Tahiti Island

Tahiti island

Tahiti island seen from above Moorea island's best beach, Temae, northeast coast. Moorea's ring reef that runs all the way round the island, keeping inner waters calm, is clearly visible. 

Tahiti is a tired ex-paradise that’s well past its sell-by date, 100 years past it according to Gaugin who arrived for his second visit in 1900 and declared it too spoilt by civilisation even then. Big G immediately took off for the Marquesas Islands, where he died. Ironically the Gaugin museum is one of the best ‘sights’ on an island that is pretty short of exciting things to see. 

Tahiti is expensive but has an international airport [Faaa] and frequent flights that arrive very late so many visitors have no choice but to stay a couple of nights en route to far more attractive Bora Bora, neighbouring Moorea or other lesser know islands. 

You can drive around Tahiti in four easy hours on a circular road running beside the sea, lined with tropical vegetation and little plasterboard bungalows, unexciting but pleasant, in spite of fairly constant traffic. En route you will come across rocky black sand beaches [with reasonable surf because there's little protective barrier reef on this island], and one or two anaemic sights - tall waterfalls and sea puffing lava tubes. The lagoonarium is especially knackered. There are a few Tahiti Pictures on following pages. 

Papeete, Tahiti's capital, is car dominated and lacking in any kind of ethnic niceties or even decent architecture but does offer some excellent pricey restaurants and shops.

The best thing about Papeete is the evening mobile kitchens set up in the main harbourside plaza and delivering quality food outdoors for a fair price, though no booze is served. 

Tahiti's 114km [72 mls] ring road, pictured showing typical black sand beaches and moderate surf.

Best months: May, June, September, October. Tahiti and Moorea are warm and humid all year. The dry season is climatically the best, from May to October, but, July and August can get very busy.

Beware the November to April wet season. It may rain for an hour, it may rain for days on end, and even when it isn't raining the cloud cover, winds and choppy water make marine activities less attractive.