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Read MorePapeete Town
Papeete is the main town on the big island of Tahiti. It is a small place of which the main areas can easily be walked around. It consists of a center with low rise buildings (nothing over 4 storys high), a freight and passenger port, and a marina for private yachts. At the center of Papeete is a tiny yet pretty yellow Cathedral. As you go...
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Read MoreFood Trucks
Papeete, and Tahiti in general is famous for its food trucks, known locally as Roulottes (which in French means something like cart). The food trucks these days usually consist of a large truck of some kind, fitted out with all kinds of cooking equipment capable of making quite an array of food. The trucks are not content with just selling take-away snacks to passers by, but...
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Read MoreMahana Park and Beach
Mahana Park and Beach is just a few kilometers further down the road than the nearby PK18 beach. What this beach has going for it is much fewer people and thus a better chance of parking. The park itself is small with lots of grass and nice palm trees providing natural shade. On the shoreline, the beach is not sand but rather small pebbles. Good for...
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Read MorePK 18 Vaiava Beach
This beach, which is known locally as PK18 because it is near the distance marker meaning 18kms from Papeete center, is pretty much the best white sand beach on the main island of Tahiti Nui. If you’ve been to other premier beaches around the world, or even the nearby islands of Bora Bora, you would not actually consider the sand at PK18 to be white, but...
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Read MoreVaipahi Gardens
This is a place found on the south coast of Tahiti Nui. It is quite a trek from Papeete and on the way to Tahiti Iti (the small island at the back of Tahiti Nui). It is a free tropical garden with lots of plants and trees which are named with plaques. There is also some lakes and a river running through it. There is even...
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Read MorePapeete Local Market
One of the most interesting places for a tourist to visit in Papeete is the local market which is located near the center of the town in a large open plan covered area. Its a nicely designed building with lots of natural light and a second floor which only exists in the central part, leaving the two ends with a very tall ceiling. In the market...
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Fast Food and Coffee
The only fast food or coffee chain you will find in Tahiti is McDonalds. There are at least 3 on the main island of Tahiti. At the time of writing there are no KFC, no Burger King, no Starbucks, no Costa, no Taco Bell.
The McDonalds are pretty expensive with an average meal costing 1200 XPF. Amazingly enough the only branch that serves hot coffee is the McDonalds at the airport. The others just have Tea, Hot Chocolate, and the usual cold drinks.
Many restaurants and snack bars serve coffee but the most popular with the locals is the tiny …
Plane Spotting
There are various planes to see around Tahiti Faa’a airport.
The main plane to see is the Airbus A300 of Air Tahiti Nui which flies from Papeete to Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Aukland. There are about 5 of these planes in use and they are each named after a different island.
The next plane to see is the ATR 42 of Air Tahiti which flies to the various islands such as Bora Bora, Tahaa, Huahine, etc.
Another plane to see is the Britten-Norman BN2T which flies exclusively to Tetiaroa Island which was formerly owned by the actor Marlon Brando, and …
Shopping for Black Pearls
Pearls used to be something that would occur naturally in about every 500 to 1000 oysters around the world and as such were extremely expensive. These days, pearls are cultured in farms around the world. Each pearl or set of takes about 4 to 7 years to grow before harvest.
Most natural pearls are of a light silver color, and in some countries such as China they have perfected the art of dying the pearl into a range of other colors. However if you want pearls that are naturally colored from the oyster and the minerals found …
Supermarkets
There are 3 main supermarket chains operating in Tahiti. The first is Carrefour and has 4 or so very large premises on Tahiti’s main island. The second is Super U, which has quite a few locations but are usually not quite as big and fancy as Carrefour. The third, Champion, has a few small locations dotted around.
In general, the prices are fairly fixed across the chains so you won’t find any one to be any cheaper than the others, but some of them have more variety of goods than the others. According to the time of the week/month you …
Tahiti Faa’a Airport
The main International airport for Tahiti and her islands is called FAA’A and is located in the town/area of Faa’a which is located about 10 miles west of Papeete. The main and only runway is pretty much surrounded by sea.
The airport hosts long-haul international flights from Air Tahiti Nui, Air New Zealand and Air France along with commuter planes going to the neighboring islands like Bora Bora. Some private jets and very small planes also in use.
When you land from overseas, you will be greeted by its one baggage conveyor and a passport control/immigration section with two lanes. …
Street Art
In 2014 and 2015, Tahiti invited artists from all over the world to participate in something called the “Ono’u Festival of Graffiti and Street Art”, where each were given pieces of wall in which to make a large work of art.
As a result of this, today, you can still see exhibits remaining on various walls and buildings around Papeete town.
The murals are usually bright and colorful and have Tahiti native themes. One was even made into a commemorative stamp by the post office.
Lets hope the festival returns in future years as there is currently no sign of …
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