1,299 to $1,649 per person, double occupancy, for a seven-day cruise ($1,949 for deluxe). Round-trip air fare on UTA French Airlines from the West Coast is $498. Contact Exploration Cruise Lines, 1500 Metropolitan Park Building, Olive Way at Boren Avenue, Seattle, Wash. 98101; phone (800) 426-0600.

Club Med charges $1,430 per person for a week on Moorea, including air fare from the West Coast, also on UTA. There is no extra charge for a single room, but there is a one-time club membership fee of $80 for one or $130 for a couple. Contact Club Med, 40 West 57th St., New York 10019; phone(800) 258-2633.

Wind Song sailings are $2,895 per person for a seven-day cruise, including air fare on Air France. Contact Windstar Sail Cruises, 7205 N.W. 19th St., Suite 410, Miami, Fla. 33126; phone (800) 258-7245.

Avis Rent-A-Car is at Faaa International Airport on Rue Charles Vienot in Papeete, and at the Maeva Beach, Beachcomber and Taharaa hotels. For reservations, call (800) 331-1212.