Tahiti Transport

Getting around

Contents

Hitching

Hitching in Tahiti is relatively easy and usually quite safe, and you'll see both locals and popaa (Westerners) standing on the tarmac with their thumbs in the air. French Polynesia has low crime levels, but solo women should always use common sense. Avoid hitching on Friday and Saturday nights, when the roads are filled with alarmingly intoxicated drivers.

Car & motorcycle

Car

Driving on Tahiti is quite straightforward and, although accident statistics are not encouraging, the traffic is fairly light once you get away from Pape'ete. Apart from on the RDO out of Pape'ete to the west, the traffic doesn't travel too fast. As always, beware of children wandering on the road, and prepare yourself for a rather casual approach to overtaking. Don't leave anything on view in your car, and even consider making it clear there's nothing to steal - leave the glove box open, for example.

Remember to check the car over carefully before accepting it. For the price you'll be paying, you may be unpleasantly surprised by the standard of the hire cars.

Many of the following car-rental companies on Tahiti also have desks at the bigger hotels:

Avis Faa'a airport (85 02 84; Faa'a airport); Quai des Ferries (43 88 99; Quai des Ferries); Rue des Remparts (54 10 10; cnr Rue des Remparts & Av Georges Clémenceau)

Centre Auto Paea (53 33 33; PK20.2, Pa'ea)

Daniel Rent-a-Car(82 30 04; Faa'a airport)

Europcar Faa'a airport (86 60 61; Faa'a airport); Pape'ete (45 24 24; cnr Av du Prince Hinoi & Rue des Remparts)

Hertz (82 55 86; Faa'a airport)

Tahiti Rent-a-Car (81 94 00; Faa'a airport)

Bus & tram

Bus

French Polynesia's once-famous le trucks have now, unfortunately, mostly gone to bus heaven. The 'real' air-con buses now, in theory, only stop at designated stops (with blue signs) and run to a timetable, but in reality the routes haven't changed and the drivers will usually stop if you wave them down. Just make sure you are on the correct side of the road for the direction you want to go!

Weekdays, buses operate roughly every 15 minutes (though this varies) from dawn until about 5.30pm except for the Pape'ete-Faa'a-Outumaoro line, which supposedly operates 24 hours but in reality gets very quiet after 10pm. At the weekend, particularly on Sunday, services are less frequent. Fares for the shortest trips, from Pape'ete to a little beyond the airport, for example, start from 150 CFP (80 CFP for children and students); this fare rises to 250 CFP after 6pm. Outside this area, the prices are less clear. Out to about 20km from Pape'ete the fare will go up in stages to around 200 CFP; getting to the other side of the island might cost 450 CFP. Once the new bus system is up and running, these fares may well rise.

Tahiti's buses have their route number and the final destination clearly marked.

There are basically three routes: greater Pape'ete, which is handy for the Pape'ete-Faa'a airport trip (catch this along Rue du Général de Gaulle); the east coast, which is also handy for Tahiti Iti (catch this along Blvd Pomare); and the west coast (catch this along Rue du Maréchal Foch and Rue du Général de Gaulle).