Sunset at Tahiti.
Remember last year when I travelled to New Zealand? So, after spending almost 3 weeks in New Zealand, we headed to our next destination. We went to Tahiti! In fact, Tahiti is just a stop over before heading to Bora-Bora. I’ll share more about Bora-Bora soon.
I am sure many of you have heard so much about Tahiti. It is one of French Polynesia’s largest island and youngest of them all. Papeetē, the capital of Tahiti, was only founded in 1834. Tahiti do offer beautiful sea views and a welcoming warm tropical weather. The country is flexible about almost everything, including the laws. It would work in your favour if nothing happens but if anything does happen to you, you’re pretty much on your own.
They are a close-knit community. Almost everyone knows everyone. So if you report to the police about a crime, and the police is the friend or family of the criminal, there will be no charges. It’s like nothing ever happens.
Sipping Pina Colada by the beach while my room was being cleaned & stuff being tampered with (yes I’m still bitter bout it)
Well, before your make your plans there, here are my advice on 10 things to know about Tahiti.
1. Put your money in the safe at ANY hotel. Reputable or not. This is through a personal experience where our personal belongings were tampered. That included cash in the secret compartments of our bags. We don’t ever hope that this will happen to you. So, better be safe than sorry. Btw, we stayed at the Le Meridien.
2. The island is beautiful. The water is crystal clear. When you snorkel or swim in the sea, make sure you do not go too far out or else the current will pull you out to the deep sea.
Black Sand Beach
3. They speak French as they’re part of the French Polynesia. If you know French, it will be much easier for you to communicate. English is fairly common, so you wouldn’t be too bad if you don’t speak French.
4. They do accept US Dollars but their local currency is preferred.
5. ATMs are everywhere. All you need to do is to make sure your Debit Card is able to withdraw money from overseas teller machines.
Enjoying the view of this waterfall
6. There are almost no mainland Chinese here. Thank God there’s no “ni hao” greeting towards me. Do know that there’s no major branded shops here? Who the hell comes here for shopping anyway!? You’re here to enjoy the sun, sea and have fun!
7. Food here is very tropical. They lean towards the tropical fruits a lot of times such as mango, pineapple and papaya. Local food are pretty affordable unless you eat in the hotels or well known restaurants.
Tahitian Food – Mango Prawn served with rice.
8. If your destination is Bora-Bora or other islands in the French Polynesia, treat Tahiti as a stop-over. The views and sea in Bora-Bora is much nicer than in Tahiti.
9. Join the local tours. The local guides will introduce a lot of local food and explain in detail about the local dos and don’ts. Usually the hotels can arrange this for you.
10. There are not many direct flights to this island. Few countries that fly directly here would be New Zealand, Japan, Fiji, USA and a few more other countries. So staying at a hotel near to the airport for connecting flights would be great. I highly recommend the Intercontinental Hotel. It’s only 2 minutes away from the airport and we stayed here on the way back to New Zealand.
French Polynesians are mainly Catholics
Our cool tour guide – Tracy, enjoying the view of the cave
Last but not least, this should be just a guide for you to get to know more about Tahiti. Don’t let my experience stop you from exploring this island. I do hope that you have better times in Tahiti compared to mine. Albeit my bad experience there, I did enjoy the nature, beautiful scenery on this island and met some really friendly Tahitians.
Have you been to Tahiti? If you have, do share your experiences with me.
*Reviews and opinions are solely based on my own experience. ALL photos are my own and permission to use them is compulsory.
