Tahiti Travel Budget

Tahiti On a Budget

Tahiti is the largest island of the South Pacific archipelago nation of French Polynesia. It is one of more than 100 islands, and is also home to the nation's capital city, Papeete. Best known as a vacation destination, Tahiti boasts a unique landscape of both white-sand and volcanic black-sand beaches as well as turquoise waters and lush mountainous island greenery.

For an experience of the local city bustle, visitors might want to explore Le Marche in Papeete, a large, two-story market place selling local goods, clothing, and souvenirs like postcards, shell necklaces, soaps, and more-all enveloped in tropical scents and vibrant colors. Papeete is also host to a handful of museums dedicated to celebrating Polynesian art and culture. For example, guests can visit sites like the Robert Wan Pearl Museum (showcasing to pearl legends and jewelry-making) or the Musee de Tahiti et des Iles (which features exhibits and artifacts on local history and culture). In addition to Tahiti's beautiful beaches, other natural gems include Mont Orohena at Tahiti's center, an extinct volcano that visitors can hike, as well as Faarumai Waterfall, which also has a hiking trail that leads visitors past three large waterfalls amidst stunning natural scenery.

Top Tourist Attractions

For an experience of the local city bustle, visitors might want to explore Le Marche in Papeete, a large, two-story market place selling local goods, clothing, and souvenirs like postcards, shell necklaces, soaps, and more-all enveloped in tropical scents and vibrant colors. Papeete is also host to a handful of museums dedicated to celebrating Polynesian art and culture. For example, guests can visit sites like the Robert Wan Pearl Museum (showcasing to pearl legends and jewelry-making) or the Musee de Tahiti et des Iles (which features exhibits and artifacts on local history and culture). In addition to Tahiti's beautiful beaches, other natural gems include Mont Orohena at Tahiti's center, an extinct volcano that visitors can hike, as well as Faarumai Waterfall, which also has a hiking trail that leads visitors past three large waterfalls amidst stunning natural scenery.

Papeete is the capital city of French Polynesia, and the main city on the island of Tahiti. Its harbor is busy with all kinds of water-traffic from cargo ships to luxury liners and yachts. The downtown is concentrated near the waterfront. Here visitors will find a few developed park areas (Place Vai'ete, Bougainville Park, and P?'?fa'i Gardens) busy with a collection of food trucks, walking paths, fish ponds, gardens, and carnival-like attractions. There are also plenty of sidewalk cafes, shops specializing in French fashions, souvenir stores selling things like shell jewelry and handicrafts, as well as a wide variety of restaurants serving a mix of Tahitian, French, and Asian cuisines. Faa'a is just southwest of Papeete and hosts the island's main airport. Also located here is an information counter, snack bar, restaurant, shops, and vehicle rental offices.

Beyond the island, Tahiti is a part of an island group known as the Society Islands. Some of the others in this group include Bora Bora, Raiatea, Taha'a, Huahine, and Tahiti's sister island, Moorea. These islands can be easily visited via local plane or ferry.

Popular Foods

Cuisine of French Polynesia is dominated by seafood, both raw and cooked, fished from local lagoons and Pacific waters. They are prepared in a variety of ways-grilled, chaud-froid, carpaccio, tartare, sashimi, or sushi. In addition to fish, visitors will also find seafood varieties like giant clam, sea urchin, octopus, and squid. Other typical ingredients used in Polynesian cooking include things like suckling pig, fish (mahi mahi, tuna, other catches of the day), chicken, crab, fei (a Polynesian banana) and banana leaves, shrimp, taro, umara (sweet potato), uru (fruit of the breadfruit tree), ufi (a kind of yam), and fafa (Tahitian spinach). Many dishes combine ingredients like these to be wrapped in banana leaves and cooked inside a traditional underground over called the ahima'a. Skewers of grilled meats, like beef and lamb, are also common, often served with mustard and barbeque sauce. Much of the cuisine here will additionally have a French spin from the island nation's connections to France (such as baguette sandwiches), as well as Chinese influence from immigration across the Pacific Ocean. On Tahiti, there are plenty of "roulottes" (snack shops on wheels), as well as restaurants, serving these local specialties and more. Tips are not expected in most places.

Transportation

Tahiti is served by Faa'a International Airport, which is located near the main city of Papeete. All international flights will arrived on this island. From here, a national carrier (Air Tahiti) can provide transportation to other islands of French Polynesia if desired. Once on the island, the main way of transport is by car. City buses can provide inexpensive transit to downtown Papeete. Bike, scooter, and car rentals are also available for navigation around the island.