Things to do in Papeete
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Papeete
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season, driest and least humid with clearest water, peak prices and crowds.
Wet season, hotter and humid with heavy showers, lush valleys, lower prices and storm risk in December to February.
What's on
- Heiva i Tahiti 2-18 July
Competition and winners nights at Place To'ata, plus traditional sports, va'a racing and crafts.
- Bastille Day fireworks 14 July
Fireworks over Papeete harbour during Heiva.
- Hawaiki Nui Va'a Late October/early November
Great long distance outrigger race in the Leeward Islands, with build up felt in Papeete.
- Matari'i i Ni'a Mid-November
Pleiades rising celebrations marking the traditional new year and abundance season.
- Chinese New Year celebrations February/March
Celebrations in Papeete's Chinese Tahitian community.
- Tahiti Pearl Regatta May
Regatta season build up in the Leeward Islands.
Best things to do in Papeete
Marché de Papeete
Two floors of produce, tuna, vanilla and crafts, best seen early with breakfast from the snack stalls.
Place Vai'ete
Waterfront square where food trucks, families and music take over the harbour every evening from 6pm.
Te Fare Iamanaha - Musée de Tahiti et des Îles
Rebuilt national museum covering all five archipelagos, best done early so later sights make more sense.
Paofai Gardens
Broad waterfront park with lawns and banyans, and the best free sunset in the city facing Moorea.
Robert Wan Pearl Museum
Compact free way to learn pearl grading for lustre, surface, shape and colour before anyone sells to you.
Tahiti Pearl Market
Reputable atelier where you can choose a loose Tahitian pearl and a setting after learning the grading.
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Papeete
1875 cathedral remembered most for early morning Mass and Tahitian hymn singing on a downtown walking loop.
Point Venus
Lighthouse point tied to Cook and the Bounty, with a black sand beach for a history and picnic stop.
Where to stay in Papeete
Punaauia and Faa'a resort strip
first trip, families, divers, 2 plus nights
On the lagoon facing Moorea sunsets, near Marina Taina and the museum, with space, pools and snorkelling.
Central Papeete waterfront and market quarter
short stops, Heiva, ferry trips
Walk to the market, roulottes, ferry terminal and restaurants, with city hotels rather than beach resorts.
Arue and east side toward Point Venus
couples, quiet, repeat visitors
Calmer residential black sand bay east of town, pretty and quiet but driving for almost everything.
Tahiti Iti, Taravao to Teahupoo and the deep south
surfers, hikers, repeat visitors
Beautiful and local near Teahupoo, Vaipahi and golf, but 60 to 75 minutes from Papeete and the airport.
Think twice about
- Immediate port and industrial waterfront blocks around the ferry and cargo docks
Poorly lit after dark with truck traffic and few people once the roulottes empty. Stay closer to the market and waterfront park.
- Far inland residential Papeete and upper Faa'a hillside streets
Steep, dark streets with no pavement or lighting and a taxi for every outing, miserable without a car.
Best restaurants in Papeete
Les Roulottes de Vai'ete
Essential dinner of poisson cru, steak frites and crepes from different vans at shared harbour tables.
L'O à la Bouche
Small elegant French room doing creative French Polynesian cooking, the best fine dining in town.
Le Lotus Restaurant
Overwater dining room on the lagoon for French gastronomic cooking at sunset, the splurge setting.
Blue Banana
Lagoonside terrace where residents take visitors for fresh fish, French Polynesian dishes and Moorea sunsets.
Marché de Papeete
Best cheap lunch and breakfast grazing on poisson cru, baguette sandwiches, firi firi and fresh juices.
Vini Vini Fish N' Grill
Casual local favourite to eat ahi tuna three ways as poke, tartare and grilled fish at non resort prices.
Casa Bianca
Waterfront Italian on the marina strip for wood fired pizza and pasta on a non fish variety night.
Le Retro
French bistro and cocktails on the Paofai marina strip, good for variety and setting within a walk of Vai'ete.
