Kaipolanie Garden

Breakfast and dinner here are eaten together, guests and hosts at one table, a habit that shapes the whole stay. Kaipolanie Garden is a bed and breakfast in Rotoava village on Fakarava, run by Vanina and Cédric out of a tree-shaded family garden. It holds just two bungalows, both newly built and each roughly 40 square metres, with air conditioning, hot water, a fridge, a kettle and free fibre wifi reaching indoors and out. The bathroom is fitted with a double-sink vanity and a mirror in local island style; a covered terrace and a small private garden come with each bungalow. It is a compact stay. The village shops sit close by, useful given the reef-locked geography of an atoll where nothing is far from anything else. Dinner is a set three-course menu cooked by Vanina, who has been known to serve korori, the heart of the pearl oyster, dressed with a fruit chutney, or white tuna fillet with aioli and steamed potatoes. Fresh water is provided free at meals; no other drinks are sold on site. Breakfast runs simply, with fresh bread, jam, home-made yoghurt, seasonal fruit and juice laid out each morning. Rotoava sits on the lagoon side of Fakarava, one of the larger atolls in the Tuamotu group, and the pace here follows the tide and the table rather than any set programme.