Tips 👏
- You can rent a car with Avis at the airport if you would like to discover the island.
- There’s an ATM, currency exchange and luggage storage outside of the airport.
🏠 Accommodation
Our first night we stayed at an nice AirBnB in front of the airport. The second time, we stayed at the beautiful Intercontinental.
🚲 Getting there
International flight, initially from Hong Kong (via Auckland), left to Easter Island.
⏱ Duration
One full day, but two or three would have been better, it’s a beautiful island!
Fa’aa Stop-over ✋
Our first stop in Tahiti was in Fa’aa (the city of the airport) where we spent our first night waiting for our flight to Huahine the next day. We took an AirBnB at a walkable distance from the airport (taxi are expensive in Polynesia) slept there, and left the next day.
If you plan to do something similar, we recommend you to stay at the Tahiti Airport Motel. It’s ok and very close to the airport (5mins walk). It’s sold-out most of the time so book in advance for good price.
Tahiti by car 🚗
We went back to Tahiti one day before leaving French Polynesia to Easter Island, allowing some time in case of delays and for visiting the island. We recommend to do the same, since it’s a wonderful place to see, and that can be done in one day if you rent a car:
- Black Sand beach in Tararuu: At the south of the island, a huge beach with black sand and mountains in the background. Strong streams however so not the best for doing the bath but worth a stop!
- Water Gardens of Vaipahi: Beautiful waterfall and wide range of trees.
- Wave of Teahupo: If you’re there between May and August, you can see people surfing a big wave of eight meters. Drive until the southern tip of the small island, park where the road stop and walk to the beach. From there, you can either do some snorkelling or pay a taxi boat to go and see the wave. We sadly didn’t saw it because we were there in November, but still enjoy the view and the bath over there.
- North Coast drive: Very scenic along the coast, from mountain to lagoon view, passing by surfer beaches until Papeete. Around 90 minutes from the small island to Papeete.
Restaurants 🍲
- Chez Aro: 7min walk from the airport, and is one of the best roulotte we had. Go there early (around 6:30PM) to be sure to have some fish.
- Les roulottes: Close to the harbour of Papeete, this is the best place to eat dinner in Tahiti. Plenty of different roulottes open until late, looks like a street food festival, serving traditional fish dishes, but also asian and french cuisine.
Read Next ⏭️
That’s the end of our trip to French Polynesia. You can go back to the main French Polynesia post, check again Moorea, or check-out other trips from the main page.