Outdoor things to do in Papeete
Moorea Day Trip
Early ferry for a lagoon day with coral gardens, rays, blacktip sharks and a motu picnic, Tahiti's best day trip.
Fautaua Falls
Signature waterfall hike from the edge of Papeete to a high falls basin, with natural pools on the lower section.
Teahupo'o
Boat taxi into the channel beside the Olympic reef break to watch surfers ride a very heavy wave safely.
Whale Watching Tour Marina Taina
Regulated morning boat trips for humpbacks from August to October, with in water viewing only if guides allow.
Aquarium Dive Site Tahiti
Lagoon wrecks and reef fish near Papeete marinas, ideal as a first dive or refresher in warm clear water.
Mahana Park
Lagoon snorkelling off Punaauia with coral heads, parrotfish and occasional turtles in the shallows.
Tahiti Circle Island Tour
Self drive the 114 km circle road in a day, stopping at waterfalls, black sand beaches and fruit stalls.
Papenoo Valley
Interior 4x4 safari up Tahiti's largest valley, crossing rivers to waterfalls and the volcanic centre.
Best hotels in Papeete
InterContinental Tahiti Resort & Spa
Default luxury base with gardens, two pools and overwater bungalows, two kilometres from the airport.
Hilton Hotel Tahiti
Newest feel big oceanfront hotel on the edge of Papeete, the best compromise between resort and city.
Le Tahiti by Pearl Resorts
Quieter boutique luxury on a black sand bay east of town, chosen for calm, spa and sunsets over facilities.
Te Moana Tahiti Resort
Best mid range all rounder for families, with kitchenette suites and snorkelling straight off the front.
Kon Tiki Tahiti
Best in town boutique on the waterfront, renovated in Polynesian modern style with a rooftop bar scene.
Hotel Tahiti Nui
Reliable central city hotel with a pool and large rooms, carried by location and exceptional front desk service.
Fare Suisse
Classic family run budget pension with airport pickups, a good affordable restaurant and larger family rooms.
Hotel Sarah Nui
Simple location play five minutes from the ferry, best used for exactly one layover or ferry eve night.
Is Papeete expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CFPF 12,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CFPF 28,000 a person |
| Splurge | CFPF 60,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Unique Tahiti: a few days ahead
- Tahiti Discovery: a few days ahead
- Polynesian Show at InterContinental Tahiti Resort & Spa: a few days ahead
- Moorea Day Trip: weeks ahead
- Fautaua Falls: a few days ahead
- Teahupo'o: weeks ahead
- Whale Watching Tour Marina Taina: weeks ahead
- Aquarium Dive Site Tahiti: a few days ahead
- Heiva tickets go on sale from May and podium nights sell out first.
- Book whale tours early in your stay from August to October for a weather rebook margin.
- Book Moorea lagoon tours, rental cars in July, Lotus and L'O a la Bouche ahead.
- Never plan a same day outer island to international flight connection, sleep on Tahiti the night before.
Is Papeete safe?
- Ocean currents, surf, reef and stonefish are the main risk, never swim at Teahupoo or Point Venus surf zones.
- Petty theft at the market and from rental cars and beaches is the real crime risk.
- Use reef safe sunscreen, shuffle feet in sandy shallows and clean coral cuts immediately.
- Cover up away from the beach in town, villages and churches, and ask before photographing people.
Papeete travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The Gauguin Museum has been closed since 2013, any tour headlining it is out of date.
- Arahoho Blowhole is a 10 minute stop, not a destination for a dedicated taxi trip.
- Hotel breakfasts at luxury prices when the market and bakeries do better for less.
- Cruise day pearl shops with pushy today only discounts and no grading certificate.
Getting around Papeete: public transport and more
- Confirm taxi fare before riding from Faa'a airport, about 2000 XPF to downtown.
- Buses radiate from Papeete along the coastal road and thin out evenings and Sundays.
- Rental car gives freedom on the circle road, where PK markers count kilometres from Papeete.
- Ferries to Moorea run 30 to 45 minutes from Papeete, and morning crossings are calmer.
Who Papeete suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Papeete your trip
